Members of 3 Military Intelligence (MI) Battalion travelled to Nepal to tackle the rugged and remote terrain of the Limi Valley and to learn more about the communities, culture and heritage of our Gurkha colleagues.
Exercise TERTIUS YATRA 2024 took place from 11-29 November 2024, comprising 13 personnel from 3 MI Battalion, plus a Mountain Leader from 5 MI. The expedition aimed to undertake the Limi Valley Trek in Humla, North West Nepal, one of the most remote and least travelled treks, which has only been open to tourists since 2002. The Limi Valley trek follows a historic trade and pilgrimage route, linking Nepal with Tibet and India, and takes in centuries-old towns, monasteries, traditions and ways of life.
The expedition focused on training the group’s mountaineering and navigation skills, building resilience on challenging terrain and conditions, and increasing understanding of Nepali traditions and customs.
Preparation phase: The team undertook two pre-deployment training weekends that encompassed the Brecon Beacons, Peak District and Lake District to put our endurance to the test and hone our navigation skills and teamwork.
On arrival in Kathmandu, the team received a briefing from British Embassy Kathmandu about the history of the UK’s relationship with Nepal and the origins of the Gurkha regiments.
Days 1-3: The first challenge for such a remote route was getting to the start point. The Humla region is not reliably connected to the rest of the Nepali road system, so the team needed to fly into Simikot, the regional capital, via Pokhara. On landing, the trek began almost immediately, following the Karnali river valley through woodland and narrow gorges. Starting at approx. 2,900m altitude in Simikot, the team needed to acclimatise, and so slept close to the river for the first few nights. The route passed a monastery, which was hosting a festival for a visiting lama, so the team were able to observe Tibetan Buddhist prayer rites and were given a warm welcome by the monks.
Days 4–6: The terrain became steeper and rockier from Day 4, as the altitude began to add up. The rest day in the small town of Yari was a welcome opportunity to acclimatise and to warm up inside a tea house for meals, as the overnight temperatures dropped below -7C. With that preparation, the team was ready to undertake the longest day of the trek so far: traversing the Nara La Pass (4620m) and taking the long, winding road down the valley to the border town of Hilsa.
Day 7-10: Beyond Hilsa, there was no road access at all, and the group needed to be completely self-sufficient for several days. However, some attempts had been made to start building a road, and the group camped right in the middle of it – clearly no traffic was expected. The final stretch before the Limi Valley proper was incredibly steep hairpin bends, with peaks covered in prayer flags and a number of tiny meditation huts and temples. Finally, the Limi Valley opened up into wide plateaus of grazing land for cows and yaks. In the medieval village of Halji, the group were invited to Tibetan Buddhist naming ceremony celebrations for a new baby and were given a tour of the 1000-year-old Richenling Gompa (monastery).
Day 11-12: Our local guide explained that the dropping temperatures and increasing cloud cover were not good news – Himalayan winter was setting in and the roads were becoming impassable as the rivers froze. We needed to get a move on! Our relaxed pace for the final few days was swapped for a quick march to the Nyalu Lagna Pass, in the hope that some drivers could be persuaded to meet us there.
Fortunately, the drivers came through, and the team safely extracted without having to cross the entire Pass on foot. The white-knuckle journey back to Simikot took several hours and was the last convoy out of the Limi Valley, as snow began falling as we drove and the rivers were already iced over.
We had a day of relaxing in the sunshine in Simikot and for our final meal with our porters and guides, we were introduced to the principle of Gurkha ‘messing’, where everyone joins in with the preparation of the meal and uses the cooking time as an opportunity to relax and socialise.
Final phase: Having extracted to Pokhara, the team received a brief at British Gurkhas Pokhara (BGP) on the recruitment process for Gurkhas and the exacting fitness standards the recruits must meet, as well as understanding more about the traditions of the Gurkha Regiments. The BGP team were finalizing the preparations for this year’s in-person phase of recruitment, with a considerable amount of organisation and care going into receiving the candidates over the course of the next few months.
Back in Kathmandu, there was an opportunity to visit two World Heritage Sites – Patan Durbar Square and Swayambhunath Temple – and enjoy the warmer weather before returning to the UK.
