April 2023 Khopra Ridge Trek, Nepal

Today (10th April Monday) morning Yogesh, Shubra & Bany were scheduled to take an early morning flight to Khatmandu. The others had booked seats in a luxury bus. After tea & breakfast at the Hotel we reached the bus stand by 845 AM & boarded the luxury bus. The bus left at 9 AM sharp. The drive from Pokhara to Khatmandu was a repeat of the same trip we did on 1 April 2023 from Khatmandu to Pokhara. Except that this was a luxury bus against the semi luxury bus which we had taken on our onward journey. We were 7 of us in the return trip - Swamy, Sumathi, Aditya, Alekar, Karmakar, Sridhar & myself. After a long journey punctuated with bio breaks, tea breaks & a lunch break we reached Khatmandu by 5 PM. The hotel which Swamy had booked for our overnight stay at Khatmandu - Backpackers - was a short walking distance from the bus stand. But we had luggage with us. Alekar was agreeable to travel to the hotel in a motorised vehicle with the luggage. We hired a cab and loade...

Altitude Loss : 6,561 ft to 3,871 ft Trek Distance : 4.7 km | Trek Duration: 3 hours Bus Drive Distance: 110 km | Drive Duration: 5 hours Today we would officially complete our trek & will be back in our hotel rooms at Pokhara, i.e. by the end of day today and that will be after 3 hours of further trekking and a looong travel by bus. As we complete our trek, I thought of sharing this map showing what we have done over the past 10 days. Before retiring to bed yesterday, the group had a brief chat about collecting a small purse / gratuity to the porters, Bhim kaka & Choten. Yours truly was in charge of this project. After a quick breakfast & tea, all group members were ready to start trekking by 745 AM. By 8 AM we started the last leg of this Khopra Ridge trek. We had to cross a school sports ground before we hit the trail downhill. We saw a few students playing ball in the ground. Also a cage containing few domesticated animals.     Practically the full descent was ...

Altitude Loss : 11,975 ft to 6,561 ft Trek Distance : 8.5 km | Trek Duration: 6.5 hours Today was another morning when I preferred to enjoy my sleep over going for an early morning walk. One group of trekkers wanted to make the most of the mountains. They got up early and went for a short trek in the early morning snow. Vivek was mentioning that the day's walk would be long. My only concern was that the trail should be free of snow. Shure & Vivek confirmed that since the direction in which we would be descending is on the sun facing side, it is unlikely to have snow on the path. I felt thankful for that, because the little distance that I did walk on snow, I was not comfortable. After tea, pack up & breakfast (I repeated porridge & honey) the members assembled for a group photo. We had 2 sets of group foto of the full group, one with the Indian tricolour national flag & the second one with the TTH banner. Sridhar had got along the tricolour & all group members p...

Altitude Gain : 9,678 ft to 11,975 ft Trek Distance: 3.5 km | Trek Duration: 3 hours A family member who has been following my writing since past 20 years feels this blog is becoming a very serious piece of writing, like a thesis. His opinion is that a blog unless it belongs to the academic type, should include some humour, else who ever it is who are reading may lose interest. So at this point of time, let me see if I am able to bring a smile to those who have read this far & continue to do so..... Today was the last day of ascent, the day we would reach the summit, the highest point of our trek. I have heard trekkers (literally) behaving as though they have reached a "high" when they reach the summit. However all that is for a bit later. This is just the beginning of the day, another 3.5 km or 3 hours of teetering along remains... Having managed to take care of my stomach without getting it upset with the variety of foods that I have been stuffing down my throat in the ...

Altitude Gain & Loss: 11,220 ft to 11,811 ft and ended with 9,678 ft Trek Distance: 9.2 km | Trek Duration: 6-7 hours Today's trek was very difficult. The distance was the biggest reason, and the walk included both ascent and descent. To tackle this, Vivek had scheduled an earlier start than usual, and we began with a light breakfast. Before setting off, we took a group photo with our hostess and her children outside the hotel where we had stayed for two nights. We started walking at 8:30 AM, and for the first hour, we had to trudge through snow. As one of the slower walkers, I had to follow the path created by those ahead of me, which can be challenging in snowy conditions. Since we didn't have crampons or micro spikes, we had to be extra careful, but Vivek helped me and other members of the group whenever we faced difficulties. After two hours of trekking, we reached a narrow trail flanked by mountains on one side and valleys on the other. At that point, we got mobile con...

    For the first time since we began our trek, we were unable to follow our planned schedule. Due to excessive snowfall at higher elevations, the trek scheduled for the day was cancelled. Porters and trekkers whom we encountered mentioned the heavy snowfall at the Khayer Lake area, which prohibited trekking to that location. Five out of the eleven trekkers in the group, however, opted for an early morning trek to a sunrise point located at a slightly higher elevation. I was happy to stay back in the room and enjoy my sleep. Breakfast was served at 7:30 AM. For a change, I chose pancakes with honey. Since no trekking was possible, most of us stayed in the dining area, which was being kept warm by a central fireplace. After five days together, the break from trekking provided an excellent opportunity for everyone to interact with each other. Lunch was served at 2:00 PM, and I saw fried rice on the menu, so I opted for that. Someone took out a pack of cards and started a ga...

Altitude Gain: 8,705 ft to 11,225 ft Trek Distance: 6.2 km | Trek Duration: 6.5 hours Last night, Vivek had given us the schedule for the day as follows: Wake up by 5:30 or 6:00 AM, with or without an alarm. Have tea by 6:30 AM, breakfast by 7:00 AM, pack up, and start trekking by 8:00 AM. Yesterday night, the tea house had around 30 guests, including another trekking group who were on the same trek as us. With 3 washrooms available for all 30 guests, each member of the group had to devise their own schedule to manage the washroom facility. The view from both the rooms and the lawns was spectacular. As we finished our breakfast and were about to start the trek, a few members requested a group photo. We started trekking from Tadapani at 8 AM, passing through beautiful rhododendron forests. The trail led through the forest and ascended gradually to the ridge of Deurali. The climate was quite chilly, and the climb was a bit steep. Vivek and Shure had scheduled a short break after every ho...

Altitude Gain: 6,561 ft to 8,705 ft Trek Distance: 6.4 km | Trek Duration: 4.5 / 5 hours Last night, I had a good sleep, except for a bio break. If we were staying overnight in a tent in an open space, I would have woken up my buddy, but since we were in proper in-house accommodation, I didn't bother him. The routine we have set for ourselves now will, in a manner of speaking, stay with us for the next week (+/- half an hour). We will wake up by 6:00/6:15 AM, with or without an alarm. We will have tea by 6:30 AM, breakfast by 7:30 AM, pack up, and start trekking by 8:30 AM. The snow-capped mountains wished us a beautiful good morning. We had limited breakfast options, which were bread butter jam, porridge muesli, or omelet. When group members started filling their water bags, Shure, the local guide, warned us that drinking water would be charged from the next halt onwards. The open area outside the tea house provided ample opportunities for photography with the snow-capped mountain...

Altitude Gain: 2,760 ft to 5,440 ft (by bus) Trek Distance: 3.7 km | Trek Duration: 2 hours | Altitude Gain: 5,440 ft to 6,561 ft Yesterday (i.e. on Saturday) evening during the Team Meet & Greet session, the trek lead Vivek had given the following clear instructions to the members. The left luggage & offloading trek bags duly packed to reach the reception by 8 AM. Breakfast would be served by 8 AM. Bus would leave by 930 AM. Accordingly we set alarm & got up by 6 AM. Visited a local shop for morning tea. Had a nice bath (not sure when we would get our next shower!) & reached in time for breakfast. At the breakfast area we met another group of trekkers from TTH who were covering a different trek, ABC - Annapurna Base Camp. As the trekkers were having their breakfast, Vivek announced that rains were predicted later in the day & the earlier we leave & start the trek, lesser our chances of getting caught in the rain. By 9 AM - breakfast completed, the ...

Hotel Capital Boutique had arrangement with local bus contractors, where they had facility of pre booking seats in the semi luxury & luxury buses plying between Khatmandu & Pokhara. We booked 2 tickets in a semi luxury bus scheduled to leave from the main Bus Stand at 7 AM. Tickets in the luxury buses were not available. On Saturday (which was also the first day of the Financial year 2023-24) morning, we boiled the half litre milk which we had purchased the previous day, mixed the instant coffee and enjoyed a strong Nescafe. After a quick shower we checked out of the hotel, took a cab and reached the bus stand by 645 AM. I noticed that the bus stand had around 10/12 buses all heading to Pokhara. After loading the bags in the bus, we half halfheartedly looked around for possibility of some breakfast. The choice was not much, so we settled for a cup of Tea. The driver of our bus assured that in about an hour into the drive to Pokhara, he has scheduled a breakfast halt, where much...

Friday the 31st of March 2023 dawned. At my household the activity in the kitchen started much much earlier as compared to a normal Friday. I had requested my better half to pack Idlis for me. We had planned that I carry along some home made food that could sustain me atleast till I reach Khatmandu. 4 Sets of 4 idlis soaked thoroughly in molagapodi mixed in Til Oil and packed in aluminium foil, which in turn was placed in self sealing covers.  The Indigo flight 6E 115 was scheduled to take off at 1140 AM from Terminal 2 of CSMT Mumbai. We reached the airport by 830/845 AM. We faced a minor confusion when checking in the baggage. Both Sridhar & myself had one big trekking bag each to be checked in & one backpack to be taken into the aircraft as hand / cabin luggage. Sridhar could not keep his trek pole inside the bag. He did not want to carry it in hand and make it part of his cabin luggage either. The airline staff were extra helpful & some how accommodated the stick by...

  Ever since the trekkIyers successfuly completed the Markha Valley Trek in May 2022, as a group we were on the look out for a suitable second Himalayan trek. Something that was neither too hard nor too easy; Moderate level - to use the technical lingo! On 5th January 2023 Dr Swamy sent a message in our WA group. He was checking out the Khopra Ridge Trek in the Annapurna range area of Nepal. Swamy had talked to the orgainsers TTH - Trek to Himalayas who required minimum 5 people to confirm the trek. Swamy himself, his wife Sumathi & his nephew Aditya were planning to participate. The trekkIyers group was promoted by & the founding members were : (1) Dr Narayanaswamy (2) my BIL - jijaji - Dr Ramesh Raman (3) my younger brother Vaidhyanathan (4) our school friend Sridhar & (5) yours truly. At the time of writing this blog (April 2023), three of us were 52 years old, one was 55 & the eldest 57!   Shankar (A CA friend & also an Iyer) who was aware about our mai...