Marpha-Ghasa (2080 m)
Monasteries and holy books; record walk 24 km; we walk till we drop
After breakfast our guide announced that today’s walk would take at least 4 hrs in the morning and at least another 4 hrs in the afternoon and if we were slow we may have to walk even after nightfall. That sounded pretty exciting.
Except Mee Poon, Shoo Chan and I the rest decided to pull out right after breakfast. Three of us decided to visit the renowned Tashi Lha Khang Gompa in the middle of Marpha village.
In addition to Tashi Lha Khang Gompa there are many more monasteries in and around Marpha, some on mountain tops and some half way up steep slopes, e.g. the enigmatic Bhra Gompa located behind Tashi Lha Khang Gompa. Some of these gompas are run by Tibetan refugees. Many devotees from abroad such as Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia come here for meditation and religious study. In some monasteries such as Ma Ki La Khang Gompa and Kangyur Gompa near Kobang there are Tibetan sacred books.
From the top of Tashi Lha Khang Gompa we had good views of flat mud-roofed houses in Marpha and the surrounding orchards. All year round folks here keep stacking fire-woods on rooftops to be dried and used as fuel in winter.
Firewood stacked on roofs
We caught up with our friends in a neat and tidy restaurant-cum-lodging operated by an European at about 11.00 a.m. We had some delicious pastries and drinks in there.
Between and Marpha dark green pine forests cover most of the lower slopes along the opposite bank. They stretch on for miles. According to Gan Che these forests were planted using aerial seeding technology under the supervision of some Australians some 30 years back under an Australian Commonwealth foreign aids program. Thus the forests are protected now. Otherwise they too would have been chopped down and stacked on top of those flat mud-roofed village houses in Marpha.
These pine trees planned by Australians?
On the way we saw some locals searching and carrying rocks in the riverbed to build a bridge across a broad channel so that they could take short-cuts across the riverbed itself.
At about 2.30 p.m. we were at Larjung where we could see the Dhaulagiri glacier. We had walked almost non-stop except the break at the white guy’s hostel on the way, for the last 5 ½ hrs. I was done in. After hauling myself up into the upstairs dining room I just dropped off on the floor.
An hour later we were again on our way. Our guide urged us not to stop too often for photos for we still had a long way to go. He was concerned that we would have to walk in darkness for at least an hour or so. The prospect of having to walk for 4-5 hrs more on that dusty road was too disheartening and so an hour or so later, Kelly and Old Lee jumped into a local bus and got themselves transported to Ghasa.
Despite Sundra’s warning we couldn’t help stopping here and there to take photos of Mt. Tukuche, Dhaulagiri and some other peaks glowing in a mix of red and orange hues in the evening sun.
It was about 5.30 when we were at a scenic place called Lete. Unfortunately we couldn’t stop to explore its surroundings. We were told by villagers that we had another one and a half hours to go to get to Ghasa.
It was not easy to move down some very slippery and tricky slopes just out of Lete. By that time we had broken into 4 teams: Old Lee and Kelly had already arrived at Ghasa; Mee Poon and Gan Che were ¾ km ahead of us Chang, Keok, Weng, Shoo Chan, Jamie and me at the back. When it got dark we at the back were still some 2-3 km to Ghasa. Shoo Chan walked in quick steps and I forced myself to keep up with her. After some time two of us were ahead leaving the other 4 behind with our guide.
About ½ km to Ghasa, Gan Che and Mee Poon having walked for some 30 min. in the dark and not knowing how much longer they had to walk to get to Ghasa, thumbed a lift in a truck into Ghasa
Still long way to Ghasa, Shoo Chan and I took very cautious steps. She had got a torch-light to use. I looked where I stepped by the moonlight which was pretty bright from an almost round moon. But poor sighting and pains from my bleeding blisters caused me to falter and stumble here and there. As a result my legs and my back suffered badly.
Later Rosan and Citra came from Ghasa with bright torch-lights. Past 7 p.m., led by Citra we staggered into a dimly-lit tea-house in Ghasa. I dropped onto a bench.
The last party of 4 led by Rosan and Sundra came in at close to 7.45 p.m.
This is by far our longest walk of 24 km in more than 10 long hrs. We walked till we dropped, literally. We fail to understand “Marpha-Ghasa 5-6 hrs” as given in our schedule by the agent who is a Nepalese. I wish I could put him on the track and make him feel the way we do now!
After a very late dinner all of us nursed our blisters and sores.
Locals building a bridge across the channels in the basin
At about 2.30 p.m. we were at Larjung where we could see the Dhaulagiri glacier. We had walked almost non-stop except the break at the white guy’s hostel on the way, for the last 5 ½ hrs. I was done in. After hauling myself up into the upstairs dining room I just dropped off on the floor.
I am on the floor
Despite Sundra’s warning we couldn’t help stopping here and there to take photos of Mt. Tukuche, Dhaulagiri and some other peaks glowing in a mix of red and orange hues in the evening sun.
Glorious mountains in the evening. Last photo is Mee Poon's camera
It was about 5.30 when we were at a scenic place called Lete. Unfortunately we couldn’t stop to explore its surroundings. We were told by villagers that we had another one and a half hours to go to get to Ghasa.
This small man carries this huge basket full of potatoes, tomatoes or vegetable and sometimes toddlers
It was not easy to move down some very slippery and tricky slopes just out of Lete. By that time we had broken into 4 teams: Old Lee and Kelly had already arrived at Ghasa; Mee Poon and Gan Che were ¾ km ahead of us Chang, Keok, Weng, Shoo Chan, Jamie and me at the back. When it got dark we at the back were still some 2-3 km to Ghasa. Shoo Chan walked in quick steps and I forced myself to keep up with her. After some time two of us were ahead leaving the other 4 behind with our guide.
About ½ km to Ghasa, Gan Che and Mee Poon having walked for some 30 min. in the dark and not knowing how much longer they had to walk to get to Ghasa, thumbed a lift in a truck into Ghasa
Still long way to Ghasa, Shoo Chan and I took very cautious steps. She had got a torch-light to use. I looked where I stepped by the moonlight which was pretty bright from an almost round moon. But poor sighting and pains from my bleeding blisters caused me to falter and stumble here and there. As a result my legs and my back suffered badly.
Later Rosan and Citra came from Ghasa with bright torch-lights. Past 7 p.m., led by Citra we staggered into a dimly-lit tea-house in Ghasa. I dropped onto a bench.
The last party of 4 led by Rosan and Sundra came in at close to 7.45 p.m.
This is by far our longest walk of 24 km in more than 10 long hrs. We walked till we dropped, literally. We fail to understand “Marpha-Ghasa 5-6 hrs” as given in our schedule by the agent who is a Nepalese. I wish I could put him on the track and make him feel the way we do now!
After a very late dinner all of us nursed our blisters and sores.
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