Trek The Unknown

Source: WikipediaAnnapurna Circuit – day 9 – trying to reach Tilicho Lake.

I read about Tilicho Lake a lot before deciding I want to go there. Most guide books claim it to be a little dangerous. Also it’s off the beaten track of most travelers which is the reason I go trekking - feeling adventurous! But even going to those places one should be smart enough and not do stupid things. I’m a very responsible traveler.

The Tilicho Lake is a side trip at the Annapurna Circuit trek. It leaves from Manang, and takes 3-4 days to complete and coming back to Manang. This was my plan….

Leaving Manang in the morning walking through kangsar to Tilicho Base camp. On the next day climbing up to the lake at dawn and sleeping again at the Tilicho base camp an additional night. The last day would be walking back the same way we walked the 1st day.

We left Manang at 7:45 towards kangsar. Our , Sonam, said it would take 3 to 3.5 hours reaching the village. We were very glad to discover after one hour and 20 minutes that we have reached our 1st destination – kangsar village.

We wanted to continue walking to the Base camp. On the way Sonam fell twice and twisted his leg. We saw he started to limp and it hurts for him. We kept walking anyway….

My friend Eli, which joined this side trip, and I were for fear of the trail going there. There are 2 ways reaching the base camp. One is long and hard & takes 4 hours. It goes up a mountain and then all the way down. The 2nd trail is the lower trail it’s an easier relatively straight trail which takes around 2-2.5 hours to complete. The problem is that the latter one is a very narrow trail, with a land slide to the side of it at some part, defiantly not a great experience…

In addition at the afternoon the wind start to blow there and Blue Sheep start to walk on the mountains which causes rocks to fall down on the trail. It was pretty early but we had to make a decision on which trail to walk.

We asked each person passing us on the opposite way if the lower trail is appropriate for waking. Everyone said its fine and we shouldn’t worry. My main fear was the landslide. It’s a narrow trail for one foot while the other foot must be put on the landslide, this causes the sand to go down a bit….fortunately it stops and you don’t find yourself falling down the mountain…but still very scary in my opinion.

After Sonam asked a few people we met a bunch of tourists which came down from the lake. They said the road down is fine and no need to be afraid of that landslide. The Problem is, they told us, was falling rocks (!!!) when climbing up from the base camp to the lake. They said there were strong winds therefore a big rock almost hit them when rolling down!

I didn’t want to take ANY risks I don’t have to take. I agreed to walk a few more hours on the longer and more difficult trail (Although everybody said the lower one is just fine). I was managing my risks…..

In addition I decided that there would be strong wind we won’t going to climb up to the lake from the base camp…another risk is solved. One risk I couldn’t solve was Sonams’ leg. He claimed to be fine…

I was afraid to walk on the lower trail and too lazy to walk the upper harder one. I solved this by saying to myself that because of Sonams leg we should just return and walk back to Manang.

That’s what we did eventually….

I was very disappointed on the way back for not coping with my fear of the way (which everybody said it’s just fine and walkable). On the other hand I choose the more human option and took care of my porter. What would have happened if something happened to him on the mountain?! Then would have been to deeper trouble. We then had needed to rescue him somehow and would have got stuck without a porter for the next few days.

If someone of my readers who walked this lower trail from Kangsar to Tilicho Base Camp can comment on this trail situation? Is there a way to do this way without risking yourself?

I’m thinking when will be my next chance of visiting there. That place is amazing from the pictures I saw!

I have a plan of taking a flight to Jomson on my next trip to that area then walk through Tilicho Lake and Tilicho pass, going again through Kangsahar, Manang and finally Homde. Homde, as I mentioned on previous post has an airport. So flying back to Pokhara is certainly an option.

This trip suppose to take 5-6 days and requires camping gear, since at the 1st 3-4 days of the trek, there are no guest houses to stay in,.

What do you suggest? How do you cope with these kinds of fears? When I came back I was angry at myself that I’m a just cowered.

After arriving back at Manang, I knew we made the right decision. I went with Sonam to the HRA (Himalayan rescue association) clinic. The doctor gave him some pills and put a bandage on his leg. He told him to rest as much a he can. On the other hand he said: “I know it’s your job and you don’t have any other choice, so if you are back to work then just don’t push it too much or else it will get worse.

On the next few days we took short and easy walks. Sonam’s leg was just fine afterwards…

“There are some things in life that are frightening and you just have to try them, but sometimes it’s hard to find some courage for that deep down inside you….”

So, as I promised….

Manang is a special village along the way when trekking the Annapurna Circuit. It’s the last village before people going up to the highest place on trek - Throng La or Throng Pass which is 5416 M high up. This is high!

volunteer doctors from the HRA (Himalayan Rescue Association)
come every season and stay at Manang and other villages around to help the trekkers. When going into the heights above 2500- 3000 M many people suffer from a Problem called mountain sickness, Which can be leth?l if you are not aware of the symptoms and how to handle them.

When reaching Manang you are advised ( or more like…YOU HAVE TO) stay there for at least one day to acclimatize yourself to the heights. It’s just get higher and higher from there on until the pass and you want to survive that on perfect shape.

The clinic In Manang helps travelers and the local community in a few ways….Every day at 15:00 there is a lecture about mountain sickness. Many of the deaths from mountain sickness are caused because people were not aware what they should do when getting any symptoms of this illness and how to deal with it. It’s very important to reach this lecture and learn about mountain sickness. IT CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE!

The Clinic also helps the local people for free and is funded by the medical treatment being given to the tourists coming there.

It’s possible to buy medicine or other medical stuff you need and missing at the clinic or just donate by buying a T-shirt.

The HRA also operates a few more clinics around the Everest base camp for the same reasons.

I hope this small post would save many many lives. All you need to do is be aware of this mountain sickness. read about it, go to the lecture there and enjoy your trip!

We started the day at around 8:15 in the morning walking from Ghyaru. remember that we are way up over the valley at that day so there are magnificent views from the top.

Walking starts with a few short climbs and there are a few great view points along the way. Suddenly on the way we saw some vultures ( I’m not an ornithologist, but it looks like it :)). So for the 1st time I had a good excuse to use my 75-300 mm lens I carried with me the whole time.

On the way it’s possible to see Homde airport ( If we were walking the straight easier way the previous day we would have walked through Homde). If you are too tired or can’t get used to the heights, one of your options is taking a flight from Homde to Pokhara, but you might have to wait a few days for a flight and an available seat.

We had the chance to see a small airplane landing and taking off, it’s weird to look down on it, instead of looking up to the sky!

The next village coming up is Nagwal. There are many alleys in that village so you have to ask people which is the right way to cross it.

After Nagwal the trail goes down , back to the valley. Then it’s an easy 2 hour straight walk to Manang. On the way there is another small village called Braga ( or Braka) so don’t get too excited that you arrived to Mananag, it’s another half and hour walk….

We reached Manang pretty late, at 14:30. Our porters mentioned it would take only 4-5 hours to walk until Manang, but the girl in our group got hurt in her foot, so we had to find a horse for her that would take her to Mananag. All this waiting and logistics took quite a while.

All along the trail and especially at this part of the trail there are many people renting horses or yaks ( which are more expensive) in order to carry tiered or hurt trekkers.

This was the end of that day. There is a clinic at Manang that is there for a reason, but it deserves a special post.

That would be my next one.

Leaving Out Chame in the morning let’s you enjoy a pleasant walk, except of one climb before reaching Bhratang. We left Chame at 7:25 in the morning and reached Bhartang at 9:05, total of one hour and a half. The road goes along and reaches Dhukur Pokhari, we were there two hours and 10 minutes later, the walk was still nice and easy.

At this day you reach a dryer part of the Annapurna range. The vegetation is thinner and less trees are around.

Sometime later we reached Lower pisang ( Acap map show that you 1st reach Upper Pisang and then Lower Pisang, but on the way we took which was shorter it goes the other way around ).

the trails inside lower Pisang are a little big confusing. There is one split on the way that goes to Upper Pisang, from there the road continues to Ghyaru.

A shorter way would be to keep go straight on the road until you see a big prayer wheels wall. From there you get 2 choices. The harder and nicer one would be to turn right towards the end of the well and cross the bridge. If you want the easier ,less scenic way just keep walk straight. This is a pretty straight road with no ups and downs going all the way to Manang. We chose the harder one and turned right.

When you cross the bridge after turning right you will see Upper Pisang on your right (even when you are in Lower Pisang, you always see Upper pisang on the other side of the river). Take a left turn right after the bridge. This is the way to Ghyaru.

The way now is very easy with short climbs up. You will walk by a small clear lake and right after it there is another bigger lake (The clearest one I’ve seen in my life!Beautiful!). In order to enjoy it’s view, leave the trail and go along the shore. If you keep go along the lake shore you’ll bump again to the trail so don’t be afraid loosing it.

Again…walking is fairly easy now…until you reach a bridge. Cross it…and look up…Ghyaru is up there. The Climb is long and took us almost an hour ( I think it was around 50 minutes). But I must say after almost a week of walking I felt this climb was easier for me to climb than I thought it will be. Your body will get use to these kind of climbs and walks.

The view is more beautiful from each moment to another. When you reach Ghyaru you see a few of the annapurna range tops. From left to right you are able to see: Annapurna II, Annapurna IV, Annapurna III, Gangapurna and Tilicho Peak on the far right.

It’s truly amazing!