Upper Mustang Trek: Day 4

I can't even remember when did I actually went into sleep on the night earlier, and whether or not I sleep well as I felt I keep my eyes open for quite some time and frequently changing my sleeping posture. But anyhow, I can ignore all those mystery as I did wake up fresh and energetic in the morning, seem fully recovered from the terrific trekking a day earlier. We gathered in the dining hall and having our breakfast together with fellow guides and porters, before getting ready for the journey today.

The corridor at Hotel Nilgiri.

Fabian enjoying the fresh air on the comfortable morning.

Buddha at the entrance to Hotel Nilgiri.

The living hall of the hotel.

Our rooms.

Snapping here and there while waiting for our breakfast.

Porters from other group having their breakfast before start of their expedition today.

Simple yet satisfying breakfast.

Our guides and porters turn to have their breakfast.

There was a minor hike after the exit from the village which lead us to Syangboche La, that standing at 3850 Meters above sea level. Right after it we passing through a colorful Chorten on the road side, and also village of Ghiling far away on the valley. The trail was rather flat and descend slowly make the walk quite comfortable, until I saw another gorge to pass through before we can reach Tama Gaun. Luckily, this was just a small gorge and passing through it does not required supreme effort, which make me kinda relief. That was definitely dilemma from the trek yesterday, along the way from Samar to Syangboche.

Chorten stacked with rocks on the exit of Syangboche village.

Small village of Syangboche.

Arguments or discussion there? LOL.

Even Kumar get excited with the view along the trail.

The motorize path that might lead the way to Ghiling village.

What was this stacked of rocks?

It was a beautiful yet cute Chorten by the roadside!

There might be different route for destination, don't worry if the path you chosen differ with the rest. Similar to various choices in life as well.

The village of Ghiling, quite some distance away.

No way, another gorge to conquer?

Thanks god, this one wasn't too deep, I am being dilemma on gorge after the trek earlier.

Initially we just plan for a minor rest at Tama Gaun, but somehow the owner of New Tenzing Hotel was just so friendly, and truly carrying that special aura of a traditional Tibetian lady. We then decide to a longer stop here by getting some drinks and chit chatting around, while I also have the opportunity to play with their fierce dog which hanged by a chain to prevent it from attacking people.

Reach Tama Gaun, a small village on the road.

We took a minor stop at New Tenzing Hotel compound, with shade.

The view on the direction we came from the hotel.

Fierce dog own by the hotel owner.

Very friendly and charming local lady, the owner of the New Tenzing Hotel!

Relaxing time wandering around Tama Gaun village, but in reality, just a few buildings here!

Finally manage to befriend with it, no longer barking at me even I getting closer to it.

The road afterward was rather flat, and we pass through village of Chhunggar which the main highlight of it was a colorful Chorten standing proudly at the exit of the village. Not too far from Chhunggar, we reach the only restaurant in Jhaite and getting ready for our lunch, but surprisingly the restaurant wasn't operating for business at this time. We were not too hungry yet at that time, but energy reloading is a must as the next challenge that awaiting us, was a steep road all the way up to Nyi La at 4010 Meters. Luckily, we did have some muesli bar, dried meat, chestnut, and apples to boost us a little bit before that challenge begin.

The village of Ghiling from another angle.

Hiding on the shaded area and waiting for the rest to pass by.

The peak of the windy road there, was the Nyi La.

Priceless view along the way.

Passing through village of Chhunggar.

You will not miss this colorful Chorten by the road side after the village.

Sunlight flare with this unique yet colorful Chorten.

Samantha, Kumar, and Mandy on the road with magnificent background.

Unfortunately, the only restaurant at Jhaite was close, hence we can only eat whatever snacks we brought along before the hike to Nyi La.

The map of Ghami and its surrounding.

You will have a choice here for this ascend, if you prefer a flatter trail through longer distance, you may opt for the motorize road, but if you prefer suffering through steep trail, there was a shortcut as well that cut through from the base to the top. I took the challenging steep trail of course for the first half of the hike, but half way through, the second half of it look scary steep, after stopping for a while to make up my mind, I decided to re-route for motorize path for safety purposes, HAHA!

Let the elevation begin!

The second half of the trail was very steep with lots of loosen rocks, I decided to take the long motorize road instead.

Samantha and Mandy almost complete the first half of the hike.

Countless of roads as seen from the top.

The view from Nyi La, 4010 meters above sea level.

The view from Nyi La was so rewarding on the both side of it. On the direction towards the road that we came across today, it was a countless trail on the ground with gorgeous snow mountain range on the background, and on another side, it was creepy beautiful mountain with red, brown, grey, and even white colors on it, which just looked it was painted on purpose! Although no shaded place here, but we still willing to have a sit and enjoy the view for fair amount of time.

Unique mountains with various colors as seen from Nyi La.

Samantha love the sight very much.

Buddha leap on the extraordinary view here!

Wonder how the colors, which looked like painted was formed on this unique mountain range here.

Sit and relax, no shade was still fine for us.

After countless corners on the trek later on, we finally manage to see Ghami village laying strategically on the valley. Coincidentally, everyone speed up their steps as we were all truly starving at this point of time, and the village mean the food was waiting for us! It was rather huge compare to others village that we visited along the way, and Buddha stay back on one of the junction to lead us to the accommodation today, Hotel Royal Mustang. After placing our order for lunch, we check in to our room with located on the roof top of the building and offer a great view on the village of Ghami and its surrounding. Hot water was also available here hence without much hesitation everyone just rushing to have our face and hair wash cleanly. It was truly satisfying!

Ghami village, mean we were close to our lunch!

The farms of Ghami village spread widely to the surrounding area.

Descend slowly towards Ghami village.

Can you spot Samantha from this photo?

Buddha waited us at the junction, worried we heading towards wrong direction.

Welcome to Hotel Royal Mustang.

This seem to be a huge hotel with multiple buildings, this was the entrance to our rooms.

The interior of the hotel.

The rooms at the roof top, with superb view through the window.

The view from the roof top.

Our rooms were first and second from the left.

The view of Ghami village from the roof top.

Samantha waiting eagerly for our lunch, we were starving at this time!

Fried rice, but it seem missing something.

Perfect match with mum's home made sambal along with crunchy anchovies!

We were left with a bit of day light after our lunch, hence we have a walk around the village for some exploration. Basically all the houses here did have a space as animal farm for each of them, hence it was actually quite smelly with poop everywhere along the walk, just watch your step carefully! We initially plan to watch over to another side of the village through a bridge to visit the longest Mani Wall here in Upper Mustang, but it was too far away hence we leave the plan for another day instead.

A fairly average day with multiple elevation change covering distance of around 12 KM.