Preparation and planning is key to enjoying any trip. Muktinath Yatra is one that needs a lot of careful planning and attention to detail.
1. Right Season: Do not plan your trip during the monsoon (Jun to Sep) or during the peak winters from (Dec to March) since during these times make or break is much in the hands of nature and leaves very little percentage to make any work arounds or replan on the go. Plan for travel either in May or late September to early November, which are the favourable times to visit Nepal.
2. Get an agent of repute: Pay the extra buck to get yourself a good travel agent who can relieve you of the worries of pick ups, drops, airport transfers, planning or re-planning the hotel, flight tickets etc. You can't work throughout the trip and enjoy it well too!
3. Suitable Winter Clothing: Check the weather around the time you would leave for the trip, get clothing and winter wear suited to the temperature there. There are winter clothing shops that can give what you need precisely based on what weather conditions and temperatures you would be going into. Carry good wind cheaters with hood, comfortable shoes, thick socks and thermals to keep you warm.
Make your own judgement about how much protection you would need from the cold, as locals would only tell you that it would be slightly cold, however if you are from warmer parts of the world, that would be grossly wrong, since they are acclimatized to the conditions there.
4. Medicines: Carry all the medicines you need. Do not shy away from carry them or leave it to chance thinking i will not probably need them at all.
5. Work on your fitness: It would be worthwhile to improve your fitness through walks exercises and stretches for a month before you set out. Improve your walking range, strength train your legs and back. Having spent all the effort time and money, it would be terrible to not be able to hold yourself together on a long day in difficult conditions, tough weather with your back packs loaded.
6. Cash: Carry enough cash, split them up in different bags for contingency. Don't rely completely on cards or leave it to the last ATM to withdraw what you need.
7. Carry your food: Carry simple or ready to eat foods that suit you on the last leg from Pokhara to Muktinath. Cheese sandwiches, raw vegetables or apples, biscuits, energy bars, instant coffee sachets or tea dips and packs of electrolytes will help you on the way. Drink enough warm water to keep your stomach safe from infection and be wary of dehydration in cold weather.
8. The Golden rule: Eat before you are hungry, drink before you are thirsty! Hunger and thirst will mostly drive you into taking hasty or wrong decisions. It would better if the all do the same if in a group, so we design our good experience rather than be stricken by basics!
9. Buffer day: Plan to have a buffer day at hand to rework your plan due to any delays, interruptions or unforeseen situations.
10. Get past inconveniences: Most important of all - Don't forget to enjoy every moment, ignore the inconveniences that you may face on the way, cherish the goodness in whatever you get and don't forget to thank the lord in each step you put forward on this great yatra! I've heard of people who narrate only hardships if asked how the trip was, they couldn't remember the good part!
These points are not a tad apprehensive or imaginative, the value of the preparation is not seen if the trip goes smooth, but would end up crippling if we're not equipped to handle them at that point in time. All the very best!
- Sriram Kannan
