Memories of My Trek to Kyanjin Ri, Langtang

Imagine, how it feels to walk for 6 days continuously, yet never get tired. Imagine, how it feels when your company is the white-water river on a trail that has a mountain on its head and the green hills at its sides. Imagine, a clear blue sky in the horizon with a 360-degree view of white snow-capped mountains on your sight either sunkissed in the dawn or the sun shaded dusk. Imagine how it feels, when your journey is accompanied by music from the water mills, prayer wheels, gushing river, chirping birds, ting tong bells around the neck of the horses and yaks,and the gentle breeze whistling through the prayer flags. Imagine, being a part of simplest of lifestyle on earth, where you care nothing of the outside world. No network, no connection yet intimately connected with the self. Must be soothing, right? At this point, you start to feel your real connection with the nature. Your true meditation starts at Langtang National Park.

We were a bunch of people from five different continent, trekking to the Langtang Ri (4,770,m/15,655,ft), to the north east of Kyanjin Gompa (3,830m) last a year as a familiarization trip to the content creators and media influencers.

The adventure began once we left our hotel at Syafrubesi. The caravan of people with varied strength, physically and emotionally were walking and talking with each other until they made their connection with nature. They were fascinated at the green leaves of the Himalayan herbs. They captured some shots of the plant and also took photos with it. We had our lunch at Bamboo – a beautiful place by the side of the river . Then, we continued uphill trek by the side of the old forest crossing river Langtang several times. That’s nearly 6 hours walk before we rest a while, reaching the top of the hill at Rimche. From this point we could see the first glimpse of the mountains. Then, some sloppy trail took us to the Lamahotel, our stay for that night. I had a terrible leg pain that night. Next morning, we started towards Langtang village. After, a brisk walk, I started feeling better. Along with us was ‘Momo’, the dog from Lamahotel leading us the way up to Langtang being assistant to the guide.

Since, these bunch of people were creative artists, influencers and social media forerunners, they were busy shooting every detail on the way. After nearly 2 hours walk from Lamahotel we reached the riverside, an ideal place for a warm cup of tea followed by ghodhtabela, a place good for rest with the wooden planks placed below the old rocky cliff. Here on wards, it was again a steady uphill trek before we reached our lunch at Thangshyap .On the way we met some traders ferrying goods to and fro in their horses and mules pushing their way through a narrow trail. Other site was of the yaks grazing in the field. We had tea break at a local tea house and then we passed the Langtang glacier area. The place where the whole village was swept away by an avalanche caused by 2015 earthquake. We also had a talk with the local porter, who told us how lively the Langtang village was then and how it turned a deserted place after the earthquake. He was emotional when he said, ‘there were many life under the earth unable to unearth’.

After passing this area we reached the memorial constructed in memory of the deceased people in the earthquake. By the time we reached upper Langtang village the setting sun was decorating the mountains with its shade. People were busy, quietly, building back the guest houses and tea houses on their own. There was faint sound of the wood cutter cutting the pine log for the reconstruction somewhere far in the forest. There were some foreign volunteers helping for the reconstruction of the school. People slowly were coming back to life here in the village. They were busy giving life to those aspects that could be brought back to life again.

That night in Langtang was a cold one. It was getting colder and colder as the night saturated, so we thought of having local alcohol or raksi, you would be amazed to see how the guests loved the taste of the local raksi. We had some young porters who sang dohori to the tune of the madal . And then some dance, in all moves from various parts of the world fused into Nepali style. Such activities warmed them up in the cold nights.

Next morning we started for Kyanjin Gompa. Our final camp before scaling the height of our life, I mean my life. The walk was about six hours upto Kyangin. We enjoyed the seabuckthorne juice on the way. We were much more in love with this part of the trail. It was a steady trail with the views of the mountains in front of us. The white-water river flowing against us was a grandeur to our eyes. As we approached near Kyanjin Gompa, there were huge stones under the blue sky. The higher we went, the harder the heart was pounding for oxygen. We took our lunch after reaching Kyanjin and took time for acclimatization. That was a great relief. In the evening we went for photos with our eyes looking towards Kyanjin Ri, Langtang Lirung, Yala Peak and Dorje or Kyanjala Himal and legs firm on the short Himalayan grasses. The horses grazing by our side was scenic. This place was fascinating to us. We could witness the hide and seek between the clouds and the mountains. We also went to the local yak cheese factory. We were fortunate to get the taste of local yak milk and yak cheese.

Day 5 was the final day of the uphill trek. We were scaling “a small” for many but the highest altitude of my life. A steady narrow mountain of 4,770m called Kyanjin Ri! That was the highest point on earth I had been to till then. That was my Everest, as I had to take a deep breath time and again to reach the peak. Climbing down, was little tough, had to apply breaks throughout until back to Kyanjin Gompa. We reached back at noon and then it was a rest day, the remaining part of the day.

Day 6 was the time to return . We took our breakfast, had a group photo, packed our bags and walked back to Lamahotel with our lunch in the same hotel at Thangshyap. The old couple served us tasty dal bhat tarkari . By now,we were convinced in the power of dal bhat tarkari in the mountains. We were happy to meet Momo, the dog that had followed us earlier, here at Lamahotel. He wagged his tail in reciprocity. There was meat for dinner that night. The next morning we took our trek ahead with lunch at Pahiro and reached Syafrubesi in the evening. Had our rest in the same hotel where we had stayed while going up. The hot water shower was a huge relief after the long sweaty walk. Finally, on day 8 we returned back to Kathmandu via Dhunche, Trishuli, Galchi highway.

In the beginning of the journey we all were strangers, but by the day we completed our trekking we were already, one small family from five different corners of the world. We weren’t just fascinated by the mountains and the beautiful landscape but the hospitable Tamang and Sherpa people too.

I remember Mingma Didi (name changed) the most kind-hearted lady on our way. She was bold, she was strong, she was hardworking, She was Mingma Sherpa- the owner of Sunrise Guesthouse in Kynjin Gompa in Langtang National Park. The lone caretaker of two daughters, after her husband’s death in the April earthquake 2015. This was a major tragedy that left not only Mingma but the whole of Langtang region into a sudden grief. The wounds will take time to heal but they had to withstand and move on. Mingma was a strong woman who was busy throughout our stay in the guest house from morning till night. Making calls to the owners of horses and mules for managing foodstuff from Syafrubesi. She would continuously toil in the kitchen, for managing our dining and accommodation. The spirit of this woman was amazing. Taking puff from her cigarette, she showed us the pictures of her husband and daughters. She said, “I believe in god….whenever in Boudha in Kathmandu, I go around the stupa chanting Om Mane Padme Hun,” to my question on what kept her firm and resolute.

Like Mingma Didi there are many women and elderly who are living in the mountains facilitating the stay of the guests on the trekking route in Langtang. Imagine, what happens when the whole village is swept by an avalanche and you survive by a slim chance. You run away to a better place forever, right? But that didn’t happen for many. They recollected their senses, the strength and the remains to build better and continue the civilisation that had been playing a crucial role in Nepal’s tourism.

We salute many such women like Mingma and feel for them during the hard times brought by the pandemic. It would be a great relief, if we could open tourism faster, with precautions. That would come a huge respite for people in the mountains. Hoping to be there again, not just for the scenic mountains but also for the beautiful soul like Mingma Didi and all people of Langtang region.