12 months, 11 countries, 0 flights 🌏

Last night when we arrived in Bimthang we had no idea how close the mountains were. Today we were woken up by Mayla again, yelling at us about how clear it was outside! Why is it always the days we plan to sleep in when this happens?! We looked out our window and realized this town was perched just beneath the back side of Manaslu, and we were treated to an amazing morning view of it!! We got up and packed, and had breakfast while enjoying the last of the views before the cloud rolled in (predictable at this point)! 

There’s not a lot to say about today, it was 20km down the valley and most of the time it was pretty clouded in. It was nice being back in the trees, and we felt a weird sense of going back in time, as we quickly moved through all the different vegetation/ecological environments we had climbed up in the week prior! We took a short detour to find some caves, which were more of a Buddhist meditation spot. Very damp and cold, not sure I would want to meditate there!! 

We had a delicious lunch in a spot calle Gho, and again got the pleasure of watching the women pick and wash the greens she was cooking for lunch in front of us. It sounds so simple (and it is) but our awe is so indicative of how far removed we are from our food systems we are in the west, most of the time. 

The last seven kilometres or so after lunch were on the road and went quickly, and we arrived in Tilche late afternoon. The other foreigners we met in Dharamashala were also staying at the same place, so we all spent some of the afternoon and evening together trading travel stories and our upcoming plans. This place also had hot showers which was such a treat, the first time since Pokhara!!

It was here we also had our next decision to make. We had to be in Kathmandu on the 22nd of June to arrive at Kopan Monastery, so if we really pushed we would have time to speed run the Annapurna circuit as well. We were already acclimatized and feeling strong physically at this point, but also pretty tired. Mayla also told us that we could jump in the jeep tomorrow with the others that were staying with us, either to Dharopani (where we could split off to Annapurna) or to Besisahar, where we could get a bus back to Pokhara. After lots of back and forth we decided to push through and try and give it a go, knowing that time would be tight but it would be so worth it for the Annapurna views. 

We all had dinner together and got an early night, still feeling the exhaustion from the previous day. 

It’s a weird feeling waking up on the day that you have been waiting for the entire trek, and finding yourself in the middle of a literal cloud. Trekking in Nepal during monsoon was never our original plan, but the experience we have had over the last ten days has been unforgettable. Yes, there have been cloudy spells, and no, we haven’t gotten those famous 360 degree panoramic mountain views, but we have had so much fun and had some absolutely amazing weather. All that being said, I would be lying if I said that my heart didn’t sink a little when I realized it wasn’t clear on our equivalent of a “summit day”. Today we were climbing another 730m up to Larke Pass, skirting along the side of the glacier before descending down into the Dudh Khola valley. 

Once we were awake my lingering nerves about the climb were forgotten and it became a game of moving through the motions. Josh did not get much sleep at altitude unfortunately, but I somehow managed quite a deep five hours or so before the alarm went off at 2:45 AM. We all had a quiet breakfast in the tea house together before heading off in the dark. We were wrapped up in nearly all our layers, including puffer jackets, raincoats, beanies and gloves. Even after looking at the map, we were surprised at how gentle the climb was! I think New Zealand makes you tough. We seem to love to create routes where it doesn’t even seem possible to do so, and this felt like a really gentle five kms up to the pass compared to what I expected. It slowly got light, and although not totally clear, the immediate cloud around us dispersed and we got some very cool views of the peaks on either side of us. Even though it was gentle, it wasn't by any means easy, and after about three hours of slow pole planting and lots of stops to catch our breath, we made it to our high point. 

In classic Nepali style the pass was covered in prayer flags and stickered signs, and we got heaps of photos while admiring the view and enjoying some well deserved snickers bars. I felt a mixture of relief and admiration for what we had achieved. Something about this trek that was especially cool is that we started so low, on foot.  For lots of treks in Nepal you will get a jeep (or even a plane if you’re in the Everest region) to over 2,000m, often closer to 3,000m! We walked from 860m above sea level to 5,160m which feels like such a cool achievement. As to be expected, reaching the pass really gave us the Himalayan mountain buzz and we’re already excited about when we can come back again to these magical mountains. 

There is no other way to describe the way down apart from long and steep. Josh was fighting the no sleep scaries and I was fighting some sort of stomach upsets. It dragged on for what felt like forever!! They had trail markers every 100m (descent) and this was a nice way to measure our progress. Once we were over the pass we had views in the other direction, towards the Kanguru ranges. These were pretty clouded over but we got a few peeks at some different peaks. 

With some Taylor Swift in the AirPods, we made it all the way down to Bimthang before lunch. It was cloudy here but much warmer than the top had been, and we spent the rest of the afternoon tucked up having a well deserved nap. It had been a big day, and I was so proud of how we both coped with the altitude, the challenging descent and the early start. 

After yesterdays adventure we treated ourselves to a sleep in, with the alarm not going off until 8 AM!! We knew we had a super short day ahead of us to get up to Dharamasala, but the altitude was now no joke. Still, it was lower than yesterday so we figured it couldn’t be too bad? 

It was a blue sky morning and we slightly regretted not getting up earlier, as that really is the key to the best views. We were on the trail by about 9:30, following the trail from yesterday through Larke Bazar and finally saying goodbye to the Budhi Gandaki River!! We’ve been following this river since day one, and although we’re still following a tributary, it was a strange feeling!! From Larke Bazar it felt like a pretty constant uphill battle. Packs felt heavy, legs were tired and the altitude rudely seemed much harder then yesterday! It was less than three hours though, so not much to complain about really. 

Earlier in the trip we nearly thought we weren’t going to be able to stay in Dharamshala, as someone had told Mayla it was closed for the season. We were so pleased that it was open and we didn’t have to do the push to the pass in one day from Samdo! The accommodation here was basic but totally adequate, and we were joined by the first other foreigners we had seen on this trip, a couple from France and Switzerland. No one (including us) was very chatty though, we all just felt like resting. There was still lots of sun so we sat outside and forced down some cheese and tuna spaghetti. Eating anything at this elevation isn’t really the most appealing, but we knew the carbs would help us tomorrow! We spent the rest of the afternoon lying in the sun and reading - I’ve absolutely demolished the Fourth Wing series on this trip and I’m convinced we’re in perfect dragon territory. Josh went for a wash/swim in the river, and we both sat up on the moraine reading and  soaking everything in. 

Our room was one of many in a row in what seemed to be a prefabricated type building, but inside it was a stone floor, with wooden beds built on top of the stacked rocks. The mattress was comfortable so we weren’t complaining, and we would be getting up at 2:45 AM anyway. It was very basic (I won’t submit you to an explanation of the toilet), and up here there is no power either. 

We all had dinner together at 6:30 PM, and then we packed/sorted our stuff for the morning and got tucked up. We both read for a bit before trying our best to get an early night.

What! A! Day! One of the coolest (and hardest) yet for sure. We’ve taken an extra acclimatization day here in Samdo to make sure we’re totally ready to head over the pass in a couple of days, but also to do a side trip up to the Tibet border which we knew would take all day. 

The day started with a “good morning” and “are you getting out of bed?” from Mayla! No matter what time we ask for breakfast it seems to be ready early or late, and today it was early!! We quickly got ready, ate and were out the door at our planned 6:30 AM to begin the walk to the Tibet border. We knew it was going to be a big day, with a 1200m climb and 20km of trail in front of us.

We weren’t the only ones out and about on the trails - turns out it’s a very special harvesting season here in the region. All the locals were spending their days scouring  the mountains for a particular type of caterpillar. As I understand, instead of turning into a cocoon and then a butterfly, it burrows into the ground and then a plant grows from it. I’m not sure how much of this was lost in translation, but I’ll google it once I get WiFi again! (Hi from future Alice! I googled it, basically it’s a parasite that attacks a moth larvae, kills the host, and then grows a fungus from the corpse. It’s the fungus that’s actually used medicinally, known as Himalayan Viagra…). Apparently the locals can earn really good money from these, especially selling to China for medicinal purposes. Mayla was on the look out all day and we tried to help, but we didn’t find anything, and I’m not entirely sure we really knew what we were looking for!! 

We were both pleasantly surprised about our fitness and how easy the altitude felt (the best feeling)! The first half of the track was gradual and sidled above the river. We started in major yak territory, and these ones were huge!! As we began climbing we saw so many of the Himalayan Marmots I had spotted yesterday, they are very cute, reminding me of a cross between a fat cat and an otter. It definitely felt like we were getting higher and higher, with less plants around and much more of a desert, alpine feel. We crossed the (now very small) Budhi Gandaki River very close to its source glacier, which was super cool after following it for basically a week now! We also saw some mountain goat/deer/thar like creatures, I need to look them up once we are back in WiFi. (Hi again - these are called Bharal or Blue Sheep, they are native to the high Himalayas and the main prey of the Snow Leopord). They were in pack of about 15 including one really small baby, and let us get pretty close!! 

After about three hours we crossed the river we were following and the climb began. From here it was a pretty steep 600m climb, taking us all the way up to nearly 5,000m. We both approached it with strength, resilience and tenacity, and by putting one foot in front of the other got up in about two hours. At altitude walking up hills is even more of a mind game than at home, you have to slow your pace right down to keep your breathing and heart rate under control. It’s definitely a test of the saying “slow and steady”. The final push up to the border was across a soft scree slope, and before we knew it we could see the border complete with a fence, Chinese flag and a chortun on the Nepali side. We didn’t even have a headache and had both really enjoyed the walk, and were stoked to be up this high! There was a bit of cloud around so we didn’t get the best views ever, but it was still an amazing experience. 

We got the fright of our life when a truck pulled up on the other side, but it was just a group of Chinese tourists enjoying a tour through Tibet. Weirdly, they covered their number plates, so I couldn’t help think that something wasn’t quite right with them being up there!! We spent some time taking photos on both sides (the fence was down so there didn’t seem to be any immediate issue with crossing, we’ll see if they detain us at the Tibet border lol), and having a well earned snack tucked behind a rock to avoid the wind. Mayla was especially excited, this was his first time out of Nepal! 

The walk down felt long as walks down tend to do. It was like our brains were catching on to the Marmots though and we were suddenly seeing them everywhere!! The weather was packing in and once we got back it started to rain, which was actually a good sign for clearing up the skies for the coming days. We had a well earned pizza for dinner (it’s on the menu everywhere here so we thought we should try it at least once) and after a quick stretch crawled into bed with our books. Tomorrow is a short day so we were treating ourselves to a sleep in - bliss. 

And on the seventh day of our trek, Mayla gave to me… finally a shorter day!!! It was an easy 11km from Samagaun to Sando, including a stop off at a monastery, the glacial lake sitting below the Manaslu glacier and of course, a swim. We weren’t gaining that much altitude either. But at this height you seem to notice the difference even when it’s only 300m.

We were woken up at 5:30 by a knock on our door from Mayla who wanted us to come up to the roof and look at the mountains, a little random but very sweet of him and they were beautiful. And it was only 15 minutes before our alarm. Despite the shorter day I was adamant we would start early as the clouds had been coming in earlier and earlier, and the best weather had consistently been first thing. After a coffee we were walking at 6:30 AM with a packed breakfast of chapatti and boiled egg. The first stop was the Samagaun Monastry, a beautiful complex that felt comfortingly nestled in the mountains. The main room was decadently adorned, but there weren’t any rituals happening while we were there. I’m always in awe of the peace found in Buddhist monastic compounds, and paired with the juniper smoke all through the air and the mountains so close you feel like you could touch them, I think this was my favorite monastry yet. We had a short look around before heading onwards (and upwards) to the viewpoint over Birendra Lake. The clouds were periodically hiding the peaks, but we still had a lovely breakfast overlooking the glacier and ice shelves further up on Manaslu mountain, discussing routes and expeditions and future dreams. We backtracked a little to get to the main trail again, but none of us minded seeing as it was such a short day. 

From the main trail, it was an easy three hours up to Samdo following the river. Again, there were a tonne of yaks (and babies) and I also spotted three Marmots which was cool, I had never seen them before. (We spent a good few days thinking these were called Mongoose, but a quick google once we got back to WiFi cleared that up). We spent a lot of the walk discussing logistics for a Dhaulaguri expedition, something I would love to come back and do with more of my family, which was a fun way to pass the time. After crossing the main branch of the river just before the climb to Samdo, Josh found us a great swimming spot. At this point it was warm and windy, so we all got in for a quick freshen up. And boy was it fresh!!! Straight from the mountains for sure. A luxury of a shorter day was being able to stop and relax, and we thoroughly enjoyed lounging in the sun after our swim. 

The final climb up to the village was short but steep, and anything steep really tests the lungs now. We arrived at our tea house and had a big lunch of Dahl Baht, and were busy napping and reading in the sun room while considering if we spend the afternoon resting or try and get up a couple hundred more meters to help with acclimatization. Very quickly a howling wind came in and all but made our decision for us. The WiFi wasn’t working (hence why you’re not seeing this right away), so we spent our time reading, napping, playing games and doing yoga. Although it’s nice to have these places all to ourselves, I do wonder what the vibe would be like in season - I’m sure you would meet some great people and have a lot of fun, especially on afternoons where you’re parked up! 

We had an early dinner and went to bed with tea, chocolate and our books, as we would be attempting a big day trip up to the Tibet border tomorrow! By nightfall the clouds had totally packed in, and we went to sleep with fingers and toes crossed for clear skies in the morning.