The Kingdom of Lo (Mustang, Nepal) Part I

Nov 16^th, 2009 -  Wow. I hardly know where to begin. The past two weeks have been supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!! Yeah, that about sums it up. Mustang, the former Kingdom of Lo, was worth every penny I spent even if I overpaid (which I'm pretty sure I did). As usual I began in a state of confusion as to exactly what the hell was happening. I thought I would take the bus to Pokhara and then hop a flight the same day. I’m ignorant. The bus ride was six hours by itself which meant I would be spending a night in Pokhara and then catching an early flight the next morning. Sometimes, I stupid.

My guide picked me up at my hotel and we walked to the bus station in Kathmandu. His name is Ram and he is old enough to be my father (53 years of age to be exact). And he smokes. I realize he is Nepalese and has been doing this for 33 years but I was still a teensy concerned. And his English? Not so stellar. Yippee.

On the bus to Pokhara was the German couple (herein referred to as Hansel and Gretel or Hans and Grets for short) that was apparently not so thrilled to find out that I was supposed to be accompanying them on their trek. I was told they scoffed at the idea and so, consequently, was provided my very own guide. However, we would all be on the same bus to Pokhara, the same plane to Jomsom, and sleep in all the same tea houses along the way. Separate but equal. Who likes awkward? Thankfully, it was not so bad and in the end they even warmed up to me. Imagine that.