Nepal Revisited 10
The Last Part of the Journey
Tukeche to Marpha and Jomsom
We got up early and headed for Marpha, having only a cup of tea before we left. Dawa had told us it was only a 45 minute walk to Marpha but this turned out to be and hour and a quarter. I think he was worried that we'd insist on having breakfast before we left it we'd known how far it was and he'd probably have been right. I was feeling the lack of food by the time we got to Marpha and wasn't interested in admiring the pretty village til I had some food inside me.
Once I had refuelled I was more than happy to spend an hour wandering around taking photos. Jomsom was only another hour's walk from Marpha so we had plently of time to explore. Like Tukeche, Marpha turned out to be a pretty little walled village of squat, white-washed houses laid out in narrow, winding streets. Like Tukeche, the roofs were stacked with fiirewood and the doors and windows were brightly painted.
Narrow, winding street in Marpha
Decorative Window
Both Tukeche and Marpha had small entrance buildings that were topped by a stupa, similar to the one in the monkey temple back in Kathmandu. These small buildings also contained prayer wheels along their inner walls - so you could say a quick prayer on your way in and out of the village, I suppose.
Village entrance
We set off for Jomsom, the last stop on our trek and while I had a definite sense of achievement, I was also sad that the trek was coming to an end and Ian felt the same. Alot of the time, over the 8 days, I'd insist on Ian walking on ahead of me - he's much fitter than I am and also a bit on the hyper side so it was better that he walk at his own pace and I just catch up with him at rest-stops etc. However, on the final walk into Jomsom it seemed important that we walk in together since we'd started out together. Silly, I know.
We headed back up the riverbed to Jomsom with the famous wind at our backs. The views of the snow-capped mountains were fantastic but it was cold and very blustery so we hurried on to Jomsom. We arrived around lunchtime and booked into our hotel - a much fancier establishment than anywhere else we'd stayed on the trek. Not that we were complaining - it was great to be able to have a truely hot shower in a proper tiled bathroom.
En Route to Jomsom
View back towards Marpha
Village dwarfed by ENORMOUS mountain
After washing we went to have a look around and quickly discovered that Jomsom was little more than a mainstreet of architecturally uninteresting buildings that had inflated inmportance because it had an airstrip. Flights went to and from Pokhara each morning between 7.30am and 10am at which point the wind would come up and all flights would have to cease. In fact, several days a week there would be no flights at all because the wind would come up early or Pokhara would have too much mist for the planes to take off. It was possible to get stuck in Jomsom for several days if the weather was against you. We were really hoping this wouldn't happen because although Jomsom had an Internet Cafe there was NOTHING and I mean NOTHING else to do in that town. The Internet Cafe was also bloody freezing - pretty much like everywhere else in the Mustang Region. And I'm not sure what I was more worried about - getting stuck in Jomsom or climbing into a 14 seater plane to fly back to Pokhara!
Tukeche to Marpha and Jomsom
We got up early and headed for Marpha, having only a cup of tea before we left. Dawa had told us it was only a 45 minute walk to Marpha but this turned out to be and hour and a quarter. I think he was worried that we'd insist on having breakfast before we left it we'd known how far it was and he'd probably have been right. I was feeling the lack of food by the time we got to Marpha and wasn't interested in admiring the pretty village til I had some food inside me.
Once I had refuelled I was more than happy to spend an hour wandering around taking photos. Jomsom was only another hour's walk from Marpha so we had plently of time to explore. Like Tukeche, Marpha turned out to be a pretty little walled village of squat, white-washed houses laid out in narrow, winding streets. Like Tukeche, the roofs were stacked with fiirewood and the doors and windows were brightly painted.
Narrow, winding street in Marpha
Decorative Window
Both Tukeche and Marpha had small entrance buildings that were topped by a stupa, similar to the one in the monkey temple back in Kathmandu. These small buildings also contained prayer wheels along their inner walls - so you could say a quick prayer on your way in and out of the village, I suppose.
Village entrance
We set off for Jomsom, the last stop on our trek and while I had a definite sense of achievement, I was also sad that the trek was coming to an end and Ian felt the same. Alot of the time, over the 8 days, I'd insist on Ian walking on ahead of me - he's much fitter than I am and also a bit on the hyper side so it was better that he walk at his own pace and I just catch up with him at rest-stops etc. However, on the final walk into Jomsom it seemed important that we walk in together since we'd started out together. Silly, I know.
We headed back up the riverbed to Jomsom with the famous wind at our backs. The views of the snow-capped mountains were fantastic but it was cold and very blustery so we hurried on to Jomsom. We arrived around lunchtime and booked into our hotel - a much fancier establishment than anywhere else we'd stayed on the trek. Not that we were complaining - it was great to be able to have a truely hot shower in a proper tiled bathroom.
En Route to Jomsom
View back towards Marpha
Village dwarfed by ENORMOUS mountain
After washing we went to have a look around and quickly discovered that Jomsom was little more than a mainstreet of architecturally uninteresting buildings that had inflated inmportance because it had an airstrip. Flights went to and from Pokhara each morning between 7.30am and 10am at which point the wind would come up and all flights would have to cease. In fact, several days a week there would be no flights at all because the wind would come up early or Pokhara would have too much mist for the planes to take off. It was possible to get stuck in Jomsom for several days if the weather was against you. We were really hoping this wouldn't happen because although Jomsom had an Internet Cafe there was NOTHING and I mean NOTHING else to do in that town. The Internet Cafe was also bloody freezing - pretty much like everywhere else in the Mustang Region. And I'm not sure what I was more worried about - getting stuck in Jomsom or climbing into a 14 seater plane to fly back to Pokhara!