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A wonderful trek circling the Manaslu massif & crossing the high Larkhya-La pass (at 5106M) in Central Nepal. Plus a bonus side-trek into the remote Tsum Valley all the way to Mu-Gompa close to the Tibet border.
As we near Lho we see the Lho-Monastery ahead with the Punggen Glacier in the background
The Manaslu Peaks (main on left alt: 8164M) .... as seen from Samagaon
The awesome western view from Lakhya-La (5106M); the highest point on the Manaslu Circuit Trek
Background:
I didn't know anything about this trek till April this year, when a trekking friend said he is assembling a group to do this trek in early Oct-2014. I did some research and found a site that gave wonderful and detailed information about it. I was hooked and said 'yes' to my friend.
I started reading all blogs and information on this region. A few months later my friend informed me that they decided to postpone the trek to a new date, beyond Diwali i.e after 24th October. The new dates clashed with other plans for me; so I had to drop out and see if I could do this on my own. Starting Mid-September was best time for me.
I checked with my regular Nepal Trek Agency and a few others in Thamel area via email - but none of them had a group doing the Manaslu circuit in my time frame. Then, I discovered a 'trekking partner finder' website: TrekkingPartners.com and put a post on that to see if anyone was interested to join me to form a group and share the Guide costs.
Surprisingly, within 2 days I got response from two parties; an Israeli couple and an Australian (both parties were already in Nepal) showing interest in joining for this trek. I set up to meet them in Kathmandu on 18th Sept. At the meeting we decided to go an Trek Agency that the Israeli couple knew; for getting us the permits and the Porter-Guides me and the Australian needed. The Israeli couple were going to carry their own back packs. Our permits were ready by evening of 19th Sept. So we planned to set off to Arughat in a Bus on 20th, with our two Guides Harish and Dharma.
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My day-wise trek details can be seen by looking at the pictures in sequence as they are in my Photo Album Links below. Again, the 'title or caption' in each picture gives the story-line!:
Day-1 (20-Sep) Kathmandu - Arughat
Day-2 (21-Sep) Arughat - Sotikhola - Lapubesi
Day-3 (22-Sep) Lapubesi-Tatopani-Dobhan
Day-4 (23-Sep) Dobhan-Jagat-Philim
Day-5 (24-Sep) Philim-Lokpa-Chumling
Day-6 (25-Sep) Chumling-Chekkampar
Day-7 (26-Sep) Chekkampar-Nile-MuGompa
Day-8 (27-Sep) Nile-Chekkampar-Chumling
Day-9 (28-Sep) Chumling-Lokpa-Deng
Day-11 (30-Sep) Gapshya-Namrung
Day-14 (3-Oct) Samagaon Rest day
Day-16 (5-Oct) Samdo-Dharamsala
Day-17 (6-Oct) Dhramsala-LarkheLa-Bimthang
Day-20 (9-Oct) Chamje-Besisahar-KTM (sharejeep)
A Misty Morning at Chumling in Tsum Valley
Sunrise on Ganesh Himal from Chekkampar
The owner-hostess our Chekkampar-GH
Snow peaks dwarf the Bimthang Teahouses
View of Tal and Waterfall on last day
A Ghapshya lady posed for my camera
Itinerary Summary:
A 20-day trek from 20th Sept to 9th Oct 2014 - a total of 102 Hours of walk covering distance of 200 KMs (approx, estimated); in up and down mountain terrain. As this trek requires special "Restricted Area Permit, a minimum group size of two trekkers going with an Authorized Local Guide, I joined 2 Israelis and an Australian (via TrekkingPartners.com) who were also doing this trek in the same time slot. The day-wise trek summary was as follows:
Date D# From - Via - To (My actual walk Hours at a slow pace)
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17, 18 & 19 Sept in Kathmandu Pre-Trek Activities & Permits
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20-Sep 01 Kathmandu - Arughat (by Bus)
21-Sep 02 Arughat (bus) Sotikhola - Lapubesi (3.5hrs)
22-Sep 03 Lapubesi - Dobhan (7hrs)
23-Sep 04 Dobhan - Philim (7hrs)
24-Sep 05 Philim - Lokpa - Chumling (8.5hrs)
25-Sep 06 Chumling - Chekampar (5hrs)
26-Sep 07 Chekhampar-Nile-MuGompa-Nile (8hrs)
27-Sep 08 Nile - Chekkampar - Chumling (8hrs)
28-Sep 09 Chumling - Lokpa - Deng (8.5hrs)
29-Sep 10 Deng - Gapshya (4.5hrs)
30-Sep 11 Gapshya - Namrung (3.5hrs)
01-Oct 12 Namrung - Lho (4.5hrs)
02-Oct 13 Lho - Samagaon (3.5hrs)
03-Oct 14 Samagaon - Rest Day
04-Oct 15 Samagaon - Samdo (3hrs)
05-Oct 16 Samdo - Dharamsala (3hrs)
06-Oct 17 Dhramsala-LarkheLa-Bimthang (10hrs)
07-Oct 18 Bimthang - Gho (6.5hrs)
08-Oct 19 Gho - Chamje (7.5hrs)
09-Oct 20 Chamje-Besisahar-KTM (by Share-Jeep)
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10th Oct. in Kathmandu - post trek settlement activities
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Total Trek Hours for me = 102 Hrs and Total Estimated Distance = 200 Kms (approx)
I got lots of details about this circuit Trek from: Manaslu Circuit Ttrek
The entire Trek Route Maps with places & facilities: Trek Route Map
My 20 Albums of Daily Trek Pics on Flickr: Manaslu & Tsum
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