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This trek was officially opened to
tourists in 1991, but mountaineering
expeditions have long had access to the
area. In 1950 a party led by HW Tilman
trekked from Thonje to Bimtang and
Colonel Jimmy Roberts crossed the Larkya
La looking for an interesting mountain
to climb. Manaslu (8156m.) was attempted
by Japanese expeditions every year from
1952 until 1956, when the first ascent
was made. It thus became known as a
'Japanese mountain', and much of the
information about the area was available
only in Japanese. The Japanese continued
to dominate the climbing scene on
Manaslu until 1971.
A few trekkers, including the
peripatetic Hugh Swift, managed to
obtain trekking permits for the region,
but otherwise this trek has always been
the domain of the mountaineering
expedition. The book Honey Hunters of
Nepal, by Eric Valli and Dianne Summers,
makes good background reading for this
area.
Though the Larkya La is not a difficult
pass, the trek around Manaslu is harder
than most in Nepal. In many places the
walls of the Buri Gandaki valley are
perpendicular, so you cannot walk along
the bottom of the valley. There is a
huge amount of wasted climbing involved
during the first part of the trek as you
climb up and down over ridges or onto
shelves to bypass cliffs. The trail is
rough and steep and it often literally
hangs on a bluff high above the river.
The trek is remote and has no rescue
facilities or opportunities to bail out
if you are tired. There is only one
facility that might conceivably be
called a trekkers' hotel, and there are
few English signboards between Arughat
and Tilje.
The trek is geographically spectacular
and culturally fascinating. The
inhabitants of the upper Buri Gandaki, a
region known as Nupri ('the western
mountains'), are direct descendants of
Tibetan immigrants. Their speech, dress
and customs are almost exclusively
Tibetan. There is still continuous trade
between Nupri and Tibet; Chinese
cigarettes, for example, are found more
frequently than Nepali cigarettes. The
mountain views in Nupri are sensational
and the crossing of the Larkya La is one
of the most dramatic of any pass in the
Himalaya.
Because much of this trek is in a region
of strong Tibetan influence, most places
have Tibetan names in addition to their
better know Nepali monikers. |
Major
Trekking Routes
Manaslu
Trek
