Day 26 - Nov 4 - Jomsom!

Day 26 was the last of our trek. We were now less than ten kilometers from Jomsom, most of it downhill. As we came past the first farming village, we could hear a symphony of animal bells and farm workers singing. We climbed over a small ridge and descended a long, steep scree slope, which was very hard on Marcia.

The scenery was of unbelievable scale. Directly across the valley was the face of Nilgiri, part of the Annapurna massif. Further down our side of the valley was the peak of Dhauligiri I. Between the two, the Kali Gandaki river flowed through the Himalaya in a valley 6000 meters (20,000 feet) beneath the summits on either side. This is generally considered the deepest valley on Earth, though the Chinese recently dispatched a team to the Tibetan border to "scientifically prove" that the great bend of the Yarlung Tsampo / Brahmaputra is deeper. Regardless, it was a sight to behold during our last descent.


And then suddenly we were in Jomsom. After a few hundred meters of trail along the riverbank, we found ourselves walking down a stone-paved street past jeeps and motorcycles. Our hotel was near the airport on the other end of town, and along the way we passed the Nepal Army School of Mountain Warfare, a bit of a joke considering how badly they fought a loosely organized band of 15,000 Maoists over the last decade. Marcia and I hadn't seen a military or police presence since we left Dunai 25 days ago.

Jomsom has changed since some of our friends visited in the Eighties. A road down the valley now lets motorized vehicles bring people and goods in and out. The stretch near the airport is lined with dozens of trekker hotels offering nice rooms and international dial telephones to the thousands of foreigners passing through on the popular Annapurna loop.

We took hot showers and had a big lunch in our hotel's upstairs dining room. From our window we could see groups of trekkers stopping in at the checkpost. They all looked so clean! Personal cleanliness must be a lot easier in the local teahouses than in a tent in Dolpo.

In the evening, Sonam and his crew served a huge feast now that they had access to better ingredients and equipment. After dinner, we gathered everyone to give thanks and the obligatory tips, a standard ritual at the end of any trek. Marcia handed out ceremonial katas (scarfs) and I distributed wads of cash to each person in proportion to their contribution. Everyone seemed genuinely happy. We had been through a lot together.