Mani Rimdu Festival in Tengboche

Mr. Michael Rubi Nepal Trip Report-2017

I recently (early November) completed two treks in Nepal, one short trek in the Annapurna region and one longer trek into the Kumbu (Mt. Everest) region. Both were very successfully arranged by Ambar Tamang, with [Blossom Expeditions] (http:// www.blossomexpeditions.com). I must say that he did quite an outstanding job both as trip arranger for both treks and guide on the Kumbu trek. He saw to it that we had a good place to stay at each stop and plenty of good food. As a trip arranger, he quickly answered questions and explained details. As a guide he was conscientious, attentive and friendly. As I was leaving I ran into an American group, organized by a well-known US adventure travel agency, that had just taken almost the same trip into the Kumbu; the same days but a slightly different itinerary. They had paid slightly more than twice what I did. The only difference I could really see was that they were in a 5-star hotel in Kathmandu and I was put in a quite nice 3-star hotel.

The Annapurna trek was intended as a short warm up, conditioning and acclimatizing trek as well as seeing the mountains. It was good that this last item was not an essential goal as

we had cloudy weather the whole time and even a hail storm one day. I hiked from Hile to Ulleri, then to Ghorepani, next to Tadapani, and out via Ghandruk and Kimche. There could have been good views of Annapurna and Dhaulagri from Poon Hill (near Ghorepani) if not for the clouds. First thing in the morning we got a good view from Tadapani, before the clouds rose and covered Annapurna. Still we enjoyed impressive views of nearer mountains from many places along the trail. The rhododendron forests would have been magnificent in the Spring. I think that would have been a better time for this trek. This trek has traditionally started from Naya Pul, and many trekkers still start there since that is where a bus from Pokhara terminates, but the trail as far as Hile has been converted to a road, albeit a very rough one. There is enough traffic on the road that I suspect it is quite unpleasant hiking. The lower half of the trail from Ghandruk to Kimche is similarly being converted to a road but it is not in use because of several unrepaired gaps caused by the recent earthquakes.

The trek into the Kumbu valley had the goal of attending the Mani Rimu ceremony at the Tengboche monastery as well as seeing mountains. I flew in to Lukla, with its infamous

down-slope and short runway, and hiked the first day to Phakding. This hike was mostly downhill. The second day took us to Namche Bazaar. The following day was a hike high, sleep low day to aid acclimatization, so we hiked up to Sanasa and returned to Namche Bazaar. There were great views from Sanasa of Ama Dablam, Lhotse and the 300 meters of Everest that rises above Lhotse. The next day we hiked on up to Tengboche, where we stayed for the 3 days of the ceremony. The first day saw a blessing of the community and the distribution of blessed, small dough pellets that were intended to convey health and well-being. The second day was an all-day dance performance by the monks of the monastery. The third day was a bonfire, with which the flames are to carry our wishes off to the heavens. The monastery itself was impressive but not extraordinary. I did enjoy an afternoon of chanting by the monks, complete with various horns, bells and flag waving. We also had great views of the top of Everest and all the other mountains from Tengboche, especially early in the morning. One morning we took a short hike up to the convent at Deboche.

There were only a few westerners at the ceremony, which surprised me. None were in large, organized groups. Most of the folks attending were locals who obviously do this every year. The dancing was not Bollywood but a more restrained shuffle and hop style. On the other hand, the costumes and masks the monks wore for most of the dances outdid even

Bollywood. I felt the ceremony was a fitting reward for the hard work of getting to Tengboche.
Most of the trekkers stopping in Tengboche were headed on up the Kumbu valley to Everest Base Camp or past the Goyoko lakes, over a couple of passes and then to the Base Camp, mostly in large, organized groups. Both of these options would have added at least another five days just heading up but from the descriptions I heard would have been well worth it. I came back to Namche Bazaar, then to Phakding and, now uphill, to Lukla to fly back to Kathmandu. All the way we were surrounded by magnificent, nearby mountains and valleys of forests or productive farmland in the lower elevations. We had to go up and over ridges and then down into the valleys to cross rivers on suspension bridges several times each day, even though the overall objective for the day was to go either up or down.
The trails were only occasionally soft dirt. Most often they were either uneven rocky trails or stone staircases. Unfortunately the staircase steps often had an irregular rise (the increase in the height to the next step) and it was too often quite a bit higher than conventional Western stairs. My thighs took a while to get used to the added work. The menus at the tea

houses along the way were very similar and the food was uniformly good, at least in the tea houses where we stayed. The buildings were unheated so I was very grateful for my heavy sleeping bag each night. I did get tired of the unrelenting cold. I started taking Diamox the evening at Phakding on the way in so I had no problems at all with the altitude. In fact I tested at 90% oxygen saturation at Tengboche. I should have worn a light mask on the trails as the dust stirred up included droppings from the continuous dozo, yak and mule trains carrying supplies to the higher elevation villages and tea houses. I didn’t get sick but I think I would have been better off not breathing all that mixed dust. Many trekkers wore a “buff”, a light cotton or synthetics circular cloth around their necks, and face, which were for sale at a small price in Lukla and Namche Bazaar, and would have been effective at excluding the larger dust particles.

1. Mani Rimdu Festival Video 
2. Trip Report

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