Chulu West Peak Climbing

After the breakfast, we start our journey today in a relax way. We enter Manang district after crossing a large bridge near Tal. The trail continues through barley, rice, potato fields and pine forests. After passing the village of Kodo we will be at Dharapani, one of the big villages in the Manang valley. Overnight at Dharapani in lodge.

Today, we negotiate a few steep forested ridges along with several landslides on route on the west. On the way to Chame, we encounter with the most sensational views of Lamjung Himal, Annapurna II, and Annapurna IV (7,525m/24,688ft). Small hot springs add relief on our long day hard trek. Chame is the administrative centre of the Manang District. Stay overnight in lodge. 

A steep and narrow path through a very dense forest will bring us to the dramatic curved rock face, rising 1500m from the river. As the trail opens up we get surrounded by majestic Himalayan Peaks. We find ourselves in U-shaped valley of Manang hanging between two giant snow peaks. After walking through these wonderful sites we reach at Pisang. Overnight at Lower Pisang. Overnight in lodge

The total journey from Pisang to Ngawal consists of 14 kilometers of hiking over 6 to 7 hours and an elevation increase of 370 meters. YOu will hike via Upper Pisang and Gyaru Vilages offering an outstanding view and off the main track in Annapurna Circuit route to Manang. 

There are two routes that we can follow today. If taken the upper route (Himalayan Glacier recommends), i.e., the route through Upper Pisang via Geru, the sceneries will be outstanding. We feel like we are horizontally in front of the majestic peaks. The panoramic views of the mountain peaks, such as Annapurna, Pisang Peak, and several others will allure us. We notice a contrast with the landscape and vegetation from today onwards. The cold and dry climate creates a much harsher environment. We pay our memorable visit to Barge Monastery, the largest in the entire district of Manang. Overnight in Manang.

As acclimatization is very essential, today we schedule for rest day. It is not recommended to stay idle but a short walk to a higher altitude will be better to get acclimatized to the altitude. Manang is a good place to do a day excursion as the next two days will be a very challenging and tiring trek for us with rapid gain in altitude. We should never be confident with the altitude and always be cautious. Bhojo Gompa or Gangapurna Lake is worth visiting sites from an acclimatization point of view. We make an easy excursion to a little distance away to a village called Vraga, a small old village with a monastery. At this juncture, we also make our short visit to the Himalayan Rescue Association where we can get some ideas about Mountain Sickness. Overnight at Manang.

From Manang, we continue through alpine landscapes with high altitude vegetation and forests. A gradual climb takes us to Yak Kharka and then to our todays camp. Our today's camp area is most used as the alpine pasture by the local people.

Today, we continue our trekking from Leder to Chulu West Base Camp. From the Base Camp, we can enjoy the views of Annapurna Himalayas. We may also like to discover the surrounding areas. At this point, we will set up our camp for overnight stay. Overnight in tented camp.

We continue hiking towards Camp I from the Chulu West Base Camp. The route is not that technical. But it would be better to remember that we are climbing on high altitudes. At this juncture we relish the magnificent views of Annapurna and Dhaulagiri mountains including Manaslu, Gangapurna and Lamjung Himal. Overnight in Tented camp. 

Today; this day is separated as a Contingency day at High Camp. While we rest at high camp, the climbing leaders and other staff make their way to the Summit and supply the equipment for conquering the peak. Later, they return to Camp. We may rest and if interested walk around high camp.

It is our summit day, and it is going to be long day. Therefore, we would wake up much earlier today. Each moment we have to work hard through the icy high-altitude trail but the outstanding high Himalayan scenes are such tempting that our eyes love to watch more over the horizon than on our trail. After summiting, we return back to Camp I.

From Camp I, our return path descends all the way to Leder. While descending, we enjoy the panoramic views of the Annapurnas and other peaks. We make our overnight stay at Ledar and celebrate the summiting of Chulu West Peak. Overnight in lodge

There is no such guarantee that we can get quite a favorable weather on our planned day for the summit. So this day is used as a contingency in case if we are unable to summit the Chulu West Peak on the scheduled date due to bad weather condition or some other reasons. Sometimes somebody in the group may get some problems in acclimatizing well enough to make the ascent. Since. the day can be used in that condition too. If the trip goes smoothly, we do not need this spare day. Overnight in lodge. 

Today, we clean up the base camp and head for Thorong Phedi. It is going to be mostly an easy way walk downhill. However, we do not forget that we are still in high altitude area. 

At the beginning, we cross the famous high pass of Thorong La today. An early start is important to complete the mission. We reach Muktinath, an important pilgrimage site for both Hindus and Buddhist after crossing the pass. Muktinath hosts a Vishnu temple and a monastery nearby demonstrating the religions harmony in Nepal. For the Hindus, the region is a "Muktikhsetra" or the region of liberation or salvation. There are water spouts channeled for the stream running above the temple. We enjoy the tremendous stunning views of Dhaulagiri peak from Muktinath. From Muktinath. Overnight in lodge. 

Morning after breakfast, the trail gently climbing up until reaching on the ridge from where you can see the Lupra Village which takes about 2 hours. The views from the ridge are very awesome. You can see the Mt. Dhaulagiri, Tukuche Peak, Nilgiri Peak, Tilicho Peak and beautiful landscapes. Then trail descends very steeply to Panda Khola which takes about an hour of walking. We walk on the river bank of Panda Khola for a while and arrive in Lupra Village, One of the oldest settlements of the region. Highlight of the day is a visit to the Lupra monastery which was founded in the 11th century by Lupragpa, a famous Bon master. It is very seldom that tourists or as a matter of fact even locals visit this place. We visit one of the oldest Bon-Po Monastery in Annapurna Region. Bon is the ancient shamanist faith once prevalent in Tibet and adjoining Himalayan territory which later got incorporated into the mainstream Tibetan Buddhism. Lupra (2790m) is an interesting offbeat side-trip; few trekkers make it here but the village, with its adobe houses and traditionally clad inhabitants is worth a visit. We will have lunch there. After lunch, the trail is descending along the river until reaching the trail coming from Eklebatti which takes about 1 hour. Then, all the same way back to main trail which takes about 1 and half hour and we keep walking along the Kaligandaki River until Jomsom which takes about 1 and half hour. Stay overnight in Lodge.

Upon the completion of morning breakfast, we check in the airport to fly back to Pokhara, a 30-min dramatic flight to Pokhara between gorge of the two huge mountains, Annapurna and Dhaulagiri. Upon arrival at Pokhara airport, our guide will escort us to the lakeside hotel. We utilize the rest afternoon for discovering the beautiful Pokhara valley leisurely. While walking along the bank of Fewa Lake one of the biggest lake of Nepal, we cannot stop admiring the state of Fish Tail Mountain reflecting in the lake. We can also take a boat around the Fewa Lake or just can take an hours' walk to the World Peace Pagoda. At the evening, we engageg on exploring around the lakeside.

We make a 200 kilometers drive back to Kathmandu from Pokhara. It will be better to hold on the left pane of the vehicle to enjoy the scenery through the route. Upon arrival in Kathmandu, we will be escorted to our hotel. There is nothing to do but trade emails with travel companions and organize the photos. We can spend the evening either leisurely or perhaps catch up on some last minute shopping. Finally, we celebrate dinner together with Wilderness Excursion's trekking staff. Overnight in Kathmandu Guest House.