Manasalu Part 5
#Prok to Namrung to LHO
The next morning, we departed from the hotel. We were heading from Prok to Lho. It was a very beautiful trail. The trees, jungle, waterfalls were really beautiful.
Kelsie was struggling with her stomach ache. At one point it got really tough for her. We had our lunch at Bihiphedi. Kelsie said she wanted to take rest. She slept for a while. By the evening she was starting to feel better. We reached Namrung and stayed the night there.
The way to Namrung was clean and full of pine trees. These trees produced gums. The sticky kind of gums. The entire area was smelling gums.
#Namrung
When we reached Namrung, we got internet. It was 12 days we were trekking for without any information what was happening in the world or at least in our social circle. Namrung had good hotels probably that was reason why we got internet there.
There were Gumbas and shrines in Namrung too.
We were heading towards Upper Manaslu. We reached LHO. We had some rest. It was a pretty normal trail.
#LHO
Since we got internet in Namrung, we were hoping Lho had good internet too. I was out on a trek for 21 days. I had to keep my tabs on my business too. Enquiries needed to be addressed. I found a coffee and a bakery shop.
I thought why not treat myself today? I started checking my mails and answering the enquiries. It was almost evening. In the meantime, Jimmy, Shalom and Kelsie went to the roof top of the hotel. They wanted to get the perfect time lapse and pictures of the Milky way.
Kelsie pretty much knew the timings as of when one could get the pictures as she was researching about these on the internet, even before heading out on the trek.
Here’s something interesting. When I had reached Lho, I got into a hotel and asked if there was a room. The attendant was pretty rude as he might have thought I was a guide judging with what I was wearing and the way I looked then, a young guy lean and thin.
I didn’t bother the way the attendant was talking as I was looking for my team. I was the first one to reach there. Ram arrived and I asked him to deal with the hotel attendant.
As Ram talked with the hotel attendant and told that I was the owner of a trekking company, the same attendant attended me with coffee and biscuits. The hotel attendant was like, “Hello Sir, Namaste!” I was surprised to see the way people’s behaviour worked.
I met this French guy in the café. He was an artist. The picture Kelsie was taking through her lenses, he was painting it. Until the time we had finished our dinner he was getting done with his painting. He made a master piece that night.
#Lho to Shyala to Samagaun to Samdo
It was starting to get cold. The temperature was dropping. It was the month of November. The river had started to freeze. One could walk over these waters even.
Samagaun is comparatively larger than the other villages of the Manaslu area. It is also the place where Manaslu base camp is headed. One of the touristic places of the area is Birendra Taal (Lake). We didn’t head towards the Lake. Only the ladies did with the porter.
We headed towards Pungden Glacier. It wasn’t a Long trail but it had big rocks on the way. We suspected there could be Snow Leopard hiding in these rocks. In Pungden, we came across Pungden Gompa. It was covered with Tibetan flags and it was locked.
We headed back and that night we all stayed in Samagaun. Now Kelsie wanted to click a night lapse. She wanted to go the lake to get the night lapse. It’s a place where snow leopards roam around and a Lot of people have been eaten by the animal.
Jimmy and Shalom were convinced too. But they had thought it was somewhere nearby. The lake was three hours from where we were staying at. When they came to know about it they refused and talked with Kelsie. Kelsie was okay and called it a night.
#Heading Samdo
The next morning, we were heading Samdo. It wasn’t a long trek. While on the way we saw a Lot of trekkers. We were reaching the end of our trek. Either you see a lot of trekkers during the initial days of trek or the end of it because of the location. In between everybody is busy taking their own trail.
I met a tourist on the way to Manaslu Base Camp. He was there to Base Jump. He had made the jump and was at the base camp with his parachute. It was very fascinating and interesting at the same time.
From Samgaun to Samdo it had taken almost the entire afternoon to reach. It was at an even more altitude. It was around 4 pm. The weather changed and it started to snow.
We were on our way. We saw something, an animal I don’t know what was it. Whether it was a donkey, a horse or a deer. It was dead. There were its bones, flesh and meat.
We encountered some horses alive. They were big and it was amazing to see these animals.
We decided to stop at Samdo. We didn’t want to push our limits. We didn’t take any risk. So we stopped at Samdo. We had a good rest that night. After Samdo comes Dharamshala. We were told a lot of things about Dharamshala. There’s no place to sleep, one needs to sleep on the ground, blah and blah. We had an impression about the place.
#Dharamshala (Larke Bazaar)
Dharamshala isn’t that far from Samdo. It’s about two and half hours walk. There were a Lot of trekking agency representatives and tourists heading that way. It was snowing at the same time.
Ram actually rushed to the place and had reached earlier. There was no place to stay but one had to book tents. It was the place that came almost at the end of the trek. Therefore, it was crowded. Ram arranged the tents. We had a good sleep.
#On the way to Larkey Pass
After Dharamshala, we reach Larkey Pass. The next station was Bhimthang. It’s always better to go through a Pass in the early morning. While it’s dark. Reason being, as we were descending there were high chances of wind blowing during the morning that is 9am to 10am. We didn’t want to risk it.
We had the dinner early at Dharmasala. We woke up at 2am in the morning. The breakfast was scheduled at 3am. We moved at around 3:30 am in the morning. We made our way, it was 6 a.m that we came across a tea house. We decided to have a tea break.
It was really cold. Everybody was shivering, yet since it was the last day all of us were determined. As we got done with the tea, we continued. We heard the sound of the avalanche, we were far from it but the noise was pretty much of a shock.
As the pass was approaching on the right hand side it was bright already. There were the morning sun rays. When the sun rays hit these Rocky Mountains, it was a next level scene. Protective glasses are pretty much required to save the eyes.
We came a bit further to know that the lake was frozen. It was the month of November and the cold was at its peak. We walked on the lake. As we walked, we hear the cracking noise. Almost felt like we would fall in the lake. But it was all safe. The lake was frozen deep down.
I reached the Larke Pass. It was 8am. I was the first one in the group to reach there. Felt like ok this is done. I congratulated myself. Shalom, Jimmy, Dave, Ally, Kelsie, Ram and Sanjay followed.
We had brought a big Flex from Kathmandu. It read, “Rustic Himalyan Adventure, Manaslu Tsum Valley Expedition 2017.” We all posed for the group photo. I’d got some prayer flags too and distributed amongst the members.
We had done with the Pass, but the not the trek. Still had a few more steps left. I took out the Sneakers(chocolate), played the song “Abhimaan by The Band Albatross.” I felt the song that day! Sunny Tuladhar actually nailed the lead part of the song. It was pretty deep.
As we were heading down, there I saw a few people running downhill with big luggage. I wondered how well would the bones of their bodies cope up? They’d complete it, reach Kathmandu and then do it again. It was the season time. They would do 4 to 5 trips if possible. More rounds they could make, more the money.
It was downhill, we fell at places. It was fun. We had a good time. Ally made a fall, a funny fall. She landed on her nose. We had a good innocent laugh. Bhimthang apparently was quite long, we had our breakfast and continued. When reached Bhimthang, it was 1pm. We had the phone lines. I called home. Mom was worried and I said I’d be home in the next Three days.
We got a good place to stay that night. Had a good hot shower, the members ordered beer and had a good time.
#Dharapani
Next stop was Dharapani. It was time to say goodbye to the Manaslu region and enter into Annapurna Region. Dharapani is located in the Annapurna Region. Annapurna Region starts with Besisahar, then there’s Dharapani and Manang. It was an interesting trail. I kind of found out people do this ultimate trail, Manasalu-Annapurna-Upper Mustang. It was a bigger expedition. It would take around 50 days minimum.
We are still on our way to Dharapani by the way, if you’ve lost your course. 😉
The next morning, we were on our way to Dharapani. There was this old man who was selling stuffs. He was selling some classic stuffs. Stones, coins. He claimed that these coins were Nepal’s first coin. I gave it a look and found out a coin that dated back to the Late King Tribhuvan’s reign (90 years back). I bought it and lost it at the evening while I reached Dharapani. It was a 25 cent coin which cost me about 500 rupees.
We reached the lunch point. We saw the Annapurna belt and now we felt, we were in the Annapurna Region. It got me back to my 2015 mountain biking days. Annapurna is again a next level beauty. It has a charm. Dharapani, Dhikur Pokhari, Timang, Manang, Chamey these are some of the amazing places of Annapurna Circuit. One feels like water color painted in front of their eyes.
So we stayed at Dharapani for the night and we were heading to Besisahar the next morning. While at our stay, I met a guy called Krishna Gurung. He was the driver of the jeep. He managed us two jeeps to Besisahar as requested.
We had a very chilled and a laid back evening. Had a very good meal. Went through the memories and experiences. Jimmy and Shalom who had never been out of Kathmandu went on this trip directly and never complained. Jimmy even joined us in the Ladakh expedition this year (2019) as a client.
We reached Besisahar the next day.
#Besisahar
We ordered food while we were in Besisahar, had our lunch. Before that while moved from Dharapani to Besisahar, there’s a place called Chamjey. We stopped there. The driver bought some fish, he said it’s the specialty of this place. We had a quick tea at Chamjey. Dave for the book he was going through (The Sapiens), he finished it there and traded it. He looked at me and said, “Rajat, my buddy it’s over.”
He started the book on Day 1 and finished it off on Day 21. It was a fun moment to cherish.
Shalom and Jimmy took some shots of the waterfall. Then we reached Besisahar. Dave found a ATM machine in Besisahar, he withdrew some cash. He tipped Sanjay and Ram. Ally finally had a bath. Kelsie collected some memories of the trip.
#Kathmandu – The full circle
We booked a vehicle to get to Kathmandu. Reached office in Thamel eventually. We dropped our bags. Dave had already had a plan. He didn’t want to stay at a hostel so he did an AIR BNB. Kelsie and Ally stayed at the same hostel.
So as I reached the office my friends celebrated my birthday and so we cut the cake again. The ultimate Manaslu trip comes to an end.
Written by Jai Pradhan.