Trip Reports

Manaslu Circuit Reconnaissance

Written by Leader Matt Parkes, May 2009

On the 25th March I left the UK for Nepal with 2 objectives, my first job was to meet with Kit Spencer and make sure loose ends were tied up for our Everest Summit Expedition. I had a few days to do this before the team arrived along with my partner Sarah who was to accompany me around my second objective, a reconnaissance of the new Jagged Globe Manaslu Circuit Trek. Keeping costs down we opted for a real no frills approach to the trek using local transport and staying in local teahouses / homes. I was looking forward to this trip having never been to this area of Nepal before. Sarah was given the job of documenting the trip being a photographer and excited at the overwhelming amount of photo opportunities along the way!

It was to be an early start and a quick taxi ride to the old bus station in Kathmandu to purchase our tickets. Buying the tickets was to be the easy part, getting on the bus was a different matter. It was already massively overloaded with people all over the roof and too many to count inside. Somehow, probably down to the Nepalese being extremely polite we were crammed onto a small seat and then covered in some small children, ready for a good 8-hour journey on a slowly deteriorating road. Suddenly the long hall flight to get to Nepal felt like massive luxury and if ever I was going to get DVT it would be now! It is important to note that we will be putting on more comfortable transport for those joining our scheduled trips. The drive to say the least is exciting as the road carves its way through stunning scenery giving you a taste of what£s to come.

To much relief we arrived in Arughat, a bustling market town that marks the start of the journey on foot. The town is full of life and there are many sights to soak up! This is also the first time you get to meet the mighty Buri Ghandaki River that splits the town in two. It also becomes your guide for a large amount of the trip as you follow it higher towards its origin on the Tibet border. We made our first friends at a small hotel in Arughat and had our first and practically only choice of meal for the trip - Dhal Bhat. The staple diet of Nepali people, twice a day every day!

The following day we set off fuelled by noodle soup looking down on the huge Buri Gandaki river wondering how much distance we would have to travel before its reduced to a small stream? The walk is really pleasant along a wide track taking you through small villages and agricultural land. The area is full of people going about their business or trying to find out what we were doing. As you head towards Soti Khola you start to leave the river below as the path climbs up the mountainside giving you a taste of some of the exciting walking to come. The path just carves its way through the Cliffside making things interesting to say the least!

Soti Khola is a small village with a few colourful homes and the campsite gives a glorious view of the first days walk back down the valley to Arughat. Being on a tighter schedule we opted to push on up the valley further and take our first night at Lapubesi. A great little town hanging onto the side of the mountain surrounded in terraced farmland. A great Dal Bhat with the added extra of a great goat curry rounded of the day nicely! During the Jagged Globe scheduled trip the team will be in tents taking advantage of perfect campsites and for the other reason that the accommodation along this route consists mainly of peoples homes or teahouses. The area is nowhere near as developed as the Khumbu with its nice big lodges. Instead the accommodation is in parts adventurous and often you share your room with other animals as well, some of them more accommodating than others! Camping is really the only option with a group. We will also be sending a cook team in the hope you wont have to eat as much rice as we did!

The following day starts with the crossing of a huge suspension bridge then into some more exciting walking as the path cuts the only passage through the cliff at the side of the river, delivering you back to the riverbank and the town Machha Khola. This translates appropriately to £River of fish£. There are a few temporary tea stops on the banks that give you the feeling of being on a beach, a place you could easily sit for hours! Pushing on we headed a bit further to a place called Tatopani which translates to hot water. At this point the walls of the valley close in on you, eventually becoming an impressive gorge. Surprisingly there is a hot spring at Tatopani and on arrival they were drying fresh Buffalo meat above a smoking fire. Guess what we had for dinner! Dal Bhat with Buffalo£

As you wind your way up the valley crossing some exciting bridges en route you pass through a small market town called Jagat, which has a nice flagstone square in the centre. The two villages that follow £ Salleri and Serdibas £ are very picturesque and even have the luxury of paved paths. You cross the river again by means of a huge suspension bridge and arrive a Philim. As you arrive here you start to notice Tibetan culture even more, from traditional dress to intricate Mani walls.

The following day you leave Philim through the opposite end of the village and continue your journey across the mountainside over more adventurous bridges and eventually down to the valley floor again to Deng where you will meet a very entertaining teahouse owner! From here you get your first views of some of the big mountains in this area, from Ganesh Himal to Bouda Himal and Himal Chuli.

Again the valley closes in with huge walls towering above you, very inspiring for the rock climbers amongst you! It gets quite remote here and we had a little difficulty getting lunch as we were relying on local provision and not a cook team. Settlements through this section become quite sparse until you get nearer to Namrung. A few hours before the village you reach a lush forest that covers the banks of the river, providing yet another fascinating change of scenery and wildlife. A short climb brings you to the small village of Namrung (2,670m)

From Namrung we decided to head straight to Sama Goan to save a little more of our precious time. This part of the walk is particularly impressive taking you through remote villages and ever changing scenery. You start the day in the forest, go through farmland, very Tibeatan villages and eventually an alpine forest before you are presented with a great view of Manaslu, the worlds eight largest mountain at 8,161m. Look out for the monkey£s along the way!

Sama Goan is one of the most developed places on the route when it comes to tourism. A remote village that is used to having Manaslu climbers flown in by helicopter, so here you will find a couple of lodges similar to those in the Khumbu. At this point we took a couple of days acclimatisation. Whilst here the weather took a turn for the worse. Being so early in the season there was still a risk of heavy snowfall and that£s exactly what we got. After sitting out the snow in the Manaslu Lodge for some time there was a break in the weather. It was a chance to get near to the pass, we took it and ventured up the valley to Samdo. As we arrived the weather got worse again and we sat there knowing by this point that it would be impossible to cross. At around 4,600m over a metre of snow had fallen and was showing no signs of letting up. A very reluctant decision was made to turn back as we were really running out of time! The pass is long and high so would have been a dangerous proposition in the current weather. Strong wind picked up pushing snow through the roof and into the lodge as I relaxed reading and being eaten by bed bugs. Another good reason for camping! We retreated down the valley disappointed we could not cross the pass, but relieved that we didn£t have to provide dinner to the bed bugs at Samdo again. I was already looking like I had a bad dose of Chicken Pox!

The real thing that makes this trip is the true cultural experience you are presented with. The people and their daily lives are fascinating. Coupled with the fact that you walk trough a diverse landscape that takes you through so many different environments. Providing a cook team and camping facilities definitely makes life a little more comfortable without detracting from the full experience. This trek is for those in seek of adventure and a true insight into the real Nepal before larger scale tourism takes hold. Bring a few chocolate bars along!

Matt Parkes, Jagged Globe Operations Manager

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