Nepal (October 2023): An Unplanned Mini-Trek South of Simikot
4. Muni Lagna to the village of Palsa
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Click here to see the map of the trekking route (yellow dotted
line) in a separate window.
Left: Piles of stones at Mune Lagna seen from the south side of
the pass. Right: View of a short section of the stone path below the pass.
(Unfortunately, nowadays Mune Lagna is rarely crossed and this remarkable stone
path is in dire need of maintenance.)
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Views at the
end of the stony descent.
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The trail then
entered a somewhat eerie forest. I was quite late in the day, but we needed to
find running water before setting up camp.
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Backlit photo
of mounds and trees. But, unlike what this photo suggests, it was not quite
night yet.
We finally
reached a single-family farming settlement, next to which we set up our camp
(2221m). In the last day and a half we climbed 2000m and descended 1500m, not
too bad a feat for two porters over 60 and a trekker in his mid-70s.
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The next morning
we first went through another section of forest.
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The forest then
opened up to stunning views of the Galpha Gad valley.
Deman Limbu (left)
and Dharma Lama (right) during the descent toward the village of Palsa, located
on the left slope of the Galpha Gad valley, high
above the valley.
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Looking back
toward the mountain range we had crossed on the previous day.
View of the
opposite (right) side of the Galpha Gad valley.
Two women seen
further down the valley, first at the place marked Libhrakot
on the map (left photo), then carrying load along a stream where we stopped for
lunch (right photo)..
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Our lunch
break near the stream. As usual dal bhat was on the menu.
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Reaching the
village of Palsa.
The remarkable
spectacle offered by the terraced barley fields of Palsa. The brown ribbon
results from the overflow of the central stream during the monsoon.
In the village
of Palsa.
Drums used for
various celebrations hanging at the entrance of the small Hindu temple of
Palsa.
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Grains, beans,
red peppers, fruits, and vegetables drying on roofs.
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Left: Women
beating and threshing grains. Right: Happy woman in a field.
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Below the
village of Palsa, at the bottom of the Galpha Gad
valley, was the start of a new road built on the opposite (west) side of
the valley and leading to the valley's confluence with the Humla Karnali Nadi.
The people of Palsa told us that the road was quite good and there were a few
Mahindra jeeps plying the route daily. They also told us that because of this
new road, the old trail (marked on the map) on the left side of the valley was
no longer used, therefore not maintained, and that it had become quite
dangerous, especially for porters. So, we decided to hike the road down to the
confluence. We set up camp at Palsa for the night and the next morning we
walked down from Palsa to the road.
Return
to main Nepal 2023 webpage | Return to my
mountaineering/trekking/travel webpage