One day, one of my colleagues from Ireland asked me “Have you climbed Everest?” It was an obvious question for a foreigner to ask a Nepali but, forget climbing, I had never seen a Himalaya from a close distance. Although it wasn't possible for me to climb any mountains immediately, I was determined that I am going to make it to see the Himalayas next season. I then started to google, have a look at the pictures, study itineraries, talk with people and find a good deal for me. One day after playing the futsal , I had a small chit-chat with my friend Sankalpa Bhattarai, who later wrote a travel itinerary for us, where he recommended me to go to langtang as it is the modestly comfortable place for the trekking startups. I agreed!
The destination was fixed. Now, I needed company. I talked with one of my friend and it was kind of fixed to go with him. But, some official works compelled me to postpone the trekking plan and also find a new company. Then, on one evening, during a small tea-talk at our junction, I convinced Sandeep Budhathoki (Mr. Rockman) to trek to lantang. Now, we were two people and we talked with Prasanna Paudel (Mr. Human) and involved him in the plan. Later Anil Krishnan (Mr. Walkman) also joined in the team and we four fixed the date of 30th October – 4th November 2013 for our first trekking to the Himalayas!
Day1: Kathmandu-Dhunche
As we had scheduled last minute shopping, we reached machhapokhari (the place from which bus leaves to dhunche) at 7 o’ clock. We then purchased energy bars, drinks, snacks, and some trekking gears. On a typical day, there are three/four buses that go from Kathmandu to Dhunche and the last bus usually leaves at 8:30 ~ish. We had purchased ticket of the last bus and after finishing our shopping, we, the super excited people, went to the bus and marched towards Dhunche at 8:45. The weather was good with a clear sky and greeneries around the hills were beautiful. Soon, we started to crack the jokes and enjoyed the moments. Having a black topped road, the trip up to Trishuli was comfortable enough and we reached there at 12:15 for the lunch. After having the masu-bhat at Trishuli, we then headed towards Dhunche. Some parts of the road from Trishuli to Dhunche were very dangerous and we were scared at times. However, we safely reached dhunche at 4:30. We all were very excited and our team member Sandeep’s uncle made an arrangement for us to stay at the local hotel. After changing at hotel, we went for a tour of Dhunche bazar. We also purchased some noodles, bitten rice, coffee and other accessories required for the tour. After having the delicious food at the hotel, we played cards for a bit and went to the bed with an excitement for the next morning.
Day2: Dhunche-Bamboo
Unlike the most popular trekking route, we had chosen to follow the route from thulo bharkhu – thulo syabru – bamboo to We reached Thulo Bharkhu at 7:30 and had the breakfast at a local restaurant of Mr. Dawa Magar, a kuwait returnee, who started his restaurant and homestay business with the savings from four years of hardship at abroad. He seemed to be a very hospitable guy and helped us to find the trekking trail. As showed by him, we travelled along thulo syabru hill. It is a high hill with a muscle paining steep. As we gained more height, there was more beauty at every other step. Soon, Lantang range started to peep us from the horizon. Walking ups and downs, we reached Thulo Syabru at around 12 o’ clock. Thulo Syabru, a bit expensive place, had a spectacular view. The females at this place seemed to be pretty engaged in sewing handmade scarfs, woolen caps, gloves etc. At this place, all people were curious about who we were, where we came from and where we were heading. Children were asking us to provide them the chocolates. Through the tone of their interaction, we could easily read that those people were very hospitable. Walking down from thulo syabru, we crossed a suspension bridge, walked by the river place called
pahiro. During our conversation with the locals, we were told that we may encounter leopard in the way. We were horrified to hear that but thanks god we didn't encounter any leopard rather saw it's food - Kasturi deer. I spotted the kasturi on the next hill, but my friends denied. Sandeep told that it was a hill goat while Prasanna criticized us for saying deer and goat to a jackal. Haha... it was confirmed that we saw kasturi only after when we came to Syabru and saw the picture of kasturi on the local calendar.
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| (this image is taken from google) |
The other notable things were the wild bee hives. The hills around pahiro were rocky and content with wild honey. Nepal has been known in the world for the best wild honeys and a typical traditional way of climbing a cliff with a more than 200 ft. rope and bamboo support to harvest honey. As we have a cliche, "One miss, life finish"! One can only imagine how deadly it can be. Good experiences were on the way and we finally reached Bamboo at 5:15. After having negotiation on rates, we ended our 11 hours of walk and slept at the river side cottage of Bamboo.
We had a plan to reach Thangsyap on this day. The third day was much similar to the second day walk. We had to walk the riverside ups and downs. Anil dai was the Usain Bolt in our team and he always lead the way. After walking ahead for a couple of minutes, he usually waited us in the riverside stone or on the sun-shining spot. Prasanna and Sandeep were fine at the walking speed and proved me a tortoise. As I wanted to catch Anil dai and increased the pace, the worst thing happened. I got hurt in the right knee. Hell! I had to walk three more days but I already needed a stick support at the first few hours of the third day. Tired of walking, we used to ask people what far it was to reach the destination in every 30 minutes. Fighting with the pain, I crawled with a stick support on my right leg and managed to reach Ghoda-Tabela at 3:30, two hours thirty minutes later than Anil dai. After having few minutes of rest and chit chat with Army dai at the place, we then headed towards our destination - Thangsyap. On the way, we were approached by many hotel owners with a request to stay at their hotel. The approach used by them can be generalized into four consecutive statements: 1.Where did you came from? 2. How many people are there in the group? 3. Where are you heading towards? 4. Please stay at my hotel. And, one the way, we met a dd, who walked together with us for an hour trying to persuade us to stay at her hotel. These people had figured out a place specific marketing technique to attract the customers. Since the dd’s hotel had the solar water facility, charger facility, and got a good deal of lodging and fooding, we decided to accept her offer and stayed at Hilltop Guest House, Chyamki (30 minutes above Tyangsyap)
Day 4: Chyamki-Kyanjing-Chyamki
With an aim to reach kyanjing gumba, climb kyanjing ri, and then return back to chyamki, we set off the trail at early 6 o’ clock. After one night of rest, I had less pain in my leg and we took a good pace. As usual, Anil dai took the lead and he showed us the way. After couple of minutes, my right knee started hurting and I decided not to climb kyanjing ri. When I talked about this to Prasanna, he also was not in the position to climb kyanjing ri. We then started chilling. We took pictures, slept anywhere in the ground, flirted with the tourists, cracked jokes on Anil dai and Sandeep. I said Namaste to all the foreigners while Prasanna chose to greet only lady tourists ;) It was fun. With much struggle, we reached Kyanjin at 12 o’ clock. Anil dai and Sandeep were set to climb Kyanjing. We wished them all the best and had our lunch. Few minutes of rest after the lunch, we moved towards the yak cheese factory at Kyanjing. We had met the manager of this factory, Mr. Gyalpo Tamang on the other day during our trek. Few minutes of walk and we reached the cheese factory. The cheese factory, currently under the management of DDC, was established by Mr. Tony Hagen. After purchasing two kgs. of cheese for Rs. 1000 per kg., we made no delay to return back. On the way we met two little sisters and provided them the company to climb down to Langtang Village. Through these guffadi girls we came to know that almost every child at this trail studies at Kathmandu. Schools like Marsyangdi and Kanjirowa were very popular among them. We also came to know that people at this area spoke Tibetan language and worshipped Dalai Lama. Joking and flirting, we reached their home. As we requested, we they offered us a Sherpa tea. It was salty and good. After paying the bills, we returned back to Chyamki. On the way we met another guy where we stopped have a cup of milk tea. During the conversation, we came to know that he had a disabled son who studied at Kathmandu. The guy was kind of frustrated thinking the future of his son. My friend Prasanna, Nepalese representative at Humanistic Management Network, took no time to share story about Stephen Hawkins and made him aware that if provided good education, the disabled people can also do more. We shared many inspirational stories and tried to make him comfortable about his son. After having the tea, we thanked for their hospitality and returned back to chyamki with the torchlights on. Pretty soon, Anil dai and Sandeep came back and shared about their experience at Kyanjing Ri.
Day 5: Chyamki-Syabrubesi
One the fourth day, we already had conquered our destination and had to return to Syabrubesi. We packed up all our belongings and set off to syabrubesi. Climbing down the hills, we were often amazed by the distance covered by us during our up-hill climb. The km never came down, and even after 10 hours of walk, we just reached Pahiro. At pahiro, we talked to a local regarding life, politics, business. Through him we came to know that all the constructions in this area lie in the national park periphery and had to pay a bi-yearly royalty to the government. When asked about the next election and why the constitution wasn’t made? He replied that his business had nothing to do with the politics and the politics had nothing to serve him. He also stressed that the top leaders had a consensus to show that they fight against each other in the public appearances but were unified for the corruption. I was convinced that these people understood more politics than the educated illiterates. Simply Wow!
After leaving pahiro, we had to open the torch light as it was already getting dark. Being lost and found in the jungle, we reached syabrubesi at 8 o’ clock. Syabrubesi is a pretty developed town with 3 B: beautiful girls, black topped roads and big markets. Since it was a laxmi puja day, we watched the deusi at syabri.
Day 6: Syabru-Kathmandu
Luckily, we found the last seat tickets to return back to Kathmandu. Tired of more than 45 hrs of walk, we immediately fall asleep in the bus. As we were travelling in the local bus, the number of standing passengers was greater than the number of seats. Some vomited inside the bus while some vomited from the hoot. It was such a chaotic situation there. We, being Nepali, adapted to the chaos but it definitely had an impact on the foreigners. We realized the need of putting a deluxe tourist coach in the route. Ups and downs, rights and left, we reached the valley at 6 o’ clock.
Langtang Valley trek is one of the best place to start for the trekking startups. It’s an easy route and a low budget trekking area. One can have the Nepali food on Rs. 200-300 per person. The food price strictly is based on the amount of bargain that you can do and you generally get the room on free. The houses generally have rooms that can accommodate four people per room. So, it is economic if travelled in a group of 4 people or 8 people. We had a great time at Langtang. Below written is the phone numbers of the hotels where we stayed on. We received a good hospitality on every place we stayed. You too have fun. Enjoy!
SunShine Guest House and Restaurant- Dhunche; 010-540123 9841893377
Sherpa Guest House - Bamboo; 010-670364
Hilltop Guest House – Chyamki; 9741197701
