View allAll Photos Tagged TsumValley
Saturday, 4 April 2015: Chhule (3350 m) to Mu Gompa (3700 m)
A magic day, a high point in several senses.
Leaving Anthony and Val in Chhule (छुले) repairing and checking LED solar lights distributed 10 years or so ago (most still going strong… and much valued), Hazel and I headed up the Tsum Valley with Tsering and Krishna, following the Sardi Khola / Syar Khola / Tsum Chu river as usual - running more glacially as we got further into the mountains and closer to the southern edge of the Tibetan plateau.
Beautiful weather, lots more mani walls and chortens (and patches of old snow) on the approach to Mu Gompa, with a steep, slippery climb at the end.
Tsering set up our tents on the highest paved terrace, with stunning views back down the valley - the Ganesh Himal to the east, the Sringi Himal to the west. Across the valley - the river now far below us - a high yak kharka leading up to (hidden) Longnang glacier and the Phuchun Khola, and the peaks of Taya Himal and Pashuwo. A Himalayan Griffon (Gyps himalayensis) gliding high above the stone roof of the gompa. Helipad - incongruous - below.
Hot lemon and kit kats for elevenses-with-that-view on the terrace segued into lunch in one of the lower sets of terraced rooms. Hardly a soul about - everyone’s gone to KTM to see the visiting Rinproche. We had the caretaker and yak herders seeking shelter for company.
Come the afternoon though, the weather changed, and our afternoon stroll up to Dhephu Doma - the ancient Ani Gompa at 4000 m - featured snow... the one thing I’d (sort of) assured Hazel we wouldn’t have!
By dinner time our tents had been transformed into iced bombes, necessitating a night of tent bashing from inside and out to dislodge the snow….
A super, silent night - my first time camping in snow. Magic.
Map from Günter Seyfferth’s Die Berge des Himalaya (The mountains of Himalaya). Here are his annotated photos from Mu Gompa: Chhule, Churke Himal and Ganesh II and Phuchun Khola valley, Pashuwo, Langpo Kangri, Ganesh I (Yangra Kangri), Churke Himal.
Read more about my Tsum Valley trek with Val Pitkethly.
DSC08430
Saturday, 4 April 2015: Chhule (3350 m) to Mu Gompa (3700 m)
A magic day, a high point in several senses.
Leaving Anthony and Val in Chhule (छुले) repairing and checking LED solar lights distributed 10 years or so ago (most still going strong… and much valued), Hazel and I headed up the Tsum Valley with Tsering and Krishna, following the Sardi Khola / Syar Khola / Tsum Chu river as usual - running more glacially as we got further into the mountains and closer to the southern edge of the Tibetan plateau.
Beautiful weather, lots more mani walls and chortens (and patches of old snow) on the approach to Mu Gompa, with a steep, slippery climb at the end.
Tsering set up our tents on the highest paved terrace, with stunning views back down the valley - the Ganesh Himal to the east, the Sringi Himal to the west. Across the valley - the river now far below us - a high yak kharka leading up to (hidden) Longnang glacier and the Phuchun Khola, and the peaks of Taya Himal and Pashuwo. A Himalayan Griffon (Gyps himalayensis) gliding high above the stone roof of the gompa. Helipad - incongruous - below.
Hot lemon and kit kats for elevenses-with-that-view on the terrace segued into lunch in one of the lower sets of terraced rooms. Hardly a soul about - everyone’s gone to KTM to see the visiting Rinproche. We had the caretaker and yak herders seeking shelter for company.
Come the afternoon though, the weather changed, and our afternoon stroll up to Dhephu Doma - the ancient Ani Gompa at 4000 m - featured snow... the one thing I’d (sort of) assured Hazel we wouldn’t have!
By dinner time our tents had been transformed into iced bombes, necessitating a night of tent bashing from inside and out to dislodge the snow….
A super, silent night - my first time camping in snow. Magic.
Map from Günter Seyfferth’s Die Berge des Himalaya (The mountains of Himalaya). Here are his annotated photos from Mu Gompa: Chhule, Churke Himal and Ganesh II and Phuchun Khola valley, Pashuwo, Langpo Kangri, Ganesh I (Yangra Kangri), Churke Himal.
Read more about my Tsum Valley trek with Val Pitkethly.
DSC08431
Sunday, 5 April 2015: Easter Sunday: Mu Gompa (3700 m) to Chhokang Paro (3030 m)
After our night of snow we woke to blue skies and a magical snowy view out over the Tsum Valley and the mountains of the Ganesh Himal (गणेश हिमाल). Crisp and clear. Val decided on a change of plan - rather than spending another day and night at Mu, we'd start our journey back down the Tsum today to rendezvous with Anthony and Namgyal in Chhokang Paro.
After breakfast in the terraced rooms, and checking to see if the snowfall had caused any damage, there was time for Val, Tsering and me to continue a short way further along the ancient trade route to Tibet, turning back at a fresh landslide and fast melting snow. Fabulous. I wish I could have spent longer here right up at the top of Upper Tsum, exploring the higher level trails that wind their way around the mountains.
Back at the gompa, we visited the main prayer hall before starting our descent. A morning of strong sun at high altitude meant that most of the slopes we had to negotiate on our way down were clear from snow. Phew.
Lunch at Chhule (छुले 3350m) back at our Ani campsite, a quick visit to the village elders, then on to Chhokang Paro taking the west bank of the Sardi Khola / Syar Khola / Tsum Chu river this time. A long day.
Great to see Anthony and Namgyal again in the evening and a Cham festival - with traditional dancing and fertility playlets - in the village gompa. A real treat. Lots of other tourists there - quite a surprise as we'd not seen many other westerners on the route. Dinner at Namgyal’s family home, complete with cake.
Map from Günter Seyfferth’s Die Berge des Himalaya (The mountains of Himalaya). Here are his annotated photos from Mu Gompa: Chhule, Churke Himal and Ganesh II and Phuchun Khola valley, Pashuwo, Langpo Kangri, Ganesh I (Yangra Kangri), Churke Himal.
Read more about my Tsum Valley trek with Val Pitkethly.
DSC08492
Saturday, 4 April 2015: Chhule (3350 m) to Mu Gompa (3700 m)
A magic day, a high point in several senses.
Leaving Anthony and Val in Chhule (छुले) repairing and checking LED solar lights distributed 10 years or so ago (most still going strong… and much valued), Hazel and I headed up the Tsum Valley with Tsering and Krishna, following the Sardi Khola / Syar Khola / Tsum Chu river as usual - running more glacially as we got further into the mountains and closer to the southern edge of the Tibetan plateau.
Beautiful weather, lots more mani walls and chortens (and patches of old snow) on the approach to Mu Gompa, with a steep, slippery climb at the end.
Tsering set up our tents on the highest paved terrace, with stunning views back down the valley - the Ganesh Himal to the east, the Sringi Himal to the west. Across the valley - the river now far below us - a high yak kharka leading up to (hidden) Longnang glacier and the Phuchun Khola, and the peaks of Taya Himal and Pashuwo. A Himalayan Griffon (Gyps himalayensis) gliding high above the stone roof of the gompa. Helipad - incongruous - below.
Hot lemon and kit kats for elevenses-with-that-view on the terrace segued into lunch in one of the lower sets of terraced rooms. Hardly a soul about - everyone’s gone to KTM to see the visiting Rinproche. We had the caretaker and yak herders seeking shelter for company.
Come the afternoon though, the weather changed, and our afternoon stroll up to Dhephu Doma - the ancient Ani Gompa at 4000 m - featured snow... the one thing I’d (sort of) assured Hazel we wouldn’t have!
By dinner time our tents had been transformed into iced bombes, necessitating a night of tent bashing from inside and out to dislodge the snow….
A super, silent night - my first time camping in snow. Magic.
Map from Günter Seyfferth’s Die Berge des Himalaya (The mountains of Himalaya). Here are his annotated photos from Mu Gompa: Chhule, Churke Himal and Ganesh II and Phuchun Khola valley, Pashuwo, Langpo Kangri, Ganesh I (Yangra Kangri), Churke Himal.
Read more about my Tsum Valley trek with Val Pitkethly.
DSC08368
Birds fly across the mountains of Chumling at sunset.
Read about the adventure at Nepal Undiscovered: Tsum Valley Trek (Part 1).
Prints, digital downloads, and licensing are available by request at info@kelsiediperna.com.