Part 2, to Kagbeni

So we were all gung-ho for our flight. It was delayed, and delayed, and then our guide told us that yesterday all flights had been cancelled, and then we had another delay. And then, miracle of miracles, boarding was announced! So we rushed out and boarded. The plane had clearly seen better days, just look at the crack in that window:

Undeterred by this, we remained on the plane. After an uneventful ride, we entered the valley where Jomsom is located. We flew pretty much straight over the airstrip and continued up the valley. The valley soon opened up into a large bowl, and here we made a sharp 180-degree turn. Joe felt she could touch the mountainside... We started descending, and hit the runway no more than a meter after the asphalt started. An adventurous landing!

Moving from Pokhara to Jomsom gives an altitude difference of almost 2000 meters. Between Kathmandu and Jomsom it is almost 1400 meters. Consequently we took it real easy the first 3 hours on advice from our guide. Then we started walking slowly towards Kagbeni, our stop for the night.

These first 3 hours were uneventful. A strong wind gusting from behind us, a jeepable road under out feet and Joe and me walking together to find our hiking-feet. The landscape up here is dramatic, and unlike any other I have seen. Mountains and sediments have been worn and sculpted by the seasons, the water and that ultimate landscape-shaper time.

Arriving in Kagbeni and settling in the tea house, we note a large poster of Lhasa on the wall. It is a recurring theme on the trek: Every tea house has at least one poster from Lhasa, and they all refer to it as Tibet. Not Tibet, China.

Not all the posters are good though. Some have been photoshopped to add Chinese lions in front of Potala Palace, others add small pagodas. And the shadows fall in opposite directions. Regardless, these are obviously treasured pictures since they are endemic to the area.