A deadly trek in the Annapurna | RecentFusion.com

By Rup Narayan Dhakal
When I didn’t get enough drinking water to exhaust my thrust It made me remember a television episode- Man versus Wild in the Discovery Channel where Bear Grylls strands himself in popular wilderness destinations where tourists often find themselves lost or in danger.

I was trekking as part of an exploration trip from Tangting, a Gurung village in the northeast of Nepal’s touristy capital Pokhara, to Beshishahar via Bhujung and Ghalegaun, in the world famous Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) in mid Nepal. There I hardly could get water on the way that has been walked by herdsmen for years and the ACAP is trying to explore and develop this route as an alternative of those routes which were overlapped during road building in this project area.

Bhujung Village in Lamjung

I melted snow and ice over there to drink and survive myself in the trek. It was actually a six day long trek, organized by ACAP. However, I and my friend Ram dai completed it within five days. Before entering the tent erected for 3rd night in Wanje Kuna, a proposed camping site on this way, I along with my trekking team members including 10 porters who are actually supporters shouted loudly in the evening. It was because seven of our team members were lost somewhere in the dense jungle miles far from our camp site and the shouting could help them trace us. Shepherds and the herdsmen speak loudly like oohu and ohho to get in touch to each others in the jungle and we also relied on same tactics. Before arriving to the campsite, we had trekked in snow for more than 3 hours that day.

As they were found by local herdsmen the next morning, they told us that they passed their night under a rhododendron tree having snow-water without any food items in the rainy and chilly environment. It was my 2nd experience of losing friends during the trek for one night and I had to face the same kind of incident during the Doodhpokhari trek, some two years ago. The exploration campaign was started with a jeep riding from Pokhara to arrive at Tangting in the first day on 31st March of 2009. Tangting saw our first night stay in a building of mothers’ group. I used sleeping-bag that night instead of woolen quilt that I have been using in my bed in Pokhara for years. The cultural program took place here as part of Tangting festival and forced us to vigil up to midnight, however I slept to fulfill my sleep later.

The 2nd morning began with a beautiful sunrise, and I left Tangting having some breakfast. The whole uphill trek of the 2nd day was tough. But the snowcapped mountains’ view made me feel relaxed. During uphill trek, I had chocolates, beaten maize, rhododendron flowers and buttermilk to get energy that brought me up to Karpu (2,960m). Our supporters and herdsmen found a water spring nearby a dharamshala (pilgrims’ rest house) for cooking and drinking purpose. Earlier the team had carried bottles of locally brewed millet liquor that we drank before entering the sleeping-bag inside that rest house situated in the jungle. Vulgar jokes that our friends called non-vage jokes and playing cards also made the journey funny to some extent.

Trekking to Bhujung

We walked more than 8 hours in most of the days. Fourth and fifth nights in Bhujung (1600m), a village development committee covering a single village with 350 households, were striking. Before arriving Bhujung, I took a dip in Midim Khola water that was so cool I couldn’t stay in it for even a minute. Cultural programs and dances from Gurung community were mind blowing in this village.

It was also the birth-land of Mr. Tek Gurung, who was our team leader as well as a tourism officer of ACAP. Tek is actually a funny guy who also has a skill of playing guitar. A male goat was be-headed for food purpose here in Bhujung. Handicrafts like Radi (a thick shirt made of mountain goat's or sheep's wool) and Bakhkhu (a thick sack made of mountain goat or sheep's wool is used to be saved from rainwater or cold environment) is also available here in Bhujung.

Snowcapped mountain views, rhododendron forests, wildlife, Midim Khola (stream), dense Gurung villages, Goth culture (in the summer season, herdsmen stay in a temporary built shacks in the top of the mountains to watch their cattle) are the major attractions of that proposed route. Ghale Gaun is another attraction which has been picked up by Nepal Tourism Board as a touristy village in Lamjung district. Ghalegaun (2070m), Bhujung and Tangting offer home stays since there are no modern hotels. Access in this whole route is very hard, so a local guide is recommended. Organized trekking with tents would be better. Training to the villagers regarding hospitality, improvement of trails and tracing out of water springs along the trails are necessary before organizing a professional tourist trekking here in this trail.

On 5th of April, I left Bhujung to arrive Beshishahar via Ghalegaun. As I arrived to Beshishhar after 7 hours of hiking, I took a bus for Dumre to arrive Pokhara. But our team was still in Ghalegaun as I arrived to Pokhara.

Hiking on the snow

Ram Gurung, a photo journalist of Nepal, nearby Tangting village

A campsite in Waje Kuna

Tangting Village in Kaski

A campsite in Karpu

Ghatu dance in Bhujung village. Pictures: Recentfusion.com

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