Himlung Himal Expedition (7126m) — The Approach

After the pleasant time I had in Dehli thanks to my friends and the Taj, I moved on to the main objective of this trip, Himlung Himal. Standing at 7126m, Himlung lies in the Northeastern parts of the Annapurna mountain range. This is a relatively new mountain in the Himalayan climbing scene. For most, this peak is a true test to whether one would be able to undertake an 8000m expedition

Just so Kathmandu is celebrating some festivals, we elected to start one day early to avoid the festival majority of the festival crowds and acclimatize at Koto (2610m) for two days.

Nepal traveling is really not for the faint-hearted. Leaving Kathmandu on a 4WD, we embarked on a 10-hour extremely bumpy and dangerous ride through landslides, mud pounds, and rocky fields. Twice, we needed to come out of the vehicle to allow the sturdy 4WD to pass through the landslides. A flat tire was certainly unavoidable neither. However, driving in such conditions seemed to be just a normal day for the Nepalese people despite our reservations and scares.

From Koto on, we needed to trek into our base camp at 4850m high. The 2200m gain split between three sections: Koto to Meta, Meta to Phu, lastly Phu to base camp. Connected by many sketchy river crossings and very few bridges are the trek carved straight into the mountains and rocks.

The view was nothing short of spectacular. The Annapurna mountain range and several old towns can be seen up until Phu. One need not despair at Phu either; the place itself is a spectacular old town built on top of rocks and tall mounds. If you are lucky, the old monk at the monastery will also give climbers yellow strings to wish them luck!

Lastly, let me finish this by talking about the food on this short trek to the Himlung Base camp. Even though this Naar-Phu region is not as popular as the Annapurna trek itself, the menus are often quite similar to what you will find in the Khumbu region. Though I would high recommend eating Dhal Bhat which is lentils and rice served with vegetables and some pickled side dishes. As keeping healthy is important on the high altitude treks and climbs, Dhal Bhats are usually cleaners and safer than other dishes. Paired with eggs or meat, Dhal Bhat can satisfy most aspects of nutrition needs. As Sherpas usually say: Dhal Bhat power, twenty-four-hour!

Last but not least, I want to say thank you to the porter ladies who each carried 30kg for the 3 trekking days. I carried 10kgs each day as well, but that is merely one-third of their luggage weight. I had initial reservations with the choice of using porters, but they were a great help to this expedition. Compare to their perseverance and strength, I must admit that I am incredibly ashamed of my own abilities. The use of porter is getting more and more controversial in the climbing world these days. I will not address this issue here or take any pride in using porters. I will gather some of my thoughts on the controversial mountaineering practices, especially Nepalese mountaineering practices in a later post. Though, one of the positives that came out of this is that the lady in flip flops worn a pair of Nike the next time we saw her (presumably because of her hard-earned income and tips from portering).