Friday, October 31, 2008

Annapurna Circuit Part 2 (Braga/Manang - Tilicho Lake - Thorung Phedi)






~~~~~ Day 7 ~~~~~

Trekking Day 05



Travel Expenses
*** Total: 1,200 NPR ***
Food and Others: 1100 NPR
Accomodation @ Tilicho Peak Hotel: 100 NPR



Braga/Manang - Tilicho Peak Hotel

Trekking Information
Trekking Time Today: 3 3/4 Hours
~ Braga (3450m) - Manang (3540m): 30 Minutes
~ Manang (3540m) - Khangsar (3730m): 120 Minutes
~ Khangsar (3730m) - Tilicho Peak Hotel (4000m): 70 Minutes



Annapurna III and Gangapurna rising behind Braga village
~ View Picture on Flickr ~


500 years old Braga Gompa


~ View Picture on Flickr ~


Three-storeyed high Chorten temple




Flat rooftops of typical Tibetan houses


Main temple itself made from red bricks
~ View Picture on Flickr ~


A small stupa stands




Tibetan Prayer Wheels


Farmers back from their farms
~ View Picture on Flickr ~


~ View Picture on Flickr ~


Neat stone carvings


Information about side trek to Tilicho Lake
~ View Picture Enlarged ~


Heading out towards Manang


Walking along the wide Manang valley


Stone gateway at entrance of Manang


Various side treks that can be taken from Manang
~ View Picture Enlarged ~


Sign that points to Tilicho Lake trek via Khangsar Village


Gangapurna Glacier and Lake
~ View Picture on Flickr ~


First sighting of Grande Barriere and Tilicho Peak (7134m) on the right


Khangsar Khola Valley that will lead up to Tilicho Lake
~ View Picture on Flickr ~


Great view of Annapurna III and Gangapurna enroute to Khangsar
~ View Picture on Flickr ~


Small teashop after a steep ascent, waiting to earn tourist's money


Looking back towards Manang


Approaching Khangsar Village




My first coke break! Haha...sinful...


Looking towards Grande Barriere great ice barrier


Chatting with a Nepali local of Tibetan origin


Information about high and low route to Tilicho Lake
~ View Picture Enlarged ~


Nice wood-carved signboard pointing towards Tilicho Lake


Awesome Grande Barriere
~ View Picture on Flickr ~


Spliting paths towards Tilicho Lake and Yak Kharka


Cabbage farm at Tilicho Peak Hotel where I stayed for the night


Great view of various small mountain peaks


Sunset over Khangsar Kang (7485m) aka Roc Noir


Ngadi Chuli (7871m) and Himal Chuli (7893m) on the left


Spinning in the mountains






Tare Kang (7069m)


Clouds moving in fast in the strong wind


Sunset glow over Ngadi Chuli and Himal Chuli




~~~~~ Day 8 ~~~~~


Trekking Day 06



Tilicho Peak Hotel - Tilicho Lake - Tilicho Base Camp


Trekking Information
Trekking Time Today: 6 Hours
~ Tilicho Peak Hotel (4000m) - Tilicho BC (4298m): 130 Minutes
~ Tilicho Base Camp (4298m) - Tilicho Lake (4949m): 150 Minutes
~ Tilicho Lake (4949m) - Tilicho Base Camp (4298m): 75 Minutes



Tilicho Lake Information
Tilicho Lake on Wikipedia
Tilicho Lake Trek Description A
Tilicho Lake Trek Description B



Clear view of Grande Barriere and Tilicho Peak in the morning




Tare Kang and Khangsar Kang


Frozen stream in the morning


Great view towards Manang


Path spilts here between high route and low route


Close up view of Khangsar Kang


Beautiful bright red flowers


Landslide area that will need to be traversed before reaching Tilicho Base Camp


Start of landslide area and scree slopes


It can be quite dangerous in a very windy day if these huge rocks come tumbling down...




Or you go tumbling down into one of them...


Peek at Khangsar Kang through a cave


Porters skillfully navigating scree slopes




Concentration is definitely a must for untrained!


Taking pictures with some porters (not mine thou lol...)




Thanks for risking your life to cross the landslide? haha...


View of Grande Barriere nearer to Tilicho Base Camp


Finally arriving at Tilicho Base Camp after some exciting landslide navigation


A huge glacier dome between Tare Kang and Khangsar Kang


Great view of Khangsar Kang and Grande Barriere as well as glacier below it


Annapurna I (8091m) can be seen rising just slightly above Grande Barriere on the right




Rise and shine!


Great Himalayas mountain panorama in the distance towards Manang! On the left, Chulu West (6419m), Chulu Central (6584m) and Chulu East (6429m) look magnificient, while sharp Pisang (6091m) peak protudes out in the centre and awesome eight-thousander Manaslu (8150m) stands all the way on the right
~ View Picture Enlarged ~
~ View Picture on Flickr ~


Finally reaching snow line and taking in full glory of awesome Grande Barriere






It's snow everywhere! =)








Even better view of glacier dome




Looking back towards Manang again for magnificient panorama


A small pond below Grande Barriere, definitely not Tilicho Lake!




Following cairns and trails to Tilicho Lake


And finally reaching Tilicho Lake!!!


It is situated at a altitude of 4919m, and was once alleged to be highest lake in the world
~ View Picture Enlarged ~


~ View Picture Enlarged ~




Panorama view of Tilicho Lake
~ View Picture Enlarged ~
~ View Picture on Flickr ~


Definitely worth all effort getting here


Trying out some leviation haha =p


Trekking back down to Tilicho Base Camp


Relaxing and enjoying the panorama again on way back down
~ View Picture Enlarged ~
~ View Picture on Flickr ~


You can get sunburnt easily walking in a clear day as you are very exposed with no shelter at all from strong sunlight


Trail that leads all the way back down to Tilicho Base Camp on exposed scree slope




~~~~~ Day 9 ~~~~~


Trekking Day 07



Tilicho Base Camp - Yak Kharka


Trekking Information
Trekking Time Today: 5 1/4 Hours
~ Tilicho BC (4298m) - Tilicho Peak Hotel (4000m): 105 Minutes
~ Tilicho Peak Hotel (4000m) - Yak Kharka (4018m): 210 Minutes



Tibetan Tsampa Porridge, one of my favourite breakfast


Try the Monkey-Donkey? Haha...
~ View Picture Enlarged ~


Great friends I met on the way! =)
From left: Me, Katrina (Malaysia), Shiri (Israel), Ahilesh (Malaysia) and Yuvial (Israel)



Last view of Grande Barriere and Khangsar Kang before leaving


And of Tare Kang


Traversing landslide area again...


Some scary looking path!


Looking back towards Grande Barriere and landslide areas


Of river and mountain


Beautiful red flowers


Great view towards Manang


Back to Tilicho Peak Hotel again


Great mountain view while having lunch




Someone actually cycled here!


Huge cabbage, bigger than his head! Haha...


Me and Richie (England)




Taking seasonal trail to Yak Kharka, from where you can continue the Annapurna Circuit


Looking back at deep valley towards Tilicho Lake


Looking towards Manang


Arriving at medieval buildings at old Khangsar


Gangapurna rising high above Old Khangsar


They have long been abandoned by locals who have shifted to Khangsar




A huge pasture near Old Khangsar where livestocks still roam






Few majestic hawks flying above me =)


Stunning view of Manang valley


And also of valley leading towards Thorung La


At viewpoint where 3 valleys meet


Trekking among naked trees


Among other shrubs and bushes




Spotted some Sea-Buckthorn plants too


Good view of Chulu Peaks enroute to Yak Kharka


You will be linked up with the Annapurna Circuit again after crossing this bridge


Good view of Annapurna range


And guess wat! I manage to catch a glimpse of the rare blue sheeps!


Awesome looking!






~~~~~ Day 10 ~~~~~


Trekking Day 08



Yak Kharka - Thorung Phedi


Trekking Information
Trekking Time Today: 2 Hours
~ Yak Kharka (4018m) - Letdar (4200m): 35 Minutes
~ Letdar (4200m) - Thorung Phedi (4450m): 90 Minutes



A big fat yak in town! =)


View of Annapurna III from Yak Khaka


Looking back at Annapurna Range again


Crossing another long suspension bridge to Letdar


Gorgeous white horse


Safe Drinking Water Station @ Letdar


Looking back at Letdar with Annapurna range loaming behind


Look at the huge horns of this huge bull yak!


That's Me! =)


A rest area with a good view of Putrun Himal (6465m) before crossing a landslide area to Thorung Phedi


Landslide area leading to Thorung Phedi


Looking back at landslide area and Gangapurna from Thorung Phedi


Arriving at Thorung Phedi Base Camp


There are lots of lodges for trekkers to stay to prepare themselves for final assault tomorrow morning, Thorung La!!!


Dorms with simple mattresses


Lazing around in dinning area and chatting with new friends


They serve great food, including this creamy lasagne that I ordered!





1 comment:

Cypress said...

Wow, what a beautiful place. You're so fortunate to get to explore it!