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After a mega sleep and a hearty breakfast we took a gentle stroll up to the temple at Muktinath. Muktinath is a sacred town fo both hindu's and Buddhistsand both share the temple grounds with the Hindu temple alongside the buddhist Gompa's. Hari washed his face from all 108 cows head which spout water. Hari say's this promotes health and long life. We also went inside the Buddhist Gompa where a natural gas flam glows from the earth.
Shortly after 12 we started the short and very downhill trek to Kagbeni. After yesterday's 1600m descent the thighs are hurting and this is another 1000m drop. After negotiating another 'Hari shortcut' which left me caked in mud we stopped at the Romeo & Juliet Lodge in Khingar for a swift noodle soup. The trek today wa hugely enjoyable. The landscape dramatically different yet again, now taking an almost Arizona like style, rugged barren and windblown appearance. We descended into Kagbeni after enjoying distant views of Dhalagiri and Annapurna, massive mountains which we will soon be meeting up close and personal.
We managed to locate the guesthouse, the 'Shangri-La' which some of the group we crossed the pass with were staying.
View from the temple grounds
The mighty Dhalagiri is on the left. Fifth highest peak on the planetThe accomodation on the Annapurna Circuit is very cheap, indeed some of the trekkers we have met do not pay anything for a room, the caveat being that you are required to eat dinner and breakfast at the guesthouse you are staying in. As our group arrived in Kagbeni at lunchtime they ate at the guesthouseearlier in the day and went to a differnt guesthouse for dinner. Darren and I joined them afterwards for drinks, fulfilling our dinner obligation at the Shangri-La. The owner of the Shangri-La seemed a little miffed our friends were eating dinner elsewhere and thus decided to lay down a 2100 curfew to return to the guesthouse. As dinner was taking a little longer than expected myself and darren returned to the guesthouse at 2100 exactly. Door firmly locked. I'm whacking the door 'Hello! Namaste!" Nothing. Thankfully Hari heard my yelling from his room and came down to get us in. The owner and all her little friends were still inside and perfectly within earshot of the front door. Everyone was back within a few minutes and we all spent some money on a few drinks which clearly cheered her up as she presented us all
with white good luck scarfs in the morning to see us on our way. A happy ending.
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