Destination: Khopra and Khayar Lake
How to get there: Take a bus to Beni and start hiking.
What to take: Good trekking shoes, water bottle, sun block, sunglasses, enough snacks as you will hardly come across any hotel or houses during the day, iodine tablets when you refill your bottle from streams during the day.
While there was a 'trekking jam' in the famous Annapurna circuit this season, tourists were scarce on the Beni-Khopra-Khayar Lake route, which started more than two decades ago. The lack of lodges in this region has made this trek a choice for more adventurous trekkers who prefer camping. However, things are changing with Mahabir Pun's initiation. He envisions to promote this trek trail as a 'community trail'. The idea is to encourage local entrepreneurs and schools to invest in lodges and later use the profit for educational benefit of Myagdi district. Two private lodges and a community lodge have already started their service. Two more community lodges are under construction.
The recently opened motorable road to Beni has reactivated the high-road to the beautiful Khayar Lake. On the very first day, the row of Gurja Peak, Dhaulagiri, Tukuche, Nilgiri, Baraha Shikhar, Annapurna South and Machhapuchre gives the trekker a feeling of being in paradise. The day ends at Nangi village where Mahabir Pun grew up. This tiny village now surprises guests with wireless internet lab, telemedicine clinic and several community projects. The walk around 'virgin forest' along the village promises a spiritual high. Swanta, the next day's destination, is eight hours walk from Nangi. A community lodge is being built at Fulbari, which is halfway between Nangi and Swanta.
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It is another eight hours trek from Swanta to Khopra. After completion of another lodge, Dhankharka would be the day's destination in later years. But for now, as you hike up the hills towards Khopra, dense rhododendron forests give way to shorter and more scattered but more colourful the north, manifests its different looks as the kaleidoscope of light plays on its southern face.Evening in Khopra is so majestic it almost feels unreal. As the moon rises, Varaha Shikhar enjoys the spotlight. Dhaulagiri takes her turn towards early morning. Though one cannot see sunrise from here, be assured that morning in Khopra takes you to a different vegetation.
Khopra is a one-lodge spot at the end of a ridge. Though just at 3,600 meters, the view is nothing less than what can be seen from the summit of a mountain. This is what makes Khopra so special. On the west, thick blanket of clouds floats over dozens of hills and valleys. The setting sun paints the clouds, hills and the horizon with numerous shades of orange and blue. Dhaulagiri, which appears to be within a hand's stretch onworld. In the cosmic movement of setting moon and rising sun, the horizon again wears amazing shades of pink and blue setting a lovely backdrop for morning-fresh Dhaulagiri. Radios relaying internet signals to villages in Myagdi link this lonely place with the rest of the planet.
Khayar Lake at 4,600 meters is about six hours trek from here. Since there are no lodging facilities here, one has to either camp or come back the same day. After an hour and a half trek, the trail leading to Ghandruk Lake and Khayar Lake separates. Every year, there is a big fair at Khayar Lake on Janai Purnima. People make wishes and offer lambs to the temple by Khayar Lake on that day. Lamb horns, hair, coins and small trisuls scattered all over the lake area reminds one of the big crowd that must have gathered a while ago on this otherwise isolated lake. The quiet lake is surrounded by small hills and is frozen on the sides even on a November afternoon.
Back to Khopra, it's time to move. One can either go back the same route or go towards Bayali and then to Tadapani, Ghandruk and Pokhara. A must-visit spot near the lodge is the vantage point from where the Kaligandaki gorge (the deepest in the world) can be seen. Kaligandaki river flows at 1,200 meters by Dana village below 8,167 meters tall Dhaulagiri making it the deepest gorge in the world. The river also separates the Dhaulagiri and Annapurna region. Interestingly from this side of Annapurna region, Dhaulagiri appears very close but Annapurna is nowhere to be seen.
As you move towards Bayali, Dhaulagiri distances but not too far away. The setting sun leaves strokes of heavy orange on the sky, giving a sense of a painting. A while later, moon quietly rises on the dark blue sky behind darkened hills. The sunrise in Bayali has a different charm.
But as you leave Bayali and walk towards Tadapani and Ghandruk, the surroundings change; more tourists, wider trails, more villages, more shops and more recipes to savour. This is when Dhaulagiri moves farther away and Annapurna starts sneaking behind Annapurna South. As the trek comes to an end, Machhapuchhre takes the centre stage reminding us of the commercial world that awaits us.
