The Other Side of the Pass (Day 11 –Day 12)

Day 11. Muktinath – Jomsom 900 m descent

Day 12. Jomsom – Pokhara – Kathmandu – 20 min flight; 6 hr Bus ride

I fell in love with Mukthinath for multiple reasons. After having seen many Tibetan villages, this was a Hindu site and we met some Indians too.
We were famished after the long and challenging day and were delighted to have hot and crispy Aloo Parathas! We brushed and took a hot shower after 3 days!

Wonderful Temple at Muktinath

The next day we went to the holy Narayana temple. It was still cold and we wore our sweaters. But we were not used to the concept of walking inside a temple premises with shoes. So we walked barefoot and the cold stone path made our toes numb! Most of the locals wear their shoes inside the temple and remove it only in the sanctum sanctorum. However, there were other brave locals who had a bath in the holy waterfalls clad only in a thin saree / dhoti. Some also took a dip in the holy pond outside the temple.

The deity of Narayana along with Sreedevi and Boodevi are made of a brass like metal. The styling and details have a clear Tibetan influence. The Kreedam (Crown), Vastram (Robe) etc remind of what you see in the Gompas (monasteries).
Behind the main temple, there are 108 water spouts shaped like a cow’s face and an eternal snow melted waterfall feeds them.
A 5 minute walk took us to Agnijwalamukhi. This is a monastery where there is a natural eternal flame coming from the rocks.

We were very happy that we visited this holy temple on Vijaya Dashami day. The place was crowded as the locals were visiting on the auspicious day and we even saw some rich pilgrims who came by helicopter and landed at the helipad right outside the temple!

After lunch we started our final day’s trek (or so we thought!) to Jomsom. It was an easy descend and this side of the pass, the terrain was very different. It was more brown and arid. Around 3 PM the famed winds of Jomsom started. For the 1st time I realized the power of wind. It could easily push a 70 kg guy with a 10 kg backpack!

We walked high above the Gandaki valley and saw the holy Kagbeni village (akin to our Kashi). After a long and slow descend we were at the Kali Gandaki river bed.

The birth place of Saligramam

The river bed was full of millions of stones of varied shapes, sizes, textures and colors. This is the birth place of the holy Salagram stones which is considered to be a form of Vishnu. At Muktinath, there were shops selling these stones some of which have different markings on them like conch, discuss etc.

Chance meeting of an expedition group

We continued along the river bed and were soon joined by a group of trekkers from Spain. We were amazed to know that they were the expedition team which had camped at the pass and climbed another 800 meters to a peak at Thorung La! We were excited to be talking to real mountaineers and learnt about their experience. They were also curious to know about us and asked us a lot of questions including why I wore a red dot on my forehead! We were glad that we had their company as it was already dark and felt safer to be in a group until we reached Jomsom. After knocking at a couple of doors finally we found a cozy room and crashed after dinner. We were eager to catch the flight next morning to a luxurious hotel in Pokhara.

Forced stay at Jomsom

When we reached the airport we were told that our tickets were not confirmed for that day. Angry that our travel agent had goofed up, we called him up. He told us that our tickets were valid and that we need to take our fight to the airline official.
When we went back to the airport we found that there were many people with the same problem. As the situation unfolded we realized that the greedy airline had sold more tickets than seats and tried to make money as the tickets sold closer to the date of travel would be priced higher.
We were given false hopes that we might go on the subsequent flights which never happened. We befriended some influential Nepali’s who told us that this phenomenon is quite common in the peak season.

Our other option would either be to travel by Jeep for 3 hours, walk for another 2, one more jeep ride for 2 hours and from there a night bus to Kathmandu. Or wait and hope to get on to the 1st flight next morning to Pokhara. I decided to wait!

Since we had another half a day to spend we asked around for suggestions for a short trek (like we had not had enough). We walked to the next village on the opposite side and passed beautiful corn and wheat fields. We enjoyed our bonus trek and took in some more amazing landscapes before we departed.

The next morning we registered at the ACAP office and surrendered our trekking permits. We felt sad to see some notices of missing persons and thanked God that we had made it safely so far.
We walked to the airport with our fingers crossed and were very greatly relieved to board the plane.
The aircraft was a short-take off flight with capacity of 16 people. It was a scary experience, but lasted only for 20 minutes. The view was breath taking and for the 1st time I realized that most of Nepal is mountains and wondered about the tough living conditions of the people.
After landing, we immediately took a taxi to the bus station and boarded a bus to Kathmandu. After a torturous 6 hour ride through snaking roads with numerous hair-pin bends we reached the capital.

Final hours at Kathmandu

After surrendering our rented gear and saying good bye to Mithoo with a generous tip, we treated ourselves to a heavenly lunch of Naan, Paneer Masala and Biryani. Later I soaked in the bath tub and tucked into a clean and cozy bed.

The next day we visited Pashupatinath temple of Lord Shiva. We were very impressed with it especially the huge Nandi (Bull).
After buying some gifts for people back home we went to the airport to make the journey back home!

For more pictures of the mountains on the other side of the pass click Here