Again there’s a downhill start to the day. We reach the village of Sho and the trail levels out. There is a short climb up to Lho, a village with a huge monastery and an awesome (first) view of Manaslu. We’ll make a climb up to Shyala (3,500m) for a water point before leaving the main trail again to climb up to Pungyen Gompa where there will be a checkpoint (and another astonishing view) before descending again to Samagaon, the main village in this area called Nubri. The weather is not always perfect, with, over the last decade, a 1:5 chance of snow, and thus 4:5 chance of crystal clear skies. A selection of stage photos from various years.
This is possibly the closest village in the world to an 8000m peak, which stands less than 5km away. Manaslu is also known locally as Mount Pungyen which can be roughly translated as “ornamental heap”. You’ll be able to find your own term of endearment for Manaslu.
You can see a video of the hike up to Pungyen here:
Hike to Pungyen Gomba from Peter Kent on Vimeo.
Villagers and western pilgrims hike to a Buddhist monastery near Samagaon, Nepal (near the Tibetan border).
Maps and data
| Date: | November 10, 2023 |
| Effort: | ↔ 24 km 1500 m -780 m |
| Longest ascent: | m |
| Longest descent: | m |
| Start elevation: | 3122 m |
| Finish elevation: | 3528 m |
| Max altitude: | 3985 m |
| Min altitude: | m |