Plan Nepal Traverse
How the dream was born
The idea for the Nepal Traverse arose in December 2008, when Katja and Henk were walking a small trekking in the southern parth of Holland, where is the only Dutch triple border point with Belgium and Germany.“We were suddenly reminded of Nepal and how the country has actually got two triple-border points with the same two neighbours: India and China. Without knowing the elevation of these border points, we came up with the idea for a new expedition: a mega-trek on foot between those two points. Et voila, a new dream was born! The first thing we did when we got home was to get out a map of Nepal to study the two triple-border points. Several maps and sessions on Google-Earth later, we became aware that there was no uniformity of information about their precise location.
The NW triple-border point: Starting point in 2011
We have identified the following variations on different maps:
- a 5,500 m point directly south of the Lipu La pass
- Chhyang La pass (5,098 m)
- the Tinkar La pass (5,258 m)
Google Earth shows the border in this entire area in red, confirming that it is under discussion. At the moment we’re taking the Tinkar La pass as the starting point for our crossing.
We have heard local rumours that foreigners are not currently permitted in the border area of Kalapani (near Chhyang La). Inhabitants in the Tinkar settlement (3,600 m) are not even allowed to show themselves too far above their village, because of the tense border situation with Tibet. We will have to wait to see how far we are permitted to go.
We have not been able to find a single report from westerners who have been here in recent years. Neither is it possible to buy a detailed map of the region; purchase of a detailed map of this area is impossible: sales of map 3081 13 from the Finnish Meteorological Institute are forbidden. A small Swiss expedition got furtherst to the north in 2009 on an attempt to climb the Api. Discussions with the expeditionleader provided us with very valuable information about the first few days’ trek out of the village of Darchula.
The NE triple-border point: Finishing point in 2013?
The peak usually taken to be the triple-border point is the summit of the 7,462 m high Jhinsang ( (Jongsong Ri) in the Kanchenjunga area. Only one map shows the Jhinsang La pass (6,164 m) as a border point above the Jhinsang glacier.
We managed to discover through the expert Eberhard Jurgalski and the database made by Elisabeth Hawley that the Jhinsang was climbed once in 1930 by Dyrenfurth. A disputed climb by the Indian army is also recorded in 1983. The relevant Finnish map with a scale of 1:50.000 leads us to the assumption that climbing this high summit is a very technical affair. The bottleneck is a vertical rock wall, 500 metres high, at around 6,400 m. Our friend and expert Jamie McGuinness told us that the Jhinsang La pass alone is highly challenging: it is rarely if ever used, because of the current glacier situation. In short, we will have to find out the actual conditions on the spot; it will probablybe 2013 before we will walk the third and last stage. For the time being we are sticking to Jhinsang La as the end point of our crossing.
Oriented to start
The two most important questionswe began with were:
- how are we going to reachthe NW triple-border point?
- what route will we take through Nepal?
We had the answer to the second question straight away: we wanted to follow the most northerly route possible. Finding that out was a taxing exercise! We bent our heads over various maps for days on end. There was also the question of the route to reach our starting point; an entire discussion in itself. First of all we thought of driving to th north through India, and then crossing into Tibet at the pass and border point at Lipu La (5,100 m, directly to the west of Nepal). Then we thought we could reach the triple-border point from Tibet, and then walk eastwards to the border crossing at Hilsa (in the Humla district), and go through Nepal for the rest of the way. This plan turned out not to be possible: the Lipu La border crossing is only accessible to Indians. A second obstacle was that it is forbidden to leave the roads in that part of Tibet. We then studied the option of completing the entire trek in Nepal, which was actually a marvellous idea. We have always felt attracted to the unknown West with its two seven-thousanders, Api and Saipal, the highest peaks in this area.
Exploring the Far West
A climb and trek through the Api and Saipal area is no walk in the park. The big question therefore was what our route eastwards woud be, once we arrived at the triple-border point. We came to the conclusion that it was not possible to traverse the high mountain region without setting up camps and having porters to carry endless quantities of rope and heavy climbing gear. If we wanted to do that, we would have to set up a specific expedition and take plenty of time for it. Not a bad idea by any means, but not our intention at the moment.
We definitely wanted to reach the Humla district and the Limi Valley, to the NE of the Darchula district, right beside Tibet. It is apparently an enchantingly beautiful area. The triple-border point is only 30 km away from the border crossing, as the crow flies, and if were permitted to enter Tibet we could be there in no time. However, that is not an option. We decided therefore to make a total detour, going south again from the triple-border point and then circling the Api mountain range towards the east, through two passes at 4,700 m and 5,000 m at Surma Sarovar. From there it should be a simple matter of descending to Chainpur village and going eastwards to the well-known Rara Lake. This would mean staying low and not going into the Humla district...
If you want to go to Humla (and we do want!), you have to make a way northwards, which means finding a route through the mountains once we’re there. Paul Boslooper (of the Dutch agency HT Wandelreizen) has told us that the first crossing (over ± 4,500 m to Dhuli) can be done if the snow and weather conditions are good. He made this crossing himself in 1993. From Dhuli we then want to head north to the Tibetan border. We will not enter Tibet and we will stay in Nepal where we hope to make a new crossing to Yari by way of a number of mountain ridges up to 5,600 m. From our intensive study of the specific Finnish map and Google Earth, this looks not easy, but entirely achievable, given some climbing material and good luck with the snow and weather conditions.
Autonomy
Our first idea was to do the trip completely on our own, without Nepalese support. This did not meet with great enthusiasm in Nepal. In fact, what we heard by mail was only "no possible, restricted areas". In the end we adapted our plan to a team of three, with the great advantage of having the additional benefit of a team member who spoke the Nepalese language well. In order to get everything settled, Katja spent a week in Kathmandu in june 2010 to find out more about the Far West and discuss matters with out agent, Ngima Dorji from nepalmyths.com, and the authorities. And last but by no means least: to see about finding our Nepalese team member.
Great Himalaya Trail
Up until then we knew nothing abut the Great Himalaya Trail (GHT) phenomenon. Our friend Ralf Dujmovits had in fact referred us to a German book (Der lange Abschied) written in 1986 about a trekking that had been made through Nepal from east to west by the well-known climbers and development workers, Hermann & Dietlinde Warth. It is a wonderful and inspiring book. However, it didn’t really provide any information about the extreme northwest of Nepal: the pair had travelled from Rara Lake directly to the south-westerly border crossing at Mahendranagar.
Our friend Jamie McGuiness provided us useful information about parts like Limi, but he did neither know the FarWest.
Once in Nepal, Ngima Dorji offered huge help to introduce Katja to relevant people of the Nepal Tourism Board, the ministery of Tourism and SNV. He also introduced her to Lisa Choegyal. Katja then heard for the first time about the GHT and Robin Boustead. The GHT is a route that traverses Nepal – there are different versions following existing paths – and goes through the entire Himalayas, including Bhutan and India. Robin appears to have travelled through Nepal from east to west (Simikot) in 2008 and 2009. By chance, Robin turned out to be in Kathmandu in June 2010 - what a coincidence! Katja met with him, which was a particular stimulating experience. Incredible, that we should have had more or less the same idea!
Robin had just published a book: The Great Himalaya Trail, A Pictorial Guide. It gives a splendid overview of the Nepal traverse, with different route options. The high and most northerly route appears to coincide with our plan to a large extent. Our route differs at two points: our plan begins and ends with the two triple-border points. We also hope to link the Bajjang and Humla districts with a new crossing from Saipal to Yari. For more information about the GHT, see Robin Boustead’s site: www.greathimalayatrail.com
Stimulating tourism in West-Nepal
The Great Himalaya Trail actually appears to have been much more comprehensive: the idea of a trekking right through the country was embraced by the Nepal Tourism Board, the Ministry of Tourism, and a number of development organizations such as the Dutch SNV. The purpose of all this was to attract more tourists to the little-known areas of Nepal, specifically the poor and completely unknown West. What this implies is that the infrastructure will be improved with good bridges and paths. But in particular it will help local people, ensuring that they get more knowledge of hygiene that will make home stays possible for visitors. This will mean that westerners can be provided with accommodation. Hiking organizers will be able to share the route and offer it as a trip. In brief, it is a long-term development project. With our journey, we hope to contribute towards increasing the name awareness of West Nepal. For more information about the project, see: www.greathimalayatrail.org
Trekking West-Nepal in 2010
We planned to walk the first stage of the Nepal Traverse in the autumn of 2010. We intended to do half of the complete project: from Darchula to Kathmandu.
The basic question was, what would be the best time? October is usually an ideal month. In September there is more likelihood of rain, in November it is considerably colder with more chance of snow. In the end we decided to leave on foot from Darchula in the beginning of September. Read more under Trekking West-Nepal 2010.
