Nepal 2025 - Day 1: Maccha Khola to Jagat

 Maccha Khola to Jagat

Today was the day we actually started walking. Since we got in late the previous night, we couldn't get time to explore the village much. Sonam and I got up early and just walked around the village and watching the people go about their daily chores. Maccha Khola is a pretty big village with an assortments of accommodation options and some restaurants. The village is situated on the banks of Budhi Gandaki river and serves as great starting point for the journey. We went to some local shops and bought some fruits for the trail before heading back to the dining area to get our breakfast. Porridge was my go to breakfast on the Three High Passes and I wasn't going to change that now. 

We left around 8 and it was a slightly cloudy morning but no threat of rain. We could still see some snow covered peaks across the valley, especially, the Tewa and Lumbo Himal. Once we got on he trail, we could see how massive the village was once you looked back. 

The trail was mostly a dirt road along the river bank below, kinda boring as there were multiple vehicles sharing it with us. Manaslu is still untouched in comparison to Annapurna, however, that might change in the near future. The trail is very easy and gradual as you don't even realise the altitude gain. With the cloud cover, it definitely got very humid and sweaty as Maccha Khola is at a lower altitude than KTM. Several geckos/chameleons crossed your path as you reached the first break point, the village of Tatopani, which is a hot water spring. Probably, a hit in winters but definitely not on a day like today.

After a few mins from Tatopani, we came across our first suspension bridge that we had to cross. What surprised us was to see most trekkers still continuing on the dusty road rather than crossing the river and getting to the East of the river. This was a first experience of a suspension bridge in Nepal for most of the group so there was a kind of excitement all of us felt. This along with getting off the road was very motivating. We crossed the bridge, did our photo-ops and took a break on the other side. Then we realised that Niranjan was missing. Jangbu said he was right behind and thought he crossed with us. we waited for another 15 mins and saw no sign of him. We assumed that he went ahead like the rest and probably will join us at Jagat. Jangbu got really worried and rushed across to check on him. After a few mins, we saw both of them and they caught up with us. On enquiry, Niranjan quoted "There was a place I found which looked good for a break!". That basically summed up the co-ordination amongst our group. Each had a different pace and very often, huge gaps between the first and the last trekker. 

We lost precious time at this break and were very hungry. Crossing this bridge was the best decision made by Jangbu as the trail went through beautiful hillside trails through charming, small villages, and most importantly, offering shade. We eventually stopped for lunch at Keraunja where we saw locals brewing the Nepali moonshine - Rakshi. I made the mistake of not sticking with basic food which did not sit well with me. Post lunch, it was our first test of manoeuvring the trails in Nepal. The trail turned to rocky slopes with thick vegetation eventually exposing landslide areas with slippery scree. This was the first really exposed section of the trail but nothing difficult, it was actually a lot of fun as we saw across the river, trekkers still walking on the dirt roads towards Jagat.

After navigating this section, we reached flatter grounds again through forest trails and a couple of more suspension bridges before we reached the village of Yaru. This was a beautiful place to take a break as the river widened into the valley offering a majestic view. We had some tea here before walking down through some abandoned villages to the river banks again before we ascended 100-200m towards the road heading to Jagat.

Jagat is a pretty village with cobblestone pathways and a handful of teahouses. This officially marked us entering into the Manaslu Restricted Area and we had to pay the Municipality fee as well as verify our permits with the officials. We stayed at the Mongolian TeaHouse and the rooms they provided were very spacious and clean. Food eventually became more expensive then Maccha Khola but that's what we expected anyway. After a hearty dinner, we rested for the night.