Day 2: Tatopani – Dharapani




Technical details of the day:

Hiking duration: 6 h
Cumulative Ascend Value: 783 m
Cumulative Descend Value: 147 m

Map of the day

Curve of difference in heights

Courbe de dénivelé de l'étape 2 du trek du tour du Dhaulagiri : Tatopani - Dharapani

Curve of difference in heights of day 2 of the around Dhaulagiri trek: Tatopani - Dharapani

Details of the day:

This day was the longest of the trek regarding the number of kilometers walked. The trail is once again the road used by the buses that we regulary saw. At each time, the driver asked to us if we wanted to climb into it to gain time. The trail ascent and descent regulary to go through villages. This was very exhausting because of the temperature (more than 35°C) and the fact that most of the path was rather sun-exposed. Unfortunately, we saw too lately that we could have hike on the other side of the river on a flatter and less sun-exposed path. However we are not sure that the trail on the other side of the river lead to Darbang.

Don’t hesitated to buy some fruits when you went through villages. They are really tasty and full of energy: our favorite was banana which is the best when you are hungry.

We arrived to Darbang at almost noon. We passed by an ACAP checkpoint where we needed to register and shown the ACAP permit. In signing the register, we noticed that there is only few passages on this circuit.

We decided to find a place to eat in the village. The keepers advised us to stop before the end of the village at Rainbow guesthouse. We ate as usual a good Dhal-bat and drunk a black tea (150 roupies for the dhal-bat and 10 roupies for the cup of black tea).

During our meal, two Israeli guys who came from Beni join us. Like us, they planned to do the Dhaulagiri circuit without porters and guide. The others trekkers we met during this trek were two Germans guys with their guide and three porters. We met them all along our trail in the villages or in the bases camp at the end of the days. Otherwise the only persons we met were the Nepali inabitants.

This day is far from to be finished. We continued to reach our daily goal: Dharapani. So we passed the suspension bridge and walked now along the river in its left side. 15 minutes later, we passed another suspension bridge. After that, we had a steep ascent where a backhoe loader was enlarging the road. We do not know if the purpose is to continue the road to Dharapani or just to secured and stabilized the path. Indeed this path should be very slippery and dangerous in case of rain. At the end of the ascent, we entered in a forest. When we came out of the forest when arrived to Dharapani.

Dharapani is a smaller village than Beni, Tatopani or Darbang. We were surprised to see that on every house’s roof stand a small solar panel. They used them to provide energy to a light bulbs or radio.

We slept and had a meal in a family (600 roupies): Guess the menu? Dhal-bat and black tea (with cardamom). We always enjoy this dish.
Like the Nepali, we washed ourself into the village fountain in front of young curious (for the girls: bring some fast-drying clothes that you could used when you took a shower into the village fountains!!!).

The satisfaction given by this trek is not only due to the sightseeing of wonderful landscapes all along the days but also due to the unexpected encounters. All the Nepali met were very kind and wellcoming. We shared some nice evenings. We discovered that Nepales children learned English in the same time than they learned Nepali that’s why it is easy to communicate in the villages.

6 p.m. it’s late, it’s time to go to bed because a new day of hiking wait us tomorrow.

Pictures of the day:

GPS data

LatitudeLongitudeAltitude (m)
28.370132883.4991399996
28.371358183.49746031000
28.375708483.49518171010
28.379552783.48778581028
28.382619883.48104951023
28.384529483.47136241033
28.384102883.47033041028
28.38216883.46660921024
28.386157483.4575661031
28.38994683.44941471069
28.390033783.44876951084
28.39210883.44379421067
28.392301183.44319241073
28.397051583.42842661096
28.397786783.41877561096
28.402116883.41251541150
28.404664483.40776821183
28.407285683.40356861195
28.410864683.39553571155
28.416923483.38242871197
28.422421183.383711204
28.434356383.38337111227
28.436468183.38439351412
28.443312683.3795421546
28.443542183.37869211545
28.44654383.37755221573
28.450746683.37696441583
28.451807683.37660881602

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This