Sunday, May 11, 2014

langtang, nepal - part 1:



The Langtang trek is the third most popular in Nepal after the Annapurna and Everest Base Camp treks. 
The main reason we picked this area for our trek was firstly, it wouldn't be as busy as the other two. And secondly, it gave us the opportunity to summit a mountain once we reached Kyanjin Gompa. Most of the other treks in Nepal are circuits or in valleys, and while you will experience incredibly beautiful landscapes and see super high mountains, for us we liked the idea of also making it to the top of a mountain - especially as we live in an extremely flat and ancient land like Australia (on our first day of trekking we were already higher than the highest mountain in Australia - Mt Kosciuszko at 2228m).

Usually the Langtang trek starts in Syabrubesi, however as we had embarked on the Tamang Heritage Trail prior we linked on to the Langtang Trek at the small village of Rimche, with our first night spent by the river at Lama Hotel -  a village, or collection of tea houses, named after the first form of accommodation set up here.
From Lama Hotel we then spent a day slowly ascending up to Langtang village and to an altitude of 3500m.

After experiencing the steep up and down trekking of the heritage trial, the Langtang trek was much easier than we expected.
While we did not see many mountains during the first part of this trek, we did get to walk by a beautiful (and very powerful) river and through lush forest full of singing birds, deer and yaks, before the valley started to open up and the mighty the Langtang Himal range came into view. 

Below are some snaps from Lama Hotel to Langtang village. You will notice the sudden change in landscape (and weather), which is one of the things that makes this trek incredibly interesting. From tropical forests to barren alpine land, it was surprising how a few hundred meters in altitude would impact the landscape so much.

next: part two - Kayanjin Gompa, and then our ascent up Tsergo Ri.

 arriving at lama hotel





walking up to langtang village in lush forest







the valley starting to open up





looking back


yak cheese and bread (with yeast!) - simple luxuries!

you have no idea how good this tasted after eating dal bhat everyday!









langtang village



4 comments:

  1. Your pictures are breathtaking and your travel posts keep getting better and better.
    May I know which lens did you take with you on your trip?
    I'm always trying to figure out which one is the best for travel.

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    Replies
    1. thanks so much Jenny! for the past 12 months I've been using a combination of both the Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L which I predominantly use for landscapes and architecture, and the 50mm f/1.4, which I love to use for portraits and detail shots (it's a great all rounder though). I used to use the 24-70mm f/2.8L, but now much prefer this set up. hope that helps!

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  2. Affordable priced and all comfort features bundled Annapurna Circuit Trek trips available at Mojhi.com site. Some of the best Trekking adventures in Nepal. Get offers from multiple trekking operators in Nepal with the click of a button. To get more offer click here Langtang Trek .

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