Dunai To Jumla: Kaigaon to Jumla
Kaigaon is at 2650 meters and the pass where we wanted to stay the night was at 3907 meters on our GPS, basically today was all about the 4000 feet climb. We left and could see a hillside village a couple hours ahead and hoped we could get some tea there before we got into the steeper section. We could see parts of the trail way up ahead and it didn’t look so bad. We pulled in for tea and had a quick look around. The children were all headed off to school in their uniforms for final exams and cast irons were loaded with smoldering coal set on rock walls heating up for work shirts and pants. It was early.
Again we could see where we were going to eat lunch oh so far ahead in and out of a massive ravine with smaller ravines in it. Again the walk seemed more gradual than I expected. The sun was beginning to heat up the mountainside. By 1130 we had put down our packs and ordered up some noodles and tea in a multi colored tarpaulin structure overlooking the valley we had just climbed up. The lady running it was great and gave a heads-up that around the corner it gets right dangerous. The trail had been erased in a landslide and that there was a new trail cut in that dropped 1000 meters and then came straight back up. This was one of the two danger spots we had heard of in the past by porters coming from Jumla.
After taking some photos of old Tibetan stone carved writings, prayer flags, and views we ate quickly and moved on down the path. We came around the bend and two men and a woman greeted us. In the background was a cliff with a long drop down. The trail looked almost too narrow to cross but the two men and woman came that way so we went on. Before crossing we dropped our bags and thought about it. We could see the new trail down below carving up the opposite mountainside and really weren’t in the mood to race down and crawl back out of this particular ditch. John went on without his pack and scouted the thin line. When he returned he said it’s not so bad and he and Pravesh both took their bags and crossed over. Krishna and I were less than pleased with the arrangement but in the end it was our only option. John and Pravesh scuttled back and offered to tale our bags and I for one agreed. Krishna said nothing but didn’t oppose the idea. We thought of the French group coming with horses and this was not an option for them, they would have to go down and back up again. What’s a little adrenaline rush on a trek in Nepal anyway, sounds just like any other day.
Our day was only about 15 kilometers long but the majority was up and slower going than the other days due to the pitch. The government or National Park folks had put in a new jeep trail but when we spoke with the locals they said take the old way because you won’t make Maure Lagna (3894 pass) before night fall. They also said there are a couple teahouses there that take in guests for the night. The trail abruptly went straight up switch-backing here and there but for the most part up the mountainside. We broke out of the trees and I could see the trail rounding a grassy outcrop and then another and there off in the distance was a ruin with two silhouetted men looking down at us. We straggled up the face of the mountain and joined them for a quick sit and conversation. They were headed the same way we were and would take one of the guest houses and we would take the other. There was bound to be a bit of a party. John got to talking with one of the men as we left and forgot his sunglasses. As we walked two single men walked in the opposite direction and then John realized what had happened and dropped his bag and raced back for his sunglasses. Gone in a flash.
We got to Maure Lagna and pulled into a teahouse at 3905 meters with goat meat and bones hanging from the rafters drying like jerky. All you needed was to add smoke. We had some tea and took sunset pictures for a while. When I asked where the toilet was the woman smiled at me and said waving her arm outward, “The whole world is a toilet.” After all I’ve seen I have to agree with her. I walked outside and looked around, there wasn’t anything but rock and grass with one outcrop down toward the spring. I didn’t want to look there.
Dal-baht and Roxy for dinner and a good night of conversation and smoke set the scene. The woman wanted to go with John back to England. He explained he lives in Thakadurwara and won’t be going that way for quite awhile. A few of the men from the other teahouse showed up inebriated and tried to dance but just about fell in the fire. They were told to sit down before they fell down. The whole teahouse was full of smoke and now I understood the hanging meat. There was a chimney but of inadequate size and we all tasted creosote all night. It was a cold and uncomfortable night on the floor for most of us including a 4 in the morning visitor calling for the woman that wasn’t staying there because we were. He went out discouraged and shuffled back to the other teahouse.
We woke even earlier and new this was close to our last day and with a major down hill on the morning menu. We wanted to get down the hill for all sorts of reasons one being a more private spot to take care of business. We could see mountains through the prayer flags that flank Jumla town and it seemed far away but considering we were all acclimated it was going to be a cinch. We headed off before the others in the teahouse got moving. When we got to the bottom of the ravine near the creek we took a break and a woman joined us who apparently had been walking since before we started. She sat with us and explained that she was afraid to walk alone because a man in a jeep was killed nearby and his ghost scared her.
John wasn’t feeling his best and we took a couple breaks and a long lunch to keep up his energy. Also the drop in elevation helped. For the most part the trail continued down river passing through small villages with students taking their final exams out in the yard because the rooms were too stuffy.
We continued down until it turned up a fork to cross our last and lowest pass, Gothichaur Lagna at 2995 meters. We realized we had broken the treks back and all the hard work was over. Gothichaur town is basically a large sheep research stationt where the Australians brought a 25,000 USD sheep here for breeding to add meat weight and wool to the existing sheep species. The valley was beautiful and the teahouse was barebones but I slept solid through out the night.
We were in Jumla by 1 pm and interested in a hot shower and anything but Dal-baht. I hadn't showered in 9 days. Mo-Mo was first on the list, a type of mutton dumpling but don't count on it being mutton, more likely buffalo. I needed cash and set out with a kid from the hotel and he showed me to an ATM but it was not in service. John did some looking around and found a back street investment bank that would do the debit for me and we were laughing. Our next door neighbor was buying Yatzegumba all night long from collectors. This way was legal and much safer, you just don’t get as much money but you also run limited risk deep in Nepal. We flew to Nepalgunj where the boys and I said our see you laters and I flew back to Katmandu. Extraordinary trip amongst the people with NO tourists but us and one Italian kid going the other way.
We are planning to do an Upper Dolpo Region trip next April so if any of you have even the slightest interest, get a hold of Johnny Sparshatt at www.wildtrakadventure.com. I think his email address and phone numbers are also listed on the sight. We may be doing a few trips into the Bardia National Park and possibly the Babie River area with camera traps next season. It’s worth every drop of sweat. What happens between now and then will be equally epic. Stay tuned.
