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akemisadventures

Solo travel • Fun Adventures • Hidden gems • Creator Community Manager: @witsummit
💌 akemi@akemisadventures.com
📸 @akemicaptures
🏕🌞🏜✈️🌬🧘🏻‍♀️

Crazy to think of how much stuff we use on a daily

Crazy to think of how much stuff we use on a daily basis!

I carried my @rei Flash 55 with my water, snacks, camera gear (@sonyalphafemale) and extra layers. It didn't seem like a a lot but everything felt so heavy at altitude. We hired a porter who was amazing and carried the rest of our stuff.

We only did laundry twice, and by laundry I mean hand wash in freezing cold water in a bucket! Underwear and socks were easier to hand wash as needed. To dry, we hung them from our backpack the next day while walking. I only washed my hair twice too. But I did get a warm shower *most* nights.

Not pictured- shower shoes and lightweight trainers! And my warm beanie and my huge sun hat. I lost a shirt somehow on the trail.

Kathmandu has tons of stores selling knock-off name brands. I bought some "North Face" shorts and an "Arcteryx" shirt. Shoutout to@fits_socks @darntoughvermont and @smartwool for their awesome socks. The @platypus.hydration gravity filter was genius- so easy and fast! Of course @camelbak was great too. We also used @aquatabs.us , which might have been overkill, but hey we didn't get sick!

🎉 Happy New Year! 🎉 Looking back, it’s been one of

🎉 Happy New Year! 🎉
Looking back, it’s been one of the most challenging years🩷 and one that’s pushed me to grow into myself. I lived knowing that if I didn’t take risks I wouldn’t get anywhere, and yes, I failed at some of those risks, so I experienced the pain and discomfort of failure, and I experienced myself growing older, thinking that it means something. (Spoiler alert- it means whatever you want it to mean!) I’ve been walking this path of living my life in my own way, and sometimes it’s a trudge, but you just gotta keep walking. I discovered nobody is paying as much attention to me as I think, but sometimes they are, which is sometimes nice and sometimes not, and as long as I’m grounded and connected to myself it’s all ok. As long as I believe in myself, nothing else matters. I’ve gotten through hardships, and self judgement, and processed feelings of guilt, which led me to believe I didn’t deserve to succeed, which was eye opening and of course NOT TRUE! I’m starting to believe that I can have nice things, and life can be fun and things will work out! And a gentle reminder that this is a highlight reel, and I didn’t film myself when I was in the dark, crying, feeling down- those times happened a lot this year, and they will keep happening. I’m just letting the emotions flow through me, and I’m grateful to be here! 😮‍💨😍🥹🤩💪💁🏻‍♀️

✅ We’re done‼️ Itinerary for Day 19: breakfast at

✅ We’re done‼️ Itinerary for Day 19: breakfast at 6, leave at 6:30, hire a jeep and drive to Beisisar, then get on the local bus and leave for Pokhara and get there at 3/4:00, head straight for the pharmacy, get antibiotics, eat a huge meal, and massage at 7:00!

🤗 I can’t believe we did all that. We walked about *125 miles* in 17 days. Thank to our amazing guide Gautam and cute porter Lal. 👍🏼

😮‍💨 How did we do that? How was it to wake up every morning and pack our bags, trying to be on time for breakfast, get the bags packed, despite screaming muscles, everything cold, and heavy. Or hot and sweaty. Altitude, dal bhat, trekking poles, Gautam laughing and dancing on the trail, his infectious cute smile dragging us out of our grumpy moods. I loved him so much. He was so good with us. The rushing rivers below, the landslides, the endless downhills. Rocks rocks and more rocks. Meeting people on the trail. Stinging nettles. Milerepa. Monks. Red clothes, green skin. Gompas. Dal bat. Little kids with red rosy cheeks, and their mothers, with the same red cheeks. Younger than they look, no sunscreen up there at 10,000ft. Cold. Agriculture, oxes, mules- pronounced “Mulies”, djokyo, yaks and naks. Taking order for the next meals. Spring rolls, fried rice, pizza, dal bat.
Infection in my leg, now it’s getting better! I was able to drain it and the antibiotics worked!

👉🏼 Would I do it again? 100% YES What an experience. 🙌🏼

🇳🇵Nepal | Manaslu | Tsum Valley | Trekking

✅ Day 18! Manaslu / Tsum Valley. Oct 21, 2025 Toda

✅ Day 18! Manaslu / Tsum Valley. Oct 21, 2025 Today’s trek:
Bimthang 3,720 m (12,204 ft) to Tilje 2300m (7,545ft)
Distance: 16 km / 10 miles
⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ Descending 1,420m (4,658 ft)

🖼️ This was a beautiful day. The last day. 🥲 We went from the Manaslu Conservation Area to the Annapurna Conservation area. We were descending into warmer weather, and the trees came back. 🌲The evergreen forests were beautiful, and as we got further down we could see the autumn colors changing in the leaves. 🍁

It was Laxmi Day! Laxmi is the goddess of abundance ❤️ This means they decorate with bright lights and make sand art. It was festival season, and in the days before there were days to celebrate th crows, and the dogs, and in the next days they will celebrate Diwali. 🪔 It was a festive time, and little kids came by to sing and dance, in exchange for money. It was such a beautiful experience to see everybody celebrating.

🇳🇵Nepal | Manaslu | Tsum Valley | Trekking

#Himalayas #TrekkingNepal #ManasluCircuit #LarkyaLa

Day 18! After such a rewarding day, we are both ha

Day 18! After such a rewarding day, we are both happy and sad to only have one more day of hiking left! This trek has reminded me of how little I *truly* need. The tiniest things can bring joy. It’s such a good reminder that we have so much to be than kful for. What a different world I live in most of the time. Hot water on demand, indoor plumbing, heaters, and my own comfy bed!

🇳🇵Nepal | Manaslu | Tsum Valley | Trekking

#Himalayas #TrekkingNepal #ManasluCircuit #LarkyaLa

✅ Day 17! Manaslu / Tsum Valley. Oct 20, 2025 Toda

✅ Day 17! Manaslu / Tsum Valley. Oct 20, 2025 Today’s trek:
Dharmsala 4460 m (14,632 ft) to Bimthang 3720 m (12,204 ft)
Distance: 14 km / 9 miles
Elevation: First climbing ⬆️ 700m (2300ft) to 5,160m (16,930ft), then descending 1,440m (4,726ft)

🏔️ Aaaahhhhhhhh!!!! We did it! Ugly crying, staring around in amazement, feeling a sense of community with everyone else who also arrived here, trying to remember all the content I wanted to shoot up here, forgetting to eat, finishing all my water (didn’t realize I wouldn’t get more water for hours…)

🏔️ It was beautiful. So stark and other worldly. Also hard to breathe at 17,000ft! Magical. 😮‍💨

❄️ The descent was also hard, but also beautiful! We wished we had spikes to keep from sliding in the ice and snow on the trail, but we managed without falling.

😮‍💨 By lunch time I was so dead I felt like I couldn’t go on, but we had an equally long hike the next day and I didn’t want to hike even longer the next day so we pushed on.

😊 Arriving in Bimthang was such a relief. A hot shower, a hot meal, and did some self care to try to recover!

🇳🇵Nepal | Manaslu | Tsum Valley | Trekking

#Himalayas #TrekkingNepal #ManasluCircuit #LarkyaLa

Day 17! 🏔️ Our big day, crossing Larkya La Pass! 💪

Day 17! 🏔️ Our big day, crossing Larkya La Pass! 💪 Woke up at 2:30am to get ready and not be late! Breakfast was at 3:20, and we started hiking at 4:00am. I barely slept and had weird dreams. 🌬️ I was so emotional reaching the top! I really didn’t think I was going to make it. Going down was actually worse. But the views, the views were spectacular. Stay tuned for the daily recap!

🇳🇵Nepal | Manaslu | Tsum Valley | Trekking

#Himalayas #TrekkingNepal #ManasluCircuit #LarkyaLa

✅ Day 16! Manaslu / Tsum Valley. Oct 19, 2025 Toda

✅ Day 16! Manaslu / Tsum Valley. Oct 19, 2025 Today’s trek:
Samdo 3690 m (12,106 ft) to Dharmsala 4460 m (14,632 ft)
Distance: 3 km / 1.8 miles
Elevation gain: ⬆️ 770 m (2,526 ft)

🌅 What a sweet day. The anticipation is high, as tomorrow is the day we’ve all been waiting for. Anxiously, trepidatiously, nervously hoping we would make it. And here we are! Safe, uninjured, fine with the altitude! Strong and deliriously happy! It’s going to be a good day.

🏔️The days leading up to this day have been tumbling upon one another, faster and faster as we admire the beautiful mountains and sparse environment. There is nothing like being on top of the world at this altitude. We started in the jungle, and now we’re in the mountain tops. The colors are iron red, orange lichen, white and gray stone, and blue, blue sky. It is not going to rain or snow this time. We are so lucky. I can’t believe we only have basically two more days of trekking! This afternoon we will do another acclimatization hike up the hill, then tomorrow is our biggest day, first up to Larkya La Pass then descending to Dharapani at 1,100m, quite a distance.

🦵🏿 I’m worried about my leg, but have been drinking garlic soup with meals and elevating.

👯‍♀️ Here we are sharing a room with two other girls, as all the rooms are communal here. Everyone sleeps together on one big bed. We are rooming with Nicolina and Celine, the two women from the Netherlands that we made friends with earlier. Wake up time will be 2:15am, breakfast at 3:15, leaving at 4am.

🌬️That night I had a dream I was on an airplane and there was no oxygen, I couldn’t breathe. Woke up gasping.

🇳🇵Nepal | Manaslu | Tsum Valley | Trekking

#Himalayas #TrekkingNepal #ManasluCircuit

Day 16! Omg I can believe we’re almost there. Toda

Day 16! Omg I can believe we’re almost there. Today we’re going to Dharmsala, our last stop before the Larkya La Pass, the highest point on the trek!

Feeling pretty invincible, feeling acclimated, feeling strong, the only thing worrying me is this infection in my leg. I started to drink garlic soup with my meals, both for the altitude and also a natural antibiotic.

🇳🇵Nepal | Manaslu | Tsum Valley | Trekking

#Himalayas #TrekkingNepal #ManasluCircuit

✅ Day 15! Manaslu Circuit. Oct 18, 2025 Today’s tr

✅ Day 15! Manaslu Circuit. Oct 18, 2025 Today’s trek:
Samagoan 3530 m (11,581 ft) to Samdo 3690 m (12,106 ft)
Distance: 8.2 km / 5.1 miles
Elevation gain: ⬆️ 160 m (525 ft) “Nepali flat” 😂

We are getting closer and closer to the end! It feels exciting.

Highlights:
Pema Choling Monastery
Lake Birendra
Views on views
More acclimatizing

The hotel is full of travelers, and the dining room is warm and crowded. We tried “Chang,” a fermented barley wine, it was tasty! There are hot showers (500 rupees) but the lock was stuck and they had to break it to let me in! I was starting to notice an ingrown hair in my leg that was starting to hurt- seems like it got infected somehow, maybe aggravated after walking 6-10 miles a day on it for two weeks! Hoping it doesn’t get worse!

🇳🇵Nepal | Manaslu | Tsum Valley | Trekking

#Himalayas #TrekkingNepal #ManasluCircuit

Day 15! On our way from Samagoan to Samdo. We are

Day 15! On our way from Samagoan to Samdo. We are now recognizing a bunch of people who are on the same route- some who we met before, like the Dutch women we met in Lho, and various others, most of whom passed us because we stop a lot for pictures! Everybody is on the same path now, with the main goal in mind, to reach Larkya La Pass!

It’s pretty cold up here at this altitude! The temperature is 32 degrees at night, and I get into bed with all my clothes on. A base layer, a fleece layer, a down puffy (850 REI Magma), a wool hat and the fleece hood over it. With that, a big blanket and a down sleeping bag, I’ve been fine!

🇳🇵Nepal | Manaslu | Tsum Valley | Trekking

#Himalayas #TrekkingNepal #ManasluCircuit

✅ Day 14! Manaslu / Tsum Valley. Oct 17, 2025 Toda

✅ Day 14! Manaslu / Tsum Valley. Oct 17, 2025 Today’s trek: Hiking up 4,000ft/1,000m and back down! This was one of the best highlights of our trip! 🌟

Acclimatization day: Hike from Samagaon 3,530 m (11,581 ft) for 15 km / 9ish miles roundtrip to Pungyen Gompa, ⬆️ to 4,700m/15,420ft altitude and back down ⬇️

🥾 We went on a side quest today, to “climb high and sleep low,” as per acclimatization advice. We were going to hike up to Pungen Gompa, a magical monastery located at 4,700ft/15,420ft, at the end of a vast open plain. Insane how high! Hard to breathe! A little out of it! Very emotional!

🏔️ We spent an hour or so up here at this high elevation, then hiked back down. It was 9 miles round trip and took us around 8 hours. Along the way we saw an avalanche- it was so far away there was a delay before we heard the sound, like how thunder takes time to travel through space to reach your ears. It sounded like thunder! Incredible.

🎒 Our guide, @gautamnepali5681 only carried water! Me and @cateraff carried water, snacks, and extra jackets. Our porter Lal got the day off!

☀️ At the top, we sat and rested behind the monastery where the sun was so soothing, I did a meditative breathwork, I didn’t want to leave. Conditions in the mountains are so variable. A week later, a huge storm blew into the area, leaving everything covered in snow. 😮‍💨

🇳🇵Nepal | Manaslu | Pungen Gompa | Trekking

#Himalayas #TrekkingNepal #manaslucircuittrek

Day 14! Acclimatization day! We were looking forwa

Day 14! Acclimatization day! We were looking forward to this day as a “rest” day, but actually it was about a 9 mile round trip hike up to 15,420ft! 😅😮‍💨 See how bright and chipper I am at the beginning of this hike? 🌟 It was such a magical day though. Pungen Gompa turned out to be starkly beautiful, an enormous plain, surrounded by majestic Himalayas, and interspersed with yaks.

🇳🇵Nepal | Manaslu | Tsum Valley | Trekking

#Himalayas #TrekkingNepal #manaslucircuit

Day 13! We’re doing it! All the days are blurring

Day 13! We’re doing it! All the days are blurring together now. We are above 10,000ft now, and will stay at least this high for another 5 days.

🇳🇵Nepal | Manaslu | Tsum Valley | Trekking

#Himalayas #TrekkingNepal #ManasluCircuit

✅ Day 13! Manaslu / Tsum Valley. Oct 16, 2025 Toda

✅ Day 13! Manaslu / Tsum Valley. Oct 16, 2025 Today’s trek:
Lho 3,714m (12,183 ft) to Samagaun 3,530 m (11,581 ft)
Distance: 7.4 km / 4.6 miles
Elevation loss: ⬇️ 180m (602ft) descending

🌅 Such a beautiful day! It’s our second short day, and we will spend two nights in our next location, in Samagaon. This means we get to do laundry! 🧺 You really learn what’s important on a hike like this. Neither hair nor clothes need to be washed as much as we do 😁 I still haven’t washed my hair since the Tsum Valley. I was really looking forward to washing my clothes though! The water was ice cold, and there weren’t many places to hang the clothes- I improvised a clothesline in our room from some string that came with a visitor pass when we were in Kathmandu, that somehow I still had in my bag. Cate had brought some paracord- good notes for what to bring next time! A @thescrubba portable laundry bag would have been great here!

🇳🇵Nepal | Manaslu | Tsum Valley | Trekking

#Himalayas #TrekkingNepal #ManasluCircuit

✅ Day 12! Manaslu / Tsum Valley. Oct 15, 2025 Toda

✅ Day 12! Manaslu / Tsum Valley. Oct 15, 2025 Today’s trek:
Namrung (2630 m/8626 ft) to Lho 3,714m (12,183 ft)
Distance: 9.3 km / 5.8 miles
Elevation gain: ⬆️ 1084m (3557ft)

😮‍💨 Today’s trek was a short one, just under 6 miles, whoo hoo!

🧦 Namrung is a great place to stock up on supplies, and Lho had little stores as well. You can tell how the Manaslu Circuit is more built up and caters to tourists here, more so than the Tsum Valley section. We saw more groups of hikers, and started to get to know them. Shout out to Celine and Nicolina, from the Netherlands, who we met on the way to Lho, and ended up seeing them off and on, as well as Robyn from England with his guide, Wangda. We met so many interesting people on the trail!

💭 The daily hiking was bringing up so much stuff. Old memories, contemplations, conclusions, rabbit holes and spirals. It’s so crazy how so much stuff comes up! Even more so than when I meditate. Thankful to my hiking mates for giving me the space to process when I needed it. I thought it would somehow settle down at some point, but only now, a month later, am I feeling that it was a cathartic experience. Having spent so much time on the trail talking to myself, and to my inner child, I now feel that I have a better understanding of myself and am dealing better with hard situations. I can’t wait to get back on the trail!

🇳🇵Nepal | Manaslu | Tsum Valley | Trekking

#Himalayas #TrekkingNepal #ManasluCircuit

Day 12! Wow! We made it through the multiple long

Day 12! Wow! We made it through the multiple long days in a row! It felt so good, we slept well, stocked up on supplies, and looking forward to a shorter day of 6 miles today!

🇳🇵Nepal | Manaslu | Tsum Valley | Trekking

#Himalayas #TrekkingNepal #ManasluCircuit

Tinkkie XXXL Body Wipes were a lifesaver in Nepal!

Tinkkie XXXL Body Wipes were a lifesaver in Nepal! We used them when showers weren’t available, or if we were too tired to shower.

💚 Large size! 24” x 8” is great for cleaning the whole body while keeping it lightweight and portable.

👉🏼 Individually wrapped to stay fresh.

🍃 Gentle formula with a minty fragrance which cools and smells good!

🚿 They are perfect for hiking, camping, after workouts, or just a quick refresher any time. It’s great for travel, exercise, commuting, or any other time that requires quick cleaning, leaving you feeling clean and fresh!

#gifted #trailhacks #showerwipes

Day 11! We are starting from Deng after a hard pus

Day 11! We are starting from Deng after a hard push yesterday to get here, so proud of us for making it! 😅🥹😅😭 and now another hard push to get to Namrung today, then we can rest! 🥾 💪🏼 it’s a long hard hike but why am I starting to feel like I don’t want it to end?

✅ Day 11! Manaslu / Tsum Valley. Oct 14, 2025 Toda

✅ Day 11! Manaslu / Tsum Valley. Oct 14, 2025 Today’s trek:
Deng (1,804m/5917 ft) to Namrung (2,630m/8,626ft)
Distance: 17.7 km / 11 miles
Elevation gain: ⬆️ 826m (2,709ft)

🐴 This was another long day! The 3rd long day in a row! What a day. I got knocked over by a mule, they really don’t give a f!

🍎 There was an apple farm and they had a bakery with delicious pastries and apple brandy, such a treat!

🏨 The big surprise was getting to stay at the Four Seasons! We had just read about it in the @lonelyplanet

🇳🇵Nepal | Manaslu | Tsum Valley | Trekking

#Himalayas #TrekkingNepal #ManasluCircuit

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