Kagbeni, Mustang, Nepal

This will be a very short post. I am in the middle of the wilderness and the internet costs a fortune, but I wanted to check in. There was no internet service in Jomsom so I was unable to post from there.

The trek from Pokhara to Jomsom was full of ups and downs, both literally and figuratively. Generally, it was great to be out in the mountains, despite mediocre weather and the presence of a new road and vehicles along the way. I journaled a lot during this trek, so when I'm back in Kathmandu, I promise to provide a full report.

Kagbeni is just a few hours walk north of Jomsom. I joined Tshering and my Japanese trekking companion, Reiko, this morning in Jomsom and we started our trek. Kagbeni was my favourite town on the Annapurna circuit five years ago, and it is totally living up to my memories. I just find it so magical and intriguing. It lies on the border to Upper Mustang where we will go tomorrow. I'm like a little kid on Christmas eve - just can't wait to get up there.

The people that I'm traveling with all seem really great so far and I have a good feeling about this trek. I think it will be a perfect balance between social time and alone time, which is just such a great thing in an environment like this.

I must run before I break the bank. I expect to be back in Kathmandu on the afternoon of July 1. If I don't check in immediately thereafter, don't worry. The Pokhara airport was closed for the last 6 days due to the monsoon, which means there were no flights in or out of Jomsom. If we face the same weather when we get back, we may get stranded in Jomsom waiting for a flight out to Pokhara and then back to Kathmandu. There is no internet in Jomsom at the moment, so can't communicate from there. Remember that no news is good news.