Langtang Valley Trek

 "As we entered in the most exhilarating freshness of the Langtang Circuit Trek, rejoicing in the abundance of pure trailside wilderness, it felt like Nepal is otherworldly Shambala. The stupendous rocks on the river beds hacked and scarred with centuries old Himalayan water. The flawless towering mountains sprung with national flowers, while up in the tree line, alpine forest stunted and deformed by wind and cold. The Langtang Valley, often known as narrow valley, is sandwiched between the main Himalayan range to the north and a slightly lower range of snowy peaks to the south, tells a grand story of Himalayas".

2 cousin brothers and I decided to backpack Langtang Circuit Trail including Gosainkunda Trek later. We decided to complete our trek in a week. As per our plan, we started our journey on March 19, 2022 and took a bus from Kalanki to the Syapru Besi at 6:00 AM. However, our bus came came little than we expected. Then, our journey began with no expectation that what would be like in the Himalayas. From Galchi, we took Trishuli highway that goes to Syapru Besi. We took our lunch at Nuwakot around 10 O' clock. Then we headed to Laharepauwa. From there, we reached at Dhunche Check post through winding road. We took our permits to the Langtang National park. It costs Rs 100 for Nepali citizen. However, it's expensive for foreigner, Rs 3000.

Then, we headed to Syapru Besi. It is also known as Trekker's Town where we get supplies for trekking in LCT. However, we didn't get any supplies as we took everything from home. We didn't want to spend more money on unnecessary stuffs. 

As we reached Syapru Besi at 3:30 PM, we decided to take a trail. Then, we asked few people about the entry of LCT. They told us to cross 2 bridges and take a Langtang river trail from the left side. After crossing a suspension bridges, we took a narrow road from the left side. At this point, we realized that how magical it would be to take a shower in the river! As we didn't take snacks, we felt so uneasy that we had to take chocolate bars. We thought that it would be an electrolyte imbalance and empty stomach. After a while, we took a pace for walking. Along the way, we noticed few tea houses which offer fooding and lodging with reasonable price. As we made our way uphill, we felt so exhausted that we wanted to swim in the river again.

Photo~ Kapil Babu

Through the sub tropical jungle, we walked non stop until we found a junction. One way leads to the LCT straight to the north, while other one goes uphill to the Gosainkunda Trail. 

Then, we decided to trek Langtang Circuit Trail first and then we would come back to make Gosainkunda Trek. After 2 and half hrs of walk, we lost our energy and took our snacks in the middle of the jungle. It was one the best snacks we've ever had. We just sat on the track and opened our backpacks. We had 'छोइला बजी', energy drinks and water. That was the first moment we had together. Then we prepared for another 2 hr walk uphill through the jungle. We didn't see any trekker along the way as it was already dusk. Then, we walked in a great speed. We encountered few wild animals on the way and got little bit scared of the dark and the slapping sound of the Langtang river. Finally, we reached our resting place, Bamboo, where we spent our first night near the river, after walking about 15 km from Syapru Besi.

As soon as we reached there, we made phone calls to our home. Unfortunately, 3G, 4G, 5G networks didn't work and we converted our mobile networks into 2G and it worked. 

I got so much headache on our first day because of empty stomach...I mean, low glucose level in the body. We had our dinner, a simple one, "दाल भात तरकारी, तरकारीमा मुला". We ate whatever there was on our plate. We knew that we had to charge our body for next day. Because of headache, I didn't want to get HAS as we head higher elevation, so, we decided to take a tablet of Zolamide that prevents high altitude sickness before bed. We have to take this kind of medicine before 12 hrs in order to prevent HAS next day. 

Whether it's first day or the relentless sound of the river, we couldn't have sound sleep. I was staring at the night sky through the window in the middle of the night. With so much hot water, my sleep got even worse. I had to go shorts frequently and was tossing and turning all night. However, I managed to get 3 hrs of sleep. 

Photo~ Sherpa Babu

Then, early in the Sunday morning, we woke up with zeal to make journey to Langtang Valley. After our breakfast, we headed to the north through the river trials. Actually, 99% of the LCT covers river trials. We met few groups of trekkers along the way. And every time, we meet trekkers, we usually say Namaste and ask how long does it take to reach this place and that place...?

Photo~ Bikash Babu

As we walked through the winding road, we came cross with wild surroundings which we have not seen in our entire life. Unshakable mountain ranges on both sides, ceaseless Langtang river along our way down, wild flowers with countless varieties etc, made our walk even more relaxed and calm. At some point, I got so distracted that I stopped by to take photos and videos. However, I never took photos of exotic wild animals which I saw along the way. I enjoyed seeing them with my naked eyes. 

After 3 hrs of walking, we stopped for a tea break. We made our coffee with hot water which we took from the tea house where we stayed last night. I took just milligrams of coffee. I didn't want to get my body dehydrated with so much coffee. With coffee and biscuits, we recharged our body for next 1 hr. Then, we walked through steep trail for about half an hour and walked through alpine forest where we found another tea house where we took our lunch. As there were other trekkers too, having foods, we had to wait for about half an hour. We had hot water and rest. We arranged our heavy backpacks again. We took few things out from our backpacks........Then our lunch were served. Having a fermentated radish pickle last night, I got gastric problem. So, I took less amount of foods and avoided high protein diets. Then after our lunch, we asked the owner of the tea house to keep some of our stuffs as our backpacks were so heavy to carry. We told him that we would come back later in a day or two to take the stuffs. Then, we were ready for 6 hrs walk to the Langtang Valley. Over taking other trekkers, we walked in a great pace. After walking about an hour, we hit higher elevation, 3000 m above from sea level. 

The air became so thin and the landscape changed. On our left and northern sides, we witnessed rocky mountain ranges with low vegetation and on our right and southern sides, alpine forest is thriving with great varieties of flora and fauna. 

The walk had become even more interesting as we saw the highest mountain, Langtang Lirung on our northern side. After crossing the wild forest trail, we reached Ghodatabela, where we showed our permits and paid another Rs. 100 for Langtang National Park. Then, in order to prevent from cold wind, we covered our head with wooden cap, neck with muffler and eyes with spectacle. Then, we saw Langtang Valley from the far. Our way was blocked by the group of foreigner trekkers and other Nepali trekkers. Then, we filled up the gap between the trekkers and came forward in order to go first. We didn't want to make any expressive ties with other other group. We knew that if we were walking with other's speed, we would get late for reaching out destination. Then, we reached Langtang Valley after hours of walking from Bamboo. Actually, we walked 22.51 km uphill and took exactly 10 hrs. Then, we hustled to find the hotel. We booked a hotel from a tea house where we took our lunch in the day. But, as we reached the hotel, one of the trekkers said that the entire hotel was booked by them. We didn't waste our time with other trekkers. Then as we came out, owner of the other hotel called us to stay in his hotel. We talked for a while with him on his yard as we waited for a brother who was left behind. Then, we decided to stay in his hotel with a package. After 10 hrs of walk, we already felt so much exhausted. At the same, we felt so much cold. So, we didn't take off our sweaty clothes immediately. It would cause temperature imbalance in our body that we could get fever later in the night. After our stuffs, we went to the dinning room in order to feel warm and cozy. Then, we made phone calls to our home to make sure our parents that we were fine. We took hot water and snacks. The owner was so friendly that he let us to use his kitchen. Then, we stayed for a while in the dinning room, rubbing our legs and shoulders with soothing balm infront of fire. 

I was so impressed to see Himalayas illuminating with evening light, golden light from the window. After a while, we took our dinner and went to bed. Even in complete silence, we couldn't sleep for the second night. However, early in the morning, I got a sound sleep.....zzz!

As we were told that we shouldn't go out early in the morning, we didn't come out until it was 9:00 AM. The Valley is so windy in the morning. Then, we left 2 backpacks in the hotel and took only one full of snacks, headed east to the Kyanjin Gompa in order to climb Kyanjin Ri Peak. Along the way, local kids were playing in the sun. As Langtang Valley doesn't have any school, we felt sad for the kids. It would be great if the valley has at least one school. Then, saying hello to them, we walked further east to the Kyanjin Gompa. We came across with few yaks and donkeys grazing on pasture land. Locals were ploughing their lands in order plant highland barley as the summer approaches. However, we found few green houses in the Langtang Valley, growing mainly vegetables. As we walked through through the highland road, we were so much distracted by the Himalayas all around. Langtang Lirung played hide and seek with us as it was hardly seen from the the trial but, other ranges like Gangchempo was crystal clear to see . The most Himalayan vibes, which we got was after walking through the Tibetan stupas along the way. We were impressed by the carving of each stone with Buddhist mantras. At the same time, we witnessed chorten, prayer wheels run by gin clear water. 

Eyes were never closed to that beauty of Himalayas. We captured them in our camera. However, seeing things with real eyes is truly amazing than what we see in the frame. After passing Langtang Hydropower, one and only hydropower, which is run by Glacier, we reached Kyanjin Gompa. That was our last destination of our trek. Kyanji Gompa is a small resting place for all trekkers and climbers. It has hotels and cafes that we could have anything with reasonable price. Without wasting our time, we decided to climb Kyanjin Ri Peak. But before that we took our snacks and recharged our body and saved water. Then we took our trek to the peak. As we walked on steep trial of the peak, we were hit by the high speed western wind, Himalayan Gust. It was unbelievable. As one of my brothers was struggling with walking problem, he decided to stop the trail. Other brother also had to stop. Then, with no turning back, I decided to go up no matter what! I took a water bottle and chocolate bars and gave my backpack to them. They tried to come further up too. Then, I lost them as I took other way in order to prevent from the hit by wind. I was on my own. As I was climbing from the other side, I felt so scared that the wind was blowing in high speed from that side too. I thought I was lost in the mountain but I decided to come in the main track and walked through grassy cliff and rocks. Awesome! I was in the main track. Then, I covered by nose with handkerchief and the head with cap to reach the summit. Finally, with an immense effort, I conquered the summit. I did my prayers and stayed on the top for a while. I enjoyed the panaromic view that the summit offers: Langtang Lirung on the west side, Tsangbu Ri on NW, Tsergo Ri, Gangchempo on the eastern side and Baden Powell Peak on the southern side. It not only offers views of Himalayas, it has mind boggling view when we look down the Kyanjin peak. Every thing looks tiny like an ant. I didn't spend much time on the summit as I was all alone. I took few pictures and the videos and for the last time, I did my prayers and walked down. As soon as I left the summit, I did trail run to the bottom of the summit. It took me altogether 1 hr and 45 minutes back and forth. 

When I came down the peak, I looked for my cousin brothers. Then, I saw them waiting for me on the side of the tea house. As I was washing my face, a local young man popped in and asked me that how did I feel about the Langtang Valley! I said without hesitation that the Langtang Valley is heaven in so many ways. I felt so weak that I had to take a rest for a while and had 2 glasses of hot water and cookies before our lunch was served in one of the hotels. In the Himalayas, foods are not usually fully cooked, and we had to compromise every thing what we ate. It might have scientific reason. After our lunch, we went to visit Highland Cheese factory of the Kyanjin Gompa and bought few pounds of cheese. Then, we headed back to the Langtang Valley. As were coming back, the weather changed and all the mountain ranges covered with fog. We didn't care about that fleeting moment because we were focused on walking. Around 5 O' clock in the evening, we reached the hotel where we kept our backpacks. We paid the bill and left for Ghodatabela where we might be staying for a night. For the last time, we stood up and watched back the Langtang Valley from the far. It was heart breaking to see the 2015 earthquake debris of an old Langtang Valley. As we were walking so fast that we had to reach Ghoda Tabela. Along the way, we felt so sad that people were still living in a temporary shelter. Then, we reached Ghodatabela after 1 and half hr walk. We stayed in one of tea houses. As soon as we reached, we finished our cleaning and sat in the dinning room where fire was going on. We had our dinner and went to bed. I was struggling with the sleep but I slept well. 

Next day, we woke up so early that we left for Bamboo at 7:30 AM. Coming back down, it felt so much easy. We were already acclimatized and had no HAS symptoms. At the same time backpacks were light. So, we were walking in a great speed leaving no trace but footsteps. Around 8:45 AM, we reached the same tea house where we had lunch and kept our bag full of clothes before going to the Langtang Valley. We took our stuff, thanking the owner of the tea house and walked back to the Bamboo. With the arrival of the spring, we saw wild flowers, wild orchids and Rhododendrons along the way.

We never picked out any flower on our trek. We didn't like that way. As the Langtang river approached near along the trail, we were taking tons of negative ions from the slapping of the river water. It means, we were having positive vibes from the river. After hours of walking, we reached the Bamboo at 11:00 AM. As there were many trekkers, we had to wait for our lunch. Then, we talked about Gosainkunda Trek. As one of my cousin brothers was having knee problem, he decided to cancel it. Consequently, other brother had to cancel it too. Because, we couldn't leave one. Finally, I made a decision to trek alone. We calculated the distance and days from the map which we took it from one of the trekkers, to make to it to the Gosainkunda. I took the photos of the map just in case, it might help me. Then, after our lunch, we arranged our backpacks and gave most of my clothes to take them home, to my brothers. So that, I could walk easily. They gave me all the leftovers that I could eat for the remaining days on my trek. Then, we headed to the junction where we wanted to separate in order to trek Gosainkunda. As their backpacks were so heavy, they were walking slowly that I had to leave. I once waited them in the forest. When I turned back, I saw them from the far. They said me to go with their hand. And then, I walked with my pace. I took a rest in one of the tea houses for a minute or two and told the owner to see the two young men coming down and told them that their brother had left for Thulo Syapru. As I was coming down the river alone, I was thinking myself to take stones from the Langtang river to home as a souvenir. As I was searching for stones on the river bank, I saw a man behind approaching to me. I asked him that; "where are you going?". I replied that he was going to Thulo Syapru. Oh my god! I honestly said him that while finding a stone, I found a God and I was also going to Thulo Syapru in order to trek Gosainkunda. Then, we headed to the steep mountain trail [......].

In this way, we completed our Langtang Circuit Trek. We accomplished our purpose of making it the Kyanjin Summit. We learnt so many things from the trek that we should stick together in the Himalayas. That is the foremost thing, we should do in the highlands. Share foods, water and help one another. Never run to the higher elevation in a short period of time. It could have HAS. With our experiences, life is so hard in the Himalayas. You never know what would in a few hours. Weather is totally unpredictable. If it's sunny in the morning, it could have snowfall in the day or night. 

After visiting the Langtang Valley, we've come to know that, it runs by the tourism. The only income of the valley is Tourism. Every basic needs of the valley depends upon the tourism.

 I couldn't imagine how it was at the time of COVID 19 when the world took a pause button and the nature took a time for reshaping. 

As Nepal is open for hiking and trekking, despite international tourism, we should uplift internal tourism. We can do that in so many ways. We should promote remote places as hiking and trekking destinations. We should promote sustainable tea house trekking in the Himalayas. If all the Nepalese travel all around the country, imagine, what it would be like in the next few years! Our tourism index would be the best in the world.

Just in case, if you want to trek LCT, it costs only Rs. 7000-10000/- for a week, for Nepalese. If you are solo travel enthusiast, you don't need that much too. Just get out from your comfort, see Nepal!