Trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

Lama Hotel 2420 to Langtang Village 3430m

Again I had only milk coffee for breakfast, fortified with some instant coffee I brought along with me.

For some reason we all felt stronger today, ascending the 1000m elevation gain fairly easily.

My guidebook uses words like: tranquil, trancelike, enchanting, …

But I come to Nepal to get close to the highest mountains in the world. We began to get glimpses of the wall bordering Tibet.

So far I’d managed to avoid Nepal pit toilets. This is one of the most unsanitary nations in the world. Here, for example, is a tea house toilet that drains directly into the only river. The main water source for every guesthouse below.

That’s the Riverside Lodge, if you’d like to avoid it!

Oct 31st, it’s autumn in Nepal. The higher you climb, the more obvious winter’s coming.

Finally. We left the gorge.

And reached the high, open Langtang valley.

This is a Buddhist valley. Prayer wheels. Mani walls.

Seasonal Yak herders all seem to have solar panels to charge their mobile phones.

In 2014, however, mobile phones are not yet working in Langtang. In fact, this valley has not changed much in 30yrs or more. The lodges are old. There’s no school, no internet. No active monasteries. The monks left for Kathmandu long ago.

Destination for the night, Langtang Village.

The last hour or so I did start feeling the altitude. We’d come up a long way in a relatively short period of time.

The Tibetan Lodge was filled with Canadians this evening, most of them from Alberta.

Trekkers to Langtang are mostly from France. Also Germany and Israel. There’s no shortage of Canadians. 🙂

Late afternoon we wandered the village, starting with the Nak Cheese factory.

There are too many lodges in this town. Too many locals chasing too few trekkers. Even in high season.

Walking just outside town we enjoyed alpine meadows with horse, mules, buffalo and yaks.

Here are my new friends, Kevin and Delphine, both born in France. Both now living happily in Quebec.

Like this chough, we planned to fly high tomorrow. Saving our strength, opting not to make the 1-2hr side trip to a waterfall viewpoint.

Still, a wonderful day in the Himalaya. 🙂

see all my high res photos from this day

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