Langtang Valley Trekking

Our trail initially crosses the Bhote Koshi, flowing down from Tibet, which is literally only a few kilometers away. We then gradually climb up through the sub-tropical forests, teeming with bird-life, to join the trail from Syabru. We follow the river, climbing through uninhabited forest of oak and rhododendron and maybe catching a glimpse of langur monkeys roaming through the trees. We continue climbing along a steep trail to our camp in the forest. Lama hotel is the cluster of many hotels. Lama Hotel is a village of hotels.

As we continue climbing today there are occasional glimpses of Langtang Lirung between the trees. At Ghora Tabela [3000m], the trail emerges from the forest. Once there was a Tibetan resettlement project here, but now it is a Nepalese army post though it has no permanent inhabitants. The trail continues to climb gently and the valley widens, passing a few temporary settlements used by herders who bring their livestock to graze in the high pastures during the summer months. There is a monastery which we can visit shortly before arriving at the village of Langtang, the headquarters of the Langtang National Park. The houses of Langtang and its neighboring villages are of the flat-roofed Tibetan style, surrounded by stone walls enclosing fields of buckwheat, potatoes, wheat, turnips and barley. Earthquake of 2015 has done deadly damage to Langtang valley, but be at peace, this is still a place of admiration.

The trail climbs gradually through small villages and yak pastures as the valley opens out further and the views become more extensive. After crossing several small streams and moraines, the trail reaches the settlement at Kyangjin. Here there is a small monastery and a government-operated cheese factory. We should arrive at Kyangjin by lunch time allowing time to acclimatize and explore the area. It is a dramatic setting, with snow covered peaks surrounding us in all directions. We could say, Kyanjing is a piece of Swiss Alpine town.

A day of rest and explore the area. We can visit the monastery and the cheese factory, walk up the moraine to see the spectacular ice faces and tumbling glaciers of Langtang Lirung or ascend Kyangjin Ri [or ‘peak’ - 4350m], directly behind the village, for a breath-taking panorama of the Langtang peaks, as though you were touching the Langtang Lirung.

From Kyangjin we retrace our route, following the Langtang Khola to Langtang village and on to Ghora Tabela. After lunch we continue the steep descent to Lama Hotel. Here two days of hike is done in one day when you descend.

(From Lama Hotel, you can go to Thulo Syabru and then to Gosaikunda)We continue retracing our steps to Syabru besi, enjoying the glorious forested hills of Nepal.

We conclude the trip with a bus journey back to Kathmandu.