male and female .
As the group spread itself out , due to dust and some wanting to travel faster I ended up travelling the last part of the journey with another Royal Enfield 350 rider , but he was two-up with a pillion , our speed across the smoother parts of the road was quite surprising and we arrived at Jomsom well before the remainder of the group .
Despite the challenges of the road , the amazing scenery was constantly reminding us of how special Nepal is , and to travel in the winter season was a particularly good choice , the roads were mostly dry , the sky was usually clear bright and blue , sure it was bloody cold in the mornings and if you didn ’ t reach the nights destination by sundown it became finger freezing . To arrive to a warm fire inside a kitchen with the delicious smell of homestyle cooking was a sheer pleasure .
Jomsom is in the lower Mustang region , with its own outback style Airport and runway for twice daily flights to Kathmandu , don ’ t ask about air safety , the treacherous mountains and fast changing weather conditions have contributed to what some may call a poor safety record , but , the experienced pilots do a great job considering the conditions .
There are reminders on the hillsides along the route of aircraft impacts and the subsequent fire .
Jomsom is a neat and classic village , with hotel names like Marco Polo , it makes you realise that you are travelling through an area once traversed by historical figures such as Genghis Khan .
Our evening meal was again delicious and some of our group enjoyed the flavour of the local apple brandy , the area being famous for producing apples . Breakfast again was a leisurely affair , most of us preferring to ride when the sun warmed the air from the 2 degrees that showed on my weather app .
A stop at the tourist entry point was necessary and even though we had already spent 30 minutes the previous day at a checkpoint , another 20 minutes was required for the manual recording of Permits , Licenses and Bike Registration numbers . Mustang had only opened to tourists a few days earlier , our ride had been completely isolated as it was Corona Virus free , and even though the delay at the checkpoint was like my last trip to the area , I felt justified to try and limit any influx of virus to this area .
The road to Muktinath was a pleasure , although a gravel surface ,
it was wide , quite smooth and a fast pace was easily achievable , we stopped for further photo opportunities and at one stage rode across a narrow steel suspension bridge . Quite thrilling ! The road changed to pitched black top at Kagbeni and two of us rode side by side for 30 minutes up to the village of Muktinath , quite a sight for locals to finally see tourists arriving again , two abreast on the Royal Enfield Bullets with the classic dugadug sound echoing off the rock walls and hills as we climbed to Muktinath .
Entry to the village for any vehicles is still prohibited , so we dismounted
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