Langtang Trek 2015: Wonderful Weather, Exceptional Experience

Langtang Valley Trek was embarked by me, Yung-Fu, and four of my friends Hsiu-Ting, Meng-Chin, Chio-Pyng, and Yu-Lin this April 2015. We chose Icicles Adventure Treks as our trekking company and were accompanied by trekking guide Shiva along with porters Ganesh, Purna, and Rajkumar. It was my best Himalayan holiday in the beautiful country of Nepal. From wonderful weather to professional services, everything was just perfect and above our expectations. The entire adventurous wonderful experience just can’t be expressed in words but I have tried to explain it as far as possible.

1st day April 2: We arrived at Kathmandu

As our air hostess announced that we were ready to land amidst the Himalayas at Tribhuwan International Airport, Kathmandu, I could feel that I was very close to my dream destination to experience never seen before Langtang valley treks.

As soon as we were at the airport terminals, I instantly recognized Hari, owner of my trekking company Icicles Adventure. I was in continuous touch with him and their travel planner Mrs. Indira. They were quick with my emails and other social media. He was there with a guy who introduced himself as Shiva, trekking guide. Well, we were warmly welcomed with garlands and they took us to our hotel with a short briefing about how our trip is going to be.

Shiva provided us a duffel bag with a trekking map and other necessary trekking gears like a sleeping bag and down jacket which were included in our trip cost.

2nd Day April 3: Bumpy Private jeep drive from Kathmandu to Syabrubesi

It was our first sunrise at Kathmandu and as soon as we felt the warmth of Sun, we were ready for early morning departure towards Syabrubesi on private jeep. Riding through bumpy off-road, was like riding a horse sometimes. However, thanks to Icicles, we were on Jeep, I was told that the local bus would take additional 4 hours to arrive there and it was impossible to stop in between the route, get out of the vehicle and capture the best of views.

As we arrived at Trishuli Bazaar, it was our lunchtime, had our tummy full, and continued our journey to Syabrubesi. Another thing that astonished me was the number of checkpoints along the way. Between every 10 minutes, there were police checking where every luggage was being thoroughly checked and verified OK. Finally, after being there at Syabrubesi, we checked in our hotel, took a rest, and strolled around the village area for fresh air, Shiva took us to Tatopani or natural hotspring, one of the amazing things that we saw on our first day of the trip.

3rd Day April 4: Trekking activity initiated from Syabrubesi to Lama Hotel

We initiate our trekking activity after having our morning meals at 7 am walking through narrow gorges, having lots of fun. We had our lunch at bamboo and a further 3 hours steep ascend took us to Lama hotel. The scenic river streams of Bhotekoshi and Langtang Khola were constantly buzzing in my ear, and having fun with our group was quite a refreshing one too.

4th day April 5: the Himalayas started to appear while trekking from Lama Hotel to Langtang valley

Today also we had some bread and tea as breakfast and commenced our straight two hours of trekking. Finally, we got glimpses of the Himalayas that brought smiles to our faces. Shiva pointed to those and said it is Langtang 2. Ghoda tabela was our next stop for lunch where we ordered local momo called as a stable, huge one. Played badminton to warm up and fun with guys. Locals were very helpful and had very cute interactions with small girls.

Then we spotted Langur monkey out of now where. They were jumping from here and there through one tree to another. After 10 mins we crossed the checkpoint and few hours of walk through beautiful rhododendron forests took exhibited us with panoramic Langtang Himal, Kyabgin ri, Kinshriung, and few other surrounding peaks. At Langtang valley, we visited a local bakery shop for few pastries and offered local cheese along with bread to my guide and porters who were more than friends by now.

5th day April 6: Weather supported us and had special cheese as we head from Langtang valley to Kyangin

After the routine of bed and breakfast, today we were worried about the weather as it was not looking good in the morning. Some of the locals even suggested not to go further. But with the hope of a quick change in weather, we headed towards Kyangin. And the weather changed indeed. It became clear as we ascend. Each hour of trek brought us close to Himalayas and views were getting more and more spectacular. It was not the just Himalayas, spotted Yaks, horses, mules, and Yak cheese was just yummy. It is not Mc Donalds but I simply loved it even more. A short visit to nearby monasteries gave us insightful knowledge of Buddhist culture and tradition and a high level of peace in my mind. Yes, we even saw one chopper flying above us, it must be a heli rescue, Shiva added.

6th day April 7: Best day of our trek as we head from Kyangin to Kyangin ri and back to Kyangin

Today is the most important day of our trek. We were going to be at top of Kyangin ri, the highest point of the trek, and must say it is the most beautiful and heavenly place we had ever seen. It was a steep climb over the snow, even though it was a tough, most worthwhile trek ever. We walked for around 3 hours to be at this place and as we reached the top, the weather also supported us by trying its best to show spectacular sceneries ever. All of us were very happy and in a joyful mood, clicked lots of pictures. Spent around half an hour to the heaven (top of Kyangin ri) we descended towards Kyangin.

It was slippery while trekking downhill but with the help of our guide and porters, it didn’t seem that impossible. Arrival at Kyangin took us to another bakery shop for meals, cheese and chowmein with momo was on the plate. We played cards, had lots of fun, and even taught our card game to Shiva and Porter's friends. Whereas we learned few Nepali words like “How are you?” is “tapailai kasto cha?”, “thank you” meant “dhanyabad” and counting 1,2,3,4 “Ek,dui, tin char” etc. Overall we had the best of time.

7th day April 8: Cautious walk from Kyangin to Lama Hotel

Sun was shining bright and everything was all right until one of our friends fell ill. Diarrhea. May be due to too much cheese consumption. After getting some medicine, we trekked downhill slowly, had light lunch at Ghoda tabela, and arrived at lama hotel. Above lama hotel there was no hot shower, so, we took shower, and felt fresh, shared our best trekking experiences.

8th day April 9: Final day of trekking from Lama Hotel to Syabrubesi

Last day of trekking, we celebrated by singing, dancing, and even witnessed Sherpa's marriage. After having lunch at Pairini, had warm water at Tatopani and the day ended as we celebrated at one of the restaurants till evening.

9th day April 10: We returned to Kathmandu with a cultural farewell dinner

It was a long seven hours of drive to Kathmandu, not a good driving experience on bumpy roads but we were so much happy with how our trek went that we didn’t concern about the road condition. My dream was coming true, lifetime friends made with lots of unforgettable moments.

After arriving at Kathmandu, Hari invited us into his office, shared our experiences with him, he offered a farewell dinner with a Nepali cultural show.

In this way, our Langtang trek ended in better than the best way we had ever imagined.