The early morning of Muktinath is cold because of its altitude. Sun rise is as early as 6:30am and the sky begins to light up. When the sun cast its first beam on the snow peak, it paints a golden shade to the summit area. The clouds also join in and dress themselves up in the same golden colour.
The trek today is demanding if not challenging. We have to cover 24Km from Muktinath returning to Jomsom then to Marpha. Trekking down hill does not exhaust much energy, but it is not friendly to your toes inside the shoes - End of day, both of my fourth toes are bruised but luckily they are not serious. Approaching Kagbeni, we by pass the village and stop at Eklebatti for our lunch at around noon time.
Returning to Jomsom takes another 1h45m. Though familiar, Jomsom has no place for us and we have to continue our journey following the Kali Gandaki River. Most of the time we walk in the valley next to the river. 3:25pm we arrive at Marpha, our destination for the day. The warm water from the solar panel plus extra buckets of hot water suggest a thorough wash. In the next hour, the soil collected from the Windy Valley in the last couple of days are all wash down to the drain from our bodies and clothes.
Strolling around, one can easily feel the cleanliness of Marpha - white washed houses, covered drainage and sewage and clean streets （animal dumps are quickly swept clean）are well organized. Walking up the mid-hill, there is monastery overlooking the entire village. From above, we can see the wealth of Marpha symbolized by the piles of woods on house-top and the apple/apricot orchards attached to houses. Besides an access point to the Dhaulagiri base camp, Marpha is also known for its apricot or apple brandy；least to say, there is no excuse for a bottle at dinner.