Jomson to Muktinath.

We reach 'new heights' as we drive into the lower reaches of the Himalayas.

Early morning had most of us at a meditation session given by Smedal in a loft room of our trekker's lodge, Om's House. Following breakfast we found our 4x4 waiting to take us to Muktinath. Driving tips covered water crossings without snorkels on the cars but a team had gone out before to set up markers for best positions for crossing. Suzi took over the driving for a while then Hilary took the wheel with Sooz providing some driving lessons from beside her. Marion was not able to drive with us so went ahead in the lead car, with Team Ganesh, once again. This begun to trouble me as our team was no longer able to enjoy the challenges as a team. Marion was dysfunctional while driving in the mountains. She was receiving much support from all who were able to help her through counselling and encouragement and listening.  The greater team was working very well. We had women of steel and the strength of the team was greater than the sum of the individuals.

Team Tara prepares to leave Jomson for Muktinath.
Cho Cho inspects her camera. Shop doors open though the moring is still early.

                       Water crossings, some of which were very deep, added a new dimension to our 4x4 driving

"Welcome to the desert," said Arik. He explained that before one reaches the Alpine vegetation there is an area where there is desert. We would be driving through this. We had breathtaking views from here on. "Eeemazing" was the word used over and over again. Spirits were high and we relaxed into good driving over stones, through water and across soft slippery sandy slopes.  Some places had villages and some areas held agricultural land.

Dry river bed, arrid slopes and still some snow to be seen on some mountain tops, albeit from the winter before.

We were not alone on the roads. Muktinath is a place to which many pilgrims flock. The month was a good one for this. Monsoons had passed and the colder weather was due in a few weeks. Winds blew and we did need warmer clothing on this day.

I took a turn at the driving and was quite enjoying this. Suzi remained with me as navigator and offering tips with some of the challenging aspects of driving along the sandy desert roads.
                       

A horse grazes on the outskirts of a village.






Hil was enjoying the 4x4 driving.



A little development on the road to Muktinath

A village showing Buddhist prayer flags

Malka attended to three women, probably Tibetan,  from the village who had gangrene in fingers

A Hindu pilgrim bathes in the holy water at Muktinath

Pilgrims at the temple of Muktinath







Pilgrims walk through the holy waters

The organisers gave us prayer flags to hang in the trees. For those of Eastern faiths it was a most significant experience to be at this site of Muktinath. In this photo are Hilary (facing) Marion from Israel and Cho Cho from Burma.

We returned to Jomson the way we came but by nightfall our water crossings were a challenge and for some teams it was a better idea to hand the driving over to the Napalese drivers/mechanics who were with us as ' back up' support.

Sue-Ann and her friend Beverley (Australian) from Team Kumari at the after dinner discussion and feed back on the night in the village
two days before. We all had diferent information and differing experiences.
We had all enjoyed an informative and enriching experience in Titi Village.


Our day closed with cold showers but a good sleep though the temperatures were a bit cool. We thought of our return journey back along the mountain road which was to be a torteous experience once again for our driver Marion who felt so contrite over the accident. This was a winding road along the gorge of the Kali Gandaki river and the mountain ever present on the other side of the narrow sandy road. Our support staff negotiated with bus drivers and other traffic when difficulties arose in passing traffic and our convoy of ten cars had to be carefully managed through difficulty terrain and around hair pin bends.