We were thrilled to fly to Jomsom–one of only 3 flying days in the entire month due to the late monsoon. Jomsom always reminds me of an outpost town in the US old West. Borderland, a place of arrivals, departures and waiting around… a bit seedy, but promising glimpses of the beauty to come…
From here we had to recruit porters to help us carry our 300+ lbs of herbs, needles and supplies to the Kagbeni jeep. Quite a load: we had 8 fully stuffed duffels plus our own personal bag. Once at the jeep station we had to wait for the jeep to fill up. Once there we learned that there was a flooded river crossing we’d have to ford by foot on the way to Jomsom, and then take another jeep to continue on the other side.
Luckily Frank had warned us to bring water shoes (texting from the slippery slopes of the mountain), but transporting 8 giant duffels across raging waters was a bit tough, even for our capable team. A couple locals took pity on us and helped with the last few bags.
