P Ravi Shankar

Kathmandu:

Bryaga is a village that consists of about 200 houses stacked one above the other at the base of a cliff. A beautiful 500-year old monastery is perched on top of the village. The monastery has a beautiful display of statues, thangkas and religious objects. New Bryaga is on the trail to Manang village and consists mainly of lodges catering to trekkers. I was on my way to Kicho Tal (Ice Lake) about a thousand metres above Bryaga. The trail was fairly well maintained. The houses of Bryaga were beginning to look like matchboxes stacked one above the other. Prayer flags were fluttering in the wind. It was a clear day, the kind I like. Clear blue skies, bright sunshine, the winding trail before me, the wind in my ears and music in my soul! The mighty Annapurnas to my right and the Pisang peak straight ahead.The scenery was superb! The lazy Marsyangadi sauntering through the east-west Manang valley. The houses of Manang village far, far below. The Gangapurna Lake and the mighty icefall perched tenuously above Manang. The clear ice at the top a dirty brown by the time it reached the base of the icefall.

I had a superb view of the great barrier (the ridge between Roc Noir and the Nilgiris). The black rock spire of Khangsar and the mighty Mt.Tilicho. The sheer scree slopes leading to the Tilicho base camp. A few, white fluffy clouds were floating above the Annapurnas. The delicate and strong browns of the valley, the off-white Marshyangadi, the black rocks, the snow-white Himals, the green pines and the dark blue sky. An impressionist painting that a Monet would have enjoyed. The climb uphill was relentless. The signboards at confusing trail junctions were a big help. The land was becoming increasingly rocky and I remembered the description of the lake being set in a sea of boulders. The sun was going behind the clouds and the air was turning distinctly chilly. The lake is a major site of pilgrimage for Manangis. The water level had declined. The dark and brooding turquoise blue waters against the backdrop of the Annapurnas were hauntingly beautiful.

The path ahead was lined with stones on both sides. The lake was at the base of a small hill, the dark waters ruffled by the unruly wind. Manangi legends say that those who are pure of heart can see visions of paradise in the dark waters. The sky was turning dark and it was well past two in the afternoon. I sat down on a stone bench out of the wind, happy and content, having been lucky to have visited the “lake of the gods.”The lake is at around 4,700 m. I started the long descent back to Bryaga, Hongde and civilisation.