Our 18 minute flight into Jomsom was quite exciting. It was a small plane, holding 30 people. To land in Jomsom, you have to do a steep bank right against the mountains, while being buffered by the incessant wind. It made for a roller coaster ride. My porter, Krishna, had never flown. His face was blanched and I know he was very glad when we landed. He didn't know how to undo the seat belt because he had never used one.
We started out right away and went to this cool town called Kagbeni, where you can see people living like they have for hundreds of years. In the old section of town, all the construction is stones and cement, dirt floors, animals roam freely, and shrines and religion are tightly woven in to daily life.
I had a nice room with wood floors and my own bathroom in the guesthouse we stayed at. I ate something wrong there, and it took about 12 hours for it to leave my body. Kind of wiped me out. I was hoping to make it past the first day before that happened!
It meant we had to forego Muktinath, and come back to Jomsom. I just didn't have it in me to climb 3000 feet in 5 miles, and we weren't able to get the jeep we thought we could get. After resting today in Jomsom, things are looking up. By tomorrow I should be hopping again.
The mountains here are breathtaking, and this isn't considered an especially scenic area. Just a taste of what is to come.
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Ah Rain! How little changes! I could be reading my own story in yours. How much I remember the travel exhaustion, the following days of excitement and then the culture shock that nearly sent me home after only two weeks.
ReplyDeleteAfter several sweaty months in Calcutta I remember arriving in Kathmandu and being thrilled that I could eat chocolate that was nickle-free. And though I took pictures of the stairs leading up to the Monkey Temple - the idea that one could be considered holy if they were ascended without stopping to rest - [their steepness] was not conveyed in my photos.
I loved Pokhara too - and you are right about the transcending location, there were many days I would sit out on my porch overlooking Lake Whatcom and think how much it reminded me of Pokhara. I know it wasn't just me.. when my friend Devi from Kathmandu came to visit he thought the same. After leaving Pokhara I went back to Kathmandu and then on to Varanasi. Nothing was more surreal (and dirty) than this place...
Thank you for letting me relive my trip (actually it was supposed to have been with YOU!)...that was nearly 16 years ago now.
Cheers to you friend!
Laura (Harper) Kaptinski
So wonderful to read about you living your adventures! Keep the updates coming!
ReplyDeleteLawrence
Hi Rain...mom and dad are here for a few weeks and we were just looking at your blog and all of your travel plans. It all looks very cool and I am sure you are enjoying every minute (except for the stomach worries maybe :) All in a day's travel! Will check in from time to time to see how things are going. Love Heidi
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