25/09/2016
When someone asks me where do I love travelling in Nepal, my answer is obvious, the mountains. These serene mountains are blessed with tranquility and works as a perfect escape to beat the heat as well as routine mental fatigue. One of my current favorites is Khopra Danda and Khair Lake. Mountains at a stone throw distance, beautiful pastureland, vivid flora and fauna, high altitude lake namely Khair and heart melting inhabitants is what anyone walking on the trails of Khopra Danda would experience without a doubt, as I did.
Situated in the laps of Annapurna region, Khopra danda and Khair Lake is a stunning underdog when it comes to trekking in Nepal. Starting from Ghandruk the trail heads out to Tadapani and from here the trail branches and leaves behind the trail of famed and flocked Annapurna base camp and sanctuary. The trail to Khopra from Tadapani leads to Isoruwa, Bayeli, swanta and finally to and further to Khair Lake and ends in . The mountains either in the Dhaulagiri or in the Annapurna greet you from our very first rest area of Isoruwa. Except from Swanta, the snow clad mountains would not fail to overwhelm you. Khopra Danda at just above 3600 meters on the other hand is the undisputed heavy weight champion when it comes to showcasing the saw toothed mountains in the and Annapurna region. This viewpoint would behold the armada with the 180 degree view of all Dhaulagiris including the first, all including the Annapurna I, besides these 2 position holders you can as well witness Fishtail, Gurja Himal, Jirbang, Tukuche Peak, Nilgiri South and North, Fang peak, Hiunchuli, Lamjung Himal, Ngadi Peak, Himal Chuli, Boudha Himal and Ganesh V. The mountains appear close enough to make you feel that one can jump off the ridge and land on the peak of Dhaulagiri. Whereas, Khair Lake is a high altitude lake which is located at an elevation of around 4700 meters and on the foot of Annapurna south. This lake which is a day trip from Khopra is religiously important and flocked by local tourists on few important dates. The Lake does not offer one of the best mountain panoramas but a different angle to natural beauty.
This is not a highly sought destination, not because it is not beautiful but because it is known by very few. This de facto limit the trail with only few teahouses or home stays and at couple of places the number of accommodation can be narrowed down to one or two. Hence, it is utterly important to have tents as a backup option in peak season, not because there will be a heavy influx of trekkers but because of inadequate amount of teahouses. Furthermore, people along the trail are yet to commercialize and hence they serve nothing fancy but warm meal of rice and lentils with a warmer smile. If you love bamboo shoots and a different variety of spinach which is called Niguro you ought to visit this place in monsoon as it seems like these two are the only available variant in all the teahouses in the season.
Khopra danda is a short trek that can be completed either in a week or extended for 2 by integrating other treks in the region. It comprises of fair amount of ascent and descent making it more or less an easy trek. In this brief amount of time in the mountain you will accommodate in the community run teahouses which further contributes to the schools and communities, witness 2 of the 8 eight thousand meter mountains in the country and finally wear off exhaustion by relaxing in one of the highly recommended natural hot water springs of Tatopani towards the end of the trek.
For more information:-
https://www.themountaintrails.com/budget-trekking/khopra-ridge-trek
When someone asks me where do I love travelling in Nepal, my answer is obvious, the mountains. These serene mountains are blessed with tranquility and works ...