After meeting up with AJ in Kathmandu to plot or Annapurna trek we parted ways for a week. She was off to Bhutan while I decided to use my flex time to make a quick jaunt into the Langtang valley on one of the lesser traveled trekking routes.
By all accounts the Langtang adventure starts with just getting to the trailhead. Online I read of horror stories about 9-10h bus rides to Syabrubesi (trailhead) that only covered 120km! I will say, the ride lived up to the hype. As soon as I was dropped at the bus station I realized I was in for an adventure. The bus station consisted of a road side shack where guys were shouting in Nepali, passing out tickets and pointing at various busses parked along side the road. Thankfully my nice taxi driver helped me get a ticket then instructed me where to find the correct bus. As we loaded on the bus it was evident that other than one girl from Canada it was all locals.
A little bus on truck action along the road. The usual passing entailed 2-4″ to the cliff on one side and a couple inches in between the two vehicles.
The not so smooth road to Syabrubesi.
As we pulled out of Kathmandu in the jammed traffic weaving around motos, parked busses and people, I started to understand the adventure that is ground transit in Nepal. We slowly weaved our way along the mostly paved two lane highway to Trisuli Bazaar where I bid the Canadian woman farewell and it was me and all the Nepalis for the next 4 hours, and the fun had just begun. From Trisuli Bazaar the road turns to half paved half rough dirt and only 1.5 lanes wide. Our driver navigated the rough dirt road, passing other trucks and busses with inches to spare on all sides. Finally reaching Syabrubesi after 7.5h of some very impressive driving. This is one you have to experience for yourself to truly understand it.
Lovely trail through the forest.
Finally in Syabrubesi I found a quiet room for the night and enjoyed a nice meal with the local family (as I was the only guest, a trend). After the earthquake of 2015 this region has experienced extreme hardship, both in the form of lost lives and homes and in lost revenue. The main trail through the valley only reopened in the last year, and the tourism still hasn’t returned. I set off early the next morning making my way up the rocky staircased trail into the Langtang valley. I hike passed several small villages (tea houses) in route my lunch stop at Lama Hotel. I ate a huge lunch of vegetable fried rice with fresh chili yak cheese, all locally made. After lunch I sluggishly plugged my way to the guest house at Riverside for the night as clouds filled the valley. Again I sat with the owner and his family for dinner and watched a few Nepali music videos, as I was the only guest (notice a trend). Then to bed early (8p) as darkness settled in around 530p.
Early morning light on Langtang Lirung from the Riverside guest house.
Earthquake ravaged Langtang, much still lies as rubble.
I awoke at sunrise to clear skies and views of Langtang Lirung looming above, why hello there, ate and set off on the trail in shadow. I rolled passed several more tea houses finally reaching the avalanche at Langtang, where in 2015 half of the town had been buried under thousands of tons of rock. The village is slowly rebuilding, but less than half the structures have been fixed and many are still piles of rubble. I quietly slipped through and as I climbed higher in the valley views began to widen and the mountains got bigger…wow. I took a break at the village of Sidhum for some Seabuckthorn juice and talked with the owner about the slow rebuilding process, as several locals hammered away on his new guest house (previous one destroyed).
High mountain views and yaks on the way to Kyanjin Gompa.
View out the back window and front door from my room at the yak hotel.
The village of Kyanjin Gompa.
Then it was off to Kyanjin Gompa where I was greeted by panoramic mountain views, prayer flags and desperate guest house owners. Within 10min of arriving I’d already been offered and shown accommodations at five different places, when one woman showed me a room at the yak hotel with panoramic mountain views and said as long as I ate my meals there I’d stay for free, I couldn’t say no. So I settled in for two nights at my high altitude accommodations (3800m). Once again I sat with Pema and his family in the kitchen for dinner as I was the only guest in the 20 room hotel. After star gazing for a bit I again went to bed early.
I watched sunrise from the comfort of my sleeping bag, Langtang Lirung out the back window and Langshisha out the front, wow. Pema suggested I go up Tserko Ri, as it had the best views in the area, so I donned my running vest and warm clothes and set off for the nearby peak. After a short flat section it was the business, 1100m in 5km, topping out at 4984m high. The thin air was pretty crushing above 4300m, but I just kept slogging away reaching the summit just after 10am in 2:15. I’d had great views the entire hike up but was still awe struck by the 360 degree Himalayan panorama that presented itself. Besides being short of breath I felt pretty decent and spent over an hour up top chatting with two other parties and snapping photos. I finally gave in that I couldn’t stay up there forever so jogged back down the steep trail, returning to town in just under an hour. I spent the rest of the day mingling with locals over a piece of cake at Dorje bakery, learning about the rebuilding procees and the troubles since the earthquake. Sunset arrived with more clouds, but they lifted just at the last minute revealing Langshisha bathed in lovely pastels.
The trail up Tserko Ri, 1100m of relentlessly thin air.
Panorama from the summit of Tserko Ri looking west.
View from Tserko Ri looking east.
I even got to run a little bit. Downhill of course.
Sunset on Langshisha from the village.
Clear and starry night sky able Langtang Lirung
The next morning I took a short jog into the basin below Langtang Lirung before breakfast, then bid my hosts farewell and headed back down the valley. As I walked down the valley I tried to process all the highs and lows of the past few days and to understand all the struggles these people had endured, and most still put on a smile. I stopped in Ghodatabela for lunch before continuing down to Lama Hotel for the night.
Early morning trail run.
Views from the high route just past Sherpagaon.
Another quiet night, but this time I had a chance to chat with two other guests (from Germany and Indonesia). My final day on the trail I opted for the high route through Sherpagaon and was rewarded with wonderful views from this high trail carved into the side of the steep mountains before making my final precipitous drop down 1200m of switchbacks into Syrabrubesi. But the adventure was not finished, oh no. It was Tihar, one of the biggest Hindu festivals of the year so there would be no busses for two days, well damn. Thankfully I found a nice Nepali (nira I think) who got me a ride back to Kathmandu on the Jeep he had called. So we squeezed in the trunk (yes seats in the trunk) of the Jeep and sped off. Because of the festival there was no traffic on the road, and our driver took advantage, whipping around turns, flying over bumps so we’d catch air. Poor Nira got sick and I don’t blame him, as we did the drive in just 4.5h. Safely back in Kathmandu I was able to relax and enjoy the Tihar festivities that were everywhere.
Happy Tihar. Lights and colored designs decorated all the doorways.
So if you’re looking for a tea house trek without the crowds, but with all the culture, mountain views and a little adventure, then Langtang is for you. Since the earthquake the valley had been very quiet, even though the tall is open and plenty of infrastructure is available. The people of the valley need the tourism and their valley deserves it. The feeling of desperation was evident among many of the people and it really breaks my heart. You want to help as many people as possible, but there is only so much one can do. For now I’ll leave you with all these photos and say that you need to visit this wonderful place for yourself.
