Pre-Departure Meeting
Before beginning my trekking holiday, I caught up with all the other Australian volunteers in Kathmandu.
There are 16 of us working for a year in Nepal at the moment. Our assignments include Tourism Development (2), Urban Planner (2), Agriculture Development, Midwife (2), Environment & Sanitation (2), Speech Pathologist, Disability Program Developer, Nurse, Engineer (3) and, of course, Veterinary Clinician.
We form part of Australia's Foreign Aid program.
Some volunteers are accompanied by their partner and a couple have children who can also be seen in the group photo below; along with Nepali in-country staff who help organise the program here.
Trekking to Gosaikunda
I wanted to trek to Gosaikunda, partly because it is a holy site, but also because it is the source of the Trishuli river. This joins the Kali Gandaki river where I live in Bharatpur to form the Narayani river which eventually flows into the Ganges. I previously trekked to the source of the Kali Gandaki in Muktinath, near the Tibetan border, 7 years ago; so this would be a kind of trifecta for me!
There are 2 routes to Gosaikunda which lies north of Kathmandu. I took the longer route starting in Sundarijal. This provided more time for acclimatisation to help prevent altitude sickness, which can be a problem otherwise. I hired a porter, Ganesh, to carry my backpack and we followed old paths that head north into Tibet. There are a surprising number of these since Tibet used to be the main trading partner with Nepal. This is because nobody wanted to travel south into India due to the malaria infested jungle that used to form the border between the 2 countries; before DDT was used to reduce the mosquito population.
Some sections of path comprise solid granite steps where the quartz crystals reflect off the stone like silver fish scales glittering in the sun.
Other sections of path are almost non existent and have bare branches laid down to cross rivers and ditches.
At lower altitudes, butterflies flutter too shy to photo. Here is a large moth that settled long enough near my foot for a photo:
At one stage we tried to take a short cut through some terraced farmland but were prevented from going further due to dense forest. Fortunately, a little old lady was gathering fodder for her animals and she guided us through to the other side.
The lower slopes are rich in herbs and flowers. Yellow raspberries were ripe for picking:
... and so were the wild strawberries ...
The government is making attempts to provide road access to remote areas. This allows the locals to get their produce to a market and buy necessary goods. However, it also leaves ugly scars on the hillside.
There was extensive evidence of earthquake damage ...
... and many buildings have been replaced with local stones and corrugated roofing:
Here you can see a long scar in the mountainside that opened up during the earthquake.
The forests were a wonder to walk through. There were lots of alder, oak, fir, hemlock, larch and juniper trees. Some of the trees are laden with mosses of various types.
Rhododendron flowers were still in bloom when we reached higher ground.
We had to cross slopes where snow was still lying.
Some of the dark deposit on the snow is due to pollution. Sadly, the air in Nepal is the most polluted in the world. Some of the problem is created by the many brick-works, and other industries in Nepal, that burn fuel inefficiently. However, pollution also comes from India and China and creates the Asian Brown Cloud
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_brown_cloud This is enormous and stretches from Pakistan to eastern China.
The thick layer of smog can be seen clearly below the blue sky in this photo; with white clouds almost blocked out.
The Asian Brown Cloud reduces visibility so much that it often obscures the view of the Himalayas. This is disappointing for many trekkers and is likely to reduce the number of tourists coming to Nepal. There is a similar situation in Australia where the Great Barrier Reef is dying and the number of tourists will decrease unless pollution in the ocean is reduced.
As we trekked further north, the predominant ethnic group is Tibetan. Also, we saw more Chorten (Buddhist shrines). Some are very old ...
... and some are quite new ...
We stayed in 'tea houses' that provide welcome food and basic accommodation.
The interior can be quite cosy ( ... but not always warm!).
Water is piped straight from a nearby river using a plethora of black plastic pipes lying on the ground. I only saw one pipe that was marked food grade quality.
We had a better view of the Himalayan peaks when we are above the Asian Brown Cloud.
This was the view from my bedroom window when I woke early in the morning:
The sun lit up the peaks as it rose:
After 5 days trekking, we crossed over Lauribina Pass which is 4610 metres high then dropped down into Gosaikunda 4380m. This region is holy to Hindus and also to Buddhists. There are a number of lakes as well as the main Gosaikunda. The legend is that Lord Shiva thrust his Trishul (trident) into the mountain to extract water to cool his stinging throat after swallowing poison.
The highest lake was still partly covered with ice.
At this stage of the journey, the sole of my right boot was peeling off at the front ... so I had to render first aid:
Route to Gosaikunda with overnight stops:
Sundarijal (1400m) - Chisapani (2330m) - Kutamsang (2540m) - Mangingoth (3285m) - Phedi 3500m) - [Lauribina Pass (4610m) - Gosaikunda (4210m)] - Bamboo (1975m)
We trekked for 5 - 7 hours on most days except for a couple of days (3 - 4 hours).
Trekking along Langtang Valley
I still had plenty of energy after the trek to Gosaikunda. So I decided to continue to Langtang Valley.
We trekked down from Gosaikunda into Langtang Valley via Thulo Shyaphru; passing through rich terraced farming land growing wheat, millet, barley, potatoes and maize.
The Nepalis must be world experts in erecting suspension bridges since there are so many ...
... invariably suspended over deep gorges ...
High, underneath an overhanging cliff, hung beards of honeycomb built by the Himalayan Cliff Honeybee; the worlds largest honeybee (Apis dorsata laboriosa). Locals light smokey fires at the base of the cliff before climbing up twine ropes to collect the honey in baskets on their back.
We passed several Buddhist prayer wheels. Some were small and turned by a water wheel ...
... others were much larger ...
... and housed in a Gompa that you walked into and turned manually:
Gosaikunda and Langtang are close to the epicentre of the major earthquake that killed nearly 9,000 people in 2015. Amazingly, some of the Mani Walls survived the tremours (although slightly askew!) ...
... and some appear untouched ...
These walls are constructed of Mani stones; usually inscribed with a 6-syllable mantra or Buddhist prayer.
Yaks are kept by locals on both Gosaikunda and Langtang Valley. Their milk is used to make cheese. The meat is eaten. The shaggy coat is used to provide warmth, and the thick tail is valued for use in religious ceremonies. The tails are gorgeous. They all look as if someone spent half the morning grooming them.
The mountains are grand .... but the detail provided by wild herbs and flowers is beautiful. I had to hold one of the petals on this flower to prevent the bitterly cold strong wind in upper Langtang Valley folding it across to obscure the other colourful petals.
Nepal has an abundance of water ... some of which is used to generate hydroelectric power.
We trekked to the head of Langtang Valley at Kyanjin Gompa ...
... and took a side trail up to view the glacier.
This was amazing to see. It flows ever so slowly into an eerily quiet cul de sac surrounded by high mountains. We watched several yak grazing in the distance. Then heard a muffled crash as some of the ice flow suddenly moved. This happened one more time before we descended and retraced our steps back down the valley to Syafru Beshi: an uninspiring place about 1 hour drive from the Chinese border.
The hotel bedroom ceiling had lovely Tibetan patterns ... and corrugated imprints from the sheeting used to build it ... (How did they do that?)
I managed to walk all the way up and down Langtang Valley with the sole of my right boot held in place using binding that needed to be replaced every day. On the last day (Day 12), the sole of my left boot started to peel off as well. So now I had both boots held together with plastic insulated electrical wire!
Langtang Valley Trek Itinerary including overnight stops:
Bamboo (1975m) - Ghoda Tabela (3420m) - Kyanjin Gompa (3900m) - [Langtang Glacier (4100m)] - Ghoda Tabela - Syabru Besi (1460m)
We trekked for 5 - 7 hours each day.
Total trekking time (Gosaikinda and Langtang) : 12 days
Flower Power
There are so many different species of flowers growing in Gosaikunda and Langtang Valley.
I will finish this post with photos of a few. Feel free to identify them if you can ... coz I don't know their names!
And for those of you who like Lichen ...
NAMASTE !
