We travel south and west to Pokhara, the lake city that sits at the foot of the Annapurna range. The pace here is deliberately gentle. Pokhara is both a place of beauty and a place of acclimatization, an intermediate altitude where the body begins to prepare for the heights to come.
This is part of how the yatra is designed around the dignity of every pilgrim, including elders. The ascent to Muktinath is not rushed. Time at Pokhara lets the journey settle into the body before the corridor narrows.
An evening by the lake, a reading on the tradition of the Shaligram, and the day closes quietly. Ahead lies the gorge.