Have you ever thought that today may be your last day on earth? Can you think every day when you go to your work? But Sunil - a jeep driver of Beni — Mustang route every day, realizes that the day might be the last day of his life. No one knows anything can happen on the way to Mustang since the road from Galeshwor to Ghasa is off-road, with potential landslides in each corner. In this article, I will cover the thrilling experience of the Muktinath tour from Pokhara to Mustang.
The journey to Muktinath is always exciting and religious since Muktinath is a sacred destination for both Hindus and Buddhists. There are several stories behind the emergence of Muktinath. The elevation of Muktinath is 3710m, located at the base of Thorong-La Pass in Mustang District. Round Annapurna Trekking follows Thorong-La Pass, a popular pass connecting the Manang and Mustang districts.
It was my first trip to Muktinath, and I was excited to view the natural terrain, the Himalayas, and the overall context of the Mustang. I have several experiences trekking in Nepal as I am in hospitality service. But Baba Muktinath finally invited me to go there as a trip organizer. We have a 65 Indian pilgrims group and 12 Jeep drivers and support staff, guides, and assistants. We have arranged logistics for food with a dedicated chef and his team for a south Indian dish. This tour started in Gorakhpur and ended in Gorakhpur. Pashupati Nath Darsan and Muktinath Darsan is the primary goal of this pilgrimage tour. Besides, it has a luxurious Pokhara city tour and Jungle Safari in Chitwan National Park.
Traveling during the rainy season is quite challenging in Nepal due to its geographic situation, as floods and landslides are common. Even though we had set everything for this holy tour, in the end, the Pokhara Jomsom flight was canceled due to bad weather and the rainy season. We were forced to manage a jeep to travel to Muktinath. Altogether, we had 13 jeeps along with logistic jeeps. We reached Pokhara after completing the Kathmandu holy tour of Pashupati Nath, Budhanilkantha, Swoyambhunath, and Manakamana on the way between Pokhara and Kathmandu.
Pic. 1: Rupse Waterfall
The Caravan of Scorpio Jeep started from Hotel Shaara in Pokhara for the holy trip to Muktinath at 8:00 am. We left Pokhara city too quickly and reached Hemja road, which is beautiful on the bank of the Seti River. We left Kande to move forward, as Kande is the gateway to trekking for Australian camp, Tolkha, Landruk, and even for Ghandruk village up to Ghorepani Poonhill trek stopped in Nayapool for refreshment as most of us enjoyed countryside tea and bread there. The environment was fabulous and misty as it was light showering. People were quite excited that they were going to experience a different climate and geography, around 168 km of the journey from Pokhara to Muktinath.
Pic 2: Stopped due to Landslide in Beni Jomsom Road.
The small and beautiful town of Kushma led us toward Beni, the headquarters of the Baglung district. We continuously drove towards Muktinath via Baglung Beni road. Sooner we left Beni Bazar. We started to feel the off-road driving. At the same time, you will notice Kali Gandaki River and side by a bumpy road. When I asked the driver about the road and driving, he smiled and said, 'Every day is the last day". He added one missed game finish, but he told us he was enjoying driving Beni Jomsom road as it compared to the city's black-topped pitch road. We observed so many fresh landslides on the way to Jomsom, which was cleared by Dozer continuously. It was scary to see the cliff as it may fall at any time. We were halted for a few minutes at Rupse waterfall, a beautiful but deadly one. Every year, landslides occur in this spot, as the newly constructed bridge was destroyed last year. Unfortunately, one of the wheel tires got punctured while going to Dana after Tato Pani (hot spring). Earlier, when the Muktinath tour was possible only by trekking, Tatopani was a popular destination among foreigners who completed the Round Annapurna Trek via Thorong la Pass. Our driver was so active and passionate about his work that he replaced the spare Tyre. In no seconds, we reached Lete for Lunch. Now the roads were superb again, and we reached Jomsom in no seconds as we had decided to go to Muktinath directly. We continued driving on the bank of Kali Gandaki up to Kagbeni, then climbed up to Muktinath. Only a 10 to 15 minutes walk is enough to reach the premises of Muktinath Temple. We were lucky because it was sunny there, and we did a holy bath in 108 Divya Desam. All of us prayed and paid homage to Baba Muktinath. We returned to Muktinath and stayed in hotel Majesty.
We were relieved that we did a big job in reaching Muktinath, but we were pretty scared and nervous that if it rained, there might be landslides and the road will be blocked. Knowing all these facts, we decided to leave early morning at 6:00 am. We did everything as planned. Unfortunately, when we reached Ghasa, a policeman stopped us and told us there was a heavy landslide in Kabre Vir. We were stunned and speechless as it started to rain heavily there. No one can predict the mountain area's weather, but it changes in no seconds. We set up our kitchen in a nearby tea shop and have snacks over there as ad hoc management.
Pic 3: Landslide Area being cleared with the help of Excavator
After 3 hours of waiting, we could cross those sections of the landslide area. But the road was flooded and too difficult to cross. Our driver drove so sincerely and cautiously. We felt a huge relief when we reached Galeshwor Mahadev in Beni and had lunch there. Galeshwor Mahadev temple is on the bank of Kali Gandaki, built on a huge rock. The temple and its surrounding are highly graceful. After lunch, we drove towards Pokhara- a city of lakes.
Pic 4: Ghaleshwor Mahadev Temple
If you wish to travel to Muktinath, several options are available. One can travel to Muktinath via a flight that flights are regular from Pokhara airport in the morning to Jomsom Muktinath. Flights are easily available, but weather conditions determine whether it is going to fly or not. The best seasons for the Muktinath tour are March to mid of May month, and in autumn, October and November are best. These days the sky is clean, and the weather is pretty okay, neither cold nor hot. Roads are also passable since there will be no more rain and landslides. Besides Muktinath Darsan, there are other activities that you can explore around Muktinath. You can even visit villages and their culture. You can enjoy the hot spring and visit to apple garden and local wine factory. While returning to Pokhara from Beni, you may visit Baglung Kalika, the zipline in Parbat Kusma, and enjoy the longest suspension bridge in Kusma Bazar. During summer, you can see rhododendron in the entire forest. There are almost 15-17 types of rhododendrons found in this area.
Finally, based on my experience in travel, we must have proper itineraries and an organizing team to assist and manage logistics during the tour in such an area.
