Breakfast
was at 0730 but some of us opted to meet at 0630 to go and see the town’s
monastery. It’s a compound including both Hindu and Buddhist buildings and
shrines. We started with the Hindu with tabs with holy water – 108 of them –
which you’d use to either splash on your head for a blessing or fill a bottle
with it. The Buddhist had two eternal flames going fueled by natural sulfur
(which could be easily smelled in several places in and around the compound).
We ended up waking up a small kid to come and unlock the door so we could get
in and see them. To be honest the flames were less impressive than I had
expected. Hadn’t it been as dark as it was inside the flames would hardly have
been visible.
Two
people in the group had had some bad chicken yesterday so they had been sick all
night and struggled today. One of them was my roommate; waking up during the
night I saw him perform probably the fastest exit from a sleeping bag I have
ever seen. It was pretty impressing, despite the circumstances. We were
supposed to leave by vehicle but when being time for leaving we were missing a
jeep or finding a bus instead. After an hour or so we were informed that a bus
had been located at the bus station so after a short walk we entered a very
rundown bus with barely enough room for all of us. I managed to find a seat in
the back with very little leg room which wasn’t improved by the seat not stuck
to the frame which meant it tended to slide forward. The roads’ conditions
were… hell. Or rather; roads didn’t really seem to exist, instead it seemed the
driver just drove where other had driven before. After a very bumpy 1-1½ hour
drive leaving my left knee ruined we reached Jomsom where we had lunch. After
this we boarded another bus – in a much better state – where I managed to get
two seats so I could survive without having any limbs worn down.
After a
just a bumpy – but more comfortable – 2 hour drive we arrived in Ghasa and
today’s teahouse.
The holy water.
Mountain range outside Muktinath. Dhaulagiri (8167m) can be seen to the left.
Would you feel comfortable stepping into this bus?
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