After the trek around Annapurna, I gave myself a week to recover from the effort. During that time I not only put up my feet and relaxed, but also checked the possibilities for one more hike. Soon it crystallized that it would be another self guided one, as many of the bigger hikes weren’t really an option. Most of them had to be done with a guide, the permits were pretty expensive and usually the minimum amount of people had to be two. Going towards the low season of December, having not the biggest budget and still dependent on a hike with enough guesthouses, there was basically only one choice left in the end: the valley of Langtang together with the holy lake of Gosiankunda. The Langtang trek was one of the most popular hikes after EBC and Annapurna until the earthquake in 2015 hit the region badly. Langtang and some other smaller villages were wiped out completely by a huge avalanche and it was estimated that around 240 people lost their lives on that day. Among them were quite a few hikers, as the earthquake happened in April, one of the main trekking seasons in the country. Obviously it wasn’t possible to do the trek in the ensuing years, as not only the villages were destroyed but also a big part of the hiking trail. The locals didn’t stick their head into the ground though and rebuilt the trail along with most of the villages. Doing my research in advance, I read that it was now possible again to do the whole trek and that the locals were keen to get the tourists back. It all sounded very well to me and as there even was the option to get from Gosainkunda to Kathmandu on foot, I decided to give it a try. Heading back from Pokhara to the capital, I did all the necessary preparations and soon was ready to set out once more. If all would go as planned, I would be well into December at the end of the hike and so my biggest worry beforehand was the weather. Would it be good enough to complete the trek? Would it be possible to reach the summit of Tserko Ri, with 4984 meters above sea level the highest point along the way? Would there be snow? How cold would it get in the alpine regions? Would it be possible to cross over Laurebina pass to hike back to Kathmandu? As you can see many open questions were buzzing in my head and if you want to know how the whole thing turned out then please keep on reading. :)
Day 0: Kathmandu – Syabru Bensi
For once I had decided to neither purchase the bus ticket nor the permit in advance, but instead get it all along the way to the trailhead in Syabru Bensi. So I took a taxi to the bus station in the early morning and when I arrived there, three or four locals had surrounded the car before I even had the chance to get out. :) Obviously they all wanted to sell me a seat on their bus and deciding to go with the most persistent one, I bought a ticket off him. Interestingly enough, my ticket had a seat number and as I had showed up at the bus station last minute, I naturally got a back seat. Not waiting too long for the departure, we made our way out of Kathmandu and followed the road westwards into the direction of Pokhara. Even though the bus was packed, the ride was fine for the first couple hours, but it all changed once we came upon the turnoff towards Syabru Bensi. The well maintained concrete road vanished, making space for a holey dirt road and we started to drive along at a snail’s pace. It was an arduous hour that ensued and I was glad when the bumps eventually decreased and the condition of the road got better again. Some additional respite was given when we stopped in a village a little while later on to eat our lunch, but when we resumed our ride afterwards, the road condition worsened once more and turned the following hours into a little struggle. Still being in a totally packed bus, feeling every bump on that back seat, seeing some locals puking because they got sick of being tossed back and forth and having no other choice than to watch the latest Nepali and Indian music videos playing on full volume on a huge TV screen in front of me, I came to the conclusion that that was probably the most Asian ride I ever had. :)
Well, it eventually got better as soon as we arrived in Dhunche, the last bigger town before Syabru Bensi. At first, there was a break as an Australian girl called Ella (the only other tourist on the bus) and I had to get our permit for the Langtang national park. Then, there was a second break, as we had to register ourselves at another checkpoint a bit further down the road and when we lastly came upon the center of Dhunche, most of the local people got off the bus, finally giving us some space to breathe again. :) While we had been driving upwards for quite a while, we made our way downhill after Dhunche and finally were able to see Syabru Bensi appearing in the distance. Arriving there at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, it had taken us almost eight hours to complete the journey. Now, even more than before, I hoped that I would be able to walk back to Kathmandu as I definitely could do without another bus ride like that. :) Syabru Bensi was a pretty sprawled village and looked not very nice, so I decided to head to the old part at the trailhead to stay there overnight. Saying goodbye to Ella, I started walking and came across a first turnoff shortly afterwards. Not sure if I had to go left or right, I chose to walk along the road to the left and came to a dead end about 10 minutes later. Haha, even got lost sooner than on the Annapurna Circuit. :) Retracing my steps, I took the road to the right this time, walked down to a river, crossed over a hanging bridge and entered the old part of the village. Coming upon the first guesthouse, the owning lady offered me a free room and once I had settled in, I went for a short stroll through the neighborhood, enjoyed a nice dinner afterwards and had a funny conversation with the lovely host family to end the day. Not starting any new habits, bedtime came early as usual and I looked forward to the first day on the trail tomorrow.
Day 1: Syabru Bensi – Sherpagon
To head into the direction of Langtang valley, I could choose between two different ways: one was the lower trail, following a river at the bottom of a narrow valley and the other one was the upper trail, going along the mountainside high above the lower trail. As the views from the upper trail supposedly were better and as I had to use the lower trail on my way back anyway, the decision to hike along the upper one today came naturally. Setting out early in the morning under a shining sun, I walked along the hillside on a narrow trail for some time and enjoyed the first lovely views of the surrounding mountains until I came across a turnoff. As there had been no markings at all so far, I wasn’t sure if that was the one I was looking for. The GPS and a couple waving locals confirmed it soon enough and so I turned right into the direction of a tiny village. Passing through the settlement, the trail had joined a dirt road in the meantime and some good old switchbacks started to lead me uphill through a forest. Following them for quite a while, I was about half way into the ascending slope when I finally found the hiking trail that served as a short cut to all those switchbacks.
Getting out of the trees some time later on, I eventually passed several markings and they were absolutely necessary to lead me further upwards through a maze of roads and paths. The hiking trail suddenly vanished though as I was about to cross the dirt road again and while my map told me to keep walking straight ahead, all I could see in front of me was a steep hillside full of bushes. :) As there also was no sign, I didn't really know where I had to go and so I just followed the road for a while until I reached the outskirts of the village Khangjim. Unfortunately there were still no signs to be seen, but as some other tourists were heading towards me, I thought it a good idea to walk along where they had come from. Passing them, I had a look ahead of me and immediately realized that that couldn’t be the way as it was going into the completely wrong direction. Turning back, I saw them wandering around and knew that they were lost as well. :) Further up, a local was waving though and as he pointed out the path, we soon were on our way to the center of the village. Stopping at a guesthouse for a tea, it turned out that the local was the guide of the other tourists and that he had left them behind to find their own way. :) Resuming my walk about 20 minutes later, the signage remained so-so and I just hiked on some random paths which looked like the correct trail to me. :) Luckily, I never took a wrong turn and while walking steadily upwards, I turned around from time to time to enjoy the views over the lovely surrounding mountains.
Entering another forest, the views disappeared and before long I wasn’t sure again if I was still on the right track. Coming upon a clearing with a nice outlook after some time, a sign at last indicated that I was on the way to Sherpagon and taking the opportunity of that lovely spot, I took a break to marvel at the beautiful panorama.
When I was about to move on, a porter suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started to talk with me. He wanted to know where I was going, recommended me a guesthouse in almost every town along the way, told me about his own guesthouse that was in a different area and gave me a bunch of his business cards. :) Although he was a nice guy, he repeated everything about three times and I was not unhappy when he finally let me go. Continuing with my ascent, I joined the dirt road once more and while there were too many trees around me for most of the time, the views at last opened up as soon as I overcame the final rise. Huge mountains lined the horizon and taking a moment to enjoy the scenery, I was confirmed in my decision to use the upper trail today. Leaving the trees behind me, I walked along the mountainside and before long came upon a construction site at the end of the road. Scrambling through it, I was back on a proper hiking trail and an already nice walk turned into an even better one. The mountain panorama in constant view, the shining sun overhead and a nice hiking trail under the feet, I eventually was back in the real outdoors. :)
Arriving in the village of Sherpagon some time later on, I stopped at the first guesthouse for lunch as it had been recommended by the porter. The host was very nice, but it took quite a while until they had prepared the food, leaving me with enough time to chat with a couple from France about their ambition to move to Switzerland in the upcoming year. Once my stomach was filled, I opted to walk on a little bit even though I intended to spend my night in Sherpagon. As many locals had a hard time during the past years, I decided to support as many as possible and therefore chose not to stay at the guesthouse where I had my lunch. There had been another recommendation anyway and it turned out to be a good decision to stay overnight at that second place. Witnessing a beautiful sunset from the garden of the guesthouse, I enjoyed a hot shower afterwards, kept myself warm at the fire while eating my dinner and as there was a pipe from the furnace going through my room overhead, I even had the unique experience to go to sleep while there actually was some heat in my room. :)
Day 2: Sherpagon – Thangsyap
Starting to walk again early morning, I kept following the mountainside with the same view in sight as yesterday afternoon. Today though, the mountains were behind clouds and the panorama wasn’t as impressive as it had been the day before. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable walk and soon enough I came upon the settlement of Rimche, where I met up with the lower trail. Shortly afterwards the path entered another forest and it didn't take me long to reach a village called Lama Hotel, a popular spot to stay overnight on the way upwards or downwards. As the sister of yesterday's porter had a guesthouse there, I intended to take a tea break at her place, but only came as far as the first guesthouse. :) Ella stood outside greeting me and we had a good chat about our first day and our travels in general. Somehow we got a little carried away and when I resumed my search for the guesthouse, 45 minutes had passed. Well, I wasn’t in a hurry and had enough time for a tea at the designated guesthouse anyway. :) Moving on after the tea break, the trail kept following the river at the bottom of the valley and while there were some steeper slopes to tackle, most of the ascent was easy enough. Nevertheless, the walk was kinda arduous, as the scenery remained the same all the time. Some diversity was only given by animals: a donkey caravan passed by, many birds were flying around and my nemesis made his appearance as well. :)
The monkeys that lined the way were shy though and ran away as soon as someone approached them. Even so, they could be observed from far away and made up for the lack of views. Coming upon a guesthouse in the middle of nowhere, it was the perfect spot for lunchtime, also because they had a table outside right at the riverside. Preparing to move on once the food was eaten, the French couple from yesterday arrived and I lingered on to have another nice chat about our future plans. Resuming my walk afterwards, the trail led further upwards, seamlessly continuing to follow the river among tree after tree. At least there were some nice views from time to time and below the clouds in the distance, I could even make out the bottom of some seemingly huge mountains.
Even though my pace was pretty leisurely, I emerged out of the forest sooner than expected and at first stumbled upon some ruins. Seeing a solar cell amongst all the rubble, it was obvious that those had been houses which had collapsed during the earthquake. It was the first indication so far that the valley had suffered that tragedy four years ago and made me look around. Steep mountain walls could be seen to either side of the valley and it wasn’t hard to imagine an avalanche coming down those walls to wipe out what was below them.
Moving on, I passed another horde of monkeys and eventually came upon a steep ascent just before the village of Thangsyap. The first houses appeared once the slope was behind me and shortly afterwards I stood in the center looking for a guesthouse. As it wasn’t too late in the afternoon I could have gone further, but in terms of acclimatization and walking distance today as well as tomorrow, it was the perfect place to stay overnight. Being able to choose from quite a few guesthouses, I settled into one in the middle of the village. It was another nice one with a warmish shower and a fire in the common room that invited me to chill out there. So I spent the remainder of the day in front of the furnace, reading about the adventures of Hunter S. Thompson in his book “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”. :)
Day 3: Thangsyap – Kyanjin Gompa
Hitting the trail after breakfast under a clear blue sky, it was a pleasant start into the day and I resumed my walk along the valley that I had entered the day before. Once again the ascent was steady and the only downside for the first hour was that the sun was still behind the surrounding mountains. Being at an altitude of over 3000 meters already, it was cold to walk in the shade and I was glad when the sun finally was high enough to give me some warmth. Right at that point I had reached a couple houses and decided to take a break. Just in front of me were the remains of the avalanche and the area where the village of Langtang originally had been. All that could be seen now was a massive field of debris and it clearly showed the magnitude of the forces that had been at work on that fateful day in April 2015.
The new trail led directly through the field and some hikers could be seen crossing the debris. It was the way that I had to take as well and while crossing over I wondered how many people actually had been found and how many were still missing. I couldn’t imagine that it was possible for the rescuers to dig deep enough to find all the bodies. Well, it was a sensitive topic and I never found the courage to ask any of the locals. The rebuilt village of Langtang greeted me on the other side and if you wouldn’t know the history, it would have been just another common settlement. They definitely did a good job and the whole town looked very welcoming. As it was too early for a tea break though, I just passed through and tackled a short ascending slope once I was out of the village again. A lovely scenery came into view shortly afterwards, as a long praying wall started to line the way and some huge snowcapped mountains made their first appearance at the horizon. It was a gentle walk from now on as the steepest parts of the ascent were behind me.
The trail hadn’t been very busy so far and there were way more people going down than up. Those who came along almost all greeted me with “Namaste”, the Nepali word for hello. That was certainly a bit unusual, as in every other Asian country I had visited so far, tourists never greeted other tourists in the local language. :) Well, whatever and walking deeper into the valley, I passed a couple more villages, took my mandatory tea break and marveled at the surrounding landscape that got better and better with every step I took. Coming around a bend, the scenery suddenly changed, as the trail now followed the riverside again and while I enjoyed the stunning panorama to the fullest, I came upon Kyanjin Gompa in what seemed like no time.
Arriving there some time after noon, I first enjoyed the view over the village and towards the end of the valley. Langtang peak rose high to my left side and Tserko Ri could be seen in the distance as well. With an altitude of about 3800 meters, it was the highest and at the same time last village in the Langtang valley.
An elder woman was waiting at the viewpoint and asked me where I had planned to stay. As I had received several recommendations and business cards over the last couple days I had some ideas but no booking and so she suggested coming to her guesthouse first to have a look. Fair enough I thought and after a peek into the room decided to stay there. It turned out to be a lucky choice as they had a western toilet, a hot shower, electricity, a fire in the dining room every night and a lovely rooftop terrace. So at first I enjoyed a hearty lunch up there and afterwards marveled for a long time at the incredible scenery around Kyanjin Gompa. As it was a bit early though to just hang around, I opted to do a little stroll through town and once more got a bit carried away, ending up with a walk out of the village into the direction of a glacier viewpoint. :) Walking along some random paths close to a creek, I came across an official trail some time later on and sitting down on a stone at the trailside decided that I had walked far enough. Enjoying the silence for a while, I suddenly heard a voice, scaring the shit out of me. :) It was an Israeli guy that I had met several times on the trail today and he told me that he wanted to go to the glacier viewpoint. Inviting me to join in, there was no need for him to ask me twice. :) He had a super fast pace however and I had a hard time to keep up. Coming to the end of the valley we came upon a steep ascending slope and while I thought he must be slowing down now, he just kept the same pace as before. :) Well, I eventually learned that he was running Iron Man’s and Marathon’s and that obviously answered the question. :) At the end of the ascent we arrived at the viewpoint and had a superb outlook towards the glacier and Langtang peak.
Unfortunately it was already a bit late and once the sun disappeared behind the mountains, we retraced our steps to Kyanjin Gompa. It had been a nice little walk though and now it was time for a well deserved rest before the acclimatization day tomorrow.
Day 4: Kyanjin Ri (Acclimatization day)
As there was a huge difference in altitude between Kyanjin Gompa and the peak of Tserko Ri, it was recommended to do an acclimatization hike first. Not everyone followed this recommendation, but as I had enough time there was no reason to skip it. Being able to choose between quite a few day hikes, I decided to try myself on the peaks of Lower and Upper Kyanjin Ri. That was a popular choice among the trekkers and as I didn’t want to share the trail with loads of other people, I started to walk in the early morning after a lovely breakfast at the kitchen fire. The trailhead for once was right in the village itself and heading upwards from the very beginning, I followed a path along the mountainside of Lower Kyanjin Ri. Steadily gaining some height, I came upon a turnoff after some time and opted to turn left to take the trail that led straight up the mountainside. Obviously, that was the steepest way possible, but I wasn't in a hurry and therefore ascended in a leisurely pace.
About half way into the ascent I met some people coming down from Lower Kyanjin Ri. At first I was surprised, but then remembered that the peak was also a popular spot to catch the sunrise and that was obviously what they had been doing. Crazy guys! :) Overcoming the last steep slope, I came upon a little plateau, turned left to climb over a few rocks and stood on Lower Kyanjin Ri. The valley of Langtang with Kyanjin Gompa to my feet, Langtang peak in my back, Tserko Ri to my left, the panorama that spread around me was simply insane.
With an altitude of 4300 meters, it was said that the lower peak was enough for the purpose of acclimatization, but now that I was there, I surely wanted to give the upper peak a try as well. So off I went after a 30 minutes break and started to ascend again, meeting an English lady and her guide a couple hundred meters later on. They had turned around in the middle of the steep ascent and now told me that going up was too dangerous as the path wasn’t well maintained. Taking a look at the slope ahead of me, I couldn’t see any major difficulties and decided to continue anyway. It turned out that at some places the path was full of dust and gravel and therefore quite slippery, but having enough experience with trails like that, it was no problem at all. Reaching the upper peak a little while later, the view was as magnificent as from the lower one and to fully appreciate it, another 30 minutes break was needed. :)
Being the only person on the peak, the silence would have been absolute, wouldn’t it have been for the wind. It was blowing rather strong and even though the sun was shining, I had to wear my down jacket as otherwise it would have been too cold. At breakfast we had talked about my plans for the day and I had asked my hosts if a loop was possible going down the backside of Kyanjin Ri. They had confirmed and also my map indicated a way, but nevertheless I wasn’t sure what exactly was awaiting me when I approached the turnoff. Well, there was a path to be seen, but it looked more like a track made by animals than by hikers. Leading along the mountainside, I couldn’t really see where it was going but as I still could turn around in the worst case, I decided to give it a shot anyway. Walking along that narrow path, I traversed through a few landslides and scared away some huge birds when the trail suddenly petered out somewhere in the middle of nowhere. :) That was no surprise though, as I had long since noticed a second path below me which looked like the trail that I should have taken originally. As I didn’t want to turn around and the rest of the descent looked pretty manageable, I went down a steep slope across field until I reached that other trail. Following the mountainside again, the path disappeared once more when I entered a huge boulder field. Cairns were leading the way now and following them for some time, I crossed over a half frozen stream in the middle of the field. As the cairns started to lead into the wrong direction shortly afterwards, I decided to make my own way and scrambled somewhere randomly across the loose boulders. That part was quite a struggle and I felt glad once I left the rocks behind me. Joining some paths on another mountainside, it took a moment until I finally found a way to descend to the bottom of the valley and get back on an official trail again. While the descent from Upper Kyanjin Ri up to that point had been rather hard work, the walk now turned into pure enjoyment. Langtang peak was constantly in my view, tons of red bushes lined the way, the half frozen stream was my companion for most of the time and the glacier from the day before soon came into full view as well. Together with the still shining sun it made for a stunning scenery and I enjoyed the ensuing hour to the fullest. :)
Coming upon the glacier viewpoint from yesterday evening, I took one last look into the valley I just had walked along and then made my way back to Kyanjin Gompa for lunch. Once my stomach was filled and I had rested for a while, I told my hosts that I wanted to do a stroll to a lake that I had seen on the map. Replying that there was only one lake, the husband offered to show me the way and so he led me out of the village to point out a path that headed towards a bridge at the bottom of Langtang valley. I was a bit confused, as the trail went into the wrong direction and it took me some time to realize that the lake on the map actually was the huge river bed to my left. Now in winter it was simply too dry, but in summer there was most probably a massive lake. :)
Well, never mind and taking the path my host had shown me, I crossed over the bridge after a short walk and turned left to follow another trail. The lake wasn't that easy to find, but when I eventually did, I was surprised to see that there actually were three and not only one. :) Lying down at the edge of one lake, I enjoyed the mountain panorama around me and the slowly perishing rays of the sun. It was the perfect ending of a perfect day and once back at the guesthouse it was topped off by a perfect dinner. :) Having had no troubles with the altitude today, I was ready for the task tomorrow and prayed that there would be one more day full of sunshine.
Day 5: Tserko Ri
For once, my prayer was heard. :) The same blue sky greeted me in the morning and so I looked forward with big enthusiasm to the walk of today. To reach the peak, only about five kilometers had to be covered and having time the whole day, I had my breakfast a bit later than usual. Starting to walk a tad after 8 o’clock, the first kilometer led along the valley to the bottom of Tserko Ri. It was a nice stroll, convenient to warm up my legs and get ready for the upcoming strenuous ascent. Reaching the bottom of the mountain, the way led gently upwards for a start, but it didn’t take long for the slope to intensify. Overcoming that first pretty steep part, I walked around a bend and at last was able to see the peak looming ahead of me. While the trail had temporarily leveled off, it soon became steeper again and for a long time the way knew only one direction: upwards. There was no need to hurry though and while I ascended slowly, I also took a few breaks in between to marvel at the gorgeous panorama around me.
Eventually leaving that long and steep slope behind me, the trail leveled off once more and it was nice to get some respite from the merciless ascent. It was also good to see that the peak was way closer than it had been before, but of course I wasn’t there yet and Tserko Ri had a couple more challenges in store for me. :) A huge boulder field, similar to the one yesterday, had to be crossed and scrambling over the rocks I made my way towards another super steep ascending slope. That one turned into quite a struggle, as it wasn’t only steep and long but also dusty and slippery with many loose stones covering the ground. It was an arduous part and I was glad once I had reached the end of it.
Unfortunately there was only a brief respite as the final ascent was right ahead of me and it turned out that that slope was even worse than the one before. :) Steeper, rockier and longer, it seemed as the peak never came closer. Eventually though, the first prayer flags came into sight and after three and a half hours of walking I stood at last on the top of Tserko Ri. Covering 1100 meters difference in altitude over a distance of only four kilometers had been quite a challenge, but I had enjoyed the walk a lot and was happy to have reached the summit. Sitting down on the wide peak, a snack was well deserved and for about an hour I marveled at the striking panorama all around me.
As always, the time moved fast and my stay on the summit was over way too soon. Deciding to take a different trail and go back in a loop, I crossed over a huge plateau to make my way towards the very end of the Langtang valley. Coming to the edge of the plateau, some new views opened up and I couldn’t help but to take another break in the first descending slope to admire the breathtaking scenery in front of me. :)
A Dutch guy that I had met on the peak overtook me there and he remained the only other hiker that decided to go down that way. Well, in my opinion everyone else missed out. :) Even though there were some steep slopes and parts where the trail was frozen, dusty or slippery, the stunning views easily made up for those minor challenges. Walking along the mountainside high above the valley, the scenery simply remained breathtaking for the whole way and when a herd of yaks made their appearance, it felt like the cherry on top of an already excellent day. :)
While I knew that the descent along the loop would be gentler on the whole, the distance certainly was much longer and it took quite some time until the trail from the morning came back into view. In the meantime the wind had picked up a lot and was blowing rather fierce, so when I came across the Dutch guy again taking a break in a wind sheltered spot, I happily joined in a conversation about our hiking plans for the next days to get some respite from the wind. Being pretty hungry though, I said goodbye rather sooner than later and retraced my steps to Kyanjin Gompa. Back at the guesthouse I enjoyed a delicious lunch ensued by a hot shower and spent the rest of the day reading and relaxing. Today simply couldn’t have been better. It was one of the most perfect days I ever had on the trail in Nepal and just another confirmation that it had been the right decision to visit again. :)
Day 6: Kyanjin Gompa – Bamboo
Having the first main goal behind me, I was now able to focus on the second one: the holy lake of Gosainkunda. As there were quite a few villages for overnight stays along the way, I wasn’t sure yet how many days I would need to reach the lake and therefore decided to see day by day where my feet would take me. First of all, I had to retrace my steps to the lower trail of day 1 and knowing that a long day was up ahead, I took an early breakfast and afterwards bid farewell to my lovely hosting couple. With only one way out of the valley, I knew for once what was coming and hiking along the riverside first, I passed the long praying wall later on, walked through the village of Langtang again and crossed over the remains of the avalanche one more time.
Being an easy walk downhill for most of the time, I made good way, even though I got stuck behind a donkey caravan for quite a while. They moved pretty slowly and to encourage them to walk faster, the locals threw regularly stones at them. Well, with a treatment like that I wouldn’t want to move faster as well… Taking my lunch break in a settlement after Thangsyap, I was back on the track as soon as the food was gone and before long passed by the earthquake ruins to enter the forest once more. Remembering the arduous walk upwards a couple days ago I didn’t really look forward to hike through that part again, but it was definitely better today. No clouds obscured the sky giving me the nice views that I had missed on my way up, the monkeys could be observed again hanging around close to the hiking trail and last but most important, I was walking downhill and not uphill. :)
Somehow I misjudged the distance to Lama Hotel though, as the descent wore on and on despite my humble opinion that I should have arrived there some time ago already. :) At last the first houses appeared and it was time to decide where I wanted to spend the night. As the focus was solely on walking today, I had moved way faster than expected, giving me the possibility to go farther than Lama Hotel. Sitting down at the trailside for a while to rest my legs, I thought about the next couple days and made up my mind to continue to the next village. My legs still felt fresh enough and with the extra mile today, I would have the opportunity to do another long day tomorrow and thus gain one full day on my itinerary. So I resumed my walk and soon came upon the turnoff to the lower trail. Down and down it went again, the path following the river at the bottom of the valley once I left a rather steep and long descending slope behind me. Dense jungle dominated the landscape now, but nevertheless I had to traverse another huge landslide, remembering that the Israeli guy had said that that was a result of the earthquake as well.
When my legs slowly started to tire out, the settlement of Bamboo eventually appeared and I was glad that I was early enough to get some well deserved rest before dinner. Surprisingly, my Nepali phone number had some reception in the village and so I spent the time answering my messages after being offline for a week. :) Having descended about 2000 meters today, Bamboo resided on an altitude of 1900 meters only, but even so it was still pretty cold once the sun went down and I was happy that the hosting family lit a fire in the common room for dinner. Bedtime came early as usual and hoping that my plan for tomorrow would work out, I drifted off into a good night’s sleep.
Day 7: Bamboo – Shin Gomba
Normally, trekkers who walk up to Lake Gosainkunda after Langtang would split the long ascent into a couple days. They would stay in Lama Hotel, then in Thulo Syabru, then in Shin Gomba and would reach the lake on the ensuing day. As I had gained some time on that itinerary already, it would have left me with two very short days and in order to skip one of them, I attempted to reach Shin Gomba in one day only. With about 13 kilometers the distance wasn't the problem, but the overall ascent of 1700 meters definitely qualified for a real challenge. To make the most of the day, I hit the trail on 7.30 in the morning and for a start descended further through the still dense jungle. Knowing that if I could gain some time today, it would be in that very first part, I kept a pretty fast pace until suddenly a settlement appeared at the riverside. As there shouldn’t have been another village before the turnoff to the lake, I asked the first local I met if I missed the junction. “The turnoff is coming soon with a huge sign that you can’t miss”, was the reply and being relieved, I took a short break while a second local started to chat with me. He wanted to know where I was heading to and telling him my plans, he affirmed that reaching Shin Gomba within today should be possible. Well, that was reassuring as he seemed to know what he was talking about. Resuming my walk, the turnoff eventually appeared and as it went almost solely uphill from now on, I slowed my pace down again. Overcoming the first pretty steep slope, I emerged out of the jungle at the end of the ascent to see Thulo Syabru residing on a hill to the opposite side of me.
It looked fairly close and following the hillside for a while I was optimistic to reach it soon. Well, you wish! :) As there was no short cut to cross the valley in between, I walked all the way to the end of it, descended a steep slope, crossed over a hanging bridge and started to ascend again once I was on the other side. It was quite a detour and the ascent up to the village wasn’t a short one as well. All the same, I arrived in Thulo Syabru about two and a half hours after I had set out in Bamboo. That was perfect, as I knew by now that I definitely would reach Shin Gomba before nightfall. After a longish tea break in a lovely guesthouse, I continued my walk upwards and soon it was obvious that the respite that Thulo Syabru had given me was only very brief. Just beyond the village, the next steep ascending slope waited for me and so I resumed my slow but steady walking rhythm. Some time later on I came upon the settlement of Dursagang and while the trail after Thulo Syabru had been mostly in the trees, the views had eventually opened up during the last part before that village on the hillside. Coming across a lonely guesthouse, I sat down for lunch on the terrace and enjoyed the superb outlook towards the mountains of Langtang.
All of a sudden, three porters arrived when I was eating my food and one of them started to talk with me. He was keen to get some clothes of mine, but unfortunately I didn’t have anything to spare except a pen and some paper for his child in school. Nevertheless, he seemed content with that and after paying for my lunch, I said goodbye to carry on with the ascent. Passing some more shy monkeys at the outskirts of Dursagang, I entered another forest a couple hundred meters later on. Being full of pine trees and moss, it would have made for a nice walk, but the slope was so steep and relentless that it was rather difficult to enjoy the beautiful surroundings. The higher I got though, the sparser were the trees and turning around from time to time I had some nice views over the mountains in the distance.
When the trail at last leveled off, I came upon a plateau and needed a break, not only to catch my breath, but also to admire the wonderful scenery that spread all around me. :) Consulting my map, I was glad to see that the worst was over. All the steep slopes were behind me now and so I was able to enjoy the last part through the woods to the fullest.
Arriving in Shin Gomba, it had taken me about seven hours to get there from Bamboo and that meant I still had some time left for myself. So once I had settled into a guesthouse, I had a hot shower, sunbathed for a while and witnessed a gorgeous sunset before dinner called.
Being over 3000 meters again, it was way colder than the night before and everyone huddled around the fire in the common room. As there were two different groups with their guides and porters, the space was extraordinarily packed, but at least I had a nice conversation with some of them over dinner. It had been a long day though and for once the time to go to bed came even earlier than usual. :)
Day 8: Shin Gomba – Gosainkunda
The start today wasn’t too early and as it neither was for the other two groups, we all started to walk around the same time. Heading out of the village, I soon was back in the forest again and walked amongst some more pine trees for the next hour. It was a nice morning walk: the sun was shining, the ascent was gentle, a weird looking animal was running away from me, a couple openings in the trees revealed the beautiful scenery up ahead and I had an interesting chat with one of the guides about the pollution of the hiking trails in Nepal.
Arriving in a tiny settlement, I left the woods behind for today and while the trail widened considerably after that village, it also got notably steeper. It was quite an arduous slope to tackle, but luckily the scenery easily made up for the taxing ascent. Red and green bushes lined the way, cirrostratus clouds filled the sky and the panorama of the Himalayas at the horizon was simply superb. The Annapurna and Manaslu mountain ranges were the most prominent ones to behold, but there were also views to Tibet and towards the Langtang mountains that I had seen up close a couple days before.
Reaching the settlement of Laurebina after some time, I came across a guesthouse that owned a huge terrace with a few benches, making it the perfect spot to sit down and marvel at the stunning scenery around me. As the guide had told me in the morning, only one guesthouse was kept open in low season and unfortunately it wasn’t that one. :) Arriving at the designated guesthouse a bit later on, I realized that it was only about 11 o’clock, but as there was nothing else between Laurebina and Gosainkunda I ordered some lunch anyway. As I was the last one to arrive, I also was the last one to get the food, but that was no problem at all as it gave me the opportunity to sit in the sun and rest my legs. :) Resuming the ascent towards the top of Laurebina after lunch, I brought the steep slope slowly but steadily behind me, all the time admiring the seemingly endless gorgeous views.
Coming to the top, the trail finally leveled off and soon started to lead along a mountainside, making the Himalayas in the distance disappear behind a wall of rocks. Gosainkunda was close now however and when I came around a bend I was able to see my destination, as well as some additional lakes that spread out in the adjoining valley. It was another beautiful scenery and made the rest of the walk to Gosainkunda a breeze.
Like in Laurebina, only one guesthouse was open and as I knew that quite a few people were heading there, I was happy to still get a room for myself. Having arrived in the middle of the afternoon, there was enough time left for a first look at the lake and sitting down at the edge of it, I enjoyed the slowly vanishing sun as long as possible.
Many of the other trekkers were hurrying around the lake or up to a nearby viewpoint, but I already had decided that I would do that tomorrow. As I had gained one day on my itinerary, I was now able to spend two nights at Gosainkunda, which seemed to be an unpopular decision as everyone else frowned at me when I told them about my plan. Well, my hike, my decision. :) Watching the sunset from the terrace of the guesthouse, it was the last highlight of today, but once the sun had disappeared, it instantly got bitterly cold. Being on 4300 meters above sea level and in the first days of December, even my warmest clothes stood no chance against the coldness outside. At least there was a fire in the common room and I was able to warm up over dinner. Unfortunately though, the bedroom was in another building and heading there when bedtime was upon me, the coldness engulfed me again immediately. As usual the isolation of the guesthouse was poor and for once the blankets I got were a mere joke, as they were way too thin and therefore almost useless. Well, I had two of them after all plus my summer sleeping bag and I thought it would be fine if I slip in with all my clothes on. 20 minutes later I was still cold however and decided to also put on my jacket. :) It was better afterwards and with only some cold feet, I drifted off into the land of dreams.
Day 9: Gosainkunda
Well, the sleep for sure could have been better, but overall it was okay and I didn’t feel groggy when I settled in for a late breakfast. Obviously, I was the only one staying for two nights and I was right on time to say goodbye to everyone else. Fortunately, the weather was still with me and when I set out after breakfast for a walk around the lake, I did that under an almost clear blue sky. It felt nice to warm up and I enjoyed the gentle stroll along the water's edge as well as the beautiful views that came with it.
Once the loop around the lake was completed, I decided to walk a bit further upwards. Some cairns could be seen on a hilltop nearby and I thought it a good idea to check out the view from there. :) There was no trail, but it was good fun to make my own way through all the boulders and stones ahead of me. The ascent was quite strenuous though and the hilltop was farther away than expected, but I knew that it was worth it as soon as I got the first views from higher up. Not only the lake of Gosainkunda and its neighbor could be seen, but also the Himalayas reappeared at the horizon. Reaching the top after some more scrambling, I sat down for a while to enjoy the marvelous scenery, the good weather and the absolute silence.
When the wind picked up after a while and lunchtime was approaching as well, I headed back to the guesthouse to get some food. Sitting in the sun outside after lunch, I saw a couple coming closer and immediately recognized my native language when I heard them talking to each other. Identifying myself as a fellow citizen of Switzerland, they sat down with me and while they ate their lunch, we had a good chat about our work back home. As they were on their way to Langtang and intended to stay in Laurebina tonight, we said goodbye after about an hour and while they walked out of the village, I started to head up to the nearby viewpoint. During lunchtime, some clouds had gathered in the sky and I was a bit worried if I was too late for the good views from up there. So I kept a steady pace and was relieved to see that my worries had been for nothing once I got my first outlook from the ridge. Gosainkunda to one side, the Himalayas to the other, the panorama was as striking as I had hoped for. :)
Walking along the ridge for some time, I eventually found a nice place to sit down and spent the next hour marveling at the incredibly gorgeous scenery around me.
An eagle was flying high in the sky, no wind was blowing, the silence was absolute again, a sea of fog could be seen over the lowlands in the distance, the sky at the horizon was shimmering red with the first sign of the oncoming sunset and the sun and the clouds formed a massive halo above me, it was Nepal at its very best. :)
All good things come to an end though and when the sunset was getting closer I returned to the guesthouse. Some other hikers had arrived in the meantime, but it wasn’t as crowded as yesterday and after another stunning sunset we all settled around the fire in the common room. Dinnertime came and went, followed by the same procedure as the day before. This time though, it didn't feel that cold anymore. It seemed as if my body had adapted to the coldness and so the sleep tonight was definitely much better. :)
Day 10: Gosainkunda – Gopte
One last challenge remained: to cross the 4640 meters high Laurebina pass. Fortunately, most of the ascent was already behind me and only the last couple kilometers were left to conquer. Hitting the trail under a once more shining sun, I thanked the weather god at first for being so kind with me, as I had been able to achieve all the goals I had set myself in the beginning. Walking along the lakeside, it soon started to go upwards and after a while I enjoyed a last good view over the lake of Gosainkunda. How cold it actually had been during the night, could be seen shortly afterwards, as I passed several completely frozen lakes. They made for a good scenery though and kept me entertained until I came upon a huge plateau. Another frozen lake was on there and further up ahead a little rise marked the top of the Laurebina pass. Scaling that tiny rise, views into the direction I was heading to unfolded in front of me and turning around, even the Himalayas from the day before made a final appearance at the horizon.
Even though it was quite windy, it wasn't too cold and so I sat down on the pass, enjoying the panorama for a while. Some of the surrounding mountains looked pretty conquerable and I was tempted to try myself on one of them. But I had walked enough extra miles during the past month and was content to head back to Kathmandu without any further detour. Starting the descent after the break, I knew it would be a long one, but as it wasn’t that steep I made good way and soon was forced to take off my down jacket and long johns as it got warmer and warmer the further down I got. The views remained quite beautiful throughout the descent and I intended to take a tea break at the forthcoming settlement. Arriving there some time later on, I was disappointed to see that all that was left of Phedi High Camp were a few abandoned ruins. Well, never mind and so I just took a short rest at the trailside instead. :)
Resuming my walk, I came upon the village of Phedi before long and although it was a bit early, I settled into a guesthouse to order some food. It took a while for the hosts to prepare my lunch and during the wait, all other hikers from the Gosainkunda guesthouse arrived as well. There were two guys from Germany and a couple from France and I shared my lunchtime together with them. Each of us had their own pace though and we set out of Phedi individually. Walking along a mountainside for the rest of the afternoon, it mostly still went downhill and way too soon, trees started to enclose the trail once more. Fortunately there were also a couple openings from time to time and they gave some good views into the surrounding valleys, as well as to the pass where I had come from.
It was an entertaining walk and while I didn’t see any of the others for quite some time, I ran into them again on a viewpoint with another abandoned guesthouse. Taking a break there, I knew that Gopte wasn’t far away anymore and so I had a longer rest to marvel at the lovely panorama. As it happened, Gopte appeared shortly afterwards and immediately I saw that I wasn't the only one to stay there overnight. :) The guesthouse I settled into had a superb outlook into the adjoining valleys and drinking a tea with a view, I had a fun chat with the French couple. They introduced themselves as Maël and Claire and as they had the intention to walk back to Kathmandu as well, I expected to see them again during the next couple days. After a delicious dinner I remained seated at the fire with the two German guys and we talked about our hiking experience in Nepal. Somehow the topic of our daily routine was raised and one of them said that he once woke up, thinking it was early morning, but realized that it was only 11 o’clock at night after a look on his watch. :) Well, that captured it pretty nicely, as nothing changed tonight and we all went to bed early once again. :)
Day 11: Gopte – Kutumsang
Like yesterday, each of us set out individually and I resumed my walk back towards Kathmandu early in the morning. Walking solely in the shade, it was rather cold and as there were still too many trees obstructing the views, the first hour of today was definitely not a highlight of the trek. :) When I eventually left the woods behind me and the sun finally was above the surrounding mountains, I took the opportunity to take a break. The views were quite nice now and looking back to where I had come from, I still could see the pass as well as most of the trail that I had taken the day before.
Moving on, a pretty steep ascending slope brought me to the settlement of Thadepati, where a sign pointed towards a small hill with a viewpoint on top. Not wanting to miss out, I scaled the short rise and for a while enjoyed the stunning scenery in front of me. The Himalaya mountain range spread all the way to the left and right and thinking about the Gosainkunda viewpoint, it gave me a sense of how vast the Himalayas actually were. Being on a foothill of the mountains, I now started to follow a path that led me further along the crest. Soon, a little detour offered itself and as it led over two tiny peaks, I chose to go that way. Sure enough it was the right decision and from both peaks I got some more excellent views of the Himalayas at the horizon.
So far, I had already passed the French couple several times and I did it once more at the end of the descent from the second peak. Being on the same way and intending to have lunch at the same place, we decided to team up for a while. Before long we entered the woods again and joined a lovely path until we came across a turnoff. Turning right, we brought another descending slope behind us and shortly afterwards arrived in the settlement of Magingoth for lunch. Settling into the only guesthouse there, we enjoyed a good rest and a delicious meal. In the meantime clouds had taken over the sky and moving on to tackle a little pass after lunchtime, the sun had said goodbye for good. Coming upon the pass, a sign advertised a nearby viewpoint and its good views towards the Everest mountain range, but as we could see as far as the next tree, we started to descend again without taking a look. Not much changed during the next couple hours as we walked on a rocky trail through the forest with no views at all, only noticing that our environment for once was pretty empty and silent. No animals, no other tourists, no locals, it was a completely new feeling. :)
A clearing suddenly offered a brief respite with some indistinct views into the direction we were heading to and taking the opportunity, we had a short break before we headed back into the trees. Descending further, we soon came across a military checkpoint, where they checked our permits and bags before they sent us on our way again. The checkpoint also marked the boundary of the Langtang national park and the end of the Langtang trek. To reach Kathmandu, we would from now on follow the so called Helambu trek and first of all the trail led us to the village of Kutumsang. It had been a good day of walking and as we had enough, we decided to stay there for the night. Having received a recommendation for a guesthouse, it turned out that the owner wasn’t the friendliest and so we tried our luck somewhere else. A rather fancy place caught our eye and after some price negotiation we found an agreement that suited everyone. So once I had enjoyed a nice hot shower and made good use of the first electricity since ages, I went to the dining room for a beer with Maël and Claire. As the sun had made her comeback when we had entered Kutumsang, we now sat there drinking our beer and were able to witness a superb sunset at the horizon. What a nice ending of the day!
Unfortunately it was still pretty cold during the night and for once the host didn’t provide any blankets. As my sleeping bag alone wasn't enough, I improvised and used a carpet as a second shield against the coldness. :)
Day 12: Kutumsang – Chisapani
Well, the night was rather rough and I was glad once my room got enlightened with the first sunlight so I could get up for breakfast. Having had a fun day with Maël and Claire yesterday, we decided to keep it that way and set out altogether. At first a short ascent had to be conquered, before a steep slope started to lead us downhill towards the village of Gul Bhanjyang. While the first part had been in the shade again, we now descended under the warming sun with some good views over the hills ahead of us.
Reaching Gul Bhanjyang some time later on, we felt no need to stop and passed through the sprawling village, starting to ascend again once we left the center behind us. Walking on the road for a while we soon noticed the first signs that Kathmandu was coming closer. It was way dirtier and noisier than before and the locals didn’t wear their traditional dresses anymore, but rather walked around in designer brands. :) As it happened, there was one last guesthouse at the end of the fairly steep ascent and we decided to have a tea break there. Moving on after a good rest, we continued our walk along the road until we came upon a turnoff, where a sign told us to join a narrow dirt path that led us back into the trees. It was only for a short time though and as soon as we were out in the open again, we began to descend towards Chipling.
Arriving in the tiny settlement, we opted to eat something and settled into a nice guesthouse for an entertaining lunch, as a cute puppy kept us busy and shortened the wait for our food. Loads of rice terraces surrounded Chipling and when we resumed our hike, we descended amongst them for quite a while. It was a lovely walk and we were astounded about all the signs and markings that led us the way through the maze of roads and paths.
Leaving the rice terraces at the end of the descent, we joined the road again and followed it to go round a bigger hill. That part was a bit dull and we were glad once the village of Pati Bhanyjang appeared in the distance. Maël and Claire had thought about staying there for the night, but they had no other choice than to continue, as incredibly enough, there was not a single guesthouse in the whole village. :) Commencing with another ascent, we soon came upon a turnoff and for the first time didn’t know where we had to go. A local came along right then and he told us that we had to take the turnoff, pointing out some arrows that were sketched into the ground and onto the rocks at the roadside. Haha, okay then! :) Up and up it went from there and the further we walked, the steeper got the trail. As the sun still was shining, we were drenched in sweat before long and to catch our breath we used a little plateau about halfway for a short break.
The ascent seemed endless though and it was quite a struggle to reach the end of it, but at least we knew that it was our last big effort. :) Eventually the slope leveled off and joining the road once more, we made our way to the settlement of Chisapani. We also had thought about taking a bus from one of those villages we had passed today, but after that steep ascent it was clear that there was no bus from Chisapani and that walking back was no option as well. So it was determined that we would spend our last day on the trail walking to Sundarijal (a suburb of Kathmandu) with one more pass to scale in the Shivapuri national park. Arriving in Chisapani, we settled into a guesthouse and I was surprised to run across the two groups that I had met in Shin Gomba and Gosainkunda. They obviously had a more leisurely pace than I had, but it was nice to see them again. We also were fortunately enough to stay at the best guesthouse in the village as the shower was extraordinarily hot, the food was delicious, the beer was cold and there even was free Wifi, which happened for the first time on the whole trek. Having some more amusing chats with Maël and Claire, it was an enjoyable last evening and once I lay down for sleep, I made use of the two thick blankets to have a good night’s rest before the final day on the trail.
Day 13: Chisapani – Sundarijal – Kathmandu
For once the start was a bit earlier than usual and when we hit the trail after a lovely breakfast, the first surprise of today was just around the corner. We knew that we had to pay an entry fee to cross the national park and approaching the gate, we were amazed to see that the price was double than what we had expected. Looking at a notice board, it said that the change happened about two months ago, too short a time to update Maël and Claire’s guidebook or the online information that I had used. Although we had to pay only 10 dollars, it seemed a bit too much as it was still Nepal after all and we only wanted to spend a few hours in the park. Well, there was no choice anyway and as soon as we got our tickets, we turned onto a narrow trail that led us into the jungle. A sign right at the start proclaimed a “plastic free area” which made us laugh and cry at the same time, as the trail unfortunately was full of rubbish. It also made us wonder where our money would go to. Obviously it wasn’t used for the preservation of the park, as otherwise they would have been able to keep that one trail clean. Walking amongst dense trees, there were no views for the time being, but at least the ascending slope was pretty gentle. Going upwards for a while, we passed a shelter surrounded by an incredible amount of garbage and came upon a couple stairs shortly afterwards. Claire and I were already over them and started to walk downhill on the other side when Maël called out: “I think this is the pass.” “What?” we replied incredulous and turned around. Taking a closer look, we could see many faded prayer flags hanging in the trees around us and there were some other indications that he could have been right. Checking the GPS, it confirmed our dismay and we were a bit bewildered as we had expected to get a view of Kathmandu from the pass. Heading into the trees to our right and left, we tried to find a lookout, but our efforts were without success. What a disappointment!
Well, there was nothing else to do than to keep moving and as the trail remained surrounded by trees, there quite simply were no views at all. Only a monkey of a kind that I hadn’t seen before lifted our spirits a bit and made us joke that we had paid 10 dollars to behold one lonely monkey. :) Once the jungle lifted, the settlement of Mulkharka appeared and from now on we were back in civilization as the rest of the descent to Sundarijal was mainly on concrete through the local neighborhood. Having quite a quest to find the correct trail and finally getting some views from time to time, it was the most entertaining part of today’s walk.
The hillsides were rather steep though and we were glad once we left them behind us. As the national park was designed to provide Kathmandu with clean water, we now came across numerous pipes and power stations, making the walk at the bottom of the valley another pretty dull experience. Coming upon a gate at the outskirts of Sundarijal, we checked out of the national park and entered the first guesthouse we saw to get some lunch. We all agreed that if we would have known what was expecting us today, we would have taken a bus from a village somewhere along the trail, but it didn't really matter now and to celebrate the end of the trek we treated ourselves to a tasty appetizer and another cold beer. :) Maël and Claire had already decided to stay in Sundarijal for the night, as they wanted a slow approach to the madness of Kathmandu. That was understandable, but as I had only a few days left before my flight home I said goodbye to them and made my way to the bus station of Sundarijal. Apparently, there were regular buses to the main bus station in the center of Kathmandu and a couple locals were nice enough to point me towards a bus, but didn’t answer my question if that one would drop me there. Deciding to hop on anyway, it turned out that the terminus was at a random junction in a random part of town. Great! :) Luckily I was able to figure out where I was and noticing that my guesthouse was reachable on foot, I opted to end my hiking adventure in Nepal with a walk through Kathmandu. :)
Highlights of the hike: the acclimatization day on Lower and Upper Kyanjin Ri, the walk up to Tserko Ri, Gosainkunda and the perfect weather
This hike is for you if:
- you want to do a trek in the Himalayas all by yourself
- you don’t have a lot of time in Nepal
- you want to do a hike in the area of Kathmandu
- you’re looking for a way to support the local community in Langtang after the devastating earthquake of 2015
This hike is not for you if:
- you prefer a walk off the beaten track
- you're looking for remoteness and solitude
- you can’t handle an eight hour long Asian bus ride :)
Looking back to my time in Nepal, it definitely was a highlight of the last hiking year. Not only because of the sceneries that I saw around Annapurna and Langtang, but also because of the friendly people I met along the way. It had been my second visit to Nepal and would you believe me when I say it wasn’t enough? :) The Himalayas have some kind of magic that just draws the people towards them. Already on the EBC trek the year before I met quite a few tourists that were on their umpteenth visit and it was no different this time. I don’t know though if I ever get a chance to go back again, but having done the three major treks, it would be nice to also do one off the beaten path. But yeah, let’s see what the future brings. :) As for now, I’m really happy that I was able to go twice already and that I made it back from those adventures safe and sound.
コメント