Trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

Kyanjin Gompa 3830m to Bamboo 1970m

Slow start. The high solo day hike of the day prior had taken a toll. My sunscreen had not seemed to work. (Does it ever work?)

Donated a book (White Tiger by Aravind Adiga) to the Dorje Bakery book exchange.

Dorje Bakery chocolate cake truly is fantastic. 🙂

Heading down valley, I tried not to look back.

Instead of looking up to the highest peaks, I kept my eyes down looking for small details I’d missed on the way up.

Busy, busy. Huge groups (most from France) were arriving with dozens of porters.

Here’s one lady’s suitcase coming up to the Tibet border.

I’d never before seen so many female porters.

Most of Langtang locals stay the winter. See the firewood and dung fuel drying.

Traditionally, animals sleep ground floor, people above.

The only crops yet to be harvested, it seemed, were greens. Especially cabbage.

For reasons unknown to me, there are no dogs in the Langtang valley, but plenty of cats.

A good idea since I’ve seen rats up to 5000m!

Back into the Langtang gorge.

I again watched langur monkeys frolicking.

Descending quickly is like moving backwards in time. All sorts of flowers long dead up high still thrive early November lower in the river valley.

Many on the way down stay at Lama Hotel, the busiest stop on the Langtang. It was packed by the time I got there as were the next few villages.

I walked until dark, another tough day, reaching pretty Bamboo just at dusk.

One of the benefits of trekking independently and solo is having the freedom to stop when and where you want.

see all my high res photos from this day

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