Day 9 and 10, from Manang to Tilicho Lake Base Camp
Day 9 to Khangsar
We decided to have an easier day; no alarm in the morning. After breakfast we went in "town" to find internet. We stopped at the Mountain lodge and sent emails to both our moms as we hadn't talk to them since we started the trek. After spending 30 long minutes to send 2 quick emails, we went on our way to Khangsar. We followed the Tilicho Lake signs for about 2 hours until we reached Khangsar. It was a shorter day, only 5.6 kilometres and it was definitely needed.
When we arrived in Khangsar, we walked by a small lodge where the owner talked us into coming in and having a look at the room. He showed us the thick mattresses and the pile of blankets. There was about 8 blankets for 2 beds. We decided to stay there for 100 rupies for both of us and we went on the small rooftop terrace to have lunch. We spent the afternoon reading and relaxing. The sun disappeared really fast behind the mountains and it got cold almost immediately. When we were cold enough, we went upstairs in the kitchen to sit by the wood stove. We watched the owner cook our Tibetan bread and our tomato-noodle soup while talking with his family and the only other guest.
There was another festival going on in Khangsar that night. This time is was locals going from house to house dancing, singing and gathering money for village projects. We stayed a little bit longer in the kitchen, enjoying the warmth and conversation. While we were getting ready to go to bed , we could hear strange noises coming from outside. It sounded like an animal was not happy. We looked outside with our headlamps and saw some yaks or bulls (it was very hard to see in the dark) fighting. We were happy we were on the second floor as they are very strong and heavy and the streets are very small.
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| Looking back towards Manang on the way to Khangsar |
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| Yak |
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| Arriving in Khangsar |
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| Fancy hotel |
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| Homemade meal, like always on the trail |
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| The hotel's kitchen |
Day 10 - Tilicho base camp
We woke up at 6am, got ready and went in the kitchen for 6:30 as we had ordered our breakfast for that time. Once again, it was not ready, actually the owner was barely getting started on boiling water for tea. We chatted with him while he prepared our breakfast. Most of the food actually comes dry, tomato soup is a powder, the milk is also powdered milk that they mix with hot water, noodles are the ramen type etc. We hadn't seen a fridge yet in any of the kitchens. The Maya hotel is one of the oldest of the village. There are even some writings on the door dated 1973. It must have been a lot more challenging back then to hike the circuit and it must have included much more Dal Bhat!
The walk to Tilicho Base Camp was very scenic, we could see mountains and the valley very well. Is was fairly easy in the beginning, with just a few hills to climb and descent. But the closer we got to the base camp, the more difficult and stressful it got. The reason is quite simple, the last hour, the path is in a landslide zone. The mountain is made of small rocks that don't feel very stable under our feet. It goes up and down and the path is very narrow by moments. It was very important to keep an eye on the ground as it would be very easy to slip and fall all the way down to the river. We arrived in the base camp around lunch time.
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| Towards Tilicho Lake which is at the end of the valley, to the right of the white mountain |
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| Landslide area |
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| Tilicho Lake base camp room |
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