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EXPEDITION TO MUKTINATH - Sep/ Oct 2022

EXPEDITION TO MUKTINATH
PROPOSED ITINERARY FOR OCTOBER 2022

EXPEDITION TO MUKTINATHWe now have four keen starters for September 29 to October 19. At this time of year, it will be rather hot at lower altitudes such as Kathmandu, Pokhara and Tatopani. On the plus side, it will not be very cold at the higher altitudes above Kalopani. Mild and sunny most days, tee-shirt weather in fact.
I am sending out this itinerary along with a Trek Report of the same trek undertaken just this past February. Lots of details and photos.

 

 


 

Here is the day by day itinerary:

SEPTEMBER 29:

Arrive Kathmandu. I will meet you at the airport and take you to a nice hotel. Not posh, but with comfortable rooms and a lovely garden. Will make more plans when I know your flight arrival time. We could stay up at the Benchen Monastery Guesthouse on the edge of Kathmandu. To be decided…..

SEPTEMBER 30:

Day out in Kathmandu. Finalising our Trekking Permits, possibly purchasing any trekking gear you need (also a possibility in Pokhara). I will check your gear in the morning and see what you might need – and what you might usefully leave behind. Sightseeing is also an option. We can plan it more when I see what you want to do. Nice dinner somewhere in Thamel.

OCTOBER 1:

Our own transport down to Pokhara. Even warmer at just 680 m. Takes about 7 hours but with plenty of stops for tea and toilets and a lovely lunch. Lots to see on the way. In Pokhara, we can go out for a stroll around the lake and dine at an outdoor café.

OCTOBER 2:

Up early to paddle across the lake in a traditional wooden boat and then the short but steep climb up to the Peace Stupa. The trek takes about an hour and is a good chance to make sure your boots are good to go, whether you want one pole or two and what suits you to wear. After checking out the super view, having a coffee, and circling the stupa, we will descend very easily on a woodland trail. Shady and not so steep. If we are quiet , we may see monkeys – they are shy and stay away from us.

After lunch we could look at your trekking gear(if we did not do this in Kathmandu) We can shop at Pokhara for trekking necessities such as head torch, water bottle, trekking towel, tee-shirts, trekking poles, down vests, sleeping bags, etc.

Early dinner then pack for a jeep ride into the foothills in the morning.

OCTOBER 3:

Jeeps will pick us up this morning. Our porters will join us for the ride up to Tatopani at 1100 m. It will be hot and dusty on the way. Should take about 3 hours to lunch, then another hour and a half. The alternative is a five-day hike over Gorepani which might be rather hot and sweaty work in October. Could be arranged as an add-on if anyone wishes to arrive about a week earlier. I may not be there but have great guys to look after you and take you on the trek. You would join me and the others at Tatopani today.

Tatopani is our first trekking lodge. Rooms are very simple twin rooms, mostly with little bathrooms. There is a hot spring five minutes' walk away.

OCTOBER 4:

This is a hard day's trekking with a few steep climbs, each one about an hour. If anyone is struggling, we could cross to the road side of the valley and get a jeep ride for them. At the end of the day, we will be in Ghasa, 2000 m, which is up in the pines and it should be quite a bit cooler.

OCTOBER 5:

Upwards again today but not as steeply and not such a long day. We will need to walk on the road a lot of the way but it is a poorly-made dirt road with not much traffic. Kalopani, at about 2500 m, has superb mountain views of all the Anapurna peaks and Daulaghiri. It is a comfortable lodge with solar hot water. We will wake you up next morning for the sunrise. Dress warmly!

OCTOBER 6:

After Kalopani the trekking becomes much easier, almost flat, as we entire the wide-open valley of the upper Kali Gandaki river. More amazing views. The picture at the top of this itinerary is from the roof of our lunch stop on this day, Larjung. After lunch there is more fairly flat trekking, in and out of the stony riverbed. These plans are flexible as we must see each year where the river has settled after the monsoon. We will definitely be in Tukuche, 2700 m, by late afternoon. This is a pretty village with whitewashed houses built around courtyards, and some very old monasteries. Notice how little we climb today.

OCTOBER 7:

More flattish trekking today to Jomsom 2800m. Of course, Nepali flat is 'little bit up, little bit down'. We cross a suspension bridge not far north of Tukche and wander through juniper trees till Chairo, a Tibetan Refugee camp which has now been here for about 50 years. They will make us tea and we will see if we can get in to see the old gompa (monastery). There is a fabulous Guru Rimpoche statue here. Not always open. Lunch today is in Marpha, a charming village architecturally. Snugged into the hillside out of the wind it is well worth a look around while our lunch is cooking. More on this later… After lunch, the trekking is still easy, but it is often very windy from midday till dusk up here. It is dry and windswept, almost lunar. However, we will have the wind at our backs so should rather easily be blown and buffeted into Jomsom.

OCTOBER 8:

Kagbeni. An easy, flat, 3-hour trek along the river valley. If we are lucky we might find saligram fossils. We will start early as the wind gets up after about 11 am. Arriving in Kagbeni, a crumbling medieval ruin of a village, in time for lunch, we will have the option of walking out to Thiri, about an hour away, in the afternoon. Otherwise, there is plenty to explore just dagging around in the village. Good lodge. Same altitude as Jomsom, 2800 m.

OCTOBER 9:

Today we can trek up to Jarkot. It is a bit steep but gradual. There is a road, which means there is a jeep option. We plan to stay at the tiny village of Jarkot. It is not quite so high or cold as Muktinath itself and much more pleasant. The lodge is pretty rustic, but the cooking is good. It looks out at the ancient village where we might take a wander in the afternoon.

OCTOBER 10:

This is a big day. We need to trek the last hour to Muktinath fairly early, then spend an hour or two wandering through the famous temple complex. There is a Hindu temple with 109 ornamental taps channelling meltwater from the snows above us. There is an Ani Gompa (Nunnery) where they look after the strange place where a flame and a little stream seem to emanate from the same cleft in the rocks. After a look around we will get some lunch and then trek back to Kagbeni., possibly on the other side of the valley (time permitting) Otherwise, it only takes a couple of hours downhill. Scenery is astounding. You can see almost all the way to Tibet.

OCTOBER 11:

We will return via Jomsom to Marpha today. We may take a jeep ride from Kagbeni to Jomsom first. Let us see how we are holding up. Kind of windy from Jomsom to Marpha but it is worth it for an overnight stay there.

OCTOBER 12:

Marpha to Kalopani should be long but not very demanding. Slightly downhill feels easy now that we have been trekking for ten days.

OCTOBER 13:

Kalopani to Ghasa is very easy in reverse. If we do pick up a jeep ride to Tatopani, we might save a day here and spend an extra night in Pokhara or Kathmandu.

OCTOBER 14:

If we stayed in Ghasa we will be in Tatopani today. Our hardest first day of trekking is much, much easier in reverse. Should be very warm and sunny once more.

OCTOBER 15:

Jeep back to Pokhara. It is still a half-day jeep ride which is dusty and bumpy on some pretty poor roads – though they were working on them in February so might be some improvement. We should have the evening free but you might be tired.

OCTOBER 16:

Super chill-out day. Lazing, shopping, long hot showers, eating, drinking, whatever takes your fancy. Could fit in a massage?

OCTOBER 17:

Flight back to Kathmandu? This could be spectacular. However, in Nepal the flights are often cancelled if it is cloudy. 'Our clouds have rocks in them' say the posters begging your forbearance for delays at the airport. We could minibus if the flight is cancelled. A flight would give us an extra day in Kathmandu too.

OCTOBER 18:

Who wants to go shopping?? OK, not everybody. I can organise some interesting sightseeing. Swayambunath (AKA The Monkey Temple) for example. Bouda in the evening for a walk around the stupa and then dinner somewhere a bit special.

OCTOBER 19:

Go home. Depending on your flight time we will arrange something interesting to do until your departure. I will take you to the airport.

 

As ever, this itinerary is NOT written in stone.  We will adapt to conditions on the ground. Quite a bit of transport available on the road, though we will trek on the other side of the valley whenever practical.   

Please get in touch soon if you fancy this trek.   Cost approx. $3450 AUD   If comparing, please bear in mind that we include EVERYTHING.  Transfers, hotels, ALL meals, soft drinks, taxis, lodges, trekking permits, etc.   You also get your very own personal porter who will have good clothes, good shoes and will be well-paid and insured. Of course ,I will be coming with you. 

Your porter will carry your main pack. You carry just a daypack.   You can buy these packs in Nepal if you need to.

There are also some plans afoot for a trek into the Everest region in late October.  Probably jeep in for a couple of days and chopper out at the end.  Not planning to visit the Everest Base Camp but the much less-visited Thamo and Thame valley to the West of Namche. 

You can contact me at teresadb@hotmail.com or vonschwichtenberg@gmail.com if you have questions.  Feel free.

Hope you can join us.
Cheers.
Teresa didi

 

NEPAL CULTURAL SAFARI

YOU CAN DO THIS!