Annapurna Circuit Day 6: Upper Pisang to Manang

I’ve been looking forward to day 6 for a few days so I woke up eager to get up and get going. I knew little about the trek but this much I knew – there was a bakery in Manang, an actual cafe that sold huge pastries and real coffee 😀 I’m not usually someone who craves a pastry but there and then, after 5 days on rice and water, I wanted that big crispy cinnamon roll and it was making me excited.

We headed off to Manang bright and early around 7 am. It was a glorious day, the sun was out, it was warm but above all … it was clear! It was the first day that we started off hopeful that we’ll finally see some good views.

Contents

Upper Pisang to Ghyaru

Our first goal for today was Ghyaru, a little village on a mountain top with supposedly panoramic views over Annapurna 2 and 3. As soon as we started the trek, we had the feeling that today, unlikely any other day until now, we would see the spectacular views over the Himalayas.

The trek to Ghyaru was draining. It was mostly uphill so we started feeling it within the hour but we were smiling ear to ear as the crazy-high mountains were starting to peek through. We even saw a lake in the middle of the trek which was gorgeous and came as a total surprise!! I almost couldn’t believe how clear the sky was. We could see the Himalayas almost the entire way until Ghyaru. It was a tough stretch but it was worth every step and every single drop of sweat so we were going strong.

By the time we got to Ghyaru, we were dripping and the legs were barely holding us up, exhausted from the upward climb but we quickly forgot the pain when a smiley old lady, standing by the village gate, greeted us warmly and welcomed us in. She offered us the traditional for the region yak cheese and apple pie, for just RS 100. We were sold – me on the views from her little cafe and Nouh on two deep-fried energy-boosting apple pies.

The lady spoke very good English so we had a lovely conversation. She had a beautiful little house covered in flowers with only the mountains in her backyard. She was making pie every morning, greeting trekkers as they came in, offering them drinks, a pie or something light for brunch. She had her simple isolated mountain life and she looked genuinely happy!! Fresh apple pie every morning, smiley people passing by and the Himalayas right in front of you as soon as you open up your eyes … you’d wonder what else one could possibly need to be content!! Food for thought haha

The views from Ghyaru were so beautiful, we could spend hours and hours just enjoying the peaks which were finally showing off to us in all their glory. We headed to the viewing terrace, put down the backpacks and chilled for good 15-20 min. Here we met Andrew and Diana (hey guuuys <3), an adorable American/ Korean couple who I ended up bonding with quite a lot by the end of the trek. We had met them on the road a few times before but had never stopped to chat properly and get to know each other. Now, overlooking the Himalayas we had the perfect spot.

A group of Germans joined in shortly afterwards and all of a sudden it was about 15 of us. That’s the most trekkers we had seen in one place since the start of the trek and it kinda felt nice for a bit. As a general rule, after Chame the trail does get busier because a lot of people seem to get a jeep all the way to that village and start the trek from there. That explained why everywhere we had slept until Manang, we were always the only staying guests.

Ghyaru to Mungii via Ngawal

From Ghyaru the next stop was Ngawal. The road was continuing to be scenic but one thing had changed – we were now walking on a trail of dust as opposed to green fields. Motorbikes would pass by, sometimes without even the courtesy to slow down. My eyes were filling up with dust which wouldn’t have been that big of a problem if I didn’t trek with contacts in. I was slowly starting to get annoyed to the point I would even disgracefully scream a swear word or two to let my frustration go, in Bulgarian of course so that no one would know 😀 (not that there was ever anyone around haha)

We got to Ngawal around 1pm and surprisingly we weren’t that hungry so we kept going until Mungii. Ngawal is the usual lunch spot for most trekkers which explains why we saw a few of the people we met in Ghyaru stopping here for a portion of the usual fried rice or Dal Bhat. Snacked on a few cashews and dates and headed onto the next 6km to Mungii.

The scenery had unexpectedly changed drastically. Now we were filling up our eyes with views of massive high rock formations and desert-like landscapes. It was phenomenal to witness this shift but it was equally remarkable to realise that regardless of what the view was, it was always mesmerising and truly inspiring.

We stopped for lunch at New Namo Buddha which was just about an hour from Manang. Whilst having my fried rice I was observing the local ladies who were breaking down rocks into tiny pieces. That was their everyday job and suddenly, my tiredness, my rubbed shoulders and sore toes didn’t matter. People here were having it so much worse every single day and even just observing it felt tough.

Mungii to Manang

We finished our lunch quickly and headed off to Manang, where at around 5 pm we had finally checked into Himalayas Singi hotel. It was a lively place, the first since the start of the trek. In fact, both this hotel and Hotel Tilicho were pretty packed since they are the first guesthouses as you enter Manang and both seemed to have the most amenities. Did I mention the bakery was in the same building as the Tilicho hotel haha (I would know since scouting for the cinnamon rolls was the first thing I did even before finding a place to sleep 😀 ).

The evening was relaxing. Probably the most relaxing night I have had on the trek until then. I was just reading my book in the all-glass dining area of the hotel until I got joined by a German trekker (aka Med guy) and later Nouh. We were having dinner whilst Med guy was determined to convince me to hike up to Ice Lake at 4,600m the next day. He was showing me wonderful scenic photos from the hike he had done that day, convincing me to start the trek ideally at 4 am (“Was he mad?!” 😀 ).

Well, I am the crazy type so when someone tells me there’s a hike that’s super bad a** but with really gorgeous views, well … I tend to be in. And I WAS in! Who needs a rest day anyway 😀 Soon after dinner, now with a plan to hike up to Ice Lake on my “rest day” in Manang, I rushed for bed so I could get a few hours of sleep before heading out to Ice Lake at 6 am (ofc I wasn’t waking up at 4 am on my “rest day” 😀 ) Call me crazyyyy …