Day 136 - 2800 Metres Elevation. Muktineth to Kagbeni

Officially, the road leading to, and Kagbeni itself, lie within the Mustang region. Closed to foreign visitors until 1991, and outside Kagbeni still requiring a hefty $700US entry fee and guide, Mustang is one of the last forbidden kingdoms of the world. The area is wildly beautiful with golden mountains and snowy peaks interspersed with patchworks of cultivation and trees along any watersource. We heard that this area is the most like Tibet that we will find anywhere on the trail. If so, Tibet must be a beautiful country. (Yes, I know it is technically a province of China, but it should be it's own country. Free Tibet!)

The landscape here is in full blaze of Autumn, and after the cool blue, grey, and white pallette of the high peaks this world seems drenched in colour. We (UW, her friends, and I) had a bit of an Abbey road moment crossing a stream. It reminded me of the "Abbey Road" Picture Cz took of the Irish Boys, The German, and I as we entered Santiago.

For the next part of this post, you need to know my relationship with pot. I have tried it a few times, and every time, it has either made me hallucinate or given me vertigo. It is not the stuff I have been smoking - I've always smoked in a group, and no one else has had those effects. When I get vertigo, the swaying, spinning world makes me motion sick. Not fun. Therefore, I do not like smoking. That said, I enjoy the processes involved in smoking. I like the harvesting of the bud, the trimming, the rolling, etc.

In Nepal, weed grows like, well, weeds. It's technically illegal, but then it's technically illegal in Amstedam too. UW and I entertained ourselves on the way to Kagbeni by harvesting along the road.

Kagbeni is a picturesque stone town nestled in a curve of the river. Highlights included the 500 year old chorten at the entrance of town. Once inside, one is rewarded with 400 year old original paintings of Buddha in various incarnations. Passing through its low portal ensures a long, peaceful life. Once in town, many of the shops are aimed at trekkers. Our favourite - the Yak Donalds. Goats are the main traffic, though we did have to step a side for string of pack yaks at one point. I was very happy about this as I had been waiting the whole trek to call "Watch out, pack yak!" Pack yak just fun to say.

We arrived in town midday, and found a guest house with only four rooms. Consequently we had the whole place to ourselves, and spent the afternoon doing laundry, eating, relaxing, playing cards, listening to music, sampling the newly harvested weed, and recovering from our 2600 metre day yesterday (1000 up Thorung La, and 1600 metres back down).