For the first time since on the trek, I woke up frustrated, for no apparent reason. I had the feeling it was raining and the immediate thought of having to stay in Muktinath for an extra day was getting me over the edge. I really didn’t like this place at all …
As soon as I got up I quickly realised that my whole body was in pain. My thighs and calves were so sore I could barely make a step without feeling them. It was the immediate body reaction to the hours of going down yesterday.
The big challenge was done, or so I thought! The pass was out of the way now but what was even more challenging that the tiring going up to reach the flags at 5416m was finding the motivation to keep going after the big goal was now history. I woke up to no electricity, zero battery in my phone and the annoying need to brush my teeth using my headlamp … I was so badly missing basic comfort. From the gas shower the night before, which seriously got me worried I might not make it out of that bathroom alive, to lighting up with the headlamp now, it was starting to get too much.
I was so badly walking towards the edge of my perseverance that all sorts of questions were starting to pop up. Why am I doing this? The pass is done now, why don’t I just get a jeep to Pokhara like almost everyone else and get it over with?
Unusually grumpy, I headed down to check if the guys at the hotel had any idea when the electricity would be back up. Blackouts happen all the time so the locals tend to even know how long they’ll last.
I couldn’t leave Muktinath before charging my phone. I wasn’t using it for anything else apart from Maps.me and although the trail to Kagbeni was supposed to be pretty clear, I couldn’t risk it and leave without having Maps.me to come to the rescue if I needed it.
So I waited! For the first time in 11 days I even decided to have breakfast. Had some pretty horrible porridge, whilst writing up my journal and chatting to the Nepali guys we met in Phedi who turned out to have stayed at the same hotel. Eventually, the electricity was back and I could finally charge my phone just enough so I can head out.
Contents
Leaving Muktinath
Today I wanted to trek alone. I didn’t feel chatty that morning and in all honesty, there weren’t many people to chat to anyway since most travellers were taking jeeps to Pokhara so they rushed out pretty much first thing in the morning. By the time I was ready to leave I was the only person left in the dining area which kinda made me wanna leave even quicker.
I headed out to Kagbeni on what was meant to be the main road. Dyana and Andrew were gonna go the opposite way to hike through some villages on the other side of the valley, parallel to the side I was gonna trek on so when we briefly saw each other at breakfast, we just said “See you in Kagbeni” and parted ways. What were the chances that we’d see each other again in Kagbeni? Realistically, very slim!! But I was hopeful that we’d cross paths again. I felt connected with these guys, especially after what we had gone through the day before hiking over the pass so I didn’t wanna say Goodbye … not yet.
By the time I started the trek, the weather had cleared. It was now warm, sunny and I had no reason to still be grumpy. As soon as I walked down the street, as if people knew I could use some cheering up. The local ladies were smiling at me as I was passing by, an old man stopped me to have a chat and gave me the biggest smile I had seen in days and people were greeting me with “Namaste” as I was continuing to walk towards the exit of the village. A few minutes later I was myself again.
The trek to Kagbeni
Between Muktinath and Kagbeni were only 13km. Compared to the previous days, it was a pretty nice and easy walk in the park. I started initially on the main road but kept taking all the trails I could to avoid walking on the road as much as possible.
The road, however, wasn’t as terrible as I was prepared for it to be. There were buses passing by as well as the occasional motorbike but it quieted down after the first half an hour.
I was loving the solitude and the views. The scenery had changed completely. Now it was more like a landscape from a deserty US national park than the lush scenery from the previous 10 days. It felt slightly odd but pretty cool at the same time. I genuinely had no idea what the remainder of the trek would bring or what Kagbeni and the other villages still to go through would look or feel like and that was starting to excite me again.
Still, for the first time since the start of the trek, I felt emotionally uneasy. I don’t know what prompted it but just as I was walking, I paused for a few seconds and burst into tears. That was the first and only time I cried during the trek. And I had no clear idea why! I was listening to the first song I had listened to in 11 days and all of a sudden I just crying it all out. Maybe it was just building up since the near tearing up at Ice Lake, or I was just so happy to have come this far, or maybe I really was missing civilisation that much, who knows but after a few seconds of letting it all out, I was starting to feel better.
There was no one else on the trail that day, not a single other trekker and it was the perfect time to reflect and plan for the next few days. Originally, I had planned to go straight to Jomsom from Muktinath but Dyana and Andrew had told me about Kagbeni the day before and I was hooked to go see it. Kagbeni is a medieval village in the Lower Mustang river which has been influenced by the Tibetan culture the most. Designed as a fortress town, Kagbeni was pretty important during the time of the famous salt trade between Tibet and Nepal and it would have been a shame if I was just 3 hours from there and had given it a miss.
The trek to Kagbeni was going between the trail and the main road which was actually kinda nice. Very close to Kagbeni though, I started using Maps.me quite a bit to take a few shortcuts to avoid going on the main road which was making really long boring turns which I wanted to avoid. And I did but take my word for it, if you don’t have a trekking pole, do not attempt this!! I slid more times than I could count. The paths were narrow, covered with little stones and literally vertical so it would have hurt if I wasn’t paying attention. At one point, I had to take out the pole because it was either that or me going face down from one of the rocks. Luckily, I got away with just a scare and continued on. They were painful shortcuts but I must admit that they did save me quite a bit of time which I was really loving since the weather had gone all crazy and windy and with the path all covered in dust, I was looking forward to finding somewhere to hide. My eyes and hair were all covered in dust and I felt as if I had a whole layer of dust all over my face and neck. So yeah … I was pleased I could shorten the trek a bit!
Arriving in Kagbeni
What a strange place. – I thought when I entered Kagbeni. It was around 12 noon when I arrived and the streets were unusually rather deserted with the exception of two local women who were yelling at each other right on the street. Kagbeni is a bit out of the way from the traditional Annapurna circuit itinerary so I was pretty convinced there wouldn’t be any tourists here. For the first time, I wasn’t particularly loving the idea of being the only foreigner.
So many of the structures looked demolished as if the village was still getting back on its feet after the earthquake. It felt creepy. I continued to what was the old part of the village and locals were starting to appear more frequently. Some were busy with construction tasks, others in their little corner shops and strangely no one was even mildly curious by the strange Bulgarian trekker who had just entered their village. That was probably a first. A couple of older ladies smiled at me as I passed but in general, people didn’t care much. I got a strange unfriendly vibe and I was quickly starting to miss Dyana and Andrew.
Kagbeni was right at the bottom of some pretty high mountains with the Kali Gandaki river passing right through its middle, separating the old from the new part of the village (really hard to say which was which since they were both equally run down). The strong wind was making all sorts of creepy noises, the river was bustling, the sky was covered in dense stormy clouds and the village which otherwise was probably nice and chilled felt unwelcoming.
I hopped into a few hotels (proper hotels if you can even imagine) to ask for a room and to my surprise, people were trying to charge me quite a bit for a basic room even without an inside toilet. Everyone was completely categorical when I asked if I could stay for free if I had dinner and breakfast there. They all said “No” which, frankly, was a surprise! I mean … who comes to Kagbeni anyway to make people so unfriendly and cocky! For the past 10 days I had not paid for a single room on the basis that I’d eat dinner and breakfast at the place. Locals earn a lot more from the food than the room so during the low season they happily agree to the offer just to get some business in. And again, it’s not about the money, it’s about the attitude, and the people in Kagbeni sure didn’t know how to be polite when asking for RS 500-1000 for a single “just a bed inside” kinda room.
Attracted by the cute colours of Hotel Yeti, I decided to give it ago and to my surprise the host didn’t try to rip me off despite showing zero interest in me being there. We settled on RS 200 for the room and since I was starving, I quickly ordered some dal bhat for lunch. As I was finishing my food and reading my book, the door opened. It was Dyana and Andrew <3
In a place with surprisingly so many hotels, how did these guys end up in the exact same place? Meant to be I guess. I was so happy to see them!! We smiled ear to ear whilst they were telling me about their conversations with other rude hoteliers trying to charge them RS 2000 for a room and we jointly agreed that it was time to chill and treat ourselves to something, anything … 😀
The guys had trekked on the other side of the valley so they had entered Kagbeni from the old town as opposed to the new part like I did so they had spotted a place called Applebee’s cafe which supposedly seemed open. I had seen the place on Maps.me but seeing how rough the village looked, it didn’t cross my mind to even dream an actual cafe might exist in this place.
But we had nothing else to do so we quickly had our next mission – scout for good coffee and apple crumble!! I couldn’t believe it!! Just a quick 5 min walk from the Yeti Hotel, there it was – a beautiful, cosy, completely unfit for this village cafe selling not just proper coffee but crumble and pie and all sorts of cakes. Basically every trekker’s dream!!
I ordered my first coffee in 11 days and even though it sure wasn’t one of the best coffees I’ve had, it made me so happy, I can’t even explain. We chatted, read our books, talked to the smiley guy working in the place and we genuinely couldn’t wish for anything more! It was the simplest of treats but we were loving and appreciating every sip, bite and minute of it. I was loving it so much that I even stayed behind when Dyana and Andrew wanted to go back to the Yeti. Maybe that’s why we crossed paths again … for them to bring me to Applebee’s and have this moment 😀
Eventually, on my way back as I was strolling the streets of Kagbeni I saw a group of ladies roasting what turned out to be the famous Tibetan Tsampa porridge. They had gathered outside on the street and put on a big fire to roast the barley which would later be made into flour and boiled to make the porridge. The ladies were so adorable and timid, suddenly gone totally intrigued by my avid curiosity in what they were doing. What was a daily chore for them was an interesting cultural experience I had been looking forward to getting closer to. I stood there for a few moments observing the process and smiling at the locals as they were stirring the barley and protecting their faces from the flames.
The rest of the evening saw us chatting to our host who had suddenly become very smiley, playing with her cute little daughter who seemed to love Andy 😀 and by 9 pm we were already in bed to catch enough sleep before the 5:30 am alarm the next day! The plan was to watch the morning prayer at 6 am in the red monastery before I head off to Marpha and Dyana and Andy – to Jomsom.
Daily Costs
- Room – RS 200
- Porridge (first breakfast) – RS 320
- Dal Bhat – RS 500
- Chowmein – RS 350
- Hot water – RS 20
- Coffee – RS 380
Day 11 Tips
- Whichever way you decide to trek to Kagbeni, don’t head straight to Jomsom and stay overnight in the village. It’s a weird experience and that’s exactly why you gotta give it the time.
- Refill with enough water to last you the whole trek. I don’t recall there being anywhere to fill up until Kagbeni.
- Stay at the Yeti Hotel. The rooms are basic but the food is super delicious and they won’t try to rip you off like most other places. Also, it’s super close to the monastery in case you decide to go watch the morning prayer which I highly recommend.
- Treat yourself to some coffee and crumble at the Applebee’s cafe and stroll the streets of Kagbeni. You can honestly see some crazy things (more on this as part of day 12).
- Enjoy it and stay present! Namaste 🙂
Day 11 Gallery
