Trapped in Upper Mustang

September 29^th, 2026

Samar Village, Nepal

Woke before the alarm and sat in the room for a bit.

As I slept in my clothes due to cold, just put on my shoes and went outside to see what was going on.

Guide was doing the morning maintenance on the bikes, adjusting chains, lubricating, checking tires, and try again to adjust his steering response (been an issue since we left Kathmandu)

Stood around for a while, then went in and had breakfast.

A large group that came in last night was leaving to continue north on their trek, and after breakfast, most of the truck drivers parking here went to hang out in their trucks.

I went back to the room and took a short, mostly cold shower, then checked all the clothes that were still damp and put them in the windows as it was very warm with the sun shining today.

Checked on them a few times while working on packing other stuff and eventually it was all dry enough to put into the bag again.  Also put the boots up there with the insoles out to let it dry out as well.

Insoles were dry really fast, but boots will take longer.

Went back out to talk with the guides while we sat around the bikes.

Another American couple was getting loaded up in the jeep, they will go down and then hike down the hill and get picked up by another jeep to get them to Jomsom so they can fly out today.

I had talked a bit with them the other day, and he wanted me to send him the photo of the road hole when I get internet again. (Internet is still down, power is also still out, so all we have is what the solar can store during the day, and nothing is on during daylight to conserve power for night.)

As they were leaving, I ran in and grabbed a card to give them to check out the YouTube, they might enjoy seeing the same places from another viewpoint.

I grabbed my Kindle and went outside and read for quite a bit.

Around lunch I stopped and went inside to check the boots and sat in room for a few.

Then came out and had lunch, and around this time all the trucks decided to head down the road to the next village.  I think they are trying to make a statement to the government to work faster on restoring the road.

They are supposed to be working on it, and reports are coming in that they are there, but no update on any progress or timeframe yet.

Sat around and played on the phone a bit, then went back to the Kindle until it started to get too cold out.

I returned to the room for a bit to put boots back on floor and insoles back in.  No longer getting sun on that side.

Bounced around between room and the dining area trying to kill time.  Phone is getting low on power, so put it on the smaller charging pack I have, but it was used the other night, so only got it up to 45%.

Spent a bit of time taking photos outside of the mountains and other things, but seen most of it several times, does not change much.

Eventually went and read on the Kindle more, finishing the one book, starting and comupleted another short book (Guide on riding motorcycles in Latin America), and started another book (Guy and friends rode vintage motorbikes down the Americas in the late 70s)

I returned to room and dropped off the Kindle as it was getting closer to dinner now.

Grabbed the other charging pack and put the phone on it till it reached 50%, that way I can still play on it some tonight if need.

My food arrived around then as well.  Was a bit slower as a large group of Chinese hikers came in to stay for the night as well, and kitchen was quite busy.  Was also another couple eating earlier and the 3 French people are still here as well.

I ate my food and then played on the phone a bit.  A local had agreed to ride down and check out the road progress earlier, and he had not yet returned, so was waiting to hear any updates.

Not long after he did return and the news is not good.  They are not making much progress on the issue at all.  It sounds like all the slides and damage to the road before the big hole has been dealt with, so at least we know we can get to Jomson if we can get past the hole in the road.

At this point, the guide thinks we should leave in the morning, check out the progress, inquire about getting bikes across in short time, otherwise, hire the help to move the bikes down the hiking trail to bypass this issue.

Once in Jomsom, we can hopefully get updates on the other road issues near Tatopani, and then we can either ride out if okay, or leave the bikes and fly back (they will have to retrieve bikes at a later date).

After all that, I went to room and brought laptop back to the dining area as it was bit quieter now, and is much easier to work on while sitting at a table or desk.  Not easy to type while sitting in bed.

Will finish this up and then spend another hour or two on the phone or kindle before going to bed.

Everything is ready to get geared and out the door tomorrow, so the usual 8:00AM breakfast and then we leave around 9:00AM.

Hope we get some good news tomorrow, moving these bikes down a hiking trail does not sound like a fun experience (will take several hours).

Catch ya down the road.