Part 3, Kagbeni to Tsaile

After Kagbeni, the river has washed out the normal path. I get the impression that this is an everyday thing. A mere landslide, carrying thousands of tons of rock and sand, becomes a minor nuisance, something mentioned as an aside during breakfast. We need to take a "shortcut".

The path today will take us to Chhuksang in time for lunch, and then on to Tsaile for the evening. We only climb 300 meters or so, to be sure we minimise the risk of altitude sickness.

Soon after leaving Kagbeni, we can't help but be captivated by all the caves beehiving the sheer face of the mountain on the other side of the river. We do not know what these caves hold, and for me this is perfect imagination-fodder while walking! It seems obvious that the top caves are the oldest ones, and that they were built also to provide protection from the raging river. So as the river eroded its way ever deeper, the caves were expanded downwards. That is at least my speculation as my feet carry me through the landscape.


Soon we depart from the regular path and move uphill for the "short-cut". In general when hiking, short-cuts are a really bad idea. Old paths are typically following the route that will require the least energy-consumption and time. Any deviation from this is highly unlikely to lead to any improvements. And so it is here. The path gets adventurous, with us pushing through narrow cracks perched high above the river. Joe is not comfortable with this, and it gets worse when we need to descend on loose scree with nothing but a sheer drop down to the riverbed below. Progress is very slow, and the gusting wind adds to challenge of keeping balance. But slowly, slowly, we make it across and head for higher land.

The path takes us to a canyon landscape of eroded sediments. The shapes are an odd mixture of smooth, rounded curves and sharp, blunt edges. The walls are solid to the touch, but they crumble at the slightest impact of anything solid - even a knuckle will do. With the word "landslide" embedded in my mind, I move away from the pillars and get ready to move on. We have more walking to do before we reach our lunchbreak.

We descend to a dried-out riverbed, down a steep slope covered with gravel and sand. We partly slide, partly jump down. And then it is up on the other side. Little do we know that this is an exercise we will go through time and again over the coming days.

In Chhuksang we rest for lunch. Waterbottles are filled and the tea house owner tries to sell us some fossils (they are almost literally everywhere on the riverbed), as well as an old religious relic he apparently "rescued" from a monastery somewhere. It is very old, he assures us, but we have no intention of shopping anything on the way up to Lomanthang. Why carry the weight? He is soon joined by his brother who speaks good English and a better-than-average Putonghua. He and my wife converse in Putonghua for a while, until it is time for us to move on to Tsaile.

The path descends to the riverbed of Kali Gandaki again, and the path traces the eastern bank. We get an idea, and decide to try crossing the river to the other side, where it should be a straightforward walk along the dry riverbed to Tsaile. I'm wearing sandals and shorts, which is ideal for this kind of crossing. Joe is in trekking-shoes and pants - less ideal. The solution is to try to carry her across in a fireman's lift. After crossing not even a third of the river, it is clear that it will soon be too deep and to swift to cross safely in this manner. If we had a rope... But we have no rope, so we stick to what is left of the washed-away path. At one point, we pass beneath a large chunk of compacted sand and rock through which a large crack has formed. We are swift and light on our feet, and pass without drama.

Across a bridge, up a steep hill and we are in Tsaile, our rest for the night.