Trailgunner Blogs

 Departure from Kathmandu - The dreaded bus ride Had a great night's sleep and those spicy beef noodles the previous night really hit home hard that morning but I was happy to be at a hotel when it happened. With a clean colon, we left early for the bus stand. 4 of the 6 stayed in the same hotel so we grabbed a cab. This was very different than the last time I was in Nepal where I had to walk 40 mins to get to bus stand. Nepal was already an upgrade and the trek hadn't even begun.  We caught up with our guide, Jangbu and the remaining group, at the bus stand and started looking for our bus. Even the Gongabu Bus Stand was upgraded. And there it was, the magnificent iron beast. And it really was, cushioned seats, charging points, window curtains, designated seats...the works. Another upgrade from the bus I took to Jiri 6 years ago which was the most basic engine, chassis, seats put together to get from point A to B. And there were other trekkers in the same bus going to Maccha K...

 Manaslu Circuit - Meet & Greet We all reached Kathmandu a couple of days earlier than our scheduled bus ride from Kathmandu to Maccha Khola. We ended up staying in and around Thamel for easy access to ForEx, last min shopping, proximity to bus stand and the permit offices.    Since we were all strangers to each other, we only ended up meeting F2F a day before we departed for our trek. This is where we also met Sid and our guide Jangbu Sherpa who had done this circuit multiple times. Sid was very professional with all the process so far and had applied for our permits online already so that we didn't waste time at the permit offices. All necessary documents and permits in hand, Jangbu went and procured our bus tickets and we were all set to head for 2 weeks of bliss in the Manaslu region. Our bus was scheduled to depart early at 7am the next morning from Kathmandu so it was time that we practiced crashing early that night.  But before that, I definitely wanted to...

 The Plan & Recruitment During our research of the circuit, one of the biggest challenges we came across forums was the mandatory rule of hiring a guide for your journey. We always thought that this rule might be only applicable to nationals outside the SAARC countries. The permit fees was definitely cheaper for SAARC nationals so we made that presumption as well. On further research, Nepal now has a mandatory policy of guide assisted treks for all regions except the Khumbu region around Everest. The region of Manaslu comes under a Restricted Area so definitely, no exceptions here. My wife and I hadn't been on guided treks in a long time and always preferred to explore on our own so this was definitely a spanner in the works. We understood the importance of the guide from a safety perspective, however, looking at my solo journey from 2019, I wanted that freedom on this trip as well. That didn't look like a possibility after various consultations with friends in Nepal, Trekk...

 Nepal: Part Deux - Ideation Since my first foray into solo hiking in Nepal 6 years ago, I always wanted to get back and explore the beautiful landscapes of Nepal again. The Covid years definitely put a roadblock into that idea and during that time, I improved my hiking/trekking experience by exploring a lot more of the Himalayan regions of India. This experience was equally satisfying if not more, since it taught you to be self-sufficient and not be dependent on certain luxuries that Nepal provided. Nonetheless, I always wanted to explore Nepal again with my wife ever since my first escapade of that country. So, in the month of January, an idea was conceived to explore the other side of the Khumbu region, the Western region of Nepal, the Manaslu circuit. An anti-clockwise journey around the magnificent massif of Manaslu and exploring remote Nepali culture which then transcends to Buddhist and Tibetan. We wanted to do this in the month of May which is peak season for the Sagarmatha...