Co-Founder Visits Popular Jomsom-Muktinath
Trekking Route
April 26, 2009
Co-Founder Bijay Kumar Rana was
given the opportunity to visit the areas of Jomsom and Muktinath, one of the
most popular trekking excursions in Nepal. Bijay along with 9 of his closest
friends rented motorcycles to complete the journey, riding 11 hours from Pokhara
to Jomsom on Day One. The next morning, Mother Nature assured them their long
journey the day before would not go without reward, “We woke up and
there was a beautiful sunrise on the mountains full of white snow, and the
golden rays of the sun had made the snow shine like gold along the mountain
top. When I saw it, first I shouted and went back to our rooms to wake my
friends…after they all came out and saw the [beauty] we all shouted
and were [so] happy! We [gathered hands] in a circle and worshipped loudly
and prayed.”
After the boys enjoyed their morning
in the golden sunshine, they made their way towards Tatopani, located along
the border of Nepal and Tibet) where they stayed in a local hotel and took
2-hour showers in the natural hot springs of which Tatopani is famous for.
It was most relaxing as the boys had had a difficult ride on the way to Tatopani,
“…the road was very bad and very dangerous. Our [behinds] were
all swollen and giving us lots of pain.” Here they spent the next couple
of days before leaving again for Muktinath. The route they took started from
Baglung, 170.877mi (275km) west of Kathmandu situated on a plateau overlooking
the Kali Gandaki valley, and ended in Pokhara.
Located in the north-central region
of Nepal and northwest of Pokhara, Jomsom is located 20 minutes from the Kali
Gandaki river valley leading to Muktinath. Although Bijay and his friends
took their motorcycles for this journey, tackling the trek by foot takes approximately
9 days. Maximum elevation is 12,467.2ft (3,800m) with prime trekking season
occurring from October to May. The trek is surrounded by the Himalayan mountain
range and is mostly dry and quite desolate. The terrain is comparable to that
of the mountain desserts of Utah, Nevada and parts of Colorado minus the extreme
elevations. During the monsoon season (June – August), the Kali Gandaki
river is flooded by the frequent downpours that occur here. For more information
on this trek, check out Lonely Planet’s Nepal at your local
library or bookstore.
Bijay thanks everyone
for supporting him on his journey and is grateful for having been given the
opportunity to join his friends. The experience has been one he will never
forget and uses it to tell stories to the DHF Children about exploration and
adventure!
