After a good night’s sleep, we grabbed breakfast and had an interesting and often heated conversation with the proprietor, Romi. He’d been running the Inn founded by his father nearly 80 years ago with the help a staff that included his son. He figured us as Americans and came to our table to chat us up about the upcoming U.S. Presidential election. He shared that he loves the U.S. and that his daughters went there to study. One of them loved it so much she chose to stay and sadly, her decision was irreconcilable to him and he had broken off all communication. I told him we didn’t want to talk politics but he wasn’t to be denied and told us in no uncertain terms how he absolutely despised Donald Trump. Matt questioned his assessment and asked if he’d ever met the man since he was spewing some very hateful stuff. He hadn’t of course, but continued on, saying that if he did, he’d shoot him! That brought a strong reaction from Matt, one of the most amiable and gentle souls in our group. Calmer heads would eventually prevail, we agreed to disagree and parted amicably. It was interesting to me that Romi, a Buddhist, and from what we’d later learn, a big-shot in Nepali politics, was subject to the same tribalism as the rest of us. An interesting lesson and one I’ll remember.
What a ride today. We crossed another suspension bridge early on, one with a wall at the far end that required additional slow-speed riding skills. Spent the first part of the day following the river through several tiny towns, gassing up from old plastic soda containers like Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman in the Long Way Round, the film that started the whole adventure motorcycle craze more than 20 years ago. I gave out a few more Florida postcards to some curious children which brought on some heartwarming smiles. We stopped at what would turn out to be the best coffee shop of the trip. The “Himalayan Java Coffee” seemed more suited to Boulder, Colorado than the little village of Jomson. One its walls hung beautiful paintings of the iconic Nepalese landscape and architecture. Next up was Marfa where we toured a Buddhist Monastery and did a little shopping. I parked my bike in a narrow alleyway and went into a tiny shop where I picked up a petty wool scarf for my wonderful enabler back home. The clerk shared that her family was from Tibet, settling in Nepal years back as refugees after the Chinese takeover. I’d later learn this was very common. Rested up, we continued our ride with a destination of Mukinath, home of an ancient temple important to both the Hindu and Buddhists of the region. It was a spectacular ride on beautiful ribbons of asphalt winding gracefully up and over the mountains and offering breathtaking views of the towering Himalayan mountains. We pulled into the village, parked our bikes and shed our gear at a restaurant where we’d return after our visit to the temple. The highlight of the temple, for a group of us anyway, was a karma restoring “shower”. Five of us stripped down to our skivvies and walked underneath the 108 fountains, fed by freezing cold glacier water, ringing a bell to begin and end our ceremony. It literally took your breath away and felt so good afterwards, in the same way it feels so good when you stop banging your head against the wall. The water was so cold that I thought I was going to have a stroke, it was the most intense brain freeze ever. Ritual complete, we hiked back down to town and grabbed lunch at the Bob Marley Restaurant. Fueled up, we split into two groups for the ride to our destination for the evening. Half took pavement, the rest of us, led by Prabin, took to the dirt, for an incredibly scenic and challenging ride up and around the foothills of these massive mountains. Got some stellar pics and as we pulled into Kagbeni about an hour later, our final test was a sporty river crossing, where John the Elder went down. Thankfully, he was okay, just very wet. We checked into our digs, “the Yak Hotel” with a restaurant called “Yak-Donald’s” who’s signature “Happy Meal” featured a “Yak-Burger”. The room was spartan but clean and I was feeling a bit puny. I thought it was the sunburn I got while drying off from the earlier water ceremony but I’d learn later it was the beginning of some altitude sickness. I skipped dinner for a good night’s sleep to rest up for yet another big day of adventure.
