Nepal (October 2023): An Unplanned Mini-Trek South of Simikot

1. Nepalgunj to Simikot and Simikot to Kermi

 

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Click here to see the map of the trekking route (yellow dotted line) in a separate window.

 

At Nepalgunj airport, loading of the Summit Air plane bound to Simikot shortly before takeoff.

A group of people standing next to a plane

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Views over rice fields from the plane just after takeoff.

A river running through a valley

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An aerial view of a green area

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Glimpses of Mount Saipal barely emerging from a thick cloud layer.

 

Left : Villages surrounded by terraced fields, shortly before reaching Simikot. Right: View over the Humla Karnali Nadi (river) before landing in Simikot.

 

The Summit Air plane at Simikot airport.

A group of people standing around an airplane

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Traditional houses in the old neighborhood of Simikot,

 

A stone building with a blue door and windows

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View over Simikot and its airport.

A town in the mountains

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All the photos below were taken between Simikot and Kermi. I did not keep track of their precise locations.

A mountain landscape with trees and rocks

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A group of people walking in a village

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Village and terraced fields on the south (right) side of the Humla Karnali Nadi.

A aerial view of a field

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A small house in the mountains

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A small house on a hill

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A valley with a river in the middle

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A village in the mountains

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A house on a hill next to a river

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A statue on top of a mountain

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A group of houses on a hill

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A child standing on a roof of a house

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A mountain range with trees and a river

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I took the two photos below in October 2017 along the same trail (see here). They show what was arguably the most iconic site along the trail between Simikot and the Tibetan border at Hilsa: a tall waterfall and a trail section carved into a rock cliff.

 

This is a 2023 photo from the same site. The cliff had been dynamited and irreversibly destroyed to make way for a very dangerous and barely passable (but for how long?) road.

A mountain with a waterfall

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