Nepal 2013

Annapurna Circuit

Descending the Kali Gandaki valley

October 8 to October 14

After crossing the pass, the circuit follows the Kali Gandaki river down its valley to Tatopani. This was to be my task for the next week or so. A road comes all the way to Ranipauwa, so it is possible to take a vehicle from here to either Jomsom (which has an airport), or all the way to Pokhara. Again, I elected to walk instead. After seeing them load the jeeps like a can of sardines I was glad!

After taking my rest day in Muktinath, I started toward Kagbeni by taking the trail and road on the north side of the valley. The road that the jeeps use is on the south side of the valley and I really wanted to avoid walking that. The route I took passes through three villages, Chongur, Jhong, and Putak before heading down to Kagbeni on the Kali Gandaki. I didn't see a single trekker on this route (although met a few that evening that had come that way behind me), and saw only one jeep on the road. The weather was beautiful and I was glad I had taken this route, with its wide open views (including back to Thorung La) and interesting villages.

Now in Kagbeni, I was on the Kali Gandaki river that I would be following for a few days. This valley is known for its high winds that start kicking up around 10am each day. Because of this, I got an early start from Kagbeni. This route was mostly road walking, but with a long section where you could avoid going up and back down on the road by following the river. Porters were taking this route so why not try it? It worked out well. Jomsom is the largest village in this area and has an airport with flights to Pokhara, weather permitting. One plane came in and back out when I was there. The wind really started picking up between Jomsom and Marpha. Marpha is a nice village in the heart of apple country, known for its apple pies!

The next few days offered some trail sections to avoid road walking the whole way. One section was just past Marpha on the east side of the river, opposite the road. I didn't encounter any trekkers here, and I don't believe this trail section adds any time over taking the road. I crossed back over at Tukache, then took the road to Larjung. From Larjung (next day), I followed the road through Kalopani and Lete, then there were two trail sections marked by signs to get off the road for a short while. These trails went through the jungle above the road, had some ups and downs, but were not too much effort. The road traffic was quite heavy in this area so it was nice to get away from it.

From Ghasa, the valley really drops off in elevation, losing another 3000 feet to Tatopani. In this section I mostly followed a trail on the east side of the river (opposite the road), which takes you almost to Tatopani before you cross the river and rejoin the road. The trail probably had more ups and downs than the road, but it was not too much effort. Tatopani is a fairly large village with a hot spring (name Tatopani means "hot water"). The weather had been fairly good all the way down this valley, but took a turn after I arrived in Tatopani, with rain all night and most of the next day. I opted to stay two nights in Tatopani before tackling the uphill section that was coming next.