The Himalayas on Horseback
Himalayas, Nepal, 2014-02-20 02:29 by Laerke
I’ve always wanted to go trekking in the Himalayas. Maybe it is because Denmark is so flat that I’m so drawn to these tall mountains. And now that we were in Nepal we were almost there! There is one major problem however – my knees are no good. Last year it got so bad for a period of several months that I could barely walk. They are okay now, but they can’t deal with me putting too much strain on them. Then I got the idea of renting horses to help carry my bags – and me when I needed a break. And that is just what we did; we got two sturdy, sweet and fluffy horses with hearts made of gold. They were damn near impossible to scare and they seemed to know the route, also the horse guide could control them by his voice so he could make them go, stop etc. just by calling out to them. They were often left untied – there really aren’t anywhere to tie up horses on a barren mountain side – and they would just stay put. They were PERFECT for this trip! The scenery I got to see with the help of these strong horses were out of this world! Just pure magic :) I think I’ll always look back at these days in the mountains with a smile on my face.



After our long journey to Jomsom, we set to work straight away arranging everything for our horse trek further up into the mountains for the following day. We asked around a bit for horses and ended up arranging it with the guy running the TIMS office (TIMS is a permit all trekkers must have to enter the Annapurna). The price for the horses was 2000rs per horse per day and we would also pay for the horse guide’s food. The horse guide; Ram was a nice guy who could speak a little bit of English, and to our great amusement he called Martin for Papa! Even though Ram was probably a good 10-15 years older than us. The first morning of our trek we set off from Jomsom enroute to Kagbeni via the windy pass. It was a tough and very steep slog up the mountain to the pass but the views were so magical!


Sitte carrying our bags up to the pass.




The walk wasn’t too bad for my knees, and when there were level stretches where the path wasn’t too narrow I rode on Martin’s horse. Martin’s horse was big and strong, it felt like it has a lot more power than mine.


At the top of the pass!

The weather was clear and the sun was shining. This whole area – and especially this pass – is infamous for its strong winds. Luckily the wind wasn’t bad at all while we climbed up to the pass, and on the top it was only a little stronger. We felt really lucky with the weather, the mountains were so beautiful and majestic and I was taking a lot of photos! :)

Going down the other side of the pass there was a fair bit of snow, the sun didn’t warm this side of the mountain sufficiently to melt the snow.


Martin and Sitte making their way down the snowy mountain side.

The ponies remained just as sure footed in the snow, and we also quickly left this snowy patch which did wonders for our cold feet :)

Before long we reached a tiny village of stonehouses, a guy was practicing his bow and arrow skills in front of his house, and another man lead a big yak down the road in front of us. Other than these two men and a bunch of livestock the town seemed deserted, but I’m guessing people were just in doors. In the next small village we reached Ram looked around for a place for us to get some lunch, there was some talking back and forth in Nepalese with a few women. It was still outside of the normal tourist season, not that there were any tourist restaurants or guesthouses in this small village, and it seemed like Ram was having a hard time convincing anyone to cook for us. In the end a nice family took us in, the mother in traditional Tibetan clothes with the characteristic stripy apron got to work in the kitchen while her young daughter who spoke remarkably good English served us tea. The house was lovely, with wooden floors and a big sitting room where a whole wall was covered in shelves floor to loft filled with pots and pans, thermos and coffee sets etc. This was identical to what we saw in the houses in Ladakh in India a couple of years ago. I wonder if it is some kind of dowry and it if acts as a safety that the family can sell from if the hit hard times. Or maybe they just have some huge parties sometimes! There really was way more than any family would need.

After a lovely lunch of hot noodle soup we set off again. At one point we had to cross a looooong suspension bridge crossing a valley, the horses walked calmly across this swaying bridge – they really were good horses!



In the early afternoon we reached Kagbeni, an ancient medieval town. We quickly found a guesthouse with a stable and soon the horses were happily munching away in their enclosure. We could see them from our bedroom window, we could also see right down the windswept valley and up to the towering mountains. It is not everyday you get a view like that for 200rps (11dkk or 2 US dollars). The room was nice and sunny and there was an attached bathroom. It seems like almost all the guesthouses up here sell their rooms incredibly cheap, what they make their money on is the food. The food was also quite a bit more expensive up here, the most extreme was when we paid 150rps for a bottle of water that normally costs 20rps! Still most of the prices were reasonable considering they have to bring everything up there.

We set off to explore the atmospheric, walled city, it was really interesting to wind out way through the narrow streets - but again we hardly saw a soul! We ended up at the monastery where a young monk gave us a quick tour.





From Kagbeni we headed towards Muktinath. There is actually road all the way from Jomsom to Muktinath and some people say that this new road has ruined the trek. The road however is just the old trekking path that has been expanded a bit, and there are other trails so it is quite possible to avoid the road all together. This is what we did. By using the alternative trails we took a longer, but a lot more beautiful route. We really loved it and did in no way feel that this trek is ruined! Also being outside of the tourist season we never once met another group of tourist while on the trails. I believe that it is quite rare on the Annapurna Circuit, but maybe a lot of people skip the Jomsom to Muktinath leg because of the new road? We felt like we had the whole thing to ourselves :)


The trip was so fantastic even the horses were grinning!

The trail from Kagbeni to Muktinath through the small villages of Putak and Jhong was absolutely gorgeous! And we had a perfect view of the Thorung Laa Pass. As we reached Jhong, we found a small guesthouse and got settled in for the night.


The Thorung Laa Pass in the background, and the village of Putak in front.



My little, white horse was called Sitte, Martin’s larger and slightly grey horse had a name so complicated we never really learned it…






Ram, our horse guide and Sitte

After the wonderful weather we’d had, it came as quite the surprise to wake up the next morning to a snow covered landscape! The sky was hanging low and looking very heavy and grey. We warmed ourselves on hot tea and porridge for breakfast and feeling a bit reluctant to head out into all the cold and wet. But off we went into the mist - now all the mountains were obscured by the clouds and snow.





Maybe because of the cold we both came down with flu like symptoms, Martin’s nose was running and my throat was sore, we decided to call it quits, while we still felt like we were ahead. We had already had a fantastic trek through this unbelievable stunning but harsh landscape, so upon arrival in Muktinath we said goodbye to our wonderful horses and Ram and jumped in a jeep that would take us back to Jomsom. The jeep of course broke down on the way and a trip that was only supposed to be an hour ended up taking three! But with some seriously cold feet we got back to Jomsom and the next morning we were on a bus back down. It was a long day but we reached Pokhara around dusk. Here we celebrated our successful trek with delicious food by the fireplace in on of Pokhara’s many great restaurants.