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Published: June 13th 2008
I arrived in Pokhara by Greenline bus around 3pm in the afternoon, catched a cab to Shangrila right away and relaxed a bit. I took a cab to the lake side for sunset and had dinner there. The next morning, i went to peace pagoda, tibetan refugee and devi's fall and back at shangrila around 12pm. Dipu (my trekking companion) already wait for me in the lobby. We got to know each other and talked for a while, and met up again in afternoon to go to the lake side again and eat in Nepalee traditional restaurant. The next day, he picked me up to stay with his family, did the last preparation for the circuit like buying medicines, checking our trekking list, and a day after we started the circuit.
I tried my first dal bhat cooked by Dipu's Mom, i just don't realise that Nepalee eat Dal Bhat every day... so it would be Dal bhat for lunch and dinner every day. According to Dipu, "we, nepalee, were born to eat Dal Bhat" that's what he said. It tasted weird in the beginning, but after eating dal bhat a few times, I guess I passed the test to
become Nepalee... I can eat dal bhat now! Dal bhat set is like rice served in a big steel plate with lentil soup, potatoe curry, pickle (sometime), and veggie. It's highly recommended to eat during the trek since it's high carb and healthy, and the way they serve it... is as you can eat it as much as you could. It's being refilled all the time for the same price...
May 1st - Thursday... Pokhara - Ngadi
We started the circuit leaving home at 7am... went to local bus station. Before leaving, Dipu's Mum prepared a little ceremony for us by giving us Tika on the head, and scarf on our neck, also fruit and flower for me. Tika is a colorful powder mostly red /orange/white, that is usually put on your forehead by parents or your eldest... for a blessing or bringing your luck or safe journey. Before leaving the house, we were given some coins, and we have to put the coin at the left and right sides jars of the entrance. Once we put the coins in the jar, we were not allowed to enter the house any more. We can only get in
the house after we come back and finish the journey. This culture of giving Tika, also coins in the jar is new to me... but after my first Tika, I got more along the journey from the monk... from the temples... etc. It made me happier anyway to receive Tika, hehe...
We took the local bus to Dumre, arrived mid day there and changed the bus at Dumre to Besishar. We reached Besishar around 2 pm, and we rode a jeep to Bhulbule. We met a few trekker in the jeep, and decided to start walking from Bhulbule instead of going with the jeep to chamje. I can't wait to start the trek, so rather then being in the jeep I'd prefer walking a bit. We managed to walk up to Ngadi, an easy and nice walk to start the trek on the first day. Here in Ngadi we saw our first mountain, and I felt so happy to see it although it's only a small part of the mountain.
My problem started here by not knowing what should I eat, unlike Dipu that can eat Dal bhat every day I don't think I can survive just by
eating Dal Bhat. Actually, from the first day of trekking you can see almost the same menus every where as the menu and price is standardised by ACAP. At some places they cook it really good, but not every where. I was not ready for my food adventure on the first day of trekking, so I stick to nodle soup and boiled eggs, the only things that can't be cooked wrong. On the first few days of this circuit, i lost my appetite and really had no clues on what to eat so Dipu started getting worried of me.
May2nd - Friday... Ngadi - Jagat
We woke up in the morning, took a shower, had light breakfast (for me it's only boiled eggs) and eager to start our 2nd days. From Ngadi, we had to walk thru Bahundanda and it's quite uphill. We were still fresh on the 2nd day (only a short walk yesterday) and quite healthy, so going uphil was still ok... i didn't complain. The only thing I didn't understand in the beginning of the trek was, why do we have to go uphill only to go downhill again... and it happened on the
First encounter with donkey
Donkey... donkey... dont push me please!first few days of the circuit up to Manang.
After going uphil... then we have to go down again... and go up again... and go down again... and go up again... and go down again.... hehehe... it's a never ending up and down so as your life right?! up and down is like your journey in life!
From Bahundanda, it's quite downhill to Ghermu, then the hardest part is going to Jagat since they have road construction going on and there's a little bit landslide area there due to this construction. We reached Jagat around 6pm, and that was really a long day and quite hard for the 2nd day. I was really exhausted unlike the easy 1st day. It would have been easier if we stop and stay at Ghermu (actually Ghermu is quite nice) instead of Jagat. The accommodation was really poor (like the one in Ngadi). I just realised that the more up we go, the accommodation is more alpine wood style (I like it!) in fact it's a lot nicer. We had bug in the room (bee may be?), and he didn't want to go outside the room so for a while we were
busy with this bee. Of course we didn't want to get beaten by the bee while the trek is just started.
The little landslide area on the way to Jagat was my first cry, I didn't think I can walk thru it... I'm a beginner, and I won't pretend that I'm a pro. So Dipu had to convince me to pass it and hold my hand so we could pass it together. Well, after passing Tilicho lake landslides area for a few hours, any landslides seem to be easy (read the Tilicho Lake part)!
Started the trek means that you will see lots of suspension bridges and lots of donkey along the way. This what happened in my 2nd day, donkeys tried to push me with my heavy backpack so I almost lost my balance. For a few days, I was kind of trying to avoid donkeys. So whenever I heard th bell of donkeys group coming approaching me, I would immediately stop walking and trying to find the safe place to stand so that I wouldn't be pushed by donkey. If the group of donkey was behind me, I refused to walk so Dipu got a bit
upset since sometime we had to wait for 10 - 15 minutes until the donkey passed over us. And you will always find donkeys anywhere anytime... so stopping for donkey is not really a wise thing to do since you will lose time.
After 2 - 3 days of walking, I got used to walk with donkeys as they come and go passing us. Sometime the donkeys even stop and wait for us when we're passing them. From now on, we're friends... and the donkeys never pushed me anymore. And I didn't feel like being chased by donkeys anymore (usually, everytime I heard the bells from far away I would either immediately stopped walking or walked faster).
FYI, I still had problem with food at my 2nd day. So standard menu is nodle soup and boiled eggs.
And FYI again, water taste so good... it never felt so good to drink water in the circuit... and you just need to drink lots and lots of water to keep you healthy and not to get dehidrated. Some people, they used iodine liquid/tablet to mix with the water... and add a bit of tang powder to make it taste
better. Some use chlorine, obviously iodine work better than chlorine (some bacteries in this region is kind of resistant to chlorine already while iodine will kill all) . For us... me and Dipu... we like water as it is, without iodine or chlorine. And I totally refused the idea of drinking water + iodine. So... we drank either boiled water... or if we happen to run out of it while walking, we took a risk of drinking the tap water (this is not really recommended). Ther's also some water refill station organised by ACAP in cooperation with New Zealand NGO where you can get ozonised water taht si also safe to drink. Having stomach problem while walking is the last thing you want to have in the circuit, so better safe than sorry right!
May3rd... Jagat - Tal
Starting early around 7 - 8 am from Jagat, it doesn't matter how we tried to start the day earlier we always ended up hitting the trail around 8. We got used to do packing and repacking everyday that takes quite a while since we're not yet professional in doing so. Dipu used to spread everything every where, in
bed... on the table... on the floor... due to his lack of backpack organisation (hehe... sorry Dipu, but you admitted that right?). So on the 4th day, I decided to take over this and put everything in order, reorganised the backpack so it would be easier for us to find thing rather than messing up everything when we need something.
It's quite a nice walk from Jagat to Tal, first we passed Chamche (one and half hours) then in about 3 hours we reached Tal. On the way to Chamche, we could see a few jeeps from the trail on the road. For your information, if you'd like to save a few days on the trek... you can reach Chamche on the first day by jeep from Besishar. Jeep is available up to Chamche, but as we could see from the trail as we walked... it looked quite scary so I felt lucky I didn't ride the jeep. We stopped at Chamche for an early refreshment as I had chicken soup and tea and relaxed a bit before heading to Tal.
I had a weird feeling about the road construction on this circuit. On one hand, it's a
good thing for the villagers as they have a mean of transportation other than walking or donkey. It means that they can have a better and cheaper supply for the villages. On the other hand, my heart is crying seeing how the road construction going on by destroying and cutting the hills... in other word, better access for the villagers means having to destroy the nature. I was sad... that's the story of our old mother earth... so much sacrifices of the natures for the sake of human living and its never ending development.
We reached Tal early in the afternoon (may be around 3 - 4 pm). Tal look really nice as we approached the village... we tried to find where the lake is (tal means lake in nepalee), but there's no lake. May be it's just the name... but there is a big river with white sand as the white sandbeach. The village felt so peaceful in harmony with the big river and waterfall. We stayed in Paradise Hotel with the room overlooking the waterfall. This was the first lodge where I could take a proper hot shower. Before all the lodges that we stayed stated that
they had solar water heater, but the water was never warm enough
for us to shower. We enjoyed the afternoon by walking around the village, went to the river, and seeing the happy villagers (first time we can see happy villagers since starting the circuit). Even the dogs looks really happy there. The hotel owner is really nice, and they cooked a good Tibetan bread... This is a lovely place, the hotel, the people, the food, the village... all is nice and I was so happy to be here.
So Guys, don't miss Tal, you should stay overnight here rather than continue walking to Karte (the next village).
May 4th... Tal (1700m) - Danagyu (2200m)
We got so used to the up and downhill way as we got higher from day to day. As I'm a slow walker, Dipu always had to wait for me all the time. But he's ok with that since he could take some pictures while waiting for me. I kept asking him "How could you can walk so fast and I can't?"... and "How could the locals can carry heavy stuffs and could still walk faster than me?". I felt
sometime embarrased while everybody seem to pass us by due to my lousy style of walking. Then Dipu would try to convince me that it's ok, and he would say "How could you swim in the beach and I couldn't?".
Everybody is different... may be i'm good at swimming but I can't walk fast. Anyway, what I'm trying to say here is... in this kind of circuit you should listen more to your body while walking. No need to be embarrased if some people walk faster than you. In fact you have to keep your own pace while walking according to what your body tell you. At the end, the question would be whether you reach your destination or not, not when you reach it!
I can't recall anything special on the trek from Tal to Danagyu. it's still up and down, lots of suspension bridges, donkeys, porters carrying heavy stuffs and mountains sometime showing their faces usually in the morning walk and in the afternoon. We were just so determined to go higher and higher, so the closer we get to our destinations.
Our main destinations are to go to Tilicho Lake and Thorung la Pass...
not so many trekkers want to go to Tilicho Lake at this period. I guessed Tilicho Lake is not really a favourite destination ("Man... it's one of the highest lake in the world!") due to 3 days extra side walk from Manang.
Anyway, nothing special at Danagyu, we arrived around 4 pm. Starting from Danagyu we found that the lodges are more alpine wood style which is good to keep you warm in the room. It also look nicer... It was pouring late in the afternoon while I took a walk in the village so the next morning we could see more mountains range clearly.
May 5th... Danagyu (2200m) - Chame (2710m)
Same up and down as our daily routine now. We could say that we're among the slowest to walk (I meant me!) so we would be the last person to reach the village in the afternoon.
It's highly recommended to start walking early in the morning during this May period, and reach the next stop before 4 or 5pm due to the possibility of mountain rain. Although sometime we could still walk in the rain with the raincoat, it's just not comfortable
plus it's very cold and windy you might catch flu or cold.
It happened to us (the laziest), with our luxury breaks all the time during the trek... we reached Chame very late (around 6pm) and it was rainy already around 5pm. So we had to walk for about 1 hour in the rain wearing the raincoat. It was really cold... in the evening I remember Dipu got sick so I have to rub him with Vicks Vaporub and he had to take medicine against cold.
They have broadband internet connection in Chame, but we didn't bother to try since we were too tired having to walk under the rain... and Dipu didn't feel really well. We had candle light dinner (not for being romantic, just because the electricity was cut off), a quick one since it's cold and we went to bed right away. We didn't even try to explore Chame, couldn't do it in the dark anyway.
It's quite a nice walk from Danagyu to Chame, walking from one village to another. But I can't really recall anything special. All in my mind was just, counting the days as we go higher... meaning we got
closer to our destination. We'd like to be in Manang as soon as we could, then we 're just a few days away from Tilicho Lake and Thorung La...
May 6th... Chame (2710m) - Lower Pisang (3250m)
Leaving Chame with no hurry... Dipu got better from the flu, thanks God so we didn't have to stay in Chame for another day. I thought from Chame we started the region of Alpine Walk... as we can see lots of Alpine and you can even smell it as you walk. It's really nice... approximately 2 - 3 hours walk we reached Bhratang... then another 2 hours to Dhukur Pokhari... and a nice walk to either Lower pisang or Upper pisang in about 2 hours. Dhukur Pokhari is nice, they have a newly built wooden lodge there. I remember as we passed Dhukur Pokhari... I wished I stay at that nice wooden lodge, it looks so classy from outside. Anyway, you can have a tea break there in the open space. You would like to have the sun in this area as sun makes lots of differences in this cold region... you would feel like sunbathing!
It's a
luxury to have a tea break while seeing all the beautiful mountain view! and It's already very cold to be above 3000m from the sea level.
Arriving in Lower Pisang late in the afternoon, I wish I could stay at Upper Pisang (they said it's more beautiful than lower pisang). Again, I can't recall anything special at Lower Pisang. May be we chose the wrong lodge. The lodge we stayed was quite full with people, and the wood kept making noise when the kids ran here and there. I forgot the name of the lodge, but it's quite big...
I would recommend you to choose your own lodge along the circuit that is not so full of people... because then you'll have problems with waiting for the food during dinner and breakfast. In the morning you usually want to start early and waiting for the food is not really what you'd like to do better than hitting the road early... There are so many lodges available, so have a look and ask for the price first before checking in. Sometimes they even give the room for free and charge only for the food during the low seasons. Anyway,
the room along the circuit is not even expensive, it's ranging from 100 - 300 Nepalee rupee (around 1 - 5 USD). Will you still think to bargain? I don't think so, if you see how they have to carry all the supply up to the mountain area that is quite isolated...
Manang was already in our mind now... we're now only 1 day away from Manang. I was having stomach problem here... so now Dipu has to rub and massage me. And I had to take some medicines.
It's already our 6th day. I was still in the pattern of eating disorder, I can't barely eat... kind of losing my appetite... and I had problem to go to the toilet. But I kept drinking lots of water... I kept my spirit high by thinking that soon we will reach Manang, and Dipu already promised me to get us the room with attached toilet, and i'd like to stay in a good hotel in Manang. Sometimes Dipu got really worried that I barely eat anything. However I felt ok... I could walk still, and I didn't feel sick at all. Well, actually I was a bit sick on
the way to Lower Pisang. Dipu ended up to bring both of his and my backpack 1 hour before lower pisang. Lucky it's not uphill...
May7th... Lower Pisang (3250m) - Manang (3540m)
On the 7th day, my stamina was a bit low already. It must be because of this eat and toilet problem. But I kept on walking (also stopped may be every 30 minutes), we walked really slow. Leaving the lodge at around 8am we reached Humde around 11.30am and had lunch there.
They have an airport at Humde. Some people fly in and do the circuit from Humde. Humde was very dusty and the wind is very strong here. You can see the sand flying and you can hear the sound of the wind. Actually up to Manang... it's like walking in the dust.
About 2 -3 hours we reached Bhraga. It looked really like a nice village. Bhraga to Manang is only about 30 - 45 minutes and it's really a nice walk already. I didn't even realise that we already arrived in Manang after a short walk from Bhraga. When Dipu said that 'It's the entrance of Manang already!',
I said 'No way... it's not Manang!'. But it was Manang. I felt so happy to reach Manang, and Dipu started looking for a nice Hotel with attached bathroom for us.
Found it! We stayed at Tilicho Lake Hotel, they have attached toilet in the room, a good restaurant, and bakery. They served pizza, pasta even lasagna here... and the bakery sell croissant, brownies anything that smell and taste so good to me after having food problems earlier. I ordered Tuna Lasagna for dinner, and Dipu had Dal bhat... that was really good. Breakfast was Tuna sandwich, chocolate croissant and coffee. Dipu was so happy the first time he saw that I can eat and finished my food.
The next day, Dipu did our laundry (he did a favour to do my laundry as well, thanks Dipu!). And after a lazy breakfast in the sun, we went to ask for some information about Tilicho Lake at ACAP office, and right after we went to Gangapurna Lake that is only about 20 - 30 minutes walking from the village. That was nice... the lake was beautiful... we went to the top viewpoint, and went down to the lake. I
touched the lake and I felt so happy to be in Manang.
We took arrest for a while being lazy in the room, having coffee and some bread in the bakery relaxing, went to the "High Altitude" Class (they have it daily, held by a volunteer usually), and visited a very old Gompa nearby. The Gompa was actually nice, but it seemed no body look after it. It's a pity, since I really like this Gompa. It's a Tibetan Gompa actually... The view from the Gompa was really nice, especially seeing the sunset on the way back to our hotel.
That was one of the happiest moment along the circuit, being in Manang! Me and Dipu agree on that...
The first time I could eat... and the first attached toilet we had... the best food in the circuit... the first relaxing day (we woke up really late since we didn't have to walk at our acclimatasion day right?) by not having to wake up early and walk... We were so happy and content, and Dipu even planned to extend the acclimatasion day by staying another night at Manang.
Well, I'd love to stay another extra night in
Manang, but at the same time I was also worried that I'll get too lazy to walk and just wanna stay in Manang forever forgetting about going to the lake and Thorung La. So I told Dipu, let's stay another half day only in Manang and walk to Khangsar. So we could still have a nice lazy breakfast in Manang... resting and heading to Khangsar. So there we go!
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tej gurung
non-member comment
nice
hi,, its gr8 that u enjoyd ur trek n really nice pics thnks