MANASLU TREK 25/26 MARCH 2015

Jagat is the border crossing into the  Manaslu conservation area (7days from here to Larkye Pass which is to the left after Philim, the path to the right passes by Lokpa  then on up to the * Tsum valley on the right where many people trek for 5 to 7 days before setting out to the pass). For us , we aren't going to Tsum valley this time but even so we still require  3 Permits : one is called a restricted area permit and costs 70$ each per week with an additional 10$ per day after the original 7 days,  a second one for the Manaslu conservation area park (MCSP) Rp2000  and the third for Annapurna (ACAP) Rp2000 for the other side of Laryke pass
* Tsum comes from the Tibetan word Tsombo meaning vivd, and it is - 

Here are two of our trekking permits. And yes they even have our photos on them,  it is a serious check point and a small mistake on one of them may see you heading back to Katmandu. This happened to a couple from Toulouse who we had made friends with during the first 3 days having stayed in the same tea house each night. 

Here is Lokendra at Jagat check point,  it is the 25th March. This is anxiety time for us as we have already crossed people on their way back down because there is something wrong with the  paperwork ! But for us we can go on whoopee !

This young teenager on the right is in high school in Arughat. (A 3 day walk away) During his school holidays he comes back to his home town,  Jagat and helps 15 young children from here to learn English. He needed exercise books and pencils so we gave him some  (we had bought them while in Katmandu in order to give them to the village people higher up in the mountains ). He promised that he would teach the children new words and how to write them and show us them if we came back that way. 

As normal the path winds its way up and down along the so called Nepalese ' flat ' following an old salt trading route from Tibet  carved out over the years by the Budhi Gangaki river . 

One of the many Buddist Mani walls that we pass, we learn from Lokendra that we have to pass from the left side, keeping the Mani wall to our right, the clockwise direction in which the earth and the universe evolve.  They are inscribed with  Tibetan Mantra and often have prayer wheels which we should spin while chanting ' OM MANI PADME HOM ' which means 'hail to the jewel in the lotus ' . Prayer wheels are used in order to accumulate wisdom and merit (good karma) and to purify negativities (bad karma)

Agriculture and now eco-tourism are the only forms of income for the locals and everybody joins in from the youngest to the oldest; we see many children planting, digging, carrying mulch to enrich the soil and many other everyday tasks.  

The chance encounter with a French nurse in Jaget who supplied Ju with antibiotics sees her up and running again, ( this is just a figure of speech, not to be taken literally but she does quite well today) we make a lot more progress but Ju is still vomiting and still unable to drink anything apart from coca cola!

To our delight snow capped peaks are starting to appear as a backdrop to the beautiful river valley. 

Spring time , flower buds are only just starting to appear on the trees here. 

Mules on the bridge and the patchwork of fields of maize, potato and millet carved out of the mountain side. 

This porter starts from Arughat and goes to Samagoan a  hard and arduous 5 day walk for Rs70/per kilo. This guy has 80 kgs so will earn Rs5600 (56$) for 8 days, 5 days to go and 3 days to come back . For us we need 9 days to get to Samagoan with a small backpack of 5 or 6 kgs !

This * 'Jharana' Is so high that the water vaporized before getting to the bottom. 
*Lokendra is teaching us Nepalese along the way, Ju is starting to get quite proficient in it, he endeavors to teach us a trekking song called Resham firiri 
it goes like this 'Resham firiri, resham firiri

Udeyara jounkee dandaa ma bhanjyang

Resham firiri

• Like a silk ribbon/scarf flying freely in air, 

I wish to fly over the hills.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwDBE-87NWE

One of the many water powered mills we see along the way,  some are manned 24 hours a day . 

In this photo it is easier to see the 2 separate paths, the one up the Tsum valley and the other to Larkye pass

A new teahouse is being constructed on the left,

One of the bridges that has not yet been rebuilt, it is pretty impressive and we wouldn't like to meet a mule train on it at the same time as us. 

Kaji and Ju on their way down one of the many sets of steps along the trail. The work that must have gone into making these is quite incredible. 

Am I still on this trek ? Not one photo with me in it today , Ju still feeling unwell , this means we can walk faster because she isn't stopping so often to take photos. 

Our arrival at a tea house in  Pewa after an 8 hour walk 26th March. Ju still unwell vomited on arrival but we managed to get hot water and enjoyed a bucket shower outside with a beautiful view over the the river and the mountains. 

The majority of the teahouses are nicely decorated with decorations being carved out of the wood. In ours this night in Pewa we had heart shapes which allowed us to look through them to have a view on the river and any animals in the forest, we saw deers, monkeys and *langurs.
*langurs are Himalayan  monkeys with a white coat and a black face and hands , in the Hindu religion they are sacred and

Hindus believe the monkey’s hand and face were made black from the ash of a giant fire that was started by Hanuman when he tried to rescue princess Sita from a demon.

A Rhododendron in flower, they don't stay as bushes here but grow into very big trees

J6 departure to Ghap the 27th March

The villages here appear out of nowhere, we find them nestled into the mountain side surrounded by well kept fields of maize, barley and potatoes which are now about the only crops that will still grow at this altitude.