it was a week long eventful trip by road, foot and air, and it took us from fine weather to incessant rain and back to glorious weather. we started by road from kathmandu and made it all the way to muktinath with stopovers in pokhara, tatopani, ghasa, thasang and jomsom, and day trips to kagbeni and muktinath.
although we started the trip post dasain, we walked through 'monsoony' weather for two days. that meant green hills, gushing white streams and waterfalls, white wispy clouds that hugged the steep hillsides and the kali gandaki river in all her power and muddy fury.
once the rain was gone.. we were left with blue skies, silver himalaya and the brown arid mountains of transhimalayan nepal.. and of course the incredible writhing rock formations on either side of the kali gandaki valley.. tell signs of the labour pains of the tectonic plates colliding against each other and giving birth to the himalaya...just awesome... and so humbling
we drove to pokhara where machhapuchhre was playing lukamari with the clouds
annapurna two and four amongst the clouds
peepal leaves in the twilight
on day two... pokhara yet to wake up on an overcast morning...
even the boats seem asleep...
...on our way to beni.. two walking grass stacks...
beni around the river bend...
...beni ko bajaar, jata maya utai chha najar, tirey mirey jaali rumaal...
... cliff above beni...
tell tale signs of the rainy weather ahead...
as we headed northwards in myagdi, the kali gandaki gorge got narrower and narrower... showing how the river has been patiently cutting through the rocks over millions of years...
a really treacherous stretch.. a rocky overhang
an everest look alike mountain above tatopani
massage and hot springs ...
... increasing level of water in the kali gandaki...
... after a whole nights rain, this is what the kali gandaki looked like in the morning..
ms gauchan in her 'whatever-you-want-i-have-it' store...
... clouds...
rain-fed waterfall
a beautiful house of the sherchan 'subbas' in dana (their summer capital)
bridge over muddy waters
a river in a hurry to rush to the plains
cutting stones slab by slab
black and white meet.. fair rukse khola meets with her darker cousin
rukse chahara tumbles down the hillside
rukse
a water mill, ghatta
a woman near kabre
road hewn through the rocks
living on the edge.. a beautiful shrub on the edge of the raod.. kali gandaki is way below
this is the spot where kali gandaki jumps a couple of metres in froth and mist.. so much of unharnessed power...
... an engineering feat.. carving a road in the steep gorge... unsafe, to say the least...!
the river squeezes through the narrow gorge
...balancing act...
...delicate blooms...
... rock carved by the river...
...and now defaced by passers-by...
...misty greenery...
...buckwheat field in ghansa...
bhainsis of ghansa
...corn on the sill...
...on day four rain was pouring...
... a white and black sangam again...
...land slides to meet the kali gandaki...
...gnashing and roaring...
...crossing the lete khola over towards chho...
... looking back at where lete khola meets kali gandaki...
...promise of a widening river north of kalopani...
flooded streams and kholas and made river crossing difficult
... these streams are in turn fed by numerous waterfalls...
... kali gandaki seems to be free and untethered beyond kalopani... able to criss cross a wide valley at her will...
when the rains stopped, the mountains could be seen glistening under moonlight from thasang village
next morning we got a panoramic view of the dhaulagiri, tukche peak and nilgiri himal that seem to encircle thasang village... dhaulagairi gets the first rays of the sun...
saat saya thak at dawn
... buckwheat fields in thasang ...
the cluster of homes in thasang village...
moon about to set near dhaulagiri
tukche village in the distance...
... airplanes start buzzzing to and fro in the valley.. this one headed for jomsom from pokhara
... thasang village resort from the inside...
... and outside...
an old sheep revered as a holy reincarnation--turku
flowers in thasang
... lukamari with the clouds...
local chorten in near hotel gate
... seems like a perfect place for heli-skiing!
aircraft nosing in for jomsom airport
nilgiri in the distance
vehicular movement along the kali gandaki is on the rise...
... in tukche...
carved windows in tukche
wind and snow...
sheep being herded to greener pastures
details of snow and rocks
cream-green-brown-black-white-blue cassata
misty waterfall.. the water being blown away by the wind
nature's layers...
apples in marpha
in the white lanes of marpha
still marpha
snowy cascade of nilgiri...
tectonic contortions
from syang...
new sign, questionable...
dhaulagiri at dawn from jomsom
... and nilgiri...
early morning flight at the jomsom phutang airport
nilgiri panorama
rocky contortions on way to kagbeni
the shrubs get less and less as you venture northwards along the kali gandaki valley
looking like a manicured japanese garden
mud that sucks up stones like quicksand
dust being kicked up on the river basin by the wind... quite less as the sand was still wet following fresh rainfall...
approaching kagbeni...
signs of contortions of a different sort... federalism!
proof that we are in apple country.. apple momo? quite nice, actually!!
a broken ammonite (shaligram) i picked up from the riverbed.. proof that these hills were once 'neath the sea...
wind picks up in kagbeni and takes the prayers heavenwards...
the holy pinda sthal.. confluence of kagbeni khola and kali gandaki
sunrays filter through the clouds...
land plotting up here too?
driving past the fields of kagbeni...
wind hewn canyons beyond kagbeni
climbing up from kagbeni towards road to muktinath
the road winds its way atop a plateau.. with crystal clear air
...picture perfect scenery near jharkot...
yellowing leaves add to the beauty
wall paintings in the 550 year-old gumba in jharkot
the scene from the top of the gumba.. looking southwards
...and northwards
a chorten in jharkot
dhaulagiri makes her 8000 metre status felt.. as she towers in the distance.. caught here amidst wires and prayer poles in muktinath
:)
looking down and westwards from the entrance of the muktinath temple
dhaulagiri.. looking like a nepali topi
kagbeni khola chugs down the hillside
devotees' offerings at muktinath keep ringing their faith...
a giant ammonite (shaligram) inside the temple premises
beautiful muktinath temple
the holy water spouts that line the back of the temple
'red (holy!) cow' prayer wheels!
dusting of snow in the mountains surrounding the temple... we got a sprinkling at muktinath as well!
a perky rodent...
himalayan view on the way back
yak and beyond
a different take on dhaulagiri.. this one taken during the flight back to pokhara
it was intriguing to trace the route we'd walked days earlier.. below is rukse waterfall, where we'd stopped by for lunch with a view...
high altitude bhedi goth above the kali gandaki gorge
a final look back at dhaulagiri's cousins in the distance...
although we started the trip post dasain, we walked through 'monsoony' weather for two days. that meant green hills, gushing white streams and waterfalls, white wispy clouds that hugged the steep hillsides and the kali gandaki river in all her power and muddy fury.
once the rain was gone.. we were left with blue skies, silver himalaya and the brown arid mountains of transhimalayan nepal.. and of course the incredible writhing rock formations on either side of the kali gandaki valley.. tell signs of the labour pains of the tectonic plates colliding against each other and giving birth to the himalaya...just awesome... and so humbling
we drove to pokhara where machhapuchhre was playing lukamari with the clouds
phewa tal was her playful ripply self
annapurna two and four amongst the clouds
peepal leaves in the twilight
on day two... pokhara yet to wake up on an overcast morning...
even the boats seem asleep...
...on our way to beni.. two walking grass stacks...
beni around the river bend...
...beni ko bajaar, jata maya utai chha najar, tirey mirey jaali rumaal...
... cliff above beni...
tell tale signs of the rainy weather ahead...
as we headed northwards in myagdi, the kali gandaki gorge got narrower and narrower... showing how the river has been patiently cutting through the rocks over millions of years...
a really treacherous stretch.. a rocky overhang
an everest look alike mountain above tatopani
massage and hot springs ...
... increasing level of water in the kali gandaki...
... after a whole nights rain, this is what the kali gandaki looked like in the morning..
ms gauchan in her 'whatever-you-want-i-have-it' store...
... clouds...
rain-fed waterfall
a beautiful house of the sherchan 'subbas' in dana (their summer capital)
bridge over muddy waters
a river in a hurry to rush to the plains
cutting stones slab by slab
black and white meet.. fair rukse khola meets with her darker cousin
rukse chahara tumbles down the hillside
rukse
a water mill, ghatta
a woman near kabre
road hewn through the rocks
living on the edge.. a beautiful shrub on the edge of the raod.. kali gandaki is way below
this is the spot where kali gandaki jumps a couple of metres in froth and mist.. so much of unharnessed power...
... an engineering feat.. carving a road in the steep gorge... unsafe, to say the least...!
the river squeezes through the narrow gorge
...balancing act...
...delicate blooms...
... rock carved by the river...
...and now defaced by passers-by...
...misty greenery...
...buckwheat field in ghansa...
bhainsis of ghansa
...corn on the sill...
...on day four rain was pouring...
... a white and black sangam again...
...land slides to meet the kali gandaki...
...gnashing and roaring...
...crossing the lete khola over towards chho...
... looking back at where lete khola meets kali gandaki...
...promise of a widening river north of kalopani...
flooded streams and kholas and made river crossing difficult
... these streams are in turn fed by numerous waterfalls...
... kali gandaki seems to be free and untethered beyond kalopani... able to criss cross a wide valley at her will...
when the rains stopped, the mountains could be seen glistening under moonlight from thasang village
next morning we got a panoramic view of the dhaulagiri, tukche peak and nilgiri himal that seem to encircle thasang village... dhaulagairi gets the first rays of the sun...
saat saya thak at dawn
... buckwheat fields in thasang ...
the cluster of homes in thasang village...
moon about to set near dhaulagiri
tukche village in the distance...
... airplanes start buzzzing to and fro in the valley.. this one headed for jomsom from pokhara
... thasang village resort from the inside...
... and outside...
an old sheep revered as a holy reincarnation--turku
flowers in thasang
... lukamari with the clouds...
local chorten in near hotel gate
... seems like a perfect place for heli-skiing!
aircraft nosing in for jomsom airport
nilgiri in the distance
vehicular movement along the kali gandaki is on the rise...
... in tukche...
carved windows in tukche
wind and snow...
sheep being herded to greener pastures
details of snow and rocks
cream-green-brown-black-white-blue cassata
misty waterfall.. the water being blown away by the wind
nature's layers...
apples in marpha
in the white lanes of marpha
still marpha
snowy cascade of nilgiri...
tectonic contortions
from syang...
new sign, questionable...
dhaulagiri at dawn from jomsom
... and nilgiri...
early morning flight at the jomsom phutang airport
nilgiri panorama
rocky contortions on way to kagbeni
the shrubs get less and less as you venture northwards along the kali gandaki valley
looking like a manicured japanese garden
mud that sucks up stones like quicksand
dust being kicked up on the river basin by the wind... quite less as the sand was still wet following fresh rainfall...
approaching kagbeni...
signs of contortions of a different sort... federalism!
proof that we are in apple country.. apple momo? quite nice, actually!!
a broken ammonite (shaligram) i picked up from the riverbed.. proof that these hills were once 'neath the sea...
wind picks up in kagbeni and takes the prayers heavenwards...
the holy pinda sthal.. confluence of kagbeni khola and kali gandaki
sunrays filter through the clouds...
land plotting up here too?
driving past the fields of kagbeni...
wind hewn canyons beyond kagbeni
climbing up from kagbeni towards road to muktinath
the road winds its way atop a plateau.. with crystal clear air
...picture perfect scenery near jharkot...
yellowing leaves add to the beauty
wall paintings in the 550 year-old gumba in jharkot
the scene from the top of the gumba.. looking southwards
...and northwards
a chorten in jharkot
dhaulagiri makes her 8000 metre status felt.. as she towers in the distance.. caught here amidst wires and prayer poles in muktinath
:)
looking down and westwards from the entrance of the muktinath temple
dhaulagiri.. looking like a nepali topi
kagbeni khola chugs down the hillside
devotees' offerings at muktinath keep ringing their faith...
a giant ammonite (shaligram) inside the temple premises
beautiful muktinath temple
the holy water spouts that line the back of the temple
'red (holy!) cow' prayer wheels!
dusting of snow in the mountains surrounding the temple... we got a sprinkling at muktinath as well!
a perky rodent...
himalayan view on the way back
yak and beyond
a different take on dhaulagiri.. this one taken during the flight back to pokhara
it was intriguing to trace the route we'd walked days earlier.. below is rukse waterfall, where we'd stopped by for lunch with a view...
high altitude bhedi goth above the kali gandaki gorge
a final look back at dhaulagiri's cousins in the distance...
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