Muktinath – The Yak is wrapped in

2. August 2026

 

 

When I arrived in Muktinath from my trek in 2023, I hiked to Kagbeni along the northern side of the river and loved it. This time, we took the southern road from Kagbeni to Muktinath, and I was amazed by how different it looked. Totally awesome! First, we came to a viewpoint called “Selfie Point,” which had been set up a bit. In the other direction, in the empty parking lot, a yak was wrapped in.

 

 

Wir haben auch einige Bilder gemacht und uns an der Aussicht erfreut.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Kagbeni to the temple in Muktinath, it’s an elevation gain of 1,000 meters. There were several stops along the way to take in the scenery and snap photos. There are quite a few villages in this valley.

 

 

 

 

 

In Muktinath, there is a large temple complex that is equally sacred to Hindus and Buddhists alike. I already described it back in 2023. Or rather, I was a bit lazy back then too—and am again now. Here is the link to the previous Blogpost. And I’m just supplementing this here with a few photos from this year. Once again, there were plenty of Indian tourists around, but not as many as during peak season. I also filmed more this time. And it’s simply nice to just watch people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we snubbed Johnny Cash in Kagbeni, we bypassed Mona Lisa for lunch here and dined at Bob Marley instead. What is a bit unfortunate: so far, there hasn’t been any baking going on anywhere. And I was hoping so much for a delicious apple pie or something similar. And as for where this passion for such naming comes from: no idea.

 

 

There is a lot of construction going on in Muktinath, as well as in Kagbeni. The new buildings all look as if they will offer a better standard. I didn’t snap any photos of all that, but we looked at it and thought our own thoughts. It certainly doesn’t beautify the landscape. After lunch, we had the idea to walk the short distance to the village of Jharkot. That was nice. And yay—the clouds partially cleared and briefly revealed views of higher peaks. I had been here back in March and there was even a bit of fresh snow. This time everything was green—quite a difference. But in principle, the clouds hang rather fixed, like a solid wall with a defined lower edge. At least it wasn’t raining.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opposite Jharkot is a kind of ridge lined with a huge number of prayer flag poles. It looks fantastic. And I was surprised that I didn’t remember it. But I couldn’t have, they are new. And unfortunately, a bit hard to make out in the photo.

 

 

 

 

Jharkot has a monastery, but there was no monk with a key present. However, there was a Wheel of Life in the entrance, and that was fascinating. Typically, six realms of existence are depicted—meaning world concepts into which one can be reborn, but which can also be interpreted as states in one’s current life. Here, there were eight, and the forms of suffering were overwhelmingly predominant and depicted with a lot of detail. It almost seemed like a passion for torment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Otherwise, Jharkot is an old place with historic architecture that is fun to walk through. Other than ourselves, we only saw one group of Western faces—and somehow I hope that even during peak season, there aren’t many more than that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then we were exhausted from the higher altitude, all the sights, and walking around. So we went back to Kagbeni, where we found a nice cafe—unfortunately, also without any cake. On the bright side, the beer tap system was being repaired, and a woman with a red hood sat there motionless for a very long time.

 

 

 

Conclusion of the day: everything is interesting with this magnificent landscape, which you can marvel at despite the clouds, the pilgrimage tourism, the changing scenery, and everything else. And in hindsight, I find it a difficult decision whether I should recommend the road side or the hiking side to people. Probably both, ideally. And you can definitely say that the region offers quite a lot more in terms of hiking and sightseeing options.

 

Still, I was looking a bit glumly at all the clouds. I had imagined that things would be significantly better from here on. Just like in Ladakh. But even there, the summer had been much, much cloudier than before. We learned that it was the same here: substantially cloudier and rainier weather than in previous years. At least we rarely had to pull out our rain gear anyway. But more sun and a clearer view would certainly be nice. We were hoping for the next day.