Trekking in Nepal – Julie Thunder

Our family of six chose to adventure to Nepal for a ‘challenge’ vacation.

Our third daughter has been living in Kathmandu for a few years while working on her master’s degree. So the other five members of our family flew half-way around the globe to visit her and experience the life she’s been living in her Bouddha neighborhood. Part of the trip was a planned two week trek in the Himalayas, which was a bucket-list trip for us.

Steps away from our daughter’s apartment, Boudhanath Stupa was built in the 14th century – it’s one of the largest stupas in the world.

For our trek, we chose to hike the Manaslu Circuit in the Nubri Valley. This is the region where our nephew Tenzing was born before he was adopted by our sister and brother-in-law. Tenzing grew up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, but his parents took him back to Nepal often, keeping him connected to his Nepali birth family.

The Nubri Valley is one of the less travelled Himalayan regions that still offers a glimpse into life before modern amenities. Being in the villages was like teleporting back to medieval times. In 13 days we never saw a single engine or wheeled cart, we had limited electricity and wi-fi, no indoor plumbing, and our rooms were never heated.

Our trek culminated in a snow-covered mountain pass called Larkya-La, which is almost 17,000 feet high above sea level. The pass is the closest point on the trek to Mt. Manaslu, the eighth-highest mountain in the world, and very close to the border with Tibet. Our guide, Lhakpa Lama (Tenzing’s cousin), has taken several trading trips to Tibet and expressed frustration that the border is still closed due to COVID.

Mt. Manaslu is the eighth-highest mountain in the world at 26,781 ft above sea level.

NEPAL, THE MANASLU CIRCUIT, KATHMANDU, AND MT. EVEREST

VILLAGES AND ALTITUDE PROGRESSION

The villages are built high above a rushing river with one footpath connecting them. This path is shared by villagers carrying firewood, food, and general supplies, along with basket-hauling horses and mules, and free-roaming cows and yaks. (click images to enlarge)

We started in the village of Bihi (foreground), walking the next day to Prok (on the plateau in the background). This hike took about 6 hours, which was typical. Each day, for 13 days, we traveled up valley to a new village, acclimating ourselves to higher and higher elevations.

Looking down at the village of Prok, sitting high on a canyon wall plateau.

Another village across the canyon is visible in the upper left.

Tenzing’s Nepali brother is a monk at the Serang Monastery, near Bihi. They have a school for local children and are always in need of English-language books.

We brought a collection for the school and our daughter wrote this note in Tibetan to her cousin’s brother to be delivered with the books. We had hoped to deliver them ourselves but the trail to the Monastery was damaged.

THE DAILY TREK

Each day was a 4-8 hour hike, progressing from village to village, gaining about 1,000 feet of altitude, which helps trekkers acclimate for the most difficult day – hiking a 17,000 foot high pass near Mt. Manaslu.

Sometimes we weren’t sure where the trail was. Rain showers constantly washed it out, or landslides covered it completely – forcing trekkers to pick their way over loose dirt slipping off a canyon wall.

Himalayan peaks making their own weather – here they’re pretending to be volcanoes.

HIGHER ALTITUDES AND THE PASS

TEA HOUSES & FOOD

We spent each night in a tea house, which is usually a family home with added rooms (sometimes mini cabins). The owner prepares and cooks traditional Nepali meals for trekkers in the family kitchen over an open cookfire. Bathroom facilities are an outhouse-type building with a squat toilet and a water bucket for manual ‘flushing’. Electricity was available about half the time, and our wi-fi only worked in two places.