Into the Mountains
Himalayas, Nepal, 2014-02-18 02:25 by Laerke
The weather forecast alerted us to the fact that there would be two to three days of bad weather coming up, so we weren’t surprised when we got to Pokhara and the skies were grey and the clouds were hanging low. We huddled up in our hotel room ordering room service.
After a pre-dawn wake-up for our 6.45am flight to Jomsom, followed by a four hour wait in the airport while the flight was on stand-by awaiting better weather that never arrived the flight got cancelled. This is apparently very common. We got re-scheduled onto next day’s flight and the next morning the exact same scenario played out! After several hours waiting the flight was again cancelled. We’d seen this coming and quickly initiated plan B. We got our tickets refunded and found a taxi to take us to Beni all within 30 minutes. From Beni we would find a shared jeep to take us to Jomsom. The drive from Pokhara to Beni was jaw-droppingly beautiful. The sun was shining from a blue sky and the taxi driver was sweet enough to stop so we could take some photos along the way.


Scenery on the way to Beni

The road was pretty good but as we got closer to Beni it quickly deteriorated, and we ended up being very impressed with our tiny taxi’s abilities. When we, after 2,5 hours, got to the bus and jeep station in Beni we were told by the man at the ticket booth that there were no jeeps to Jomsom, and no busses either. We could only get as far as Ghasa. We then tried to enquire about a jeep to Ghasa but were then told there were only busses… We did not really fancy a bus trip on what we imagined would be a very poor road but with no other options we bought two tickets and hopped on. Of course the bus was completely full with only two seats in the very back left, we reluctantly sat down and tried to cram our legs into the almost nonexistent legroom. We didn’t really succeed and had to sit sideways. We got on the way and it was one extremely bumpy ride! It was really very uncomfortable but the views were stunning! The road just got scarier and scarier, and there were a few times were I really wanted to get off the bus! But hats off to the bus and the bus driver that got us through this impossible terrain in one piece!


The road on the way to Ghasa

It was late afternoon when we reached very windy Ghasa, we checked into a guesthouse where the owner showed me one wooden door that had splintered from the strong winds! We got a room with bathroom for 500rps, and went for a walk in the village. It was a quaint little place with a narrow “main street” laid with large stones, and all the houses were also made out of stones.

Left: We met a friendly spotted dog on our walk. Right: Our sturdy bus

Back at the guesthouse we had dahl baht and tea for dinner and as soon as we were done we disappeared down our sleeping bags. It was cold! The wind was so loud, and kept banging doors open and making things tumble down all night long. It was one of those nights were it felt like I didn’t sleep at all though I probably did. Next morning at 8am we got on another bus going further north. Again the scenery was beautiful and we got seats almost at the front this time, this coupled with the road being much smoother because it is newer made for a pretty pleasant ride. Most of the time we drove along the river or in the dry riverbed so there were also no scary drops right at the edge of the road. At one point a little Nepalese girl pointed out the window – she’d seen a jackal running along the river bank! It had a pretty long and shaggy fur.


Dust is swirling in the mostly dry riverbed

After only two hours or so we arrived in Marpha our intended destination. We got off the bus and went in search of a guesthouse, we entered the old village and it was so pretty. Narrow stone lined paths with whitewashed stone houses on each side. Everything was closed though… We peeked in to a few hotels but they were all locked up, the only place with an open door also seemed deserted but I managed to find a guy but he told me that since this hotel was made with concrete floors it was just too cold! He said we were better of going further down the road to a wooden guesthouse. So of we went and we did manage to find a place that was open. It is a family run place and the only one who speaks any English is the moody looking daughter who looks to be about 10 years old, she however speaks pretty much perfect English!



After checking in we set of to explore the village some more, the highlight was definitely the temple perched on top of the village with a great view. Prayer flags were flapping in the wind and an old woman was turning a big prayer wheel while chanting.



Marpha is the apple capital of the Annapurna and we did see a lot of apple trees around, but now during the winter they have no leaves or apples. We could however buy dried apple snacks and apple juice. So delicious! The apple juice is made with the help of a German technical collage who have helped the villagers set up a juicery and bottled on large Tuborg bottles. We love it :)

After another cold night we took a bus another 1 hour north to Jomsom, the town we had planned on flying to. We had exchanged a 20 minute flight for a three day journey up through the mountains. While it had most certainly not been comfortable the views were worth it :)