The Manaslu Trail was becoming a popular alternative to the Annapurna Circuit and the Everest Base Camp trek. But after the earthquake destroyed the trails, the flow of trekkers is drown to a trickle. Only the brave and really adventurous have been coming through.
It has been difficult even for villagers, who have to walk down the valley to buy essential supplies. “We had to crawl up and down the slopes like four-footed animals,” says 50-year-old Dawa Dorje from Namrung, “it was very difficult for us, especially the elders.”
The villages Lho, Namrung and Ghap which were on the trekking route to Larkya Pass have hardly seen any trekkers since April. Trails in the Nubri and Tsum Valleys are also badly damaged. One trekker who went through in October left the following warning in a lodge guestbook: ‘Some trekkers lost their way because of the landslides and dangerous trails.’
Fortunately, some of the damaged trails are being repaired under a ‘Food for Work’ program supported by WFP both for relief distribution and to revive trekking like the trail from Ghap to Namrung (above).
The Manaslu Conservation Area Project says most of the Manaslu Trail is now fine, except below Philim. And if that is repaired over the next few months, the Larkya Traverse will be open in the spring season.