Trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

Foprang Danda 3190m – Gosankund 4380m

Enjoying my morning coffee in paradise.

The Lodge owner walked me out to a shortcut trail through the haunted forest, skipping Sing Gompa, saving perhaps an hour. Since I was already acclimatized for altitude from the Langtang trek of the previous week, the faster I got high, the better.

Mountain vistas got better and better. The Ganesh Himal is impressive. These peaks are rarely climbed.

Cholangpati village 3600m is impressive. Laurabina 3910m, even better.

For lunch I had local fried potatoes for the first time. With local mushrooms. Delicious.

On one side of me was a group of loud Israelis. The other side a group of Germans. None had been born when Hitler committed genocide. I wondered how big a rift remains.

Up. Up. Up.

I love hiking above the clouds. 🙂

Ganesh greeted me.

I knew I must be getting close to Gosainkund, the lakes sacred to Buddhist and Hindu. Pilgrims flock here during monsoon, braving leeches, floods and landslides. About 30,000 come each summer. There are places to sleep for about 300. 😦

Sunset from Gosainkund village was spectacular. No surprise there!

Spent most of that evening chatting with a couple of young ladies who holiday together. One from France, one from Turkey, now living in London. You meet some interesting people in the Himalaya. Especially when hiking independently and solo.

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Trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

Syabrubesi 1500m – Foprang Danda 3190

To the sacred Gosainkund lakes. 🙂

I’d just finished an 8-day trek of the Langtang valley, finishing in Syabrubesi.

While enjoying my room in the the BIG city of “Beshi” after 8 days deprivation on the Langtang trek, I got a knock on the door in the morning asking me to check out by 9am.

I hung around the dining room, using the slow wifi after 8 days without internet.

One MORE hot shower, then I crossed the bridge out of Syabrubesi once again and, once again, started climbing up the Langtang gorge. It was (almost) the same start as Langtang trek 9 days earlier.

Once I finally started climbing away from Langtang Khola, it turned out to be an interesting and entertaining (though grueling) ascent.

In the forest I ran into a guy hacking away at a live tree. For no reason I could see. Nearby was a stack of human faeces.

His?

Perhaps he’s a village idiot.

I stopped for lunch at Thulo, a beautiful location.

Salty veg, egg, noodle soup.

What else?

Climbing again after lunch was a challenge. It was tempting to stay for the evening.

This is a rich farming valley. At this altitude, harvest was on.

Though there are many more Hindus on this trek than on Langtang, it’s still primarily Tibetan Buddhist.

Happily, views got even better the higher I climbed.

This route is empty compared to Langtang. There is far less litter on the trail.

My goal was the lodges at Foprang Danda, reputed to have fantastic views.

Hotel Sunset View view.

I was the only guest at both lodges that evening, most everyone else continuing to Sing Gompa, which has no great views.

I spent the night chatting with the lodge owner and his wife. And playing with their little dog, Tommy. Their two kids were away at boarding school in Syabrubesi.

No solar powered lights in this lodge. Only candles.

The owner called his brother, “Bishal Sherpa”, a guide, and arranged for him and I to meet next evening. We’d talk about a future possible trek on the Tamang Heritage Trail, a much promoted new route.

Nice.

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Trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

Bamboo 1970m to Syabrubesi 1503m

I only had a couple of hours left on foot to reach “civilization” (slow internet). So it was a late awakening and a leisurely descent.

Always a pleasure watching newbies heading up … while you are heading down. 🙂

Needless to say, descending the Langtang gorge requires a fair bit up ascent.

I was feeling pretty mellow, at this point.

There she be. The big city of Syabrubesi.

Needless to say, China is keen on road building into Nepal. A mixed blessing. This new road is one of the three easiest ways to drive across the border.

Having been offline for 8 days, I was keen to get online. Unfortunately clouds reduced the speed of satellite link.

There is a bank and ATM in Syabrubesi. But the town is pretty quiet aside from early morning, when buses leave. And late afternoon, when buses arrive.

I caught up with Kevin and Delphine in town. Their trekking peak, Kyanjin Ri, had been a thrilling success.

The France Canadians would head back to Kathmandu 7am next morning, with 4 days left on their Nepal holiday to explore the valley.  Delphine is ready for early retirement. 🙂

We celebrated our excellent Langtang adventure with beer and peanuts. Guide BJ even had a sip or two of alcohol. He normally does not drink.

There’s plenty of partying in Syabrubesi when people finish their treks.

Me?

Next day I’d carry on up to the icy Gosainkund lakes. And from there walk back to Kathmandu via the Helambu. Another 8 days or so.

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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. 🙂

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Trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

Pairo 1800m  to Lama Hotel 2420

Slowly. Slowly.

That’s the mantra when starting a Himalayan trek.

I was last to leave the teahouse (9am), leisurely sipping weak milk coffee and petting the lodge cat.

My guide from last year’s Manaslu Circuit trek, BJ Dhakal and his two Canadian clients, greeted me on their way up. BJ had spotted me in one of the checkpoint lineups the previous day.

I pushed the cat off my lap and joined them on the ascent.

There are plenty of flowers hence plenty of bees.

I’d call it semi-tropical, but not jungle.

All day we ascended the narrow Langtang river gorge, footing muddy in places.

BJ stopped for lunch at Bamboo 1970m. So I joined them for yet another pot of milk coffee. And egg noodle soup, a staple of mine in the mountains.

Langtang is busier than I expected given that it’s so much less famous than Annapurna and Everest.

The 2014 Nepal snowstorm disaster motivated some people to switch their destination from Annapurna to Langtang. We weren’t sure whether the high passes on Annapurna and Manaslu were yet open.

The trail works it’s way up both sides of the Langtang Khola (river), depending on which is easier. Bridges are superb.

Everyone but me had seen Langurs on the trail. Finally I stumbled into a big troop.

Almost anything can grow in this climate.

Greens (something like spinach) are needed for the local staple, dal Baht.

BJ had booked rooms at the Origin Lodge, Lama Hotel 2420m, opened 1976. One of the elder men running the place had been here 30 years not once returning to his home village.

We arrived by 2pm. I washed up in the river (rather than buying a solar heated shower), then had a siesta, delaying dinner until 7pm.

For the first time I’d brought with me an adaptor to plug into the light socket. It powered up my phone and laptop in no time.

My legs were working. Feet good. A chronic sore heel (something like a bruise) was my only concern.

Lama Hotel is one of the most popular spots on the Langtang, a good altitude to sleep both up and down. Too crowded for my liking.

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