The Pursuit

"Magnificent view of Siringi Himal (Mountain) and Kaal Taal."

It was a good day at the bag packer hostel. I’ll tell you why. No, I don’t run it. I run a Travel Company rather an adventure company. My office was located in a bag packer hostel, in Thamel. I wanted to do something different for a startup adventure company. I didn’t want to restrict myself to the normal routes that has been often taken. I wanted to give something new that would excite the clients, make memorable moments while their travel and add value to Rustic Himalayan Adventure.

This desire to do something different led to me to explore the Manasalu Region. I’d heard a lot about valleys while during my Ladakh trip; Spiti Valley, Parbati Valley. The connection with the term valley was such that I wanted to explore the Tsum Valley of Manasalu Region. Again, this region is a restricted area and not many actually mostly the foreigners don’t know about this region at all.

While travelling to Nepal, people take a trek to the Annapurna Region, the Everest Region and Mardi. Langtang is another popular region but has been affected by the 2015 earthquake and since been struggling to stand. Regions like Manasalu, Kanchenjunga, Rara, Dolpo are seldom taken by the foreigners.

"Pocket map of Manaslu & Tsum Valley Conservation Area."

I started to look for maps. I found one. The Manasalu Trail. But there wasn’t the Tsum Valley Map. So I had to get one with both Manasalu and Tsum Valley merged to make things easier. Now did I mention that this trip was 21 days long? Yes, it’s long and not many would be able to make such time.

Introduction to Dave and Kelsie
Coincidentally I met this Canadian lady while my travel in manang. I received an email from her on the present day here at Kathmandu. We had a conversation and she said she’d refer me to her friend who’d soon be travelling to Nepal. That friend happened to be Dave. We got connected on facebook. She skimmed through my facebook profile for whatever I had posted for the last two years and it got her to the impression that I knew what I was talking about.

"Lady Lens, Kelsie."

At the moment Dave was travelling Africa. I and Dave exchanged email and the planning for the trip started! (sort of). He had his date fixed. Now, in the hostel where my Travel Company is located, there was a Hawaiian girl, tattooed, piercied, she was a bit of rebel from what I could make out. I had a chat with her as I would talk to the tourists in
the hostel on a daily basis. I introduced myself as a tour operator. She would be here (in Nepal) for the next two months.

"Cool Dave."

She asked me, “what are the places that are there to go around in Nepal?” She was a professional photographer. That actually made things easier as she actually wanted to explore Nepal through her lenses. She had an amazing camera set. Then I pitched her the idea. She said it was a good idea and she went and so went the days. Dashain came by and went. I was in touch with her via email. Due to my instant and constant reply of the mails, she was impressed.

How it got managed
It was a learning experience for me at that point as I was new to this sector. There’s this Travel company called Cold Feet Adventure and the owner Mr. Gopi. I used to visit him regularly, we both enjoyed each other’s company. He’s taught me a lot of things. He’s basically my Guru when it comes to running a Travel Company.

I shared him the idea of Tsum Valley and my plans. He was shocked and amazed. I will tell you why!
1. It’s a tough trail.
2. No start up usually does this trail.

Now the first question I asked him was, “How do we do it?”, “What’s the legal formalities?”; since it already is a restricted area. He said that it would require a special permit. Tsum Valley being an unexplored region it actually took me some special permits for the trek. In the mean time I had to relay this to Dave and Kelsie. I was in constant touch with them. They were eager to know the cost and the budget required for the trip. I had told them that I would come up with a concrete data once I get every information needed. I had told them that this trek would be a little
expensive as compared to the other treks, just to stay on the safe side.

Days passed by, Dave gave me the dates he was coming to Nepal. He planned his stay here in Nepal for a month. The trek required 21 days, so here I started to schedule. Kelsie had 3 months on her visa. However, Kelsie was also eager to join us for this trek. Dave had already done the Annapurna Circuit on his own. He was okay with the Manasalu trail too. Here comes the catchy part, since it’s a restricted area one cannot just take an individual tourist to this region. There at least must be two. Kelsie and Dave were the only two people I had. That meant this just covered up the operating cost. I was like I have to find people! I was pumped up.

"Embarking for Manasalu."

Introduction of Ally
Kelsie was basically travelling throughout Nepal. While at Pokhara, she met this lady called Ally from New Zealand. Kelsie said Ally was interested for the trek. The required information was passed on to Ally for the trip.

"Nature Lover, Ally."

Ally here had her own kind of personality. She was very sensitive in nature. She didn’t like paper being wasted, not even a little bit. She had done her bit of travelling. She had travelled Asia. She had mostly spent her time in India.

The Approaching day
As the day to Manasalu was approaching near, I was geared up mentally. Dave arrived in Kathmandu. I made sure that his stay was comfortable here. Kelsie was here in Kathamandu too. Ally was travelling Chitwan and would make her way to Kathmandu in a few days’ time. I had three potential clients. It was a 21 days trip, so I really had to plan well. I needed a guide as I had never taken this route or trek before.

"Saddling up for Manaslu ."

I sought Mr. Gopi. It was a high season time and to get a good guide was a tough task. Mr. Gopi referred me a guide. I had an impression in my mind that it would be a local Sherpa guide. But to my surprise he was a local Kathmandu newar guide. It made me a bit skeptic initially. His name was Ram Shahi. I knew the porter, so that got sorted. In the mean time I introduced all the three of my clients to one another.

The Pitch
I was yet to pitch the trekking details to them (clients). Manasalu area is one of the remote areas. You wouldn’t get anything luxurious neither basic things that could lure anyone into a spending spree. Yet because of the fact that it’s a remote area, anything you could get for food to any available goods were and probably is very expensive.

"The Vision."

I pitched the total cost of the trek. They took the price as a wholesome expenditure. I corrected them as it was an individual cost that each had to bear. They were taken aback. I showed them the map, routes and explained them precisely as of what they were embarking on. This justified the cost and they were okay for the price I’d offered.
For the very first time I was really proud that I cracked the deal. What more could have been more encouraging to a young lad with a startup company? I told myself, “This is how you do business.” This was the longest and the biggest trek that Rustic Himalayan was attempting. It was a big deal for me and my company.

The Difference
As a startup business in the trekking scenario, I didn’t see, got or found content. Whenever one searches for a place to travel to they’d probably google. When I did, I couldn’t find anything so relative about Manasalu Trek or trail. I knew a few people who are really good with camera and video making skills. I approached them. They were two young guys. They were well equipped. They had just started on their professional careers. They were ready to join. They had never trekked before. In fact, they had never travelled outside Kathmandu.

"The video Team."

I got the T-shirts printed with the Rustic Himalayan logo. I gave the T-Shirts to the guests, the porter, the guide and the video guys. Everything was perfect. I was hitting the gym. The fitness level was on point. With two SUVs and the whole crew in it, we left for Manasalu from Thamel.

Written by Jai Pradhan.