What Made our Hearts Smile

April turned out to be a wonderful time to go. We have seen young animals, small children and people working in villages, as rainy summer season was approaching and it was the perfect time to mend houses.

Also in April you can witness the show of the Rhododendrons in full blossom. This was like being in a candy shop, with lots of sweet and colorful candy. They were painting the forest with such rich colors and adding a fairytale feel to the forest that we had to stop every few meters to admire the scenery. Walking the Bhimtang – Tilje section has been an amazing experience to view the diversity of the flora.

While climbing up, not only the environment but also its inhabitants were changing. At first people we saw were more Hindus, later a beautifully peaceful mix of Hindu and Buddhists, and more and more Tibetan buddhists as we climbed up. We could observe this in their healthy red cheeks, round faces and their behavior; and the higher we went the more playful people become, in their own shy kind of way. We will never forget when sitting at a little open air shop for a few minutes rest in Lihi, people from all ages popped up from behind the shop to look at us and laugh with curiosity…we’ve been offered super hot boiled potatoes which they were peeling with bare hands skillfully, and to thank them all we could do was to sing the folkloric song “reshram piriri” that our sherpa taught us during the long walking hours if the previous days… our surprising performance resulted in a lot of laughs and large smiles on the faces of our shy Lihi friends.

As strange as it sounds, you will not see Manaslu from day one…the first time we saw the 8th highest mountain of the planet was on day 7, our way to Lho. We were simply blown away by its timeless greatness. This kind of experience really resonates to the core of your being.

Visiting Lho which is dominated by a beautiful Monastery was also amazing. We arrived in Lho a little before the monks students were getting lunch in the village and we have been welcomed in their dining area and offered a delicious Raksi made by the monks themselves…it is hard to tell the alcohol level of that drink, but the smile of the Monk offering it and the great stories he had to tell about the Monastry and Nepal were making us tipsy from compassion.

While in Samdo, as we felt too cold to stay in the dining area, we joined the hosts, sherpas and porters in the kitchen and watched Bollywood movies on a little TV with a DVD player while sipping our hot chai…the little kids have watched those movies so many times before that they memorised each scene by heart and were laughing before funny scenes were even shown…keeping us warm and smiling for the two nights we were there despite the chilling temperature of the evening hours.

Walking the trek was sometimes difficult, not that it required a physical preparation we lacked, but because the mental stress increased as we went up as result of less oxygen and also because lodging conditions were getting less and less comfortable, making your sleep less relaxing. And clearly because food was very repetitive with no more than 4 “safe” options to choose from. Nevertheless, every morning we woke up,  eager to start the next section ahead, confident that it would have given us a spectacular scenery and nice people to interact with, and this is exactly what happened each and every day…and it got better and better. This is by far the best aspect of this unique trek we’ve loved so much. If you like to tough it out a bit, Manaslu is your place.

 

Acclimatization

The reasons for acclimatization is obvious and mentioned elsewhere in great detail. In order to ease your adjustment to high altitude, take enough time at each altitude gain, drink plenty of water and take some Diamox pills if you feel a persistent pressure on your head or nausea. We also learned a new trick. Garlic. At least this is what our sherpa was swearing on and we wanted to believe him. We started having garlic soup after 3000m which was also quite tasty and a good alternative to the potato soup which was the other fresh soup alternative. We were not willing to settle for a soup made from powder, so we always took whichever soup was freshly made. As the fire was always on in teahouses it took them no time to cook.

You really need to give your body enough time, warmth and rest. It worked very well for us to take more time on the first half of the trek and speed up the second half. We have seen people with altitude sickness returning, even from the very top at 5000m, because they could not acclimatize. At this altitude it is dangerous to trek back with illness, a helicopter pick up is often the only way which can cost a lot of money if you are not insured properly and also takes time, as the weather must be good for the helicopter to land. We have seen this first hand.

Prices

We knew from Jamie that as you go up in the mountain you must expect higher prices. We did not drink any beer or had too many Snickers bars to be affected by this a lot, as these are highly priced items. However, each day we were ascending, indeed the price of the simple dal bhat and even boiled water was increasing. It is good to calculate well and have enough cash for this. We never felt like carrying cash was unsafe and didn’t hear of any trips where any money was stolen. So, better to have enough.

a survived recipt..

Charging Batteries & Camera

In general in each village there was a possibility to charge the batteries of your camera. You might need to pay for charging in some villages but it won’t cost you more than a bottle of boiled water. It is advisable to bring an extra battery (and do not forget to sleep with your batteries in the sleeping bag; cold can drain the charge very quickly otherwise).

Carrying your SLR camera can be tedious because of size and weight, so consider investigating solutions that fits your need before hitting the trek. I (Luca) hiked pretty comfortably using a Cotton Carrier system (google it to learn more about this specific system) which allowed quick access to my Canon 5D while keeping it secured to the shoulder strap of my backpack preventing the camera to swing while walking…still in more than one occasion I wished my camera of choice was lighter and smaller…

What to wear, what to take

We took a list of equipment and personal gear you see mentioned on any hiking site suitable for the altitude and weather. However, the temperature deviation was so large and the information we can gather about this beforehand was so little that we had to take pretty much everything from t-shirt and sandals to hard sole hiking boots and a down jacket, with layers of hats and gloves. What was important to take were: hiking poles, sunscreen, sunglasses and definitely the trail map for Manaslu circuit and the travel guide, Trekking around Manaslu and the Tsum Valley by Sian Pritchard-Jones and Bob Gibbons.

A pair of instep crampons for the day of the pass is recommended. We did not have these and it was very slippery. Some people simply sat on their butts and slid down the whole way but depending on the amount of snow this may not always be the safest way to approach the descent.

Having good layers of gloves is very important, not only for the hike while stopping or exposed to heavy winds, but also while resting in the teahouses at the high altitude where the inside temperature is very low. We have recorded the temperature each day which you can see below in the daily overview. A good three season sleeping bag is really essential. Even if it is needed for two or three days of the hike, those are the days when you need your energy level high, and being tired because you could not sleep due to cold is not what you want when you need to haul yourself to 5000 meter. It is advisable to get one of those silk inners to place inside the sleeping bag to use it as sleeping bag during the first and last days of the journey when temperature is too high for the 3 seasons sleeping bag.

Buy a lot of toilet paper, chances are you will need a lot at some point. You can remove the inner cylinder cardboard and flatten the rolls, this way they would take less space.

In terms of medicine, besides what is in an average medical kit, we bought some Diamox and Imodium. On day 5, morning temperature was 14C. Luca woke up outside the sleeping bag (must have removed it unconsciously while asleep as it was too warm). While trying to lift the duffle bag with a very cold back he got his lower back muscles contracted and stuck. Learning: get physically and mentally awake before doing anything as you’re outside your routine environment and this requires more attention. Add plasters releasing mio-relaxant to the first aid kit. Tiger balm and Ibuprofen have been of great help.

The Decision to go to Manaslu

As a first long trek in the Himalayas, choosing Manaslu circuit was quite an easy decision and something we never regretted. Here is a summary of our experiences before and during the trip, which might be helpful for planning a memorable trip which is also safe and enjoyable.

Looking for a hike is easy in the Himalayas, which present many options for beautiful treks, some being more challenging than others. This is why we asked immediately to our friend Jamie from Project Himalaya, which trek he would recommend for us. We wanted a trek which 1. we could do in three weeks as an introduction to trekking in the Himalayas, 2. is challenging, including at least one mountain pass, and 3. we could do as a teahouse trek but without many other visitors. He immediately recommended Manaslu. Other options were either more travelled to, or not yet open for teahouse trekking, and required a bigger budget for a camping trek.

We went to Manaslu in April, the second best (and therefore less busy) period after October/November. An important point for planning the amount of days we needed was the possibility to add the Tsum Valley trail to the itinerary and extend this trip by a few days. We have not chosen this option as this trail was a camping trail until recently. We did hear from other trekkers later however, that it is possible to do this trail as a teahouse trek now. They recommended it very much.

Manaslu

The other trail we need to mention is the Annapurna trek, which Manaslu trek merges with in Dharapani. This is nothing to be happy about. As soon as the trail merges, you notice that everything becomes commercial. The trail becomes wider, the number and size of teahouses get bigger, and the number of hikers increase dramatically. Annapurna trail can be done without a guide, and therefore we have seen many young people in groups or alone walking with big headphones as if in a metropolitan city subway…The two trails cross where Manaslu ends and Annapurna starts. This is also not the best part of Annapurna trail for sure and we found that it is best to do this part as quickly as possible and return to Kathmandu.