Day 34: Muktinath to Marpha
Trip Start
Sep 21, 2006
1
35
228
Trip End
Jun 01, 2007
Marpha,
Nepal
Thursday, October 26, 2006
The gravelly path from Muktinath descends through desolate thorny scrub past the Kali Gandaki valley that leads north to Mustang. There are three checkpoints to pass at Jomsom - the police post (keeping tabs on any missing trekkers - three went missing on the Annapurna Circuit last year, seven on the Everest route), the Annapurna Conservation post and the Maoists'. Across the dry floor of the post-monsoon Kali Gandaki river, Nar and I hunt for saligrams, jet-black stones containing ammonite fossils that the Tibetans treat as medicine. A strong wind picks up around midday, pushing us back on the approach to Marpha, where we're staying.
Part of the route, or close by, the road from Pokhara to Jomsom is busy with motorbikes. Once complete, this stretch could mean the end of the Jomsom trek and much of the Annapurna Circuit, but it looks unlikely to be completed, as scheduled, by next year
01 The dry valley
. Dodging motorbikes takes the pleasure out of the trek.At Marpha (2670m), the self-proclaimed "delightful apple capital of Nepal", I take a walk up to the gompa and meditation centre for a view over the maze of alleys. An old woman walks the circumference of the gompa, turning all of the prayer wheels on her way. Novice monks chant in the courtyard. Down below, stone houses shelter animals on the ground floor. Roofs are framed with neat piles of firewood with prayer flags fluttering from masts. A couple tie up grass for straw. Apples, corngrass and chillies dry in the sun.
My tour of Marpha is halted by a film production underway at one end of the alley, so I return to the guesthouse.
Marpha truly is ruled by apples. Orchards are thriving centres as apples are plucked and packed. Every shop sells apple juice, brandy, pie and crumble. I look forward to tasting the apple cider but it's extremely sour and burns my sun-baked lips.
