Alex says we're riding the bikes too hard, some have dented rims and there's only a certain amount of punishment they can take; Aussie Alan says "why are you looking at me!" Mark will be staying here in Tatopani to recover and we'll pick him up on our return journey tomorrow. At least he gets another lie-in.
Now we're on proper mountain paths cut through rocks and with suspension bridges linking two sides of the valley or crossing the tributaries that join from the sides. All along the route there are signs of recent landslides and rock falls and the track is a constant obstacle course.
We're in the Annapurna Conservation area of the Mustang region and have to stop to get permits to travel further. The permit station is at 2000m and we will go up another 700m before reaching our hotel tonight. Initially it's a very steep climb with very challenging rocky, gravelly, muddy, and curiously at times even dry sandy, tracks. It eventually flattens out and we're now above the gravel flood plain of another wide river, although there's not much of a river at the moment and we can see truck tracks crossing it. There's a different feel about the scenery and the greenery is more alpine now with fir trees and thinning cover; we are not above the tree line yet, but can't be far off.
My bike starts to develop a misfire, needing 1st gear on uphill sections when 2nd would normally do. And even clutch slip in first at some points. The mechanics stop and change my bike's air filter and a spark plug, which does improve it. They wanted to dismantle the carburettor, but I managed to persuade them that I could get to the hotel as it was.
Further on and we've actually descended to the valley floor and stop next to the flood plain for lunch. The grazing pack mules are jangling bells as they munch, it's a nice noise and always reminds me of summers in the Alps. Again, the river side lunch stop buildings looks very vulnerable to being washed away in rainy season, but this one looks like it's been there for a while. When vegetable curry is ordered, the owner heads out to his back garden to pick the veg; can't get fresher than that and by all accounts it was very good.
Pushing on and we see the best views of the trip so far. Majestic sheer walls of rock, snow peaked mountains in the distance and waterfalls to our sides. The riding is still challenging on the broken tracks but now we're also distracted by the views, making progress even harder.
Our destination is Jomsom and we reach it in the early afternoon. From the town we get a good view of one of the Annapurna mountains. Apparently there are seven. It looks amazing covered in snow and towers above everything else in the area.
The hotel is lovely with tall ceilings, communal areas and real character. Most of us go for walks around the town after our obligatory wifi access routine, which is shorter than usual as it's a bit slow. But at least it's there; last night's place had a broken connection, so most of us are suffering withdrawal symptoms.
A short 60km today, but quite challenging in places.
Sent from my trusty rusty BlackBerry
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