Mardi Himal Base Camp (West) (Nepal)

Text, and photographs by Mr. Sachin Vaidya

Mardi Himal Base Camp trek lies within Annapurna Region of Nepal. It has two routes: West and South. West route is more popular as as teahouses were built after 2011. South route is mainly used by mountaineers who attempt the summit of Mardi Himal mountain. The base camp trek is gaining popularity due to its short duration. Guest houses are called tea houses in Nepal. Mardi Himal Base Camp (West) is at an elevation of 14,763.77 ft. whereas Mardi Himal mountain is at an elevation of 18,218.5 ft.

I did Mardi Himal Base Camp (West) trek organized by Countryside Adventure Holidays, Mumbai from 3rd to 10th November 2018. Our group size was seven accompanied by two tour managers - Indian (Mr. Kiran Jadhav) and Nepalese (Mr. Bheem). The youngest team member was six years old (Master Agastya) and the oldest one was sixty three years old (Prof. Komila Thapa)!

I was the only trekker (accompanied by Mr. Bheem) in the group who reached Mardi Himal Base Camp; all others returned after visiting View Point (a place from where trekkers could have a fantastic view of mountains).

I hereby present day to day account of the trek.

Day 1

The first day involved aeroplane journey from Mumbai to Kathmandu [4,593 ft.]. Dinner was accompanied by cultural programme. All the photographs were of a cultural programme at a Kathmandu restaurant.

Many hotels and restaurants at Kathmandu offered cultural dance show accompanied by dinner; sometimes tourists also participated the same for a short time. It generated employment for local folk dancers. At most times, recorded music was played.

The night halt was at Kathmandu.

Day 2

Second day was aeroplane journey from Kathmandu to Pokhara [5,710 ft.].

Pokhara was a tourist town in the lap of Himalayas. Contrary to my belief and perception, it was a large town.

After reaching Pokhara, we drove to Kande [5,860 ft.] [60 minutes]. Kande was a small Nepalese village.

The trek started from Kande to Goldanda.

Goldanda had a basic restaurant.

The trek from Goldanda to Pothana [6,528 ft.] was scenic.

Australian Camp was popular among foreign and wealthy tourists.

The lunch break was at Kade.

ABC is short form of Annapurna Base Camp.

Pothana was a hamlet.

The tea house had a beautiful garden.

We enjoyed evening tea with a view of distant mountains.

All throughout the trek, dinner was served around 06-30 pm (except Kathmandu and Pokhara)! Night halt was at Pothana.

Day 3

Morning view from teahouse at Pothana was fantastic.

The trek started from Pothana to Pitam Deurali (6,889 ft.).

Due to low altitude, the tall trees and green vegetation accompanied the trekkers.

Pitam Deurali was a halt for tea break. Trek route for Mardi Himal Base Camp (West) and Annapurna Base Camp was the same up to Pitam Deurali.

Indian tour leader - Mr. Kiran Jadhav - could be seen in the following photograph:

The next was my photograph.

The trek from Pitam Deurali to Forest Camp [Kokar] [8,135 ft.] took us from low altitude to high altitude.

 

Wild flowers abounded in route.

The total trek for the day was seven hours (including lunch break). Night halt was at Forest Camp (Kokar).

Day 4

The trek began after breakfast towards Lwangghalel.

Lwangghalel had a tea house.

During trek from Lwangghalel to Low Camp [9,744 ft.], I could observe removing wool from sheep.

Total trek involved walking for seven hours (including lunch break). Night halt was at Low Camp. 

Day 5

The fifth day trek was from Low Camp to High Camp (11,616 ft.).

In route, I observed sheep wool lying scattered unattended.

High altitude mountain view was majestic as we neared High Camp.

The total trek lasted for five hours. The evening at High Camp was spent in mountain photoshoot.

The night halt was at High Camp.

Day 6

The sixth day was the longest. The trekkers started before dawn in total darkness after having a cup of tea. Everybody used headtorches to see the path. It was an unique experience!

As our trek was during first half of November, there was less snow on mountains.

This was my photograph at View Point from where panoramic view of mountains was visible.

Everybody had tea at Badal Danda.

Stumbling upon wide flower was rare at high altitude during November.

I was at level of clouds!

A lone yak was visible.

After View Point, the path was not demarcated.

Putting stones one above others and making a shape was also observed in Garhwal (Uttarakhand).

Stone slabs were arranged in a semi circular way.

There was a plaque showing a place where seventeen Buddhist pilgrims died due to thunderbolt nearly a century ago.

Upper View Point was at an elevation of 13,799 ft.

At last, I reached Mardi Himal Base Camp (14,763.77 ft.)!

Only the Nepalese tour guide and I reached Mardi Himal Base Camp; all others had returned from Lower View Point. As we had to walk back to High Camp and then to Low Camp, I walked without shooting much photographs.

Following photographs show downward journey from Base Camp to High Camp.

I had late breakfast at High Camp and immediately proceeded towards Low Camp. The lunch was en route.

After reaching Low Camp late afternoon, I found that our group was enjoying nap; the only exception being Kiran (Indian tour leader) and Agastya (the youngest trekker) were playing with local children.

Due to high altitude, exhaustion, and early dinner (6-30 pm!), I ate very little for dinner. The night halt was at Low Camp.

Day 7

On the last trek day, return journey was different. While ascending, our route was  through Pothana and Forest Camp (Kokar) with night stay at each place. While descending from Low Camp, we directly walked to Sidhing (5,577 ft.) from where we got into a vehicle.

Ferns and wild flowers abounded in the forest!

Mountains, which were near from the high altitude places, were visible at far away distance.

Vehicle road indicated that the trek was about to end!

Sidhing was a low altitude scenic village with good accommodation. I have to wait till other trekkers to arrive; also the vehicles arrived late. Everybody utilized the wait time to enjoy tea and to move around the hotel garden.

Government had initiated conservation of local breed of buffaloes in the region.

In a small pond, local buffaloes were visible.

It was time to say goodbye to the mountains!

The drive from Sidhing to Pokhra lasted for nearly ninety minutes. In route, we could watch Diwali being celebrated in the countryside as it was the last day of Diwali (भाईदूज / भाऊबीज).

Diwali was celebrated on a grand scale at Pokhra; we had a glimpse of the same when we had dinner at a restaurant in the market area. The night halt was at Pokhra.

Day 8

The last day involved domestic flight from Pokhra to Kathmandu and international flight from Kathmandu to Mumbai. The following photographs were shot during flight from Kathmandu to Mumbai.

Mardi Himal Base Camp (West) is a short duration trek involving only six days from Kathmandu to Kathmandu. Our trek involved six and half days as we stayed at Pokhara. Trekkers, short of time, can directly drive from Sidhing to Kathmandu; alternatively, they can fly from Pokhara to Kathmandu.

The trek was short but memorable due to excellent arrangements and personal attention by Countryside Adventure holidays and the tour leader - Mr. Kiran Jadhav.