I tried to die yesterday. More on that later. After pushing off from Kagbeni, we soon came to a gate crossing to the Upper Mustang Valley. To proceed past this point was no small undertaking. It required lots of pre-planning, permits, Visas, and the accompaniment of a registered guide. We had it all, our guide Prabin, the most important piece. The “border” guard asked if anyone had drones…they are illegal there. After a short “search” we were on our way and what a way it was. We spent our time on the “highway” which at times was as rocky as the notorious Arizona Back Country Discovery Route www.RideBDR.com . The scenery was unbelievable. From the massive, snow-capped peaks, to the shear red-rock faces reminiscent of southern Utah, broken up by tiny villages untouched by time. There’d be an occasional shrine as well, hundreds of years old, in the middle of nowhere, and by the day’s end we’d passed the 13,000 feet level twice. It got chilly about mid-day and I had to put on my winter ski gloves. Of note were the number of locals riding motorbikes two-up in this crazy terrain. Very impressive, Kathleen would have killed me. At one stop, Prabin told us about the history of the road. It’s a fairly recent thing, built by King Mahendra for, can you guess, commerce. It turns out that the Mustang Valley is the perfect environment to grow apples. Before the road, they’d harvest the apples, put them in big bags and send them down the river to population centers. Upon completion of their journey, only about 20% of the apples would be suitable for sale. The road changed not only the apple trade, but it opened up the area to a larger amount of tourism and changed the entire country, Prabin said it’s a good thing. The commerce has helped immeasurably, although it’s easy to see that there are still a good number of folks who continue to live as they have for 400 years (not that there’s anything wrong with that). My GI issues haven’t changed. Everything I eat comes out in liquid form within 20 minutes. Dehydration and altitude are not a good combination and I was feeling increasingly bad as the day progressed. When I got off the bike upon arrival at our hotel, it hit me hard. I immediately started shaking violently and uncontrollable, and I was absolutely freezing and nauseous. I tried to throw up but thankfully, had nothing inside to get out…not a good sign. Prabin took note and brought my bag to my room. He brought in the local medic, checked my O2 level, and got me on supplemental oxygen. He didn’t want tell me at the time, but my O2 level was in the low 50’s. Very NOT GOOD. He added Ian, the doc in our group, to the triage team, and after a good night’s sleep, I woke up feeling much better. Grabbed a delicious breakfast, gave it back 20 minutes later, but I’m going to take on the day as usual, maybe at a more relaxed pace.
We took a short ride to the Chhosur caves, “sky caves” built into the side of a cliff, about 30 minutes from town. Five stories high, there are 40 rooms carved into the cliff side featuring various “windows” for a view of the valley below. We grabbed lunch at a local joint on the return ride. Delicious noodle soup made even better with the addition of a little spicy red sauce. The restaurant had a gift shop as well and a nice boy who spoke very good English, probably around 13 or so, acted as the broker between us and his pop. We did our best to help the local economy and they were very happy. My biggest worry was a colon-blow on the ride home, but so, far so good.
Learned about our hotel The Royal Mustang Resort. It’s absolutely stunning, the poshest truly “authentic” digs of the trip by far. Built by the local King within the past several years, he has since passed away, his wife moved to Kathmandu, its now run by their daughters. They built it to be a “6” star standard and it is a wonderful little basecamp to regroup and unwind for a couple nights. We are spending a little extra time here because of it’s significant. First, it’s the end of the road. We can literally see the border crossing with China. Lo Manthang was built in the 15th century and restricted from visitors until 1992. Even so, you still need permission and a guide to travel here.
After chilling for a couple hours, we walked to the ancient walled portion of the city, and toured several monasteries. Intricate paintings as old as 600 years adorned the walls, and we learned that they are continually maintained in the same tradition as when they were original laid down, by artisans who for generations have been doing such work. Like any good tourist attraction, a “gift shop” is located by the exit and one such was operated by one of these artists. Wonderful man, we gave him a lot of business. I asked if any of his children will be carrying on the tradition and sadly but predictably, he said no. His two kids are in university and will likely go off to start their adventures in the modern world.
Back at the hotel, while chilling in the lounge area of the fully stocked bar, a couple walked by and guessing that we were Americans, asked what we thought would be the outcome of the upcoming presidential election…they were very concerned. We told them we weren’t going to discuss politics but I added, whoever wins, democracy will be just fine. Had a wonderful dinner and the best news for me, I kept it all on the inside.
