Start point: Machakhola, 860m
End point: Jagat, 1,330m
Total ascent: 981m
Total descent: 511m
Distance travelled: 20.28km
Time walking: 9hrs
River swims: 2
Goats seen: 357
It was a beautiful clear morning and we were so excited to be walking!! And not only that, but walking in the most beautiful green and lush river valley. We got on the road at about 8 AM, after chappati and omelette for breakfast. Our route today would have us follow the Budhi Gandaki river, up to Jagat. The first couple of hours were on the road (if you can call it that), which was quite aggressively cut into the side of the cliff. On the other side of the river you could see the old track, which used to be the only access into these remote villages. Around us was a mixture of tree covered hillsides and agriculture, with villages dotted along every couple of kilometers. The villages weren’t only on the main road/track, there were also side tracks taking you much higher where you can see them perched on the hillside.
Our bodies felt a little worse for wear after 14 hours in the bus yesterday, and it took an hour or so for the creaky joints to quieten and the achy muscles to ease up. We got into a rhythm and were making good time along this section of easy walking. Something that is really nice with this trek is that we’re not at high altitude straight away! Right now as we’re getting used to packs, poles, walking all day etc, we’re not also fighting altitude. Maybe the jokes on us though as this means we have to climb more in the long run? We’ll see!
Something we didn’t expect was how hot it would be! It was such a gorgeous morning and temperatures were easily hitting 25 degrees plus. I enjoyed a few mossy waterfall showers along the road and we all found a great swimming spot in a beautiful tributary of the main river about an hour before our lunch break. It was a bit of a pinch me moment, getting to swim in a gorgeously fresh and cold river in Nepal on the first day of our trek, while being in the sun!!!
At this point we had turned off the main road and were on a smaller local track which was so much nicer, we were surrounded by birds, bugs, trees and of course trail dogs! We stopped for lunch at 1 PM (Dahl baht of course) at a cute guest house just outside of Dovan. A highlight was literally watching the family harvest vegetables from their garden to cook our lunch, and when Mayla bought out a sauce he had made from some foraged chillis and tomatoes from the garden!! We asked for some sauce this morning with our eggs and there wasn’t any, so he made us some. So sweet. This is truly organic, sustainable eating. There’s lots of corn being grown in the area, as well as a fair amount of wild Marijuana!! We also saw heaps of goats, chickens, ducks and even pigs, which is a necessity when you live this remote, what you want to eat you must grow. For now we’re still loving Dahl Baht for lunch and dinner, let’s see if we’re saying the same by day ten!
When we left the wind was picking up a little and the cloud cover was increasing, which gave us some shade for the second half of the day, but is a good reminder of the importance of getting up early. From Dovan onwards we stayed on this smaller trail nearly all the way to Jagat and it was so lush. Everything around us felt like it was just teeming with life. So many different plants and bugs and butterflies, it was really special. The river went through a gnarly rapid for about 600m which we had to circumnavigate by sidling along a pretty serious landslide, but before long we were back at the river again. Mayla found us one last spot for a (shallow) swim before we did the final 30 minutes into Jaggat.
Jaggat is a bigger village, and seems very well set up for tourists. Lots of guest houses and facilities, and also our first check point for our Manaslu permits, we officially enter Manaslu Conservation Area tomorrow. We arrived at our guest house at about five, and did a quick yoga practice to limber up again after all the kilometers in the legs. The place is really cute with a nice garden and amazing river views! Fingers crossed the food is good too.
Overall the day was amazing but a little harder than we expected actually! I hadn’t realized it would be 20km and by the end our legs were sore, bags felt heavy, blisters were forming… it was a bit of a shock to the body to be walking again!! I’m sure after a day or two our bodies will catch on, and hopefully we’ll be feeling great once we start getting higher.
Right now we’re further down in the village stealing some free WiFi from the permits office (surely that’s fair with our $300 USD paid), and will head back for dinner and a BIG sleep shortly. Such an incredible first day and we’re very happy with our decision to come and experience this amazing part of Nepal.