The Kali Gandaki valley is considered the first or second deepest on earth, a 2000-meter-high valley cutting between two 8000-meter peaks (Dhauligiri and Annapurna). In its upper reaches it stretches up to a Tibetan-culture region called Mustang, which is another "restricted area" that can be visited only with an expensive permit. It is an extremely dry area in the rain shadow of the Himalayas. It is historically isolated from both Nepal and Tibet and is still considered a separate kingdom inside Nepal.
We chose to come back here this spring for several reasons. There is a major festival called Tiji happening on May 10-12 this year, and it looks very colorful. We also wanted to get here fast before they finish the road up the valley from Nepal. (The road is already complete from the Tibetan side).
So we're now in Jomsom, the same place where we ended the first trek and divided the second in half. The flight up was uneventful despite the general strike, which required us to leave the hotel on a motorcycle at 5am to beat the roadblocks on the way to the airport. And the mountains were magnificent in clear weather early in the morning.
Even in Jomsom, the general strike has slowed things to a crawl. There are no buses or other transport, so we walk down the road to Marpha and back, pretending it's still the relatively untouched region of 30 years ago. Some stores were open in defiance of the strike, but foot traffic is light. And yet, life goes on, with a young monk getting a shave.
Tomorrow we leave for Kagbeni, the last town before we enter the restricted area of Upper Mustang. Five more days of hiking should get us to Lo Manthang, the capital of Mustang, where the festival will be held. We will stay in that area for about five days and then hike out a slightly different route. If all goes as planned, we should be back to Jomsom and internet access on May 20. After that, we'll spend about 10 days hiking through some of the areas we visited last fall, this time hopefully seeing rhododendrons.
Blog postings for the next month will be few if any, and pictures will need to wait until we get back to our laptop around May 30. Don't worry about us - we're in good hands in a well-traveled region far away from any politics that might be happening in the cities.
