Annapurnas Day 10: The God Ble$$ing

Day D+1 started off with the coldest 33ºC shower of my life. No complains, I can hardly imagine any of those pioneers enjoying such a luxury back in the 70s. After what we had done the previous day we decided to take it easy that morning. A cultural visit to one of the local Gompas seemed enough activity for our screeching knees.

Some interesting facts about Muktinath for the nerdy audience. This village is considered sacred by both Hindus and Buddhists, who pilgrim to the same temples in perfect harmony. In one of these temples it is possible to spot a tiny eternal flame coming out of a bed of water which is said to be a gift from the Gods. I guess this version of the story sounded more plausible to the ancients than the whole volcanic theory. Furthermore, at the religious complex the visitor gets the chance to shower under 68 freezing-but-holy water spurts. Yet, if the pilgrims don't feel enough blessed with all that, they can purchase a 365-day praying service from a monk that guarantees full protection during that period of time at the very reasonable prize of 50000 Nepali rupee (CALL NOW!!! 555-MONK-2-GOD).

Still regretting not having hired the holy services we packed up and set off. We got our licenses stamped at the ACAP check post and left the village by 1 pm. The three hour trek to Kagbeni was a whole new story. Although we were going down, the roughness of the another-worldly landscape and the wind storm made the hike remarkably hard. I plugged-in my earphones and listened to some music to make the experience more enjoyable. By 4 pm we arrived to Kagbeni (2800) and checked in at the Yak Donald's hotel (that's what I call good marketing!). The extraordinary charm of Kagbeni is based on two solid pillars: the beauty of its architecture and the taste of their apple custard.

After a good dinner in good company we went bed at normal time (20h).

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El dia D+1 comenzo con otra ducha fria. Para compensar la paliza del dia anterior decidimos tomarnoslo con calma y realizar una visita cultural al pueblo. Muktinath es un enclave de peregrinacion obligada para hindus y budistas. En el complejo religioso del pueblo se pueden encontrar cosas tan curiosas como una llama eterna que brota de una cama de agua, 68 chorros de agua bendita(-mente helada) donde los peregrinos pueden ducharse y un tenderete donde puedes contratar los servicios de un monje que rezara todas las mañanas por ti y los tuyos (50 eur/año, barato si se compara con cualquier seguro privado).

Tras la visita cultural reemprendimos la marcha. 3 horas de desierto (y otro paisaje nuevo, oiga!) y viento que nos trasladaron al viejo oeste. Asi llegamos a Kagbeni (2800 m), una preciosa localidad cuyo encanto se extiende desde la arquitectura local hasta el sabor de su tarta de manzana. Tras una memorable cena en el Yakdonalds puso punto y final al dia 10.