Rain, Mud, Cold – Upper Mustang tosses us a curve ball

September 25^th, 2026

Lo Manthang, Nepal

Woke with my alarm and got up to use the toilet.

Decided I was not interested in a cold shower, so just a quick wash of the head and face to help wake me up.

Looked outside and the clouds were covering everything, a white blanket spread across the land, with just a few distant ridges of the nearby mountains peeking through.

Oh, it is also still raining.

Went over to the restaurant after packing up some of the stuff, but not yet changed into my gear, not sure if we will depart on time or delay, see what guide thinks.

Watched the rain come down and also noted the small waterfalls coming off the roads along the steep walls holding up the road beds.

Could also see the rivulets of water running down the roads in a random pattern more reminiscent of a river delta.

Guide joined me and we waited for our breakfast while watching the weather.

Clouds were coming in and then out, but the rain stayed steady.

We decided that waiting might just bring worse weather, so we would hit the road a bit early actually, and our first challenge would be a river crossing a few miles up the road that has no bridge.

Depending on how full this was, and if we could safely cross it, would decide the rest of the day.

We started up the road going uphill still.

Road was the same dirt with imbedded rocks and gravel, but now was wet.  Large puddles sit at random, most shallow, but some can be a few inches deep.

Just as we saw from the restaurant, rivers of muddy water flowed down the road beds following the path of least resistance, and making it a fun challenge to ride without splattering water all over.

We would cross from one side of the road to the other every few feet it seems, trying to find the smoother, but still slightly graveled sections of the road.

The spots, mainly along the edges, where the gravel was no longer embedded, or buried deeper, could be a bit slick.  While the surface was solid, it had a layer of slime across the top that could make the wheels slide if you hit it just wrong.

To make things more interesting, my bike is using a basic street tire on the front, practically smooth with very little tread grooves.  So, it was sliding around pretty good if I did not watch my speed, the angle of turns, and the surface.

Then you have the sections of road that the large trucks have torn up.  Large ridges and bumps in the road, and in many cases the surface is a soupy mud.  The bikes will move well in a straight line, but trying to turn in this stuff is a puckering action.

We soon reached the river crossing.

The water comes rolling down a fair-sized water fall and then crosses the road and over the edge to continue its way down to the valley below.

The distance across was probably about 50 feet, and it was flowing pretty good, but the guide after a short pause went into and across so I just followed.

It was moving quick, but not really fast enough to cause issues with pushing the bike, and the depth was not more than about 6 inches in the middle, and thankfully the surface was rough stone, but mostly smoother from al the trucks crossing same area.

We then continued onward, crossing another small river later that was not as large, but similar flow and depth.

The rain was coming steady for the first hour, then slowed some.

We finally stopped in a village for a hot drink and while inside the coffee house the rain started coming much harder.

We waiting about 30 minutes, but with no signs of abatement, we decided to just push onward in the rain.

The road climbs and descends often in this area, and we reached nearly 4000 meters (about 13000 feet) at the pass.

Some great views along the way, when the clouds were not blocking the views.

Could see snow on some of the higher peaks around us, maybe 1000 meters more, hopefully that does not move down any.

The temperatures dropped down quite low, only a few degrees above freezing at one point, but then went back up a little from there. Guide saw between 2 and 7 degrees, which would be 30s and 40s F.

We stopped for another hot beverage for a while and then continued, needing only 1 hour left to reach the hotel.

We finally pulled into the village of Lo Manthang and after riding through its narrow roads, we arrived at the hotel.

It was still raining, but had dropped to a light rain at least.

Unloaded the bikes and set stuff aside, then used a hose to wash off the lower legs as I was covered in light mud.

We then went inside and got into the room right away.

It was very cold still, and no hot water today. (Solar water heater, and no sun now for 24 hours).

I took partial cold shower to wash face, head, feet, and hands.

Then I unpacked my street clothes, hoping they would be dry.

Yeah, so the bag I have everything in is NOT a water proof bag.  It has some resistance, but a good amount of water will soak through.   When I planned this trip, all the rides would have support vehicles to carry the bags, so did not worry, did not think that I might find a need to have it on the bike instead.

The stuff I had in the bag along the edges were damp, but thankfully most of the clothing was inside the other duffel bag which is inside this bag.  That other layer allowed the cold through, and some light dampness on stuff along the very edges, but nothing serious.

Dressed and then laid down in the bed for a bit.

I was exhausted from the technical riding, and the cold.

I was also feeling the altitude more.  We are at 3800 meters (12300 feet), so air is starting to thin a little and I could feel that in my breathing.

I needed to relax, let my body calm down, heart rate decrease, and then could move around slower and things should be good.

Also having a slight headache which is normal for the first few hours.

I ended up dozing off.  Probably 90 minutes went buy before I decided to wake up and go check on getting lunch.

Found the guide in the restaurant already, and he had ordered, but only a few minutes ago.

He grabbed me a menu and I decided to have something more familiar since things were less than great at the moment.

Ordered a pizza and a hot tea.

After eating, it was about 2:00PM.  We agreed to meet around 7:30 for dinner.

I was going to sit in the main atrium at the café tables and work on stuff, so returned to the room and sat on the bed for a bit to relax while food digested.

I was really freaking cold though, so pulled the covers up and then laid down to warm up, and fell asleep again.

Slept for about 2.5 hours, then woke to use the toilet and made myself stay up.

I gathered the laptop and all the stuff I would need and went down to the main floor café and sat at a table to work.

Uploaded all the footage from today to the laptop, then worked on a few things online.

I am getting sporadic and very limited service on my phone.  The hotel Wi-Fi is down due to the weather as well.

I soon gave up trying to do more as most of the apps would not work at all, and those that did work, would stop working at random.

I typed up the blog entries for last 2 days and then will try to get video finished tonight.

Finished up to the present and then went up to have dinner.

Had a nice bowl of mushroom soup and a bowl of spaghetti Bolognese.  Pretty good dinner.

I then returned to my room around 8:00 PM, and decided to just go to bed.

It was cold and no desk, so working on laptop is not easy to manage in bed, and was tired enough that reading would have just put me to sleep anyway.

Hoping tomorrow things lighten up weather wise?

Catch ya down the road.