Category: health & safety

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Manaslu Circuit – day 8

by site editor Rick McCharles

We got an early start out of Samo.

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Manaslu was perfect. Cloudless.

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Not even spindrift, rare for an 8000m peak.

This is why you want to trek in November / early December.

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Mike and I were happy to have the weather. Wanted to get up and over the Pass as soon as possible. If he were to have to backtrack to the start, he’d miss his flight back to the U.K.

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The arid terrain that high up was very Tibetan.

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Not much can live in this climate. Yet Yaks thrive.

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The scenery is fantastic. You hike closer to the big peaks than anywhere else I’ve been in Nepal.

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I was one happy hiker.

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Some trek from Samo only to Samdo 3690m. Then make a long, long day climbing over the 5106m Larkya Pass.

Sounds crazy to me. But it worked for a German couple we had been hiking with.  Their guide doesn’ t like Larkya Phedi 4470m (Dharmsala).

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Larkya Phedi is a harsh place. In every way.

It was closed by MCAP in 2011 for being an “illegal structure”. But open since. Open normally until about Dec 15th each season. Food sometimes runs out before that date, however. Some years hikers eat nothing but potatoes before crossing the Pass.

We knew fresh eggs had arrived.

eggs

Larkya Phedi is the last place you can sleep with a roof over your head. … On the other hand, there were no beds left when we arrived. When the Pass is closed, it gets very crowded here. 😦

We set up my tent on a snow patch.I wouldn’t be getting much sleep anyway. Wake-up time would be 2am.

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Hikers tried to relax in the sun. Nap if they could.

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It got very cold as the sun went down.

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Toilets are overflowing with feces. They don’t stink. They are frozen.

Ivan saw one Nepali shit into the stream above Camp. The only source of drinking water. That’s how uneducated some of the porters are. That’s why the water is so dangerous in Nepal.

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We walked the ridge above Camp for acclimatization. And to stay warm. There were dozens of Blue Sheep up there. Until hikers scared them away.

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I practiced various speeds walking both uphill and downhill to maintain an optimal temperature. This in anticipation of the Pass, considered much more difficult than Thorung La on Annapurna.

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Wandering alone up there until dark, this was the single highlight of the entire trek for me. 🙂

Wonderful.

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Mike and I lingered in the dining hall as late as we possibly could. Staying warm. And avoiding our cold tents. Mike and our guide were forced to share a rent a tent as all beds were taken. Porters slept on these tables and benches starting 10pm.

Last minute I ordered hot water for my Nalgene bottle, using it inside my sleeping bag to warm my feet. Temperature dropped to at least -15C. (5F)

It would be a very short night …

see high resolution photos from this day on flickr

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Manaslu Circuit – day 6

by site editor Rick McCharles

This would be the longest day so far. And the most stunning yet.

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Permit check first thing in the morning.

Local people and their landscape grows increasingly Tibetan as you ascend. Each village from here on up had it’s own monastery (Gompa).

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It was well below freezing last night.

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Still, when the sun comes out, hikers strip off their many layers quickly.

Rick, Brion, Betsy, Mike
Rick, Brion, Betsy, Mike

I was astonished at what can still grow at these altitudes.

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We stopped at Lho 3180m for lunch. The pack animals tried to join us at the table.

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Some stayed at Lho for acclimatization. Tempting.

Lho has the very best views of Manaslu!

Gompa

IMG_0259

It’s the cover photo for our hiking guidebook.

Manaslu Guidebook

This is why you hike the Himalaya. 🙂

We all felt good here at 3180m, so we pushed on to Sama 3530m.

The afternoon was fantastic, too. Grasslands of the Tibetan plateau support grazing animals nearly all year round.

Yak, Yak, Yak
Yak, Yak, Yak

There are plenty of mountain ponies, too. Used for transport.

pony

You can rent a pony to carry you up. Or down, if you are feeling altitude sickness.

A doctor on Annapurna told us of a young Japanese hiker who’s guide put him on a pony to carry him over a high Pass there. He died of HACE or HAPE en route. 😦

We unpacked for two nights in Sama. (Samagaon) 3530m This would be our acclimatization rest day.

Sama is a surprisingly big village of about 1000 residents. Big lodges. Well stocked stores. Good restaurants. We even checked email there, the internet having arrived only 3 months prior. (2013)

Speed of the internet was good. But the computers and notebooks available to rent were atrocious. Almost unusable.

Increased tourism is needed in this town, I feel. Check the Samagaun Development Foundation blog.

Rent a tent.

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One downside of sleeping indoors rather than in a tent are rodents. In some guest houses you are kept awake by their scurrying. I even saw one in the dining room at 4470m.

see high resolution photos from this day on flickr

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Manaslu Circuit – day 3

by site editor Rick McCharles

Already tired of tiny, potentially unsanitary tea house bedrooms, I’d slept in my tent the previous night.

Yep. As I’ve done on my previous Himalayan tea house treks, I carried a tent. Only 2lbs (Hubba) … I like having the back-up plan.

I slept in my tent until 1:20am when guides woke me in a panic. At the next guesthouse campsite, a thief had cut through a tent and stolen a backpack. It contained a Passport, camera and plenty of cash. Everyone insisted that I must move indoors. For my own safety. 😦

P1240596Ascending next morning, the valley looked to be narrowing further.

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There are people everywhere in this valley. Here Brion was looking for a public toilet. The “blue door”, he was told.

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That one wasn’t bad. But as a general rule I’d recommend you avoid Nepali toilets. It’s more sanitary to sit in the woods. … Assuming you can find a good spot.

This was cute. Kids blocking off their home from pack animals.

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Here’s some fencing trying to keep out hungry beasts.

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Harvested crops are usually stored up high out of reach.

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Tradition here is to use ladders to get up and down.

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I had the standard Himalayan meal for lunch.

Dal bhat consists of steamed rice and a cooked lentil soup called dal. Potatoes on the side they call “curry”. The spiciest component they call “pickle” (achar). Often greens are included as they were this time.

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Porters and guides can rarely be persuaded to eat anything else. It’s dal baht 3 meals a day. They always eat separately and after their clients. In fact, one of the highest priority jobs for any guide is to act as your waiter. They do everything they can to keep you happy and healthy on the Trail.

Pretty pretty.

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Steep gorges like this are prone to washout.

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Winter loomed. Every home had enough wood stockpiled.

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Compared with Everest and Annapurna, there are far more waterfalls on Manaslu.

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Impressive too are the many beautiful butterflies.

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Everyone is anticipating this adventure to boom over the next few years. We saw many, many guest houses under construction.

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We were surprised to get some rain. It should be bone dry in November. … We didn’t realize at the time that this same day it was snowing up on the high Pass.

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Jagat

We slept in Jagat 1410m, a pretty village.

see high resolution photos from this day on flickr

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Manaslu Circuit – day 1

by site editor Rick McCharles

At 5:15am we rendezvoused at Touch Paradise in Thamel, Kathmandu.

One of the main advantages in having a guide is finding transport to and from the trailhead. I’m not sure that on our own we would have found the right bus stand, the right bus. In the dark.

All the buses were packed as many were traveling during the holiday. And some were traveling for the upcoming national election. Seems many Nepali can vote only in their home village.

crowded busMike and I were on the back seat bench, the bumpiest ride of all. I wished we’d paid $150 or so for a private vehicle.

It was a long, dusty and bumpy 8hrs to Arughat Bazar, the very worst part of the Manaslu Circuit trek as far as I’m concerned.

bus

Hikers on the bus could not be happier to disembark and start walking the 2hrs up to Arkhet Bazar.

Mike hike Jeeps do run up to Arkhet, but everyone I saw starting that day preferred to walk.

Budhi Gandaki river
Budhi Gandaki river

The scenery already pretty.

farm Nepal

Children on this trail are cute, but pests. They still nag nearly every hiker for “pens”, “rupee” or “candy”.

Mike was patient with them, offering to take and show them photos of themselves.

Nepali kids

Rice is perhaps the most important crop at this elevation. Farms look prosperous.

rice

This low on the mountain the “road” was busy. We shared the trail with many pack animals.

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Arriving on the same bus were Brion and Betsy from Colorado, enjoying their belated Honeymoon.

Brion and Betsy

Also, Ivan and Tasha from Alaska. They fish. And adventure.

Ivan Tasha

That photo was taken atop the Larkye Pass, 9 days hence. The 6 of us and our 3 guides spent a lot of time together en route. 🙂

There were motor vehicles too, but not many.

tractor

We stayed at the Mountain View Hotel in Arket. At this altitude (608m) it’s still warm in November. I didn’t bother unpacking my sleeping bag.

That was a mistake.

bed bug bitesI’m fairly certain that it was in a $3 room where I acquired these bites. Bedbugs, I assume.

Don’t trust the provided bedding. After that night I used my own sleeping bag and silk liner exclusively, sometimes wrapping dodgy pillows in a plastic bag.

Before dark I had time to wander the small town, checking the very basic school.

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toilets without doors
toilets without doors

P1240320That’s 2065 in the lunisolar Hindu calendar used in Nepal.

It was obvious to me that the quality of schools in the Indian Himalaya are far superior than in these mountains.

We were asleep early after surviving that bus ride.

see high resolution photos from this day on flickr

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altitude adaptation is genetic

En route to Thorung La I learned something new from a doctor in Manang at the daily HRA Altitude Talk.

High-altitude adaptation has a genetic component.

Some people who live at high altitudes suffer breathlessness, palpitations and dizziness, while others have no health problems, and now a new study reveals which genes may explain the difference.

The genetic changes, described today (Aug. 15, 2013) in the American Journal of Human Genetics, allow people to take in enough oxygen from the thin mountain air without developing the heart attacks and strokes of chronic mountain sickness.

“We have ascertained there is a major genetic component that allows populations at high altitude to live better,” said study co-author Dr. Gabriel Haddad, a pediatric pulmonologist at the University of California at San Diego. …

Altitude Sickness: Genetics May Explain Why Only Some Fall Ill

Thorong La, 5,416 m (17,769 ft)
Thorong La, 5,416 m (17,769 ft)

I’ve been over 5000m dozens of times, never having any altitude sickness.

Perhaps I’ve got good genes. 🙂

Read more on wikipedia – High-altitude adaptation in humans – Genetic basis:

… The underlying molecular evolution of high-altitude adaptation has been explored and understood fairly recently. Depending on the geographical and environmental pressures, high-altitude adaptation involves different genetic patterns. …

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Manaslu Circuit, Nepal

by site editor Rick McCharles

The Manaslu Trek (or Manaslu Circuit Trek) is a 14-day tea-house trek which circumnavigates the 8th highest peak in the world (8,156m).

Manaslu sunrise

The trek has all the elements of other treks in Nepal including both Hindu and Buddhist culture, protected wildlife, rhododendrons and wild flowers, raging rivers, precarious bridges and stunning mountain scenery.

The trek is much easier than it used to be with greatly improved trails along the Budi Gandaki river gorge. In terms of difficulty, it is comparable with the Annapurna Circuit Trek or Everest Base Camp trek. Its highlight is undoubtedly the spectacular unhindered views of Manaslu. …

Wikitravel

Two of us plan to try this high altitude trek starting Nov. 7th. It’s touted the NEW Annapurna Circuit, the old Annapurna having been degraded by road construction. 😦

Guy Shachar posted the best almost independent (hired guide/porter, carried their own packs) trip report (2011) I’ve seen:

  • Manaslu Circuit Trek- Around Manaslu Trek – detailed itinerary and trail description

  • Manaslu Circuit Trek- Around Manaslu Trek – General Information

    • Manaslu

    More of Guy’s photos

    … Until recently the trek used require camping, but building of tea-houses means the trek can be completed using local accommodation. …

    When trekking through the Manaslu region, ten peaks of over 6,500 metres (21,300 ft) in height are visible, including peaks of over 7,000 metres (23,000 ft) elevation. …

    wikipedia

    We plan to go very lightweight. Quite fast. Perhaps 11 days.

    We carry our own packs. Have no fixed itinerary. Our guide carries his own gear. We pay his costs — including insurance. Rate is $25 / day.

    A private car to the trailhead costs at least $120. We’ll take the bus both ways.

    Altitude acclimatization is easy on this trip. You start at Arughat 600m and work slowly and steadily up to crossing Larkya La 5135m. Of course if anyone suffers altitude sickness signs, it’s easy to quickly backtrack.

    ImagineTreks_Manaslu_profile

    Manaslu-Circuit-Trek-II-location-map

    We’re not likely to make many sidetrips.

    Wish us luck. 🙂

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    The Empty Quarter – Trailer

    Alastair Humphreys:

    Wilfred Thesiger was one of my heroes. It was his books who inspired me to join (very briefly!) his old Boxing Club at university. They encouraged me to think ambitiously but simply about making big journeys. And when he died (I was cycling through South America at the time), I felt sad that I never had the opportunity to meet him.

    Thesiger pushed himself hard to test himself. He lived ascetically, and scorned modern convenience, speed and luxury. The harder the life, he believed, the finer the person. His prose is simple and measured, thoughtful and honest. His photography was superb, particularly when you consider that he took fewer photographs in an entire expedition than I do on a single day. Thesiger “had the man’s courage to live out the boy’s dream.” And ever since I read Arabian Sands, I have dreamed of one day making a journey in Thesiger’s footsteps.

    So Leon McCarron and I walked 1000 miles across the Arabian Peninsula, inspired by the spirit of Thesiger’s own expeditions in the Rub ‘al Khali desert, the Empty Quarter.

    “Into The Empty Quarter” will tell the story of our journey.

    Release date: Autumn 2013.

    intotheemptyquarter.com

    Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

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    TrekkingPartners.com

    Founded in October of 2010 in Kathmandu, TrekkingPartners helps people find like-minded partners for their outdoor activities.

    People can post a trip for others to join or join someone else’s, whether it be hiking in the mountains or biking across the country.

    TrekkingPartners helps people share costs, promotes safety, and find a companion to share the adventure with.

    Trips are listed from all over the world. But Himalayan adventures are front and centre.

    They have about 2000 members.

    I’m #2001, having just joined. 🙂

    Trekking Partners

    Check out TrekkingPartners.com.

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    7 Great Walks of Tasmania

    Tasmania has always been one of the world’s best kept secrets. It has unique natural beauty, abundant wildlife, unspoilt wilderness and sophisticated food and wine.

    The Great Walks of Tasmania is a collection of independent guided walk companies offering unforgettable experiences in Tasmania’s most inspiring and extraordinary locations. They combine the best of Tasmanian wilderness walking with excellent guiding, unique accommodation and offer delicious Tasmanian food and wine along the way. Together their walks cover over 300km of Tasmania’s prime walking tracks.

    Variety abounds and there is a walk for every fitness level and time frame; choose for example a 23km walk over 4 days or an 80 km walk over 9 days. Relax in elegant standing camps or tents or stay in an award winning walkers lodge or huts. Prices range from AU$1,095 to AU$2,600 so there is a walk to suit everyone. …

    Tas

    details

    (via Discover Tasmania)

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    Envirofit clean-burning cook stove

    Kraig Becker promotes the Himalayan Stove Project.

    Check this article to see what they are doing to make the world a better place:

    The problems the Project are addressing and solving are obvious. Inefficient cookstoves in the fragile high Himalayan environment (and elsewhere) cause

    1.) indoor air pollution and related health issues due to smoke inhalation,

    2.) personal safety hazards to families and their children,

    3.) deforestation,

    4.) climate change and

    5.) economic and other social issues.

    The Himalayan Stove Project is a U.S. public charity staffed totally by volunteers who pay all their own expenses, including travel to Nepal. In addition, a growing community of institutions, corporations and individuals supports its very pragmatic mission of making a difference now.

    Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) is the planet’s 4th-largest public health threat after malaria, clean water and HIV-Aids.

    Changing the World One Cookstove at a Time –

    Click PLAY or watch one of the clearer technology stoves on YouTube.