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| Gucchi lake - Jumla mugu border |
I got called in for work in Mugu which would last for
roughly a month. I was very excited with the opportunity because Humla had led
me to wander about other districts of Karnali, and now I was going to see them.
I was on board with the team immediately and we started our journey towards
Mugu.
The airport at Mugu, Talcha, was not operating at that time
due to upgrading works that were being done there, so we had two options: Fly to
Jumla and walk for 2 days or fly to Jumla and ride for 8 hours in a rugged and
narrow earthen road to reach Gamgadhi (the headquarters of Mugu). The second
option was the riskier of the two, because there was no telling when it would
rain, and even a few hours of rain would make the road impassable for four
wheeled vehicles. We decided to take the risk and ride to Mugu. The common
denominator was that we had to go through Jumla first, and because I got to see
Jumla too, I was thankful that Talcha airport was closed at that time.
Our team consisted of Geologists, senior surveyors, specialists,
senior engineers and graduate engineers (me being in the last lot). There were
thirteen of us, and it was kind of like a chartered flight to Jumla, which made
the flight fun. The airplane was, however, the same twin otter aircraft that I
rode for the first time during my first flight to Simikot, and this time,
because you had friends on board too, I had a feeling of riding a local bus
with my friends.
We reached Jumla in about forty minutes and as soon as I got
out of the plane, I could see flat lands all around. I had no idea that Jumla
was a valley (an enormous one at that). I was expecting a hilly landscape,
similar to the ones I experienced in Humla, but no. It felt like I was in a
suburban part of Kathmandu with more vigor and less settlement. Jumla was
incredible.
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| Jumla valey |
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| A suspension bridge on the outskirts of Jumla Bazar |
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| Jumla Bazar and Airport (photo: Chetan Neupane) |
There were houses as good as Kathmandu, there were hotels,
restaurants, football grounds and dense markets where you could get anything
and at reasonable prices. Jumla was no wonder the hub of Karnali region. It was
blessed with a wonderful topography and fertile soil. The only reason, it
seemed, that development had not come sooner was because the beastly mountains
of Kalikot stood between it and the rest of the world. It has already been about
6 years since Jumla got connected to the Strategic Road Network, and it looked
like it was going through a developmental boost.
We stayed the night in Jumla and started our journey towards
Mugu at 8:00 am the next day. We would have to ride from Jumla bazaar area to
Nagma, a settlement in Kalikot. From there, we would have to cross boarders back
again to Jumla until we reached Gucchi lek, which would be the boarder of Jumla
and Mugu. The ride from Jumla to Nagma was comparatively very pleasant, with
wonderful sights within the wide valleys of Jumla. It was not until after we
reached Nagma where the real journey began. It was my first experience of the
Karnali highway and almost immediately, I realized why the highway had claimed
the lives of hundreds of people.
The road went right through enormous cliffs and were
situated as high as two hundred meters above the Jumla Karnali River. The
earthen road was very narrow, and it was certainly a significant problem if two
vehicles were to pass each other by. Streams and rivers at every possible gorge
made the road even more challenging because it made certain sections of the
road dangerously slippery, and sure enough, there weren’t any railing and guard
rails.
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| A section of the dangerous Juma-Mugu Road Corridor |
We bounced our way into Sinja valley, a place worth mentioning
because, apparently, this place was considered the capital of the Khasa Kingdom
from 11th to 14th century and this was where the
Devanagiri script originated. I also found out that Sinja valley (a place I had
not heard of before) was a World Heritage site.
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| Sinja Valley |
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| The barren hills surrounding Sinja Valley |
After a few hours of horrendous travelling, we reached
Guchhi lek. If there is a heaven, I wondered, it would probably look something
like this. There were flat lands as far as I could see and lots of cattle
spread throughout. The road was also graveled, and the ride was smooth. I
looked to my left, and I actually saw a black shining horse running along with
us in the open field. It felt like I was in some kind of mystical movie, and
that the only thing that was missing was the background music. The treacherous
and agonizing trip was all made worthwhile by this small place (and I deem this
place as the best one I’ve come across in Karnali).
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| Gucchi Lek |
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| Gucchi Lek |
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| Gucchi Lek |
It was around 6:00 pm that we reached Gamgadhi, the
headquarters of Mugu, and honestly, I have to say I was a tad disappointed.
Gamgadhi was a city that was situated in the ridge of a mountain and
settlements were very narrow. It was like a long stretch of a narrow street from
Asan bazar and that was it. I was blown away when I saw Simikot of Humla
for the first time and I had expected something similar from Gamgadhi, but as
it turned out, it was just a normal hilly settlement. But during my stay there
and as I worked, I got to see lots of breathtaking views in the vicinity of
Gamgadhi.
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| An amazing view as seen from a plateau near Gamgadhi |
I had a pleasant experience during my stay at Gamgadhi as I
was already accustomed to the culture, language and people around there. I felt
like I was home away from home and fifteen days passed us by in the blink of an
eye. The only regret I had was that I could not visit Rara Lake. I was told
that it was only a three hour walk from Gamgadhi but work was so busy that we didn’t
have time for anything else.
Although Rara lake still remains to be crossed off from my
bucket list, I am still grateful that I got to see Jumla, Mugu and a very small
part of Kalikot (places I never thought I would visit my entire life).
