Jomosom Elevation: 8,924 ft
Daily Distance Walked: 11.8 miles
Total Distance Walked: 87.0 miles
Starting Time: 8:00AM
Ending Time: ~3:30PM
Laurence and I said a sad good-bye to our Canadian friends before departing this morning. It was a bit chilly but so much warmer in comparison to the previous few days. The walk from Muktinath to Kagbeni had nice scenery, lots of reds and yellows in the plant life. The only disappointing part was the appearence of a road. While there weren't many jeeps or motorbikes on it, it is just not as nice to walk on a road. I do hope it disappears soon.
The trail to Kagbeni...
Kagbeni appeared in the valley below.
Getting closer...
Kagbeni was quite nice, and Laurence and I stopped for a long lunch there. Before sitting down to eat, we explored the village a bit. To my horror, I came across a pair of golden arches and a 7-Eleven. The thought that these chains had infiltrated a remote mountain village in Nepal sent a shudder down my spine. My terror quickly turned into laughter once I got close enough to read the "McDonald's" sign and realized it was really a Yak Donald's. I can't say I approve of the desire to emulate McDonald's, but I do think it has a clever name. My hope is that the 7-Eleven is of a similar legitimacy.
Today's Specials at Yac Donald's
Once we sat down for our lunch of vegetable mo-mos (pumpkin soup had at last reappeared, but we hesitated on bringing it back as our staple lunch), we watched the people go by on the nearby bridge and tried to take a few photos without being too obvious.
Not only do they have Yac Donald's and 7-Eleven, but they drink Fanta and love NY too!
The walk from Kagbeni to Jomosom took us about 2 hours and 15 minutes. The trek and landscape was almost desert-like. There was a lot of sand, dust, and rocks. The terrain was relatively flat but incredibly rocky. On top of that, the wind was blowing really hard. I wish I would have had a wind guage of some sort because it felt like we were walking through sustained winds of 20 or 30 mph with gusts in the 40-50 mph range, if not more. A few gusts came along to strongly they pratically knocked us off our feet.
The trail to Jomosom...
We were caked with dirt by the time we reached Jomosom and even more tired than the previous day when we had come over the mountain pass. For the first time, we both had sore muscles. Showering and getting the dirt off felt so good today, plus we had hot water! It's amazing how excited you get about hot water after several days of cold showers or no showers at all.
I was able to check e-mail and had received several e-mails from Heather. She had assumed that by the time I reached Jomosom I would want to finish the circuit (she was absolutely correct) and had made all sorts of plans in the meantime, from rafting near Pokhara, to visiting monasteries in Lombini and bathing elephants in Chitwan. I was so happy to hear she was doing so many fun things.
After returning to the lodge, Laurence and I celebrated competing the pass and our new found friendship by having a beer and some potato chips. In the spirit of being in Nepal, we drank a local beer, Everest - it was pretty good, although my perspective at thispoint might be a bit off, and the chips we ate, while Lays, were Magic Masala flavor - spicey and very good.
As far as Jomosom goes, ther eis not much here and I am glad i will leave tomorrow. It is a large village, and it does have a nnice view of Dhaulagiri, but otherwise it is not very pretty. It is probably my least favorite of the villages I have visited thus far.
1 comment:
I wonder what was magic about the masala flavor of your chips. That is a very interesting flavor that I would love to try. I take it that while you took a picture of the YakDonald's menu you did not eat there. I'm glad that you are going to be able to finish your circuit, but this is the last day you've gotten to at this point and I really should go to bed... it's now 3 am. If I was in Nepal and had to go over the pass tomorrow, I'd have to be up in an hour.
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