Muktinath -> Kagbeni – Guten Morgen Sonnenschein

17. March 2023

 

 

What another lucky woman I was! I woke up and saw the blue sky and the laughing sun again – and also the snow-sugared ground. There was already a lot of activity in the direction of the temple. I quickly had breakfast, shouldered my backpack and set off for one of the most beautiful trekking days!

 

I hummed Nana Mouskouri “Guten Morgen Sonnenschein” (“Good morning sunshine”). There was a new trail over 15 km to Kagbeni, 900 metres lower in altitude, which goes through 2 villages and a Ladakh-like high mountain desert. Since almost everyone went straight back, I saw very few trekkers. At the beginning I hardly made any progress, because I kept stopping for photos.Every 10 steps it looked different and perhaps more beautiful than before. I was reveling in mountain happiness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This area is called Lower Mustang, which means there are Tibetan-Nepali villages and the landscape is already about as dry as in Mustang. Big difference: you don’t have to pay the high permit fees that apply to a Mustang visit. So there were the villages, first Chongur and then Jhong. In Chongur there is a monastery in the village and in Jhong there was one nicely situated on a hill. I didn’t visit the former, but the latter I did, but it was empty except for a guard dog. But the view was great. Some of the villages reminded me of Ladakh, but the details were quite different. Anyway, it was nice to walk through. I met few people (rather women) and once many goats. Here are the pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afterwards, I passed a village and continued on a dust road without vehicles through high mountain desert. A strong wind arose, which you can’t see at all in the pictures, and it stayed until evening. It almost blew me over when I took the last picture. Shortly after Jhong, another trekker came along, we talked briefly – and then stayed together until the next morning. Also nice to hike in real company for once. Her name is Katie and she is from the USA and on sabbatical. She works as a teacher. She had also walked the circuit, but starting from further down and all without a guide/porter.

 

Here are the other pictures of the day. Because there are so many and I don’t want to miss any of them, the ones from Kagbeni will be in the next post. I continue to find it a phenomenon that I find it difficult to produce many words about the greatest days. Especially when the pictures express everything for me. In any case, I was thrilled by this hiking day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The one hiker we met was from Kagbeni. We asked for an accommodation tip. His was not so recommendable. Why not? They had given him the baby and integrated him into the family. And why was that not nice??? It’s hard to explain. The accommodation would be called Showboat. Who would name their accommodation Showboat in this landscape??? Well, that definitely aroused curiosity!