The Nepal Weekly 
July 15, 2025By Monika Waiba
Warmth of the local hospitality
In the whole trek of The Manaslu circuit Trek, Samagaaun has the dense settlement and many homestays. After reaching here we could see the full Himalayan range. And the beautiful landscape was surrounded by Mountains fully covered by snow. Feels like we are greeted with that majestic Manaslu.
Every home is decorated by a stone wall and stone roof. And the whole village is filled with Buddhist scent. Tibetan culture makes this village irresistibly charming. Snowy peaks rise above, while small shrubs blanket the slopes below—unusual greenery for a high Himalayan region has an extra beauty.
Every local house has mules, horses and yaks. These are the main means of transportation here. Even though Ekle bhatti found some of the vehicles. Besides that this whole journey has mules and horses as the main means of transportation.
When we arrived at Samagaun, all the men had gone to Kathmandu for wang (a Buddhist blessing). Only women and children were hare. Pungen Gumba, which is internationally famous, is the biggest monastery here. Those who can reach here walk, and those who cannot can also take a helicopter to visit this monastery. Padmasambhava Monastery is equally renowned. Locals claim there are over 100 big and small monasteries in the area.
And Birendra lake is also located here nearby Padmasambhava Monastery. After the visit of Late king Birendra bir bikram shah, this lake was named as Birendra Lake. Every tourist who visits the Manaslu region stayed one night here.
Here we met Sonam Chhorden Lama, who has been running her small hotel for the past two years. Her son studied as a monk and her daughter is in Kathmandu for highschool education. Her husband has been running another hotel in Dharamshala. While we stayed at her hotel, she alone managed all of us.
She made sure that all 13 of us in our group were well taken care of. She even offered traditional Bakkhu dresses to the young women in our group and joined for photos enthusiastically.
Romantic Tourists at Birendra Lake
While walking back and forth with a group of our friends, I and my friend Sejal had been roaming around the Jungle side. And we were a little late to reach Birendra Lake. Birendra lake looks amazing. Water has crystal clear looks. Tourists were looking romantic. Some of them were dancing. Our whole group has taken photos, videos and everyone felt the cold water on their fatigued legs.
I was mesmerized after I saw the lake. But the lake was not our last destination. We have to go for one last village of this trek, Samdo- the last village of Gorkha. And after that we still have to reach Larke pass. But it felt like our legs want to take rest. Yet we didn’t know what the road conditions were. Though our feet badly wanted rest, our heart went on and on for our main destination.
Thank God ! The road condition was not that bad. Because of the jungle and their trees we did not feel low oxygen. We spend lots of our time on Birendra Lake. That’s why we could not rest.
A slight uphill and it’s hard to know what’s after that. After roller coaster uphills we reached Samdo, 3840 meters, Near China’s border at exactly 2:30 pm. But covered by fully grey clouds. It looked like for a few minutes we were gonna experience snow as well. But it did not happen. And this was our sixth day of trekking.
Because of the cold weather we did not get a chance to explore this village, though we badly wanted to move around and talk with the locals. We were concerned that if any of us caught a cold we might get sick, and we wouldn’t be able to reach Larke pass. We still had to reach the base camp of Larke Pass. Dharamshala.
We had a time to go to Dharamshala on that day, but because of bad weather we chose to stay in Samdo that day. Suddenly we heard the sound of a helicopter, and everybody ran to see it. We were amazed to see that moment, when every villager ran near the helicopter. We also joined and were able to capture that moment on our camera.
The helicopter had come with luggage, and it returned with one of the sick tourist who was struggling on hiking. There was no problem staying in hotels until the Samagaun. We saw that both Nepali and foreign tourists were treated equally. But in Samdo, we experienced something a bit different. Here the hotel owners were not that happy for local tourists. They look for foreign tourists as much as possible.
But why ? I talked with some of them.
And one replied, ‘Nepali tourists did not maintain hygiene.’
Challenging the Larke Pass
The seventh day, we aim to go to Larke Pass through Dharamshala, located at an altitude of 5,106 meter. We came along from only 1,004 meter altitude, Kathmandu. The more we climbed hith, it became more challenging. And so was the changing weather. In windy weather Larke pass would be more difficult. And if it is fully sunny, that light of sun hits the snow and we might be unable to open our eyes and see the mountain because it looks too bright.
So we made the plan to leave Samdo for Dharmashala to Larke Pass at 3 am in the morning. At night, every group member took medicine to not get sick at high altitude. But I avoide taking that medicine. After 3.5 hours of continuous walking we reached Dharamshala. Those hours were unforgettable. Cold, and the starlight seemed so illuminated. I don’t know if I saw any of the stars so close in the sky.
During that beautiful 3.5 hours of walking, we all celebrated like festivals. Everybody enjoyed group talks and cared for each other. Everyone in our group was new to Manaslu. We got little confused to find our way, but we all were together. And we luckily met porters who carried the luggage of tourists in Dharamshala on the way. They were so helpful toward us. Wherever they walked. We followed them with their torch light.
We headed to higher and cold area. And our body shows us different types of reactions- like feeling tired all of a sudden, difficulty moving legs, tingling hands. Due to the high altitude Oxygen levels automatically dropped. Here we saw fully snow covered paths.
It would be difficult for humans to find a path covered in snow, but yaks and horses found it easily. So we also followed them. It was 6:30 am, when we reached Dharmashala situated at an altitude of 4,460 meter, where everyone’s face looked blue and black from the cold. And we took reest for half an hour there. After having tea and biscuits we moved towards the Larke pass.
Compared to other Himalayan regions, The Journey to Manaslu offers a different experience. Elsewhere, the mountains appear in the north as you go. And we reach the mountains. But in Manaslu, the mountains appear toward the south. And the mountains seem to fade away.
After walking uphill on a rocky path for about one and a half hour, a range of snow-covered peaks came before our eyes. And we found nearby, there was a frozen lake — incredibly beautiful, I felt it was even more stunning than Birendra Lake. This area is said to be the most challenging part of the Larke Pass. During heavy snowfall, the lake becomes untraceable, posing a risk of falling into it.
Following the Himalayan path to reach Larke’la
Walking on the Himalayan path was not that easy. Hands were shivering, facing even breathing problems-but we could not stop walking. If I mistakenly kicked any of the stones, it would hurt much. And it’s even harder to walk in full sun. That moment some of us felt sleepy. But that is also the reaction of high altitude sickness. If we slept at this moment, that would be our last sleep!
Few hours later we reached 5,000 meters altitude. Everyone was so hungry. Having walked a long way every group member’s face looked fatigued. Foods like Garlic, chocolates and lots of water are saviours for us at that moment.
Whenever we thought now we are close to our destination, but the further we walked-the further away Lake Pass seemed. And I was so exhausted at that time. Some of the members already had that feeling, but this was my first experience. At that moment I felt like I was unable to move.
And that is where we found a Yak owner riding a horse. He appeared close to us. One of our group members, we used to call ‘Bhinaju’(sister’s husband) , has asked him to help me. At first he wasn’t ready. But looking at my condition he agreed to help me, he even helped me to sit on a horse.
‘Sister, It seems like you are having difficulty walking,’ he said. And for more than 30 minutes he was with me holding a horse. Allowing his horse to ride on the snowy path of Larke pass is one of the blessings of my journey. And that moment should always be best for me.
Just when I thought it was finally over, the main snow-covered path had begun. All of my friends looked exhausted and their faces had already looked blue from the cold. Everyone was walking on that path, except me. Somehow I felt a bit embarrassed too. They also needed horse at that time. But that Yak owner had only one horse at that time.
The person who helped me with the horse was named Tanka Gurung, from Manang district. He had been coming here from Manang to graze Yaks. He is doing yaks farming and Yarcha gumba trading. We both even had a great conversation about his journey in Manang to Manaslu. And he dropped me off at Larke Pass, at an altitude of 5,106 meter.
When I reached, some of our group members had already started to walk down. I waited for the others there. For Larke Pass or Larke’La pass, local name is ‘Gangla pass.’ Locals here refer to Larke Pass or Larke La Pass as “Gangla Pass.”
For those who are passionate about mountaineering but unable to venture into the high Himalayas, and for the first-time trekkers, this pass—situated on the border connecting Manang and Gorkha—is a popular choice nowadays.
Although it’s considered one of the most difficult treks, reaching Larke Pass filled us with lots of joy and excitement. We saw a small tent near Larke Pass. Even at such a high elevation, we were able to enjoy tea and instant noodles inside that tent. That tent was being operated by a ward of Tsun Nubri. After walking 12 hours from Samdo we were able to reach Larke Pass.
Now we had to go for Bhimthang, located in Manang District. And we need four more hours to walk for that. That’s why we all took some group photos and videos and just started walking. The crunching sound of walking on snow with crampons still echoes in my ears, whenever I try to remember that moment. The snowy trail, combined with landslide-prone sections and steep descents, turned out to be quite challenging.
We slipped along the way. But I didn’t get seriously injured. Every cliff has landslides. And after two hours we found Fedi. Fedi is one of the remote villages of Manang near Manaslu. When we reached Fedi, there was no electricity and no other connection.
Everybody was so exhausted at that time. Everyone had dinner together and started sharing their experiences. When we found out, everybody felt a breathing problem. Some of our friends had nose bleeds as well. At last we all safely completed our Manaslu circuit trek. That night we stayed at Fedi. And on the 8th day early morning we started walking for Bhimthang.
And after arriving at Tilche, we hired a Jeep to return to Besisahar. And from Besisahar, Lamjung we headed towards Kathmandu. We all had great moments and memories.
