Langtang Trail

Now begins the second part our journey. On to Langtang and then home. After Briddhim we headed out the next day for Sherpagaon, but changed our plans when we discovered that the village only consisted of lodges and no actual homes. So we continued onto Lama Hotel, which is also only lodges and no homes. We stayed in a pretty crappy lodge that didn’t have very good food. Of all the places we stayed at it was my least favorite. It just wasn’t a very nice place. We would not be stopping there on the way back. It was a beautiful place though. We were right next to the roaring, the moon was full, and the scenery of the trees was amazing. As horrible as the service was the view was great. After Lama Hotel we continued on our journey up towards Langtang. The next day would be a very long one. We got up early and were gone by 8 am. We hoped to be getting to Langtang by mid afternoon. Originally we were going to be staying in a place called Ghodatbela. Again we discovered that all it was was lodges and choose to continue on. We did stop for lunch there though. It was a wonderful little place. It was up above the trees and was beginning to get flat. It was all rocks and shrubs. It reminded me a lot of the Grand Tetons. The river was a lot like the Snake river that runs through the Grand Tetons. It honestly felt a lot like being back in the states camping. After lunch we continued our journey on to Langtang. The best part about Langtang was the cheese and bread factory. Although we didn’t actually get to eat anything until we came back through Langtang. One of the craziest things that happened in Langtang was a member of our team getting bit by a horse. Alissa tried to pet a horse and it ended up biting her on the side and threw her to the ground. She ended up with a big bruise on her side. It made it difficult for her to hike the rest of the trip. We had an extra day in Langtang and choose to go to Kyanjin Gumba. Which was about 3900 meters, or over 13,000 feet. It was an absolutely beautiful place. One of the most beautiful places that I have had the opportunity to go to. The peaks were amazing and so were the glaciers. We had nothing but great views for 4 whole days. I hiked around for hours just starring in awe of the beauty that was surrounding me on all sides. I couldn’t get enough time there. The following day we headed back down towards Langtang where we finally got to have some delicious food from the cheese and bread factory. We had freshly baked apple pie. The man literally pulled it out of the oven moments before we arrived. It was some of the best apple pie I’ve had in a while. I felt like I was sitting back at home at our annual pie party. It didn’t last long, but for a moment there I began to miss home. That night we got a little rain and snow. Now it didn’t actually snow on us specifically, but all the peaks around us were now heavily covered in it. The next day we planned on going for a long day. Possible an 8 hour day, and that was going to be down hill. We left early and made our way down to a place called Bamboo Hotel. There was actually no bamboo at bamboo Hotel, but it didn’t matter much. It was a nice place and it had begun to get a lot warmer. It had been cold for days higher up in the mountains. During the day the sun kept you warm, but the moment it disappeared it would drop into the low40s or high 30s. It never got to freezing where we were at, but it got very close. At Bamboo Hotel we began a competition with some of the local lodge owners and other guests there. There was a giant rock there and the competition was to see who could run up it and stay on top. We were out there for almost a hour. The entire community had come out to watch us. It was a blast. The following day we headed back to Shaphru Besi where we would take the bus back to Kathmandu. That day was a very special day. It was Nathaniel’s birthday. We didn’t do anything special for him because that was the way he wanted it. We got back around noon and had our first Coke in a long time. You take for granted the things you can so easily get in the city. We walked around the small town a bit and just sat around and rested. I was able to have an incredible conversation with our translator that had come with us from Kathmandu. It was great to talk about life with him. We got our bus tickets, this time they were for the inside, for the next day. We got up the next morning bright and early and headed for home. It ended up being another 12 hour bus ride back to Kathmandu. We got back and I was very excited to have my own bed again. It is a very comfy bed. Well that sums up our trip to Langtang. The journey was an incredible one. One that I would love to repeat again someday with my family. Again thank you all for those of you that have been keeping me in your prayers and checking up on me from time to time.