Trek to Phu & Himlung Himal Base Camp, Manang, Nepal, Oct. 2024; "world's most beautiful place."

Описание: Jerry and Mark set out on a trek to raise funds for HOPE worldwide's programs in Nepal, including providing a new roof, windows, and toilets for the Asha Vidyashram School in Kathmandu. Check out https://hopewwnepal.org/ to see the great work going on here.

After heavy flooding in Kathmandu, we flew to Pokhara on Sep. 30, 2024, then drove to Besi Sahar, Jagat, and Koto in Manang, where we started hiking on October 1. We stopped in the beautiful villages of Meta, Kyang, and Phu along the way and ended up in the base camp (4,800m) for Himlung Himal (7,126m) by October 4. After our expedition, we returned from base camp to Kathmandu October 17-20.

While we did this trek for a charitable cause and in search of adventure, as Jerry said, we ended up finding what may be the most beautiful place in the world - a secluded valley with mountains, rivers, forests, wildlife, and remarkable people.

The High Himalayan trekking team led and hosted us and did an outstanding job managing all aspects of our trek and expedition. They are a highly professional group and regularly organize expeditions on Nepal's mountains, ranging from easier peaks to monsters like Amadablam, Dhaulagiri, Manaslu, and Everest/Lhotse. You can find them on Facebook or Instagram or at

https://www.highhimalayantreks.com/

The hospitable people of the Nar/Phu Valley have no telephone or internet and small amounts of electricity. They are devout Tibetan Buddhists and have lived in the valley for hundreds of years. We had an amazing time getting to know them; hopefully this video gives a glimpse into their noble and yet difficult lives.

The trek featured a couple of adventures with donkeys. On the way back, near Meta, a donkey was kicked off the trail by a fellow donkey and fell 20 meters. The donkey miraculously survived and got back on the path.

A day earlier, the donkeys going to Himlung Himal Base camp to gather our things planned to spend the night in Phu on October 17. But after their human master (Prem Bahadur) fell asleep after a long and hard day of work, their leader, Mowri, saw that Phu was covered in rocks and had little pasture. He remembered far greener pastures in Kyang (10 kilometers away), so he led the other nine donkeys down the treacherous mountain path - full of abysses, broken bridges, and dath paths - back to Kyang, a three hour walk.

When Prem Bahadur woke up, he saw an empty field, and no donkeys. He could see a trail in the mud and ran for hours until he found his donkeys, including their dynamic (some might say rebellious) leader Mowri. Together they returned to Phu and made the journey to Himlung Himal Base Camp, where they collected our gear and then returned to Koto.

We will make a second video showing our summit push to climb Himlung Himal (7,126m), which Jerry successfully summited on October 15.