The Last Forbidden Kingdom - Trekking in Nepal's Mustang Region - 2

Kali Gandaki Valley near Kagbeni

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2016

We hike from Kagbeni upstream along the Kali Gandaki.  The river valley itself is quite picturesque.  It reminds me of a mix that might include southern Utah, the desert of Arizona, a touch of the Grand Canyon and some of the Drumheller badlands.

There is a road of sorts.  Quite a bit is like walking on a cobble beach.  Rough and hard going at times.   We see two or three 4x4 land cruiser type vehicles.  Otherwise, it's very quiet.  We have no wind yet.  That doesn't come until after lunch most days.

We pass a couple of small villages.  It's remarkable that people live here at all.  It's very dry, but little streams bring water to crops.  In Chele (3050 m), where we stop for the day, I find an apple orchard.  The apples were tasty, although small.  Chele itself is quite small, but there are two or three lodges here.  After lunch I walk around, but there isn't much to see other than the aforementioned apple orchards.  The afternoon wind is blowing.  So it's nap 

time.

Thursday, November 3rd, 2016

Today was a slog.  Grueling perhaps.  After being in our sleeping bags for almost 12 hours (yes, the night life here is really that bad...), we hiked for about 5 hours.  Lots and lots of uphill and downhill.  Very steep canyons.  Narrow paths along steep mountain sides.  Tremendous views.  Distant views of peaks like Nilgiri and close up views of narrow canyons and precipitous rock walls.  Once again I'm reminded of hiking in the Grand Canyon. 

We pass one or two small "villages".  Really more a collection of 2 or 3 houses, perhaps a lodge, some walled animal enclosures.  Settlements are certainly becoming more rustic, as are the lodges.

We take a side canyon to visit a small monastery called Chungsi Cave.  We detoured off the main trail and climbed steeply to a large cave that had been turned into a small monastery.  Where people decide to put things....

We slogged on, reaching the small settlement of Syangboche.  Two lodges, I think.  One or two other buildings.  We were tired so I didn't bother exploring.  The cold breeze blowing doesn't encourage lounging around outside either.  Tea, rest and lunch, in that order.  Filter water so we can start hydrating again.  It's very dry here and our heavy breathing is drying out our bronchial tubes.

I get the solar panel charging some things and we discuss our route options with the guide.  It appears we can get to Lo Manthang a day earlier if we want.  We want.  That place is the main objective of all this hiking.  We could even spend an extra day there.  We don't want to sound like spoiled, western, tourists, but we are wondering if Lo Manthang will be a bit upscale compared to what we've been seeing for the past few days.  It's supposedly an ancient walled city.  Presumably newer stuff outside the walls?  Should know by lunch on Saturday.

Friday, November 4th, 2016

Starting out at 3800 m, we climb to nearly 4000 m, then drop some.  This is repeated a few times, but it's a substantially easier day than yesterday.  We hike quickly for 4.5 hours and arrive in Dhakmar, set in a narrowing valley rimmed with red cliffs and red hoodoos.

It's a pretty rustic village and many of the residents seem to have closed up and headed south for the winter.  It's very fall like here.

In the courtyard of our lodge, two fellows are cutting up a yak.  I think I'll stick to veg for now.

The lodge is pretty primitive.  Mud brick construction, pounded mud floor, holes in the kitchen ceiling to let the smoke out.

It's warm enough that some wandering around is an option.  I watch some Asian eagles (names unknown) soar along the red cliffs.  People have been busy over the years cutting some caves high up in those red cliffs. 

We order supper.  No cheese is available so that limits our options.  I was thinking of a small veg pizza, but that won't work.  We go with the old standbys of French fried potatoes, veg egg fried rice and experiment with mushroom soup.  They were all fine.  We could have sent some time sitting around the dung-fired stove, but I decided against, partly because of an older gentleman present who had a very nasty cough.  It could have come from the fumes from the dung fire, but I wasn't taking any chances.