Tansen, we arrived in the lakeside
town of Pokhara, on the edge of the
scenic Phewa Lake. Most treks to
the Annapurna Mountains, including
the Annapurna Circuit, start in this
town as it is close-by and is filled with
tourist goods and services. The back-
drop of Pokhara, on a clear day, is the
famed Annapurna Range with three
of the world’s ten highest mountains,
including: Dhaulagiri, Annapurna I,
and Manaslu.
From here, we would gear up for
the off-road section of the travels.
Another travelling partner hired a
motorcycle here – and this was a
special addition as he was the third
hiking partner of twenty years ago
– and all three of us were together
again to forge ahead, but this time
all on motorcycles and twenty years
later – quite special indeed!
Rain and fog often shroud the view
of the Himalayas, but when it open,
it is breathtaking seeing to the Top of
the World! And off we went.
The Annapurna Circuit was formal-
ly for trekking only – with no vehicle
traffic as there was no road, only a
foot path. It is now open to traffic all
the way from Pokhara to Muktinath,
but not over the Thorong La Pass.
The road can change dramatically
from dry to wet. Even though we
had the best laid plans, the weather
did not quite agree! What was a few
days earlier a hard-packed road was
now full of landslides being actively
cleared and deeply rutted roads that
were nearly impossible to navigate.
At times, the mud was over 40 centi-
metres deep, which would be easily
navigated on a motocross bike but
not quite the same on a street-tyred
Royal Enfield with two passengers.
We used the truck ruts to get some
traction until the frame and engine
bottomed-out into the mud – then
it was hard paddling with our legs.
Even the locals on motorcycles were
turning around to try the roads an-
other day. We persevered.
TRAVERSE
96
We progressed up in elevation,
slip-sliding along through the villages
of Kushma to Baglung to Ghorepani
and then to Tatopani. As I rode the
Royal Enfield past hikers, I have to
admit that it was a bit disheartening
– as I had been one of those hikers in
the past and I felt like I was intruding
on their solitude. Regardless, I was
one of the quiet ones compared to the
loads of tourist making their way to
holy Muktinath on large busses.
The weather cleared a little. It
was surprising how quickly the mud
changed back into harder dirt.
Moving on from Tatopani (eleva-
tion of 3210 metres), we made our
way up the very scenic mountain
road toward Kagbeni and then to the
Holy City of Muktinath. Located here
is a sacred Vishnu temple, sacred to
both Hindus and Buddhists alike. It
is located at the base of the Thorong
La Pass in the Lower Mustang region.
It is also home to one of the world’s
highest temples at 3800 metres.