| Annapurna circuit: Muktinath to Tatopani April 23rd - April 26th After the big day, we decided to take an easy moring in Muktinath. We did walk down a little bit (two hours) to Kagbeni. A really interesting medieval like village. It was strange to suddenly some green again. Because the descent after the pass is really rapid: 2500 m in two days, there are suddenly things growing again. Up higher most of the land is barren grey rock. In Kagbeni we meet up with Helen, Debby, Malcolm, Ben and Thomas again. They stay in another lodge but decide to celebrate crossing the pass (they were to tired the day before) in our lodge. So we have many beers and many good laughs. Suddenly Kim (Onno's sister) turns up. She has been doing the Jomsom trek (walking up what we will walk down in the next few days) with an australian girl: Ruth and an english woman (58): Chris. She had heard we were in Kagbeni as well and just checked every lodge. Really funny to be in this small town and meet all these people again. They join in in the party. Suddenly, at about 9.00 pm it turns out there is a curfew in this town. So the group gets up relatively quickly and goes to their own guest houses. Later on it turned out that, first they had troubles finding their guest house, and after they found it, they got told off by the owner because they had spent money (on beer and food) in our lodge and not in their own. Next day (we go down, Kim goes up), we visit a monastery with Kim and Ruth. Really interesting, but I'm a bit hungover, so don't enjoy it as much as I would have other wise. The boy that gives us the tour is a Tibetan who lives in India and has decided to spend some time in Nepal teaching the people Tibetan. Because of the Chinese occupation of tibet, most tibetan culture is preserved in India and Nepal After breakfast we start walking again. We follow a riverbed which is really cool in the beginning. Pretty level walking (no ups, little bit down) on a riverbed that is a few hundred metres wide in some places. However, after 10, the wind starts to pick up and gets worse and worse. It blows sand straight in our faces. We stop at Jomsom (bigger town with airport) for lunch. There is a big rock wall with written on it in big letters: welcome for climbing! Well, I don't know who would want to be on an exposed rock face in this wind. Only early morning climbing I guess. We continue down to Marpha (battling horrendous winds) where we had great great food (and tried my very first lassi: some kind of milkshake). To beat the winds, we left early the next day (at 7). We had our second breakfast in Tukuche in a Dutch bakery (owned by Dutch man and his Nepali wife) where they have 'brood met kaas' (bread with cheese) and filtercoffee (douwe egberts) on the menu. You see many 'German bakeries' in Nepal, but no Dutch ones (except for this one). After more walking through the river bed, we reach Kalopani (where there's much less wind) we have lunch with the English/Aussie group again (only thomas has decided to stay in Marpha, meditate a few days and fly out from jomsom). Then it starts pooring with rain!!!!! We play cards all afternoon (the game is called Shithead) and at 4 decided to risk it. Putting on our rain gear we walk down to the town of Ghasa (that actually consists of three towns, but I guess someone was to lazy to come up with three different names). Next day starts out cloudy but because we look forward to Tatopani (where they have hot springs) we decide to risk it and start walking. After about an hour it starts to rain and it rains and rains and rains. Kind of fun actually. We walk with Helen, Malcolm etc, so it really is enjoyable. After a quick tea break it rains even more and in the last stretch to tatopani, my boots start to leak and socks get all soggy and wet. We reach tatopani when it just stops raining (hmm, coincidence??). About my boots, by the way. They were smelly before, but on this trip they got worse and worse. I leave them outside during the night. I'm not scared of anybody stealing them. Not when they smell like this. They're still comfortable though. In contrast, somehow Onno doesn't get any smell in his socks or boots at all (not fair!) In Tatopani the sun breaks through and we enjoy a great afternoon with hotspring, beers, drunken porters etc. This porter sat down with us and asked us about 15 times (in 20 minutes) where we were from. The sun dries all the wet gear (my sleeping bag was a bit wet somehow). Really nice. Back to Main Page Previous part of Circuit Next part of Circuit |