This is a continuation of my series on the Annapurna Circuit Trek, which we trekked in late November. Check out our itinerary here. Waking up on Day 10, it was disconcerting to realize that we were done trekking. We had decided to stop at Muktinath due to time constraints, but we still needed to get back to Pokhara for our Yeti Airlines flight to Kathmandu. Initially, our group thought, "There's no way it will take us two full days to get back to Pokhara." We hadn't yet discovered how travel works in rural Nepal. Around 11:00am, we walked to the Jeep stand in Muktinath. There were groups of other trekkers there, negotiating prices for a jeep to Jomsom. It was a first-come, first-served situation. Whoever put together enough people to fill a jeep got the next one. We joined several groups and solo trekkers to fill a jeep. They told us they were stopping in Tatopani for the night to enjoy the hot springs and invited us to join them. In the spirit of adventure, we agreed. We started with a jeep from Muktinath to Jomsom. Jomsom is the biggest town on the other side of Thorong La Pass. It even has a small airport with flights to Pokhara. We knew some trekkers who opted to fly back. When we arrived in Jomsom, no jeeps were available because all the drivers were at lunch. So we had to wait in the dusty, windy town of Jomsom. Eventually, we crammed into a jeep to Tatopani and set off along the one-lane, winding mountain roads. The jeep ride was incredibly bumpy, particularly when we went off-roading onto the dry riverbed, bouncing over massive rocks. The scenery on this side of the pass was no less magnificent than during the first part of our trek. We were treated to views of Annapurna I and a vibrantly blue river. Because we started the jeep ride after lunch, we were still bouncing along when the sun set. I found it disconcerting to be on the curvy mountain roads after dark, with a sheer cliff on one side of us. Also, apparently it is common for drivers to make seemingly random stops, to talk to people along the side of the road, pick up sacks of things, or exchange money. This happened consistently along the way, making us think "What is going on?", but since we could not understand their conversations, we had to go along with it. It was dark, and we were hungry, when the jeep dropped us off in Tatopani. The whole group from the jeep set off to find a hotel. One girl went barreling through town, demanding cheaper rates and storming out when owners refused. Eventually, we separated from her and her friends, since they were passing up perfectly decent guesthouses, and we didn't mind paying $3 for a room. By the time we finished dinner, I didn't want to try to find the hot springs in the dark. After being bounced around all day, I really just wanted to climb in bed. So I did. In the morning (Day 11), we ate breakfast with our traveling companions in a beautiful courtyard surrounded by trees before walking to the bus stop. We didn't have any idea what time the local bus to Pokhara would arrive or depart, but we figured that we should arrive early and wait. When the bus arrived, the driver loaded our bags on top of the bus, and we set off. We stopped at a checkpoint to get our permits stamped for exiting the Annapurna Conservation Area. Then, a few hundred feet down the road, we stopped again. The driver got out, started talking with a family at a roadside ship, ordered some tea, leaned on the wall and stared at the bus, and we thought, "What is going on?" There was no announcement, as there had been on our bus from Pokhara to the Annapurna Circuit, that we were taking a bathroom break. Eventually, another bus pulled up alongside ours, and the driver announced that we had to move to the other bus. We all piled out and then on to the next bus....to find that it was almost full of Nepalese people who had spread out packages, backpacks, and suitcases across the seats, refusing to move the packages to allow us to sit down. We realized that the original driver had held us there on another bus in order to let the locals save all the seats. However, we had paid our fare for seats, so we were not getting off the bus. I ultimately got a seat by moving a backpack, and some of the male trekkers stood in order to let older passengers sit. Some trekkers ended up in arguments with locals, who told them there was no room on the bus. However, the bus driver had collected our money, so the trekkers insisted they had paid the fare and that they were riding the bus. The bumpy, one-lane mountain roads caused the bus to tip wildly, and us to fly out of our seats on some bumps. The Nepalese man in front of me began throwing up out the window. It was an incredibly uncomfortable bus ride that lasted for about 4.5 hours. The local bus dropped us in Beni, where we had to find yet another jeep for the last leg to Pokhara. There wasn't really an option for lunch, so we just had to eat remnants from our packs and wait until Pokhara. The final jeep ride took place on roads rather than stream beds and mountain ledges, meaning it was a bit smoother than our previous jeep and bus rides. However, knowing it was the last leg before Pokhara made the time crawl by. We finally arrived in Pokhara in the late afternoon. Getting from Muktinath to Pokhara took our group 2 days, 3 separate jeep rides, 1 local bus, and a LOT of negotiating.
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AuthorMy name is Alyssa Good and I have a passion for travel, adventure, culture, and new experiences! I focus on budget friendly travel, trip planning resources, and seeking out new experiences. Archives
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