international travel | Endless P Summer

Day 5

Pewa

Elev. 5700 feet

This morning we left the Yak Hotel in Lar and started walking back towards the Manaslu Circuit from Tsum Valley. The first hour or so was pretty cold until the sun came out. It’s weird, daylight and sunrise aren’t even close. It gets light out way before the sun shows itself over the mountains. Once the sun does show itself the temperature rises considerable. After we walked through Chhokang Paro the trail dropped steeply for awhile and we had to redo the dicey spot where the trail got real narrow and the footing was soft due to a previous landslide. I usually don’t like doing out and back style hikes but since I felt like death the other day it was nice to re-walk the same trail and I was able to enjoy it more. Same goes for the place we had lunch today in Chumling; 2 days ago I was throwing up in their bathroom and today I wolfed down a plate of fried noodles. From lunch we walked a few hours downhill to Lokpa and then a couple more to where we rejoined the Manaslu Circuit and the confluence with the Buddhi Gandaki river. We all went for an icy cold refreshing bath in a little tributary to the big river. It was so nice! I love cold water on a hot day. We returned to the circuit and everything was new again.

The trail stayed right alongside the river for the rest of the day and in the early evening we got to the tiny village of Pewa where we’re staying the night. Gopal strongly suggested the dal bhat and since I’m a glutton for punishment I figured I should get back at it. It was good, I just hope I don’t suffer the consequences again. The bed here is comfortable and directly next to the loud soothing sound of the river, really hoping for a nice peaceful night sleep.

Day 6

Lho

Elev. 10,425 feet

Today was great day! QB celebrated her 25th birthday and what better place than smack dab in the middle of the Himalayas. I was finally able to lighten my pack and unload her present, a dark chocolate bar that I’ve been carrying for a week.

After breakfast we walked on the side of a cliff along the river for most of the morning. There was only one relatively gnarly spot where the trail was damaged from landslides but we got through no problem. I’m not too crazy about these landslide sections but they’re never as bad as they seem and so far so good, 100% survival rate (knock on wood). For lunch we made it to the little village of Gap and pigged out on some fried noodles with egg. Today there’s been lots of other trekkers from all over the place but none going a similar pace so we usually just exchange niceties and what not and don’t see them again. After lunch the trail went through what I guess would technically be called a jungle and we were suddenly in the middle of a bunch of big trees. The river got smaller and faster as we climbed higher and at one point it caused this really cool arch in the rock. We also saw more monkeys and blue sheep this afternoon. Around 3 we got to Namrung which was home to the fanciest hotel I’ve seen up this way. We aren’t staying here but as luck would have it they were selling pieces of chocolate cake and we were able to have a little birthday ceremony for QB. the Birthday GirlAfter Namrung, Gopal suggested we hike for a few more hours and of course we were all in so we crushed the rest of the day with steep climbs all the way to the village of Lho. People are always asking where we are coming from, it’s like the main topic of conversation out here, and one local villager said to Mac, “Even Nepali people don’t walk from Pewa to Lho in one day.” I guess we really are crushing. Lho is almost 5000 feet higher than where we slept last night. The lodge here is bigger than usual, has a wood stove to keep the dining room warm, a sit down(western)toilet, and some really good food. I got Swiss Rosti which is some kind of delicious fried potato and garlic pancake with eggs and cheese on top, my favorite dish of the whole trip. We also were able to get WiFi cards and had a little bit of service for the first time in a week. I mean a real little bit. Everybody had just enough service to get a message back and forth to their folks.

Day 7

Samdo

Elev. 12,700 feet

Today for breakfast I had a huge delicious apple pancake. I have to give it to the place in Lho for food, best so far on the Circuit (in my opinion anyway). It was cloudy when we got in last night because this morning we got our first look at Manaslu Peak. What a beefcake! 8000+ meters and the 8th tallest mountain in the world. After we ate breakfast we quickly climbed about 500 feet to Ribung Gompa and had ourselves a little look around. This monastery was bustling with monks, I think there was a school there and they were all sitting outside studying. From the monastery we walked through lots of pink and red blooming rhododendrons and then the trail climbed steeply through a forest until we got to the town of Shyla. Mountains in every direction. Another hour of walking and we were in Samagon, one of the largest towns we’ve been in. I thought the villages would get smaller as we got higher but I guess since we are getting closer to the Tibetan border the villages draw people from Tibet. From Samagon the trail was really flat for a couple hours as we walked through a huge valley until we got to Samdo.

The plan is to go over Larke Pass(16,900 feet), the main obstacle of the Circuit, in 2 days. We’ll stay in Samdo(at 12,700 feet the highest place I’ve ever slept) tonight and tomorrow and do a couple of hikes around here to get acclimated. Mac’s been over 20,000 feet before, but the highest the rest of us have been is 14,500. I don’t want to mess around with altitude sickness, so I’m really hoping things go alright and we get through the next few days ok. This afternoon Gopal, Mac, QB, and I climbed up to just over 14,000 going up a peak right outside of Samdo. Moist wasn’t feeling too hot so he stayed down low to rest.

On our way down we stopped and watched a festival going on. I guess we just missed an archery competition but there were lots of people dancing and a soccer game at 12,000 feet. The prize for the winning team was standing by, a live goat to be slaughtered. We watched the game for a little bit then got some supper and early to bed. Tomorrow we plan to climb a pass that goes to the Tibetan Border. It would be cool to make it to Tibet but I just heard there’s a decent snowpack so maybe we’ll just get as high as we can.

Day 8

Samdo

Elev. 12,700 feet

Right after breakfast today we walked to China. Well we walked to the Nepal/Tibet border and since Tibet is an autonomous region under Chinese rule, we technically walked to China. From Samdo we walked west toward Larkya Pass then cut north through a valley that went towards Tibet. The trail was steep, rocky and awesome. We saw tons of marmots, yaks, a few blue sheep but sadly no snow leopards. I guess this was the place to see the elusive snow leopard but it just didn’t happen for me. Moist rebounded nicely from feeling lousy yesterday and joined us for the first couple thousand feet. He turned back at 14,700 and the rest of us continued. Gopal, Mac, QB and myself got to the border after about 4 hours.

Lajyang Pass, right on the border, sits at 16,392 feet and is the highest I’ve ever been before. At that elevation I could see my house, just kidding. I definitely felt the effects, a little bit of head pressure, but nothing serious. I’ve been drinking lots of water and took a couple of IBs around 14,000 feet. The border itself is just a small fence that goes along the pass in between 2 higher mountains. Gopal said that since it is not patrolled until a 2 hour walk into Tibet, and it was ok to step over and take pictures. I’ll leave it to your imagination whether or not we did that. People on both sides of the border bring their yaks back and forth to graze with special permission from both governments.

The way down was quicker and we were back in Samdo around 2:30pm. Our plan is to get an alpine start in the morning and get up and over Larkya Pass tomorrow. I’m definitely getting another rosti for supper and hoping to get to bed early.

Day 9

Bimthang

Elev. 12,146 feet

Today we woke up a couple hours before the b-crack of dawn and started walking at 3:45 am. Our goal was to get to the top of Larkya La(La means pass) before the clouds roll in usually around 10 or 11. We all started with our headlamps except for Mountain Tiger, he has night vision so he led the way.

The sky was awesome as we walked through the early morning hours. First the stars were incredible and as the sun began to come out it lit up the very peak of Manaslu and then gradually the surrounding mountains.

We got to the tiny village of Dharmasala at 6am. This was an option as a place to stay last night and I’m glad we didn’t do it. Dharmasala sits at 14,700 feet and has 1 long room where they serve food and a bunch of semi-permanent tents where everybody sleeps. I guess there were around 60 people here last night and when they all tried to get breakfast at the sane time it was just chaos. By the time we got here most were already gone and we stopped in for a quick cup of garlic soup and some black tea. It was cold, at 6 am we still weren’t in the sun so even though I was warm from walking my water bottle was starting to freeze.

Once we left Dharmasala we were in direct sunlight and had a pleasant 3 hour walk to the top of the Pass. It was a beautiful morning and I was feeling good so I was able to crush the couple thousand feet to the top of Larkya La at 16,800 feet. Today felt like a long gradual climb and besides the elevation it was pretty easy. I felt like climbing to Tibet yesterday was a more difficult pass and getting up high definitely prepared me for today.

There was a ton of people on top of the pass and we all hung out on top for about 45 minutes until the clouds started to roll in. The descent was kind of lousy, it was super steep and there was a fair amount of snow. Thankfully QB and I had been carrying micro spikes this whole time and were glad to have them for this section.

Eventually we got below the snow line and walked a few more hours until we got to a tea house in Bimthang around 1pm. We still had lots of daylight left but everybody was content to just chill out and stay here the rest of the day.

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Posted on May 11, 2018 by endlesspsummer

international travel, manaslu circuut, nepal, travel

Manaslu

Our plan is to hike the Manaslu Circuit in Nepal with a side trip out and back to Tsum Valley. It will be QB and myself plus Mac and Moist, two friends we met last year while hiking CDT.

Mac, Me, Moist

I did my usual next to nothing for preparations but luckily Mac, a full time hiker and traveler, is on it and took care of just about everything. All we had to do is show up. Mac took care of getting the permits, vetting and selecting a guide, and organizing a Jeep ride for all of us for the 8 hour trip from Kathmandu to Arughat Bazar.this should get us there no problem

Manaslu Circuit is a trail that goes around Manaslu Peak (the 8th largest mountain in the world at over 8,000 meters). We’ll be topping out at 16,900 feet on Larke Pass. It usually takes people between 2-3 weeks for the hike (or the trek, they call hiking trekking out here). The circuit requires a couple different permits; one for the Manaslu region and one for the Annapurna region which we’ll be crossing into. We also are required to have a guide which will be a new experience for me. With everything it was a little over $300 USD to get started.

Instead of camping which I’m used to, we’ll be stopping in villages every night and staying in tea houses or lodges which are really just very basic accommodation. Instead of carrying food we’ll be stopping to eat all our meals at tea houses.

While you are reading this blog don’t get too hung up on spelling, the Nepali certainly don’t. Same goes for elevations; I’ve seen plenty of different numbers for the same place, I think the numbers are just a general estimate and I have to convert from meters to feet which just complicates matters further.

Getting here:

From Vegas on the 13th, QB and I took an overnight flight to New York. We spent a couple days with her family there and my folks came down from Massachusetts for the weekend. Monday morning the 16th we were scheduled to fly from JFK in New York to Kathmandu, Nepal. Due to a storm on the east coast we were delayed about 4 hours but it ended up being no big deal.

The first leg of our journey was a 12 hour flight on Qatar air to Doha, Qatar. This was the biggest, most luxurious airplane I’ve ever been on, and they fed us real well. Plus there was a person missing in our row so we had even more space in our already oversized seats. Exactly what I could have hoped for on a flight around the world. Hamad airport in Doha was gigantic and state of the art. Because of the weather delay, Qatar air provided all of the passengers a lunch voucher which was a nice touch but more importantly there was another flight going to Kathmandu in a couple hours so even though we missed our transfer we were still good to go.

After a 5 hour flight we arrived in Kathmandu around 7:30 pm local time. We cruised through customs quickly and were greeted by our welcoming committee, Mac and Moist. From the airport we took a taxi to our hotel in Thamel which is the main tourist district of the city. For supper we went around the corner and got some falafel wraps for like 200 rupees which translates to about 2 USD. Amazingly after losing 9 hours and 45 mins due to traveling, QB and I both crashed out around 11 pm and woke around 630am. Right on schedule. We got on a good sleep rhythm right away.

The following day we explored around Kathmandu and took care of any errands that needed taking care of. We also checked out some of the local attractions, like Monkey Temple and Durbar Square.

4/19

Arughat Bazaar

Elev. 1665 feet

Gopal our guide met us at the Norbulinka hotel at 7:30 this morning and Visal the driver showed up shortly afterwards in a Scorpio SUV.

We hit the road right away and for about 4 hours we were on paved roads going through crowded urban areas and getting jammed up with traffic all over the place. Visal was a very popular guy because everybody that saw him beeped at him and he beeped at everybody too, I mean everybody. Driving through the city was crazy, I can’t believe we didn’t get into a million accidents. Around noon we stopped at a little road side pull-off that catered to tourists and filled up a plate of food and sat by a river.

Back on the road there was only another half hour of the good paved stuff until we crossed a river and were on bumpy, muddy, dirt roads the rest of the way to Arughat. It didn’t take long for our 2wd Scorpio to hit some deep mud and get real stuck. We created a bit of a traffic jam, and then bus behind us with about 50 passengers also got stuck. Now there was a huge crowdand a whole lot of watching as everybody gave their opinion, pushed in different directions, did all kinds of stuff and eventually the trucks all became unstuck and we were able to move on. This went on for a couple hours though, it was quite a scene. I guess it happens all the time on this road and was no big deal.

Once we got going again we still had about 3 more hours of driving this wicked bumpy road through farming villages and down into and out of a jungle. We made it through sections of road that had rivers running right through them and other situations that were just as muddy as when we got stuck and then at one point the driver even got pulled over and got a 500 rupee ticket ($5) for some silly rule but eventually we made it to our destination, Arughat Bazaar. Even though the traffic was miserable, and the road was probably the worst I’ve ever been on, it was still an enjoyable ride and was leaps and bounds better than our alternative; being crammed into the bus. The Scorpio was comfortable, the company was fun and Visal was a good driver. When we got to Arughat we got set up at a guest house and got some food. The room even has a toilet and a fan.

Day 1

Dobhan

Elev. 3850 ft

We got up this morning around 6 and ate breakfast at the hotel in Arughat. Fresh eggs from their chickens, toast, honey they harvest from the bees on the roof, and a miniature banana from a tree nearby. And black tea, I’m trying to switch from coffee to tea while on this hike, so far it’s going ok.

The first half of the day we were on a road and had cars, trucks, and buses still coming by. We got to Arkhet Bazaar which was a pretty busy bustling community and bought a soda and a snack. As we get into the mountains the prices of goods increase but things like lodging get cheaper. For instance: a bottle of coke that was 60 rupees in Kathmandu was 100 rupees when we got stuck in the mud yesterday and then 180 rupees at Arkhet Bazaar and going up. The lodging on the other hand goes down, I think. The room at Arughat was 800r and tonight it’s 300r but also we don’t have electricity or a bathroom in our room. No need.

After Arkhet we walked the road for a couple more hours, it was fun and there was an awful lot going on, we even saw a wedding procession. We got to a little restaurant that overlooked a waterfall, a suspension bridge, and the river. The Buddhi Gandaki River. The same river we followed all day. For lunch we got noodles and vegetables kind of like chow mein. We learned that if we all order the same thing the meal comes out way quicker.

The road ended at the restaurant so we dropped down onto the trail that went right alongside the river. The valley we are walking through got steeper and the trail became narrower. Nepal suffered an earthquake 3 years ago and since then this section of trail had some serious landslides. Part of the trail was pretty dicey but I’ve got faith in Gopal and he was pretty confident we’d get right through. I guess most of the other trekkers took a long cut way out of the way but we did fine.

The trails here are used everyday by the people living here going village to village and just doing their thing. It’s amazing to me how some people live their lives. Later on this afternoon, after we got through the landslide section, we got to Tatopani (tato: hot, pani: water) and cleaned up a little, these weren’t ideal for soaking but good for rinsing quick in the water coming out of the spring.

An hour later and we got to Dobhan, our home for the night. Dobhan is a tiny little village and we’re the only trekkers at this guest house. For supper I had dalbhat for the first time, a traditional Nepalese dish, and loved it. Dalbhat is lentil stew and rice, paired with curried vegetables and some other pickled stuff. It’s a staple in people’s diets up here. Gopal eats it twice a day everyday and I can see why. I think we’ll just eat this every night and I’m cool with that.

Day 2

Lokpa

Elev. 7200 feet

Today was awesome. We ate breakfast and walked out of Dobhan around 7 this morning.

The trail climbed for an hour or so before passing through a village right next to the river where they were drying out some pork in a smokehouse and a little girl was throwing rocks at a dog , pretty standard. Right after that there was a bridge fixed to the side of the rock wall above the river for about a tenth of a mile. That was a first, most of the bridges we go over are these big wobbly suspension bridges spanning the river.

Shortly after the fixed bridge we got to Jagat and this is where we officially enter the Manaslu region. Jagat is where we need to give our permits to the police. Actually we didn’t do any of that, Gopal was in charge of talking to the police. Another couple hours after Jagat we got to the village of Phimel for lunch, this was pretty high up above the river and had some incredible views.

For the first time we could start seeing some big beefy mountains. There was a view of a 7000 meter peak that was the biggest mountain I’ve ever seen in my life to this point. Nepal uses the metric system and they also use hour as a unit of measurement for distance. Instead of miles or kilometers everything is either an hour here or two hours there. So a couple hours after Phimel we got to the confluence of the Buddhi Gandaki river and the Siyar Kohla river where we took a right to go out to Tsum Valley. This is an out and back route off of the Manaslu Circuit that we chose to add on to our trip to spend a couple days seeing Tsum Valley.

After we turned the trail ziggy ziggy’d (Gopal’s term for switchbacks) up for awhile and we got to the little village of Lokpa where we are spending the night. I got dal bhat again and I learned a couple things about it: first of all it’s not the same from place to place, I mean it’s pretty much the same basic ingredients but they are always a little different, second of all it’s customary that dalbhat is free refills as much as you want. This is a game changer. I’m probably eating dal bhat for dinner the rest of my time here.

While we were talking about trail names Gopal told us he also has a trail name: Mountain Tiger. I’ll probably be referring to him in this blog as Mountain Tiger from now on. I didn’t know why he didn’t tell us right away but I guess he’s more well known in the Everest region and they all call him Mountain Tiger over there.our fearless leader, Mountain Tiger

Day 3

Chhokar Paro

Elev. 9975 feet

WARNING: This post gets a little gross

Well maybe I won’t be eating Dal Bhat every night for the rest of this hike, but I’ll get back to that.

Last night I saw the biggest spider of my entire life and it was in my room. QB was coming in and just about to latch the door when this monster appeared right next to the latch. Now neither of us would consider ourselves spider scared (if you read this blog you know that I’m really afraid of snakes) but after we got visited by this guy we both were definitely scared. Mountain Tiger said it was not venomous but that still didn’t make me want to share a room with it, the thing was as big as my palm.

Shortly after the spider incident I fell asleep then woke up a couple hours later with some horrible nausea. I was up the rest of the night rolling around with a belly ache. Still had to hike though and the trail was tough, lots and lots of climbing.

I felt a little better at first but around noontime when we got to Chumling I didn’t think I could go on. I told Mountain Tiger I was struggling and he encouraged me to go to the toilet and make myself throw up. Now the toilets here are squat toilets. Basically just a little outhouse with a hole in the ground outlined with a piece of porcelain. Throwing up in one of these was quite an experience and not a pleasant one. I did feel a lot better however and was able to eat some garlic soup on Gopal’s suggestion.

Good thing I was improving because after lunch we had about 4 hours of difficult hiking. The trail climbed steeply up to the village of Chhokar Paro where we’d spend the night. Along the way we saw a bunch of monkeys and a couple of blue sheep. Chhokar Paro was a nice place, because of reconstruction after the earthquake it seemed newer than the villages down low and had great views of Tsum Valley.

Stupa

At dinner I started to feel a little rumble in my stomach. This is when the diarrhea started. I rested a little bit then made it down to dinner and tried to eat a some soup. First I took some Imodium, then QB had an antibiotic for this situation so I started on that, Mac gave me some pill to help with my fever that was developing and Mountain Tiger had me eat a huge garlic clove and whipped up a magic potion for me to drink. I left dinner early to crash out.

A couple hours later I woke up and had an episode of the most spectacular diarrhea of all time. My system was completely flushed, it was another very unpleasant situation. QB took care of me and put me back to bed and I was able to sleep soundly the rest of the night.

Day 4

Lar

Elev. 10,500 feet

Miraculously I felt really good this morning, not great, but really good. My system was completely empty so I had some porridge and black tea for breakfast and I was back on my feet again. Good thing too because today was a beautiful day.

We walked north into Tsum Valley which had big green fields and even bigger white mountains all over. There was lots of Buddhist shrines or Stupas along the trail and we stopped at Rachen Gompa (Gompa: monastery) to check it out. This place was cool but it seemed relatively modern, newer than I expected anyway for a Himalayan Monastery.

From there we walked a little further to the village of Lar and had some lunch at the Yak Hotel (it would have been more fitting if I threw up at this place). Since we’d be staying here tonight we dropped off most of our stuff and went with light packs the rest of the day. From Lar we walked further into Tsum Valley towards Mu Gompa. I knew we were getting into the good stuff because for the first time of the trip I saw Gopal take out his phone and take a few pictures.

Along the way we saw a ton of monkeys raiding a potato field and a lot more Stoopas and Mani Walls(These are Buddhist prayer walls in the middle of the trails, stay to the left if you come to one).

Mu Gompa is the real deal, it’s a 700 year old very authentic feeling monastery that sits around 12,200 feet. The monks there showed us around and served us some tea. It was otherworldly. They don’t talk much but one of them really liked QB’s tattoos.

We walked back down a few hours to the Yak Hotel and it was a very enjoyable day. After the night I just had I felt very lucky to be able to hike comfortably today.