Australasian Dirt Bike — June 2017

thefirstplacethatfeelslikeyou’ve

madeitpastthetourists.Ahandfulof

guesthousesservewalkerstrudging

thefamousAnnapurnacircuit,young

monksplayinthestreamandcows

roamthedustystreets.

DHAKMAR

Threedaysofridingandanaltitude

gainof3000mfollowed.Witheach

cornerweroundedandeverypeakwe

crossedthescenerybecamemore

dramatic.Behindusloomsthemassive

Annapurnarange,whereyou’llfind

threepeaksover 8000 m.Theroad

improvedasthedesertemergedand

looserocksreplacedmud.

Wesleptinbasictearooms,

embracingthesquattoiletsand

ice-coldshowers.Eachmorningwe

clamberedoutearlyforthe sunrises.

Atthispointitwasalready becoming

amagicaltrip.Thesimplicity of life

wasspecial,thescenery unlike

anythingI’deverseen,the history

incredible.Andthenwe saw the

mountainatDhakmar.

Acrosstheice-blue,glacial melt

riverflowingthroughthe valley

belowLo-Ghamiisanancient mane

wall(pronouncedma-ney),painted

withvividred,blueand white paint.

Standingnearlythreemetres high and

150mlong,itprovidesan incredible

foregroundtothemagical wall of rock

thatstandsabovethetown.

Patchesofintenseblues and vibrant

redsrunthroughtheorange

sandstoneliketheywerepainted by

anartist.Thecrevasses and channels

cut by thousands of years of rain and

wind, contain caves cut by an ancient

people. It’s hard to do itjustice. We

bumbled across the plain, following a

faint horse track and stunned by the

golden, setting sun.

LO MANTHANG

The road into the capital of Upper

Mustang is a virtual highway, but

littered with miserable-looking hikers

getting wind blasted with the talcuum

powder-like dust. The weather is

warm and the altitude is taking its

toll. A touch of dehydration is

accentuated by the thin air.

Lo-Manthang is everything you can

hope it would be. The influence of 20

years of trekkers is apparent, but it’s

still a place that is holding tightly onto

ADV RIDE ITHE UPPER MUSTANG

With each corner we

rounded and every peak

we crossed the scenery

became more dramatic