By Monika Waiba
I had already made up my mind to go for a trekking after Tihar. Nowadays, trekking is a big craze among the youth. But until it was confirmed, I didn’t talk to my editor about the vacation. And when it’s confirmed, I had a fever.
But I chose to trek. My heart just did not like to rest at home. Somehow, I gathered the courage for the journey. And I got the office leave as well. Again, before Laxmi Puja, I had a very bad fever and cough as well. After a checkup with the doctor, we found that my blood had low oxygen.
At that time, my sole focus was to be fit and join the trek. Having medicine finally, the trekking time has arrived. Two days after Bhaitika, we had been planning to go to the Larke Pass, located in the Manaslu region.
Heading out far from home for 10 days, with unknown friends while having a bad health condition, was not that easy. Somehow, I got nervous but had more excitement.
There were 13 of us heading towards the Larke Pass. Some of us had trekking experience, which is why I felt confident too. But everybody has small and cute bags. My bags are very big. That also showed that I was a new trekker in the group. Carrying such a big backpack, I joined them from the Gongabu bus park.
The journey starts
After about 13 hours of travel on the bus, we reached Machhikhola, located in the Gorkha district. Ninety percent of passengers were heading for Larkela on that bus that day. And fifty percent of the passengers were foreigners. Considering their physical build, our local transport seats looked ‘narrow’. Still, they sat in those uncomfortable seats for 13 hours. But they were not disappointed; in fact, they were fully enjoying the journey despite the difficulty.
The bus was carrying tourists from New York, USA, to Madrid, Spain. Nepali guides were busy showing them the cable car of Manakamana and rafting on the Trisuli river from the window. And Nepali tourists were trying to sleep while hearing folk songs played on the Bus.
We left the bus park at around 6 am. We reached Gorha bazaar around noon. After that, our bus went to a village called Barpak. Some of the tourists said their roads are better than those of Kathmandu, according to their guides.
After arriving at Dharche, we changed the bus. The local bus was smaller than here. Having an average physique, I felt uncomfortable. I wonder what that big foreign tourist felt at that time. After that, the conductor continuously opened the door of the bus to allow local people inside. Many of them were standing on the bus.
The bus stopped at Machhikholaa at 7 pm. We would stay there to spend the night and next morning we took a jeep to move ahead in the journey. As soon as we got off, the jeep driver was asking, ‘how many people ?’ With 13 people in our group, we managed to hire one jeep for ourselves.
Fearless edges on the Budhi Gandaki river
We stayed at Machhikhola’s hotel for just Rs. 350 per person. We were happy that we got beautiful rooms at the cheapest price. Even though Tihar was over, lights were still flickering on the Dharche Rural Municipality. Many new hotels have popped up right in front of the municipal building. Mules and porters were arranged from here.
We heard the river sound and the jingling bell of mules throughout the night. After having coffee and boiled eggs for the breakfaxt, we boarded on our jeep. Most of the trekkers began their journey from Machhikhola. But our plan was to start the trekking from Ekle Bhatti.
The road was narrow, steep, and dangerous. All the challenges of mountain roads—rockfalls, sharp curves, and sheer cliffs—were experienced in just four hours. If mules blocked the road, the jeep couldn’t move until they passed. It looked like mules and local potter causing traffic jams on our road. Honestly speaking, at one point, I felt that walking from Machhikhola might have been the better option. The roads looked too dangerous.
But the route lined with waterfalls and hugging the Budhi Gandaki river offered breathtaking views, making it both thrilling and terrifying at the same time. From the jeep window, we saw massive mountains loom ahead, and steep gorges dropped off beside us. It was full of Goosebumps.
At one point while crossing the river, our driver showed us the palace of Tatopani. Jeep driver Tashi had returned from Saudi Arabia, where he used to drive trucks. After an increase in tourists here, vehicles are in high demand. During peak season, he has been driving three times a week. And he decided to stay here with his new jeep.
One of the pleasant things about trekking on the Himalayas is that you will find natural hot waters at every place before the start of the Himalayan section. Somewhere, they have built a pond. Somewhere, there are taps. And here we found a hot water tap.
After the hot water way there, we found rocky roads, somehow we felt like the jeep might slip into the Budhi Gandaki river at any moment, which was terrifying.
Roads that are completely closed during the Monsoon
We reached the Manaslu conservation area by passing through Arughat and Jagat villages. The motorable roads we were on would close during the Monsoon. As we entered the conservation area, we had to pay 200 Nepali rupees for a ticket. For foreigners, the ticket price is 1,000 Nepali rupees. Tashi dai showed us hot water, water, water – Dobhan – Yarufant – Salleru – Sirdibas – Ghattekholaa and Filim village from the window.
Filim is the regional hub of the Tsum Nubri rural municipality. Villagers from villages like Samdo, Samagaaun, Lho, Prok, Bihi, Chhekampaar, Tsum Valley, and Chumcet have to come here for government works after hours of walking.
Eventually, we reached Ekle Bhatti, from where we started walking. When there were no roads, everybody had to walk from Arughat. There, we saw cantilever bridges carved into the wall for trekkers at the Budhi Gandaki Gorge / Corner. That bridge was the main hiking trail at that time. We were watching that bridge exactly from the opposite side. Nowadays, everybody uses that road. We reached Ekle Bhatti on the same day. But if we were to walk from Arughat, it would have taken three days to reach there.
The journey turned romantic with suspension bridges, cliff paths, the sound of mules, and a queue of tourists. We captured photos in Chorten, filled water bottles from natural taps, and continued walking. Since it was the first day of trekking, everyone looked so energized and excited.
Walking through landslide-prone paths, climbing steep trails, we finally reached Deng from Pewa. Small villages have opened beautiful homestays. Water pipes were strung on roads. The higher we climbed, the colder we felt. We reached the Tsum area. Only vegetarian foods are allowed in the Tsum. Here, animal slaughtering is completely prohibited. They cannot bring meat from another village too. It is a completely vegetarian area.
The Scary cliff road
Here every hotel cook potatoe. Varieties of potatoes still taste good. Trekkers were finding hotel rooms for a night’s stay. Villagers also tried to manage rooms for tourists in their homes. On our second night, we stayed here.
On the third day, we started walking early in the morning after filling our water bottles. We were nonstop taking photos and making TikTok videos as well. The edge of the Budhi Gandaki river, we were walking continuously. At noon, at exactly noon, we reached the Manaslu region’s most terrifying and adventurous landslide area.
Walking around the landslide-prone area was too dangerous. One of the group members has to stand by the side. Somehow, we all managed to cross that landslide area. After walking from Ranagaaun, Bihifedi, and Prok, we reached Gap. The Manaslu circuit trek has been one of the trending areas for seasonal trekking. And that is the reason why small villages manage to open homestays and small hotels for tourists, though it is an urban area.
Beautiful collection of Villages!
After the Gap village, we reached Prok village. There was a market for varieties of apples in the small but Beautiful Prok. We drank tasty apple juice paying 400 Nepali rupees for one glass. That one glass of juice was enough to make us feel fresh.
And we met there, Lakpadhundup Lama, wearing a typical cultural dress, with a smiling face. He owns three hundred ropani apple farms and a Hotel in Namrung. Visiting his beautiful apple farm we enjoyed eating apples and talking. He has been making apple wine, apple tea, cakes, and jams as well.
Namrung is the next village after Prok. According to him, his hotel is the standard hotel of Namrung. After walking for 45 minutes, we reached Namrung village. We were planning to stay that night in the Dawa Tashi Hotel at Namrung. After reaching Namrung, we met Lakpa Dhundup. Though it was already dark, we visited his hotel and went to our hotel.
The mountain looks closer from Namrung village. We saw the police station and community clinic here. And every house has its taps. In the Dawa Tashi hotel, we found two boys in the kitchen who looked like brothers. And we asked them, ‘Is there no female around here?’ At that time, Dawa Tashi’s wife went to Melapat.
And we found out that both of the boys are Father and son. Dawa Tashi is the stepfather of Pema. Pema is a 16-year-old man. He likes to listn to rap songs, and sometimes he raps as well. Although he is only 16, he is a father of a one and half year old child. He did not get the chance to go to the school. When tourists visit his village, he sometimes acts as a porter. But that does not satisfy him.
We spent that day there, warming ourselves by the fire in the cold. Listening to stories about the relationship between them. We were aiming to reach Syala village on the 4th day. And having breakfast in the morning, we again started our journey. Dawa Tashi hotel and the father-son duo were one of the warmest moments of our trek.
‘Cold Villages’
Every starting point of a village and the ending point has a Gate of Chhyorten. Watching the Himalayan lifestyles is the whole point. We did not even feel tired of that serene beauty. The innocent faces of those villagers’ children looked magical. They are happy to see new faces in their village. And we were happy to play with them. Local people were the freshest for us. And we were moving forward with more excitement. Via Lho, Syo village, we reached Syala village.
During the whole journey, the Budhi Gandaki river was accompanying us. Small hotels were fully packed with tourists. One of the porters who came with us from Bihiphedi was giving us time to chat on the way. He was working for a trekking agency connected to Kathmandu. He earns 25 hundred Nepali rupees per day. After deducting food and accommodation, he would save just two thousand rupees.
At 5 pm, we saw Syala’s entrance gate. Located at 3500 meters, we felt colder. Every house here looks like a small homestay. Compared to other places, we found that the hotels and meals are more expensive here. We even ate the most expensive meal here. A normal meal costs 900 Nepali rupees. Though we found some networks, we were disconnected from Kathmandu.
Now it’s our fifth day, and our target was Samagaaun. Before that we thought about going for a Pungen Gumba. Let’s go…
We are all ready!
A Journey of Beauty, Struggle, and Heart
We saw a school located in one of the oldest villages in Samagaun of Gorkha district, called Gaurishankar primary school. Students were enjoying the sun heat. Teachers were still not there as they went for a festive vacation. And we saw a small coffee shop in front of that school, whose owner was Chhyorten sir. He is a private teacher of that school. He had passed high school and had to come from the Tsum valley to teach here on private basis. Looking young, he has been there for the last eight months.
According to him, this school has most of the teachers from Madhesh. And they all wanted to finish the course book and go to their own home. After That private teachers have to handle all students and manage the school. Only 54 students were studying here. And all students are from another village. After completing 5 class education all have to go to Kathmandu.
This school is being managed by the renowned Buddhist Monk Youngye Mingyur Rinpoche, who also has a big monastery in The Swayambhu, Kathmandu. Many students are coming here to study only for opportunities to study in Kathmandu. (To be continued)
