Nepal 2025 - Day -1

 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 gorge myself on some Nepali food because Dal Bhat power was all that I would be getting on the trail.

My wife and I went for some fantastic Newari cuisine for lunch and an excellent Chinese noodle soup for dinner.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nepal 2025 - Day 7: Samagaon to Samdo - Side trip to Samdo Ri

Image
Samagaon to Samdo Samdo was just under 3 hours from Samagaon and we decided to head out early in the morning. The initial trail was the same as the previous day but very uneventful. It was a very simple and pleasant hike which followed the river deeper into the valley. You passed through a host of yaks grazing on the banks and looked totally unbothered by our presence. Their cowbells emanating a sweet melody which was almost meditative.  We passed few Mani walls, a very long one in particular marked the path towards Samdo. The massifs of Pangboche Himal, Samdo and others just decided to hide behind the clouds. The weather wasn't looking good for our plan to hike Samdo Ri later in the morning, however, we enjoyed the grasslands with the yaks and now, a lot of elusive marmots running through the fields into their burrows. We finally saw Samdo up ahead across a wooden bridge and there was quite an elevation gain to get to it. We saw a new bridge under construction to make this approac...
Read more

Nepal 2025 - Day 6: Rest Day - Side Trip to Manaslu Basecamp

Image
 Manaslu Basecamp Today was our first significant elevation gain to the basecamp of Manaslu. Again, only carrying daypacks with basic essentials was definitely going to help with our speed and getting acclimatized. We woke up to fairly clear skies which revealed the beautiful mountains surrounding Samagaon. After a hefty portion of muesli with apple, I was charged up for the day. Niranjan took the rest day from the group. We left around 6.30 and were one of the first people on the trail. Along the way, you could also visit Birendra lake which is abeautiful alpine lake just about an hour from Samagaon. We decided to skip that for the time being and head for the basecamp trail. The trail towards the bascamp from the village is fairly flat for the first 20 mins with gorgeous mountains leading the way. Manaslu peaked every now and then from behind the clouds.  We gained a little elevation going through the treeline and saw glimpses of Birendra Lake towards our left. We came across...
Read more

Nepal 2025 - The Return

Image
 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...
Read more