Khopra Danda and Mardi Himal Trek March 2018

Khopra Danda and Mardi Himal Trek 2018

Khopra Danda and Mardi Himal are usually done individually as  7-8 day treks and are well worth the effort if you only have a short time in Nepal. South of the mighty Annapurna Range, but away from the popular Annapurna Circuit and Annapurna Sanctuary treks, they both provide a very viable alternative.

Both can be done as tea house treks, so if you are looking to get away from the crowded Annapurna Circuit and Annapurna Sanctuary treks, either of these is a good option.

In my case, I wanted to do a longer trek, so after doing some research, I thought it would be possible to combine the two treks. This was my sixth visit to Nepal and on previous visits, I have trekked to the Everest Base Camp, Gokyo Lakes, Annapurna and Manaslu Circuits, but now I want to get away from the crowded treks and still enjoy the amazing mountain scenery that Nepal offers. Having said that, both of these treks have been open for several years so you won’t be on your own.

Two friends, Gavan and David decided to come as well. I arranged with my good friend Bijay Lama to be our guide and he would organize two porters – Prithi his uncle and his cousin Prakash. On my first trek in Nepal, Bijay was my porter. In the years since then, he has worked his way up to assistant guide and now guide. I have found him to be reliable and trustworthy and he is now at the point of starting his own trekking agency. ( www.populartreks.com) He is also very adaptable to change and incredibly patient.

L-R –  Bijay, Prakash, and Prithi. I have also trekked with Bijay’s father Shyam and several of his cousins.

Bijay’s English is good and improving all the time and they all have a good sense of humour which makes the trek so much more enjoyable.

I am happy to recommend him to any prospective client.

From Birethanti we chose to go in a clockwise direction passing through Ghorepani and finishing in Ghandruk. From there we could access the Mardi Himal track. We planned to go to Jhinudanda for a soak in the hot springs then backtrack a bit, cross the Modi Khola and get onto the Mardi Himal track. So for the first part of the trek, our itinerary was as follows;

Day1 Birethanti

Day 2 Ban Thanti (just past Ulleri)

Day 3 Swanta

Day 4 Chistibung

Day 5 and day 6 Khopra Danda

Day 7 Dobato (just past Baylii Kharka)

Day 8 Tadapani

From Tadapani we had the option of staying in Ghandruk or continuing on to Jhinu Danda, where there are hot springs. We chose the latter. From Jhinu Danda we retraced our steps to New Bridge where we crossed the Modi Khola. To access the Mardi Himal track from here most would continue down to Landruk and from there to Forrest Camp. However just past New Bridge is Himalpani and from here it is possible (with the help of a local guide) to go straight up the mountain to Forrest Camp which cuts about 2 hours off the usual trekking time through Landruk.

Mardi Himal Itinerary

Day 1 Jhinu Danda to Forrest Camp

Day 2 Forrest Camp to High Camp

Day 3 High Camp to Mardi Himal Viewpoint and back to Low Camp

Day 4 Low Camp to Sidhing

Day 5 Sidhing to Lumre

Day 6 Lumre to Pokhara

NB If you were doing this trek on its own you wouldn’t start from Jhinu Danda. We finished the Khopra trek at Ghandruk and Jhinu was added to the itinerary. Usually, you would start Mardi Himal from Landruk.

This part of the trek can be made longer or shorter if required. This trek runs along a ridge overlooking the more popular Annapurna Sanctuary Trek, but the views are just as stunning. (depending on the weather of course) You can see from the above map how Khopra Danda can be combined with either the Annapurna Sanctuary or the Mardi Himal Trek. The Mardi Himal track is the red line on the far right of this map.

So this is a very brief outline of our itinerary and changes can be made to suit your personal circumstances.

Day 1 Bus from Kathmandu to Nayapul About 245km of narrow, winding and extremely busy road, that winds its way around mountains with incredibly steep drop-offs if you care to look out the window. It’s my least favourite part of a trek in Nepal and I’m so thankful to reach our destination. On a good day, it will take 7 hours but it could take much longer depending on accidents or any other holdups on the way. We reached Nayapul by mid-afternoon and from there it’s a thirty-minute walk to Birethanti where we spent our first night at the River View Lodge run by Gajenda and family. A comfortable lodge and I found the entire family to be extremely obliging. For the 3 of us meals and room 3500 NR!

Day 2 Our trek begins. Not really looking forward to this part of the trek because I know there are 3300 stone steps to negotiate from Tikhedungga!! This section leads to Ghorepani and Poon Hill which are very popular tourist destinations. It’s early March and at this altitude, the weather is warm and makes for pleasant walking. (tee shirt weather)

A happy group on Day 2.L to R Bijay, Gavan, Peter, Prithi, David, and Prakash.

After an enjoyable lunch at Tikhedhungga, we continued to Ban Thanti (2210m) a mere 1300 metres increase in altitude from Nayapul. Along with this section of the trek, many villages have the ending “thanti” This is a Magar word meaning resthouse. Another pleasant night at the Green View Lodge, cold overnight but we had a lovely fire going in the dining room – so hot we had to move right away from the pot belly stove. Our meals and accommodation here for the 3 of us came to the princely sum of 3300NR. ( this is approximately $42, Aust. for the 3 of us)

Day 3 The worst of the steps are over, thank goodness, at least for now. It had been very windy overnight but by the time we started walking the wind had dropped and it was sunshine all the way to Ghorepani. There are a lot more tourists on the trail now but we will be continuing on past Ghorepani and we will leave most of them behind there. While sitting having our lunch at Ghorepani we could see the Khopra Danda ridge in the distance. About halfway up the ridge, we could see a single blue roofed structure which Bijay told us was Chistibung. We would be there in 2 nights time. As the crow flies it didn’t look far but we had a long way down to go followed by a long way up!

Downhill all the way to the village of Chitre, where we left the main trail and headed cross country towards Swanta. We followed Bijay over a couple of fences, across some terraced fields, past a farmer ploughing and finally onto a track which led us up to the lovely village of Swanta. It was nice to get off the main trail and walk through typical Nepalese villages and It was also good to have Bijay because there were tracks crisscrossing the fields in every direction here. After crossing a creek at the bottom of the valley, we had a short uphill climb to the lovely village of Swanta and our overnight stop at the Candle Inn. (we thought it was an unusual name for a guest house in Nepal!)

Day 4   Spent a very comfortable night at the Candle Inn, hot showers and a warm fire at night. The only thing spoiling the view of the village was the clothesline on the front lawn. It’s nice to stay in a village that isn’t just a cluster of tea houses

Our first view of Dhaulagiri, just peeping out from the hills around Swanta.

For an hour or so it’s a pleasant walk out of Swanta through birch and beech forest before the uphill grind to Chistabung (a rise of 800meterss)

Like most place names in Nepal, spelling will vary from map to map which can be a little confusing at times. Chistabung may appear as Sistabung as well. There are only 2 teahouses there but it is a good overnight stop before Khopra Danda.

Day 5 From Chistabung it’s another 600m up to Khopra Danda and it only takes about 3 hours. From Swanta some may skip Chistabung all together but it would mean a rise in altitude of over 1000m and we are in no hurry.

I should mention that Gavan is 72, David is 60 and I’m 68 so we’re not youngsters anymore. Gavan is a veteran of trekking in Nepal, this is his 11^th trip!

We are now above the tree line and as we traverse along the side of the ridge Dhaulagiri comes into view. We arrived at the lodge around lunchtime and by nightfall it was full.

Khopra Danda (ie ridge) is amazing – it ends abruptly like the prow of a ship and on the opposite side of the valley is the 8^th highest mountain in the world, Dhaulagiri and we have a grandstand view. From Dhaulagiri, I there is a magnificent mountain panorama including Nilgiri, Annapurna I and Annapurna South. NB Khopra is at 3600m.

A storm rolled in late in the afternoon and heavy snow fell overnight. We planned to spend 2 nights here and on our “day off” David and I planned to do a day walk to Khayer Lake. From what we have heard it’s a long 8-10 hour day and it will depend on the weather.

The temperature dropped dramatically as the day wore on but I managed to drag myself away from the pot belly stove, slip outside and take a few shots in some dramatic lighting.

The following morning was a brilliant sunny morning with snow cover right u top the ridge. Gavan planned to spend the day in the lodge and Bijay Prithi, David and I set off along the ridge. We had a light lunch packed but we were not sure if we would walk all the way to Khayer Lake. Our thinking was justified because after a couple of hours the clouds rolled in and visibility dropped markedly.

In good weather, the walk to Khayer Lake would be beautiful, especially as we were not carrying anything but our camera. We spent a couple of hours on the ridge before the weather got too bad. Below are a couple of photos from that walk. I take 2 cameras with me, a small digital camera and also a medium format camera loaded with B&W film. So the B&W shots in this blog are scans of my B&W negatives.

Above left is Annapurna South, a nice triangular shape from this angle. On the right is another view of Dhaulagiri.

Khopra Ridge with a light dusting of snow. I enjoy ridge walking and Khopra is a beauty!

Day 7 –  On to Dobarto. Another overnight storm on the ridge but the morning was bright and sunny.

The morning of our departure to Dobarto.

L-R David ,Prakash ,Gavan ,Bijay

Peter and Pruithi kneeling in front.

Today we will retrace our steps towards Chistabung. After an hour or so there is a junction where you can continue down to Chistabung or take the high route to Bayeli Kharka and then on to Dobato. I was keen to take the high route rather than descend to Chistabung followed by a steep ascent back up to Bayeli. The weather was fine but there was still some snow and ice on the upper trail which meant we would need to go carefully. The trail traversed along the side of the ridge and was narrow in places. Some of the creek crossings were icy and care was needed. It wouldn’t be advisable if the weather was bad or if there was heavy snow. Having said that I enjoyed this section, although Gavan and David had some reservations about it. We arrived at Bayeli which is just a single tea house, for lunch and from there it was another 1.5 hours to Dobarto. By now the weather had deteriorated and snow was starting to fall by the time we got to Dobato.

Photo at right – on route to Bayeli. Bijay and Gavan coming into view beside a Rhododendron Gavan and I both commented that Bijay was very good at walking at a pace suited to his clients. The 2 porters were ahead of us but Bijay was always with the last trekker. We are all keen photographers so we often stop for a photo and Bijay was more than happy to walk at our pace.

By the time we got to Dobato it was very cold, it had been a long 8 hour day. The lodge was full but they had wonderfully warm pot belly going and it was very cosy.

More views of the high route to Bayeli.

From Dobato it’s a 30-minute walk up to Muldai/Mulde viewpoint. From the viewpoint, you can see a magnificent panorama of the Annapurna Range that rivals Poon Hill. It’s much less crowded and there is no charge to go up there. So it was an early morning start for David and I. Up before daybreak to walk up the snowy hill (3600m) to be there at sunrise and well worth the effort although it was a very cloudy morning.

Annapurna South from Muldai Viewpoint Machhapuchhare is a little further to the right but was obscured by clouds and the rising sun.

Another view from Muldai

Day 8 Our original plan was to go from Dobarto down to Ghandruk but by the time we got to Tadapani a massive rainstorm broke and we decided to stay in Tadapani. NB the word “pani” in Nepalese means water. Tadapani means “far water” as distinct from Tatapani which means “hot water” The 2 villages are not that far apart so it can be a little confusing. The Panorama Guest House in Tadapani was one of the nicer ones we stayed in so we were happy to be warm and dry in Tadapani. As it happened the rain cleared and the sun reappeared later in the afternoon.

The best display of Rhododendrons that we saw on the trip was around Tadapani.

Day 9  We continued on to Ghandruk the next morning through some beautiful forest. It was easy walking downhill to Ghandruk and we were there by lunchtime.

My photos didn’t do justice to the forest. These are a couple of Gavan’s – much better.

Lunch at Ghandruk and this is where we left Gavan and Prithi. David and I continued on to Jhinu Danda. As the name suggests Jhinu Danda is high up on a ridge, but to get there we descend from Ghandruk to the Modi Khola, follow the river along to New Bridge, cross the river and then climb never-ending steps to Jhinu. An exhausting afternoon. The reason we were going to Jhinu was for the soak in the hot springs, but we didn’t know that the springs were a 30-minute walk from the guest house down to the river. That wasn’t so bad but after a lovely hot soak in the springs, we had to go back up. By the time we got back to the guest house, we were soaked with sweat which defeated the purpose. (no hot showers at the guest house)

Prithi on route to Jhinu Danda. After crossing this “bridge” it’s a grind up stone steps to Jhinu. (photo by Gavan)

At this stage, Gavan was a day behind David and me.

From Jhinu, David and I retraced our steps to New Bridge and little further on crossed on to the left bank onto a gravel road which led down to Landruk. To access Mardi Himal most would go to Landruk and then on to the Mardi Himal from there. Before coming on this trek I had read a blog from a trekker who came directly down from Forrest Camp bi-passing Landruk. He described it as a knee-busting exercise.

A short distance past New Bridge we stopped for a break at Himalpani. Bijay spoke to a local guide here who said he could take us directly up to Forrest Camp, thus bi-passing Landruk and saving 2 hours. I was happy to save 2 hours but I knew there would be some pain involved. It took 4 hours to go straight up to Forrest Camp and was the hardest 4 hours of the trek!

On the left – that’s David in front and me behind heading up from Himalpani. (1000m straight up)        We arrived at Forrest Camp happy but exhausted. In the middle of the group is Chame our local guide.

(photos from Bijay’s phone)

Day 11  From Forrest Camp we continued up first to Low Camp, then Middle Camp and finally to High Camp, arriving at 2:30. There were steep sections initially through the forest and then onto a ridge. By that time we were walking through low clouds and a swirling mist and the temperature started to drop.

On route to High Camp.

The Mardi Himal ridge leads directly up to Machhapuchhare, so in good conditions, we would have had a magnificent view. Over the next 2 days, we didn’t see the mountain at all. on the photo at left, you can just make out the fishtail peak of the mountain. The photo below is the High Camp.

Day 12  Bijay’s plan was for us to get up early, that is around 4 am to walk up the ridge to the base camp, so we would be there at sunrise. It was extremely cold overnight with low cloud and snow. I didn’t like the idea of walking up this ridge by the light of our headlamps. I spoke to David and we agreed to wait until 6 am. At that time there was still a lot of low clouds but not totally white out. However, by the time we got to the Mardi Himal viewpoint high on the ridge, it was the total whiteout and we couldn’t see more than fifty feet in front of us. In retrospect, if we had gone at 4 am maybe we would have seen more, but I don’t know.

Some more shots from our ridge walk

One thing I’ve learnt about the weather in Nepal or anywhere for that matter, you can’t control it. From where we were on that ridge not only would we have had magnificent views of Machhapuchhare but we would have been able to look down on the Annapurna Sanctuary, but it was not to be. The cruel thing was that the following morning we had blue skies relatively free of cloud and we could see Machhapuchhare clearly from Low Camp.

There was heavy snow at Low Camp overnight. The day before we had been on that ridge leading up to Machhapuchhare and couldn’t see a thing! As I was sitting in the Guesthouse having breakfast I glanced out the window at this Rhododendrum, sparkling in the morning sunlight, brilliant pink with an icing topping.

Day 13 Today we headed all the way down to Sidhing. It was a beautiful morning and we thought the walk down would be easy. Low Camp is at 2970m and Sidhing is at 1700m, that’s 1200m – down all the way, an absolute knee buster! When we arrived at a guest house overlooking Sidhing and the Mardi Khola valley I thought to myself great but Bijay thought we might enjoy a homestay and we went by jeep to the bottom of the valley. In retrospect, I would have loved to stay in that guest house!

Overlooking Sidhing and the valley of the Mardi Khola. Sidhing didn’t appear to be a village as such, but a collection of farmhouses scattered all over the hillside.

                                                                                                Our home stays in Sidhing.

Fresh veggies from the garden

Day 14  Our last trekking day. Our original plan had been to go to Lwang but along the way we were told there were no guest houses there, so we detoured to the village of Lumre, only to find there were no guest houses there either! As it happened we found a very nice homestay there with a comfortable room and good meals. (2575 NR for 2 of us) – equivalent to about $15 Aust. each. The following day we took a jeep to Pokhara and our trek was over but if I had the time I would be happy to continue walking through these small Nepalese villages.

Our homestay in Lumre. We had a comfortable room above the local shop with our own balcony and a view.

Below right the village of Lumre.

Below left, wheat fields around Lumre

Our trek was over and it had been a memorable one. The weather was not always with us but that’s the nature of trekking in Nepal. Perhaps the November-December period would have been better, with respect to having clearer skies and less haze, especially at the lower altitudes. Who knows, I have trekked in Nepal in the November – December period and March – April and have had good and bad weather.

It was good to trek with Bijay, Pruithi and Prakash they did everything they could to make the trek memorable. Keep up the good work Bijay I regard them as my friends.

Good memories!

About the author