The village that turned back an expedition
Nubri, the upper Budhi Gandaki valley, was settled by Tibetan-speaking people who kept close ties with Tibet across the passes to the north. They farmed barley and potatoes, herded yaks and traded salt and grain. Samagaon grew as the largest village, with the Ribung Gompa on the hill above and the Pungyen Gompa on a terrace below the glaciers of Manaslu. The 1991 census counted 665 people in 179 houses, all Buddhist.
In the 1950s the mountain above the village became a goal for Japanese climbers. In 1953 an expedition reached about 7,750 m. When the next team came in 1954, the people of Sama blocked them: they believed earlier expeditions had angered the gods and caused avalanches that destroyed Pungyen Gompa and killed 18 people. The climbers withdrew. A substantial donation later helped rebuild the monastery, and on 9 May 1956 Toshio Imanishi and Gyalzen Norbu made the first ascent of Manaslu.
The Manaslu Conservation Area was created in 1998, and the circuit opened to organised trekking groups with restricted area permits. Teahouses spread up the valley, and Samagaon now has lodges, bakeries and a steady flow of trekkers and climbers in autumn and spring. Many families still farm and herd, and in winter some move to lower villages or Kathmandu.
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