Himalayan Trek

Here then is the first Himalayan trek I did:
Just back to Kathmandu after a 9 day trek into Langtang, Nepal


Highlights (I'll keep it brief here) are as follows:
* The rhododendrons and other flora along the Bhote Kosi (a river which originates in the Tibetan Himal, flowing through the deeply cut Langtang Valley) were in beginning bloom. The shades of the rhododendrons varied from a deep blood red to white. The scent of the entire lower valley was magnificent--white flowers gave off a delicious smell.

* It is amazing to see how people live on the side of mountains. There is no way to get around except by foot or beast, and it boggles the mind that people live way up the side of mountains must commute each day to tend to their fields of grain (rice, wheat, buckwheat) and port water and other goods to and from their mud-brick homes. They carry things by a strap across their foreheads, loaded down with stuff weighing in excess of 50 kilos.

* Hotels and lodges were spartan and generally very clean. The daytime temperatures were in the mid-20s (centigrade) and at night dropped to the mid-teens. Of course high up at the end of the valley, at the foot of the glaciers and the Langtang Himal, temperatures were much colder

-- one group of Brits camped up the glacier saying it was -15c at night.

* There are not too many tourists, which is both a blessing and a curse. It's great to walk without seeing anyone along the trail (I think I saw maybe 14 trekkers the entire trip). The downside is the locals have no business. Up high in the valley, the mainly Tibetan inhabitants have come to depend on foreign tourists, and because of the lack of tourists, they are really hurting financially. Along the way each teahouse pleaded with me to come and take a tea, but that got annoying as every teahouse competed for your dough (not much--maybe 50 cents for a tea).

Another upside for tourists was the high competition for vacant lodges meant discounts--none of the lodges up high in the valley charged for the room, and even gave a 50% discount on meals. As you go along, things become quite expensive. Oddly, you can have a nice piece of chocolate cake or apple pie ($3) and a quart of Tuborg beer ($4) way up there. One has to remember that someone had to carry that stuff all the way up the backbreaking slopes, so the higher up you go, the more pricey things got. That said, I don't think I spent more than $10 per day.

* I didn't suffer at all from altitude sickness--a real threat to anyone in high places. On the day I went to the summit of Tserko Ri,my Tibetan guide (I hired a lodge owner who spoke great English) and an Australian I met at Kyangsin Gompa (the last village before the glaciers and Tibet)I took 125mg of diamox, which can be used as a prophylactic to prevent pulmonary oedema (lack of oxygen in the lungs).

* At 5:30 am on April 11, we went to summit Tserko Ri. After a three and a half hour ascent, we made it to the top. We spent maybe a half hour on top to have a quick lunch and snap some photos. The vista was magnificent--a beautiful clear, sunny perfect morning (my pictures will be available online in about a month--when I get back to Bangkok next month). Looking north you look directly into Tibet just behind the Tibetan Himal. To the south is Ganga La, a high mountain (5,400m) pass--and one of the more difficult treks. To the West we could see the Langtang Himal range, and to the East was the valley and the head of the Bhote Kosi river, which wqas three glaciers conjoined and blocking the passage. Tserko Ri peak had about 2 meters of snow(6 feet)on it. At 9 am it was still very cold at the top; however, as the sun heated up the snow, we had to make it down past the snowline so we wouldn't fall through. A few times I did fall through--up to my hips! Crawling back out of the hole and onto the hard crusty snow, I shuffled carefully down the snowpeak to the relative ease of the brown grassy slopes.

* This is the highest I've ever been, at 17,434 ft (5,033m) I felt no ill effects and a sense of accomplishmnent.

So, I'll rest up until April 20 (my dad's birthday) and fly to Lukla to begin the Everest Base Camp trek. I discovered you don't really need a guide, although it's nice to be around people--just in case. My plan is to see Everest from two vantage points--the Kala Pattar view, just west of Everest base camp (oddly, you cannot see Everest from the base camp) and then walk back down to Tengboche and try to go up to the Gokyo Lakes for the vista of Everest's North Face and the whole Everest Himal.

More as it happens!