Our Legs Needed a Break!

From Kagbeni, we decided to horse ride up to Muktinath (3,800m) instead, to give our ‘over-worked’ legs a break! As most of the members were keen to go on the horse, I went with the tide.

Initially, we were quite frightened. My heart cringed with fear and I had to close my eyes when the horse tried to overtake the one in front from the outside and we were barely (if my estimation was correct) 500mm away from the slope!

I found out that horses have a lot of pride and ego, just like human. A horse from behind overtook us and my horse was agitated and angry. He tried to overtake back. I said a silent prayer that all would be well. To be thrown off the horse and rolled down a few hundred meters down the slope would be too dramatic a scene. In between the silent prayer, I screamed in order to drown the sound of my thumping heart.

The normally quiet and tranquil mountain region was filled with our laughter and screams. It was quite a sight to behold! But who cares; after all, how often do we have such opportunity to let our hair down and be really who we are? Despite the fear, the screams and the pain on the buttocks, we nevertheless had a lot of fun. It was indeed thrilling and exciting. It was an indelible experience.

While in Muktinath, we visited a Hindu Holy place. We spent the evening relaxing and we had a good time and fellowship with team members, the guide and the porters, recounting the experience which we had thus far.

We had either run out of energy or we had become more experienced handling the horses, as there were much less laughter and screaming the next day when we journeyed from Muktinath to Jomsom. We took the opportunity to admire and enjoy the beautiful and picturesque surroundings.

The journey on horse from Kagbeni to Muktinath took three hours while from Muktinath to Jomsom took four hours.

Trekking in Nepal would be incomplete without the performance by the porters. The evening at Ghasa was the most unforgettable and memorable one. The porters, together with the guide, Krishna and some of our team members gave us a superb performance of singing and dancing. As always, I sat at the sidelines enjoying every bit of the performance and savouring every moment.