In a last minute decision we decided to head just north of Kathmandu to hike through Langtang National Park. Rather than staying in Kathmandu and waiting for our time to renew visas, we wanted to get back on the trail. The GHT section of Langtang goes from the village of Last Resort to Syabru Besi which are both accessible by road. Langtang was the first Himalayan national park and the closest to Kathmandu. The landscape is distinguished by dense jungle with a rich biodiversity. While mostly at a lower altitude, it still has some larger 7,000 meter peaks. So the 5 of us crammed into a jeep with 2 porters and strapped our packs to the roof.
All of Nepal was returning to their home villages for elections, a rather inspiring sight to see. We were lucky to find a jeep amidst the chaos, but this also meant our drive would take several extra hours due to the increased traffic. The heat was sweltering and the black exhaust from the buses caked our skin and permeated our lungs even through our face masks. After three hours we stopped to stretch and eat some dal bhat.
We arrived at The Last Resort after 8 hours, grateful we had been in a jeep after we saw buses filled to the brim with people all over the roads. Although ‘resort’ is in the village’s name, we had not expected an actual resort so we were pleasantly surprised by the swankiest accommodations yet. The grounds were manicured with detail as if we were at a retreat center and the paths would light up at dark. The bathrooms had actual sit down toilets, stocked with toilet paper, working lights, and large showers with warm water. There were spacious glamping tents on stone platforms, a nice outdoor bar and dining area, and a beautiful plunge pool that we quickly submerged ourselves in. This area is a frequently visited weekend getaway with bungee jumping, canyoneering, and river rafting. Knowing that we would soon be in the mountains and jungle we embraced the relaxing getaway.
After a nice rest and a morning plunge in the pool we headed up the mountain. The trail was newly built with stone pathways and staircases. We found out there had been a grant from the government to improve trekking in the region and a lot of work had been done during covid. This region was most impacted by the 2015 earthquake so a lot of recent construction has been occurring in the district. This meant many of the buildings and homes in the villages were quite new.
As we hiked up the mountainside we crossed paths with several groups of people heading to their municipality’s polling center. The local elections are a big deal in Nepal with a 64% turnout in this year’s election. This year in particular was unique as many young independent candidates won including the mayor of Kathmandu who is a 32 year old rapper and structural engineer. According to our local friends this was possible because many of the youth were talking to their parents and encouraging them to vote for independents and demanding change in leadership.
The first part of the hike was hot under the desiccating sun. By mid afternoon we arrived in the village of Listi and welcomed a light rain. We decided to make this our stop for the day. There were a lot of people hanging around because of the elections. We met a group of younger guys enjoying libations and hookah in the lounge of the guest house. It was quite the scene, and as usual we garnered much interest and provided some entertainment. Sarah came to sit with everyone while writing in her journal and was immediately swarmed by the boozey boys with cigarette breath. They hovered over her shoulder trying to read her journal and then took countless pictures with her until she finally retreated back to her room until dinner.
The next stop after Listi was the village of Bagam. Luckily we had ascended a few more thousand feet and the air was cooling. We encountered our first leeches of this section after a light rain during the hike. The weather was definitely deteriorating with lingering clouds and rain each day.
The peaceful little village is primarily Tibetan Buddhist, speaking a dialect from Tibet. It was very quiet when we arrived as many of the villagers were down in Listi voting. So instead we made friends with a litter of puppies and set up our tents.
The two of us walked around checking out the area. We stopped in to have some tea with the local ladies and the porters our teammates had hired. Once the rain moved back in we hopped in the tent to watch a movie, which felt odd with cows munching grass by our heads. Once the local guest house owner returned, who was affectionately called Aunti, we played a couple of rounds of cribbage and enjoyed some Himalayan Dragon beer inside her place.
In the morning we rolled down to the guest house where Tanner and Mike had spent the night. We were drinking tea and before we knew it we were dancing to Nepali music and making our TikTok debut. Namgyal who owned the the guest house spoke great English, and his wife Dasangmu, the TikTok star, had a great sense of humor. After some dancing they blessed us with Khadas and showed us the way out of town.
Click to see our Tik Tok debut https://www.tiktok.com/@sherpa7
The hike was short again due to some incorrect hiking times on the map. Namgyal from the guest house had shown us pictures of Bharaib Kunda, a lake holy among Hindu and Buddhists in the region. The two of us were still eager to get some miles in so we took off to another camp a couple hours higher and near the lake. We made plans to meet up with the rest of the group the following day in Kyansin.
We hiked up to Bharaib Kunda the following morning in the clouds. Passing trail crews every 20 minutes throughout the hike. They were hunched over with chisels and hammers breaking up stones. We wanted so badly to give them all safety glasses!
When we arrived at the lake it was decorated with the most khadas and prayer flags we had ever seen. The Hindu had filled the lake with little tridents for Shiva. We watched for an hour as the fog came and went, disguising and revealing the lake.
We headed back down to pack up our tent and find the trail to Kyansin. Just as we headed out of camp Tom noticed a Dzokyo had just given birth to her calf. Her placenta was still emerging and she was licking the shivering little calf clean as we walked by. To see the cycle of life occurring on a cold rainy mountainside morning brought some perspective. The moment was magical.
The quickest way down to Kyansing was a little trail we could see on satellite image on the phone. We had to descend over 5,000 feet to return to the valley floor. So we headed down through a Rhododendron forest until we emerged on a trail. After a stop by a stream to fill water we began to realize the leeches were swarming us in numbers we hadn’t seen before. We tucked our pants into our socks and tried to keep moving fast. As soon as we would stop to pull one off you’d have find another 5 jumping on. We were outnumbered.
After a few hours the trail began to flatten out, but the rain was picking up. Instead of the trail becoming more obvious as we neared the village it was slowly disappearing. We stopped and backtracked multiple times to find a path but each time it would disappear. Eventually we could see part of the village down and across a small gorge with a stream. At this point it was a complete downpour and we were totally drenched. We started slipping and sliding in the mud down the hillside. We avoided any injuries and the laughter meter was high. Someone had blocked the creek crossing with piles of logs to keep in livestock, so we had to find an alternative route. We slid down into the gorge grabbing plants to find a way across and out. We eventually landed on the road below and then walked into the village. The stairs and village trails had become waterfalls running thick with muddy water. We searched for our group knowing they would be in one of the village houses. Eventually we heard voices from under a metal roof and saw the porters on the porch. It was Namgyal’s sister’s house who was taking us all in for the night and letting us sleep in their prayer room.
We quickly huddled underneath the roof to get our wet clothes off. Leeches covered our shoes and socks making it a meticulous process. Then we flocked to the fire in the kitchen warming ourselves inside and out with a Tongba. The other guys had been there for a few hours before our arrival. After some time we had a group discussion leading to the decision to head back to KTM. With deteriorating weather and a family emergency for one of our group members, the Langtang section wasn’t going to work out.
That evening while everyone was fast asleep, Sarah reached up to itch her armpit finding what felt like a dreadlock like knot in her new nappy armpit hair. She worked to detangle the mess and was soon inoculated by the familiar metallic smell of blood. It wasn’t a dreadlock but a chubby leech who’d been pit camping and gorging on blood. She spent the rest of the night lying still, hypersensitive to every tickle or slight itch. As much as we didn’t want to leave the trail, the monsoon had moved in and the leeches were less than encouraging. The mountains had spoken.
On Tour with Tom and Sarah 