“Quick, finish your snacks and let’s move,” cries Shakti walking guide Pujan Rai.

He’s spotted a “swarm of monks” (Rai’s words, not mine), and wants to follow in their enlightened footsteps. “I just heard they’re performing a shapten ceremony [which involves chasing bad spirits from a house] down the road,” Rai says, as we gather up walking poles, hats and day packs to jog after the monks, muesli bars still dangling from our mouths.