Nepal 2025 - Day 3: Deng to Namrung

 Deng to Namrung

Woke up to slightly clear skies with the morning light juggling between the snow-capped peaks of Chhachung and Lapchung. It made for a beautiful sight right out of our room window. I took a stroll into the garden looking at people plucking away vegetables for everyone's breakfast. I stuck with my usual porridge as the pizza from the previous night was a little more than I could eat. After a great cup of coffee, we were off to our next destination, Namrung, another 20km day.

I was getting excited as there were no roads anymore and today was going to be tougher than yesterday due to the undulating terrain. We started with Gandaki on our right before coming across a bridge which got us on the East side of the river. This trail moved steeply to the village of Rana. This was a beautiful section of small settlements and rice terraces with a lot Buddhist Mani stone sculptures with prayer flags. The trail gradually ascended to the village of Bihi where we took a small break. 

Couple of more hours on this undulating trail got us to a landslide area where the scree section were a little tricky as there was no solid footing available beneath our feet. Idea was to quickly go through this section as the landslide seemed fresh and was very steep.

The sun got really hot that day and the next hour before we reached our lunch spot of Ghap was draining. Ghap was also a small settlement with a few teahouses offering meals and accommodation. I had a heavy serving of Dal Bhat as I knew there was still a long way to go before Namrung. 

All refreshed from the meal, we carried on to the trail. The sun was much cooler than before which was a relief. And it only got better as we entered into a forest with very cool winds and the river running in it's full force. The rhododendron forest with birds chirping only added to the beauty of this landscape. This was a very pleasant walk even though the trail was gaining altitude. Just before an hour or so to reach Namrung, in Suksum, we came across a vendor selling which probably was, the best apple pie I had in a while. It was out of nowhere and we cracked a deal with the vendor too. While we waited for the group, Niranjan and I helped ourselves to a big piece each. It was totally worth it. All the other groups also congregated at this stall and everyone just enjoyed his goodies.

This was the most beautiful of the trails so far as the forest cover continued to provide shelter from the sun and since we were very close to the north of the river, one could also feel the force of it's water. Then we saw the signboard to Namrung and saw concrete steps leading the way. Although steep, this made the climb easy. As we approached Namrung, a lot of Mani walls started to show themselves in the forest and within 20 min sof that, we were in Namrung. Namrung was also a beautiful village with a huge waterfall just before the village. 

I was greeted by two lovely ladies offerign to buy more apple pies but I was already full. While I waited for the gang, I kinda played around with their beast of a dog.

The group caught up and we walked towards our teahouse which was very basic but they did provide a blanket and a charging point. Gorged again on some Dal Bhat and retired for the day.