From Barpak, the epicenter of the 2015 earthquake, we cross ridges and descend to valleys under the gaze of the Ganesh Himal mountains in those rough up and down middle hills, traversing an area that sees very few trekkers. The trek will be a cultural delight. Although our regular porters should know the way, route-finding might still be somewhat interesting.
Rather than the road bash via Somdang and Gatlang at the end, we explore an alternative route passing near Paldor base camp.
GHT (Great Himalaya Trail)? This trek is a small section of Nepal's Great Himalaya Trail but part of it is Jamie's last section to complete the Nepal GHT.
international flights, equipment rental, alcohol, bottled water and soft drinks, laundry,
tipping and other items of a personal nature
Tips & extra cash
allow approx $40 per day for Kathmandu meals
allow more if you are a shopaholic
we suggest 5% of the trip cost per trekker for the crew tips pool
Day 0 - 11 Nov - early arrival
Arrive early to recover from long flights, and to do some sightseeing in the city.
Day 1 - Monday 12 November 2018 - arrive Kathmandu 1350m
2 - drive Gorkha 1060m
We drive to Gorkha and have a look around. Apparently, the historic 17th century Gorkha Durbar, where Nepal was united, has been leveled and is being rebuilt from the ground up. There is a newish museum we will visit.
3 - drive Barpak 1950m, trek camp ~2750m
After a short but probably rough drive, we reach Barpak village, partly rebuilt after the devastating 2015 earthquake. After lunch we trek approx 3 hours to our camp above the village.
4 - trek Laprak 2100m / Singla 2300m / between
Let's see where we actually get to. Singla is quite far; Laprak quite close.
5 - trek Kerauja 2075m
We descend and cross the main Manaslu Circuit trail plus the Budhi Gandaki at just under 1000m then climb out of this steep valley - be warned!
6 - spare day
We have an extra day for itinerary fluctuations and weather.
7 - trek Nauban Kharka 2750m
Rounding ridges, lets see if we can avoid a 4WD track below us.
8- trek Lapa Khola 1285m
9 - trek Sertun / Tipling 1890m
We have several route options, let's find out which is best.
10 - forest camp?
We discuss with locals how best to break the ~2000m climb.
11 - trek Pansang La camp 3830m
We camp near or on top of the pass for extensive panoramas.
12 - trek Paiguthang 4280m
Today is a panoramic ridge walk.
13 - trek Jaisal Kund 4280m
It is a short trek to the lake so we have some exploration time too.
14 - rest-exploration day
We will discuss with locals how best to trek this section, and where we can explore, and where to spend a rest day exploring.
15 - trek Sangjen Kharka
16 - trek Nagathali Ghyang 3165m
This is an awesome viewpoint.
17 - trek-drive Bali's house
We aim to stay at Bali's house.
18 - drive Kathmandu
Day 19 - Friday 30 November - depart
Breakfast with a view, the camp above Barpak village (on our 2010 exploration) - Jamie
To see the detailed itinerary and more photos use a laptop/desktop browser or tablet in landscape (and hit refresh).
GHT galleries
See the second half of this Flickr set to see the route between the Manaslu Circuit and Barpak and Gorkha.
