Langtang National Park Trek - Part Three

(Continued from the previous posting)

I fully expected to wake up a mess after yesterday’s tough hike, but other than some sore muscles I felt amazingly good with no symptoms of altitude sickness. We were fully packed by 5:15 am and went downstairs in the pitch dark to see if any of our group was outside yet. Not finding anyone, we sat inside on a cold bench waiting for dawn to arrive. Finally, at 5:45 we peeked outside and saw Prajwal with a cup of tea shivering in the predawn – it was probably in the low 20’s. Eventually, the others trickled outside.

Dawn did not explode with a fury that morning. Instead, she very slowly unwrapped herself, gradually illuminating the mountain peaks with indirect sunlight. It wasn’t until after 6:30 that the first direct rays hit the tallest peaks, turning them into golden spires. We walked around taking photos of mountains and nearby yaks until 7:00 then went inside for breakfast. My oatmeal porridge was bland, but I hadn’t eaten much and knew that I needed high density food in order to make it back down the trail.

We met the others outside at our agreed upon departure time of 8:00 am. Deepak offered to take my pack, knowing that I had struggled yesterday, but I wave him off. I felt good and, after all, it was downhill this time. Unfortunately, Keshab’s knee was throbbing and Bonnie had developed some nasty blisters on her feet, so we took things a little slower going back.

Janardan, Bonnie and I took the lead with Deepak and Prajwal falling back to keep Keshab company. It didn’t take long for the temperature to start rising once the sun came out. By 9 am it was close to 50 degrees and very pleasant. As we passed yaks and prayer walls, it struck me just how much we had ascended the previous night in the dark. Within an hour we could see Langtang Village spread out below us. Bonnie and I were determined this time to find that bread and cheese place.

We got to a sign that pointed west at a building on the hill with a red roof. Printed on the roof in big white letters was “Bread and Cheese.” That must be the place, we thought. We headed up the pasture toward it but took a wrong turn and ended up having to climb over a couple rock walls to get to it. There were two workers inside, both extremely friendly and glad to have customers. We ordered some small baguettes and 100 grams of yak cheese and then decided to have them prepare a few toasted cheese and tomato sandwiches for us. From our vantage point we could see trail and were able to flag down the boys when they came past. By the time they got to us, the sandwiches were ready. We had a leisurely brunch in the sun which was most welcomed since Janardan and the boys only had tea for breakfast.

By 10:30 we were headed out of Langtang Village to meet up with Ma’am again back in Ghora Tabela. We had told her to expect us by noon. I was the first one in and plopped down next to her at 11:59 on the bench where she was having a cup of tea. She was glad to see us and said that she had a very pleasant time while we were gone looking at plants and basking in the sun. We had a quick lunch and took off to Lama for the Jungle View Lodge where we’d spend another night.

Along the way, Deepak climbed a tree on Ma’am’s orders with a khukuri (Nepali knife) and began scraping off some of its bark that she thought might have some medicinal value. The inner bark was bright yellow. After that, the collecting was over for the day. Everyone had at least one small bag of plant material tied to their packs. We arrived at the Jungle View Lodge at 4:30. I attempted to take a shower, but it had been cloudy there all day and there was hardly any warm water available. Bonnie decided to nurse her feet and stayed wrapped in her sleeping bag with a book while I went into the dining room for dinner. It was packed this time with barely a seat to spare. German, French, English and Nepali conversations were all mixing together as the proprietor ran around taking orders and serving hot plates of rice.

I finished my dinner and checked in with Janardan about our departure time in the morning. He wanted to leave at 6 am to get off the sunny side of the hill before it got too hot. I looked at Ma’am and raised an eyebrow. She just winked at me and smiled. Janardan said, “ I’ve convinced Ma’am that it’s a good idea to leave early.” I responded, “If it’s OK with Ma’am, then it’s OK with me,” and winked back at Ma’am. Planning is so easy among friends.

In the morning we had tea in the dining room while the proprietor’s wife was still in bed (in the dining room). After awhile she raised up, wiped the sleep out of her eyes and looked over at us with a smile. We finished off the last of the snacks Bonnie had brought along (oatmeal cookies) and took off down the steep hill at 6:45 am. Bonnie, Ma’am and I took up the rear this time. We took a break at the Landslide Lodge around 11:00, and it wasn’t until Domen sometime after 12:00 that we caught up with the others. They had taken a wrong turn at a fork in the trail and had lost nearly an hour.

Bonnie knew that if she sat down for too long her legs would sieze up and her blisters would start barking, so she didn’t stop. I rested about 5-10 minutes and took off after her while the others waited for Ma’am to finish her soup. I caught up with Bonnie after 20 minutes. The next 1 ½ hours was the only time we’d had alone on the trail as we made our way back to Shyafru Bensi. Crossing the last bridge, we we struck up a conversation with a young Buddhist monk and his younger brother. The monk was on leave from his monastery in India to visit his family for two months. He said he was extremely board in these little villages. We came to a dead end on the road and had to scamper up a small hill to the next road. The monk took my hand and his brother took Bonnie’s. They managed to pull us and our packs up the hill.

Finally, we dragged ourselves into town and through the door of the Buddha Hotel. A German trekking group that we had been bumping into all week arrived just after us, so we raced into the bathroom ahead of them to make sure we got some hot water for a shower. We took a well-deserved nap then went down for dinner. Janardan and Ma’am, who were in a hotel down the street, came to visit with us for an hour before turning in.

The next morning was our most leisurely. We didn’t have to leave until 8 am since the office at Dhunche, where we had to show the officials what we had collected, didn’t open until 9 am. The rest of the trip back to Kathmandu was as butt-busting as before, and even a little more so since the driver seemed to be in a hurry to get back home. We stopped in Trisuli again for lunch, this time at a slightly better place, and were back in Kathmandu by 3 pm.

Just before descending the hill back into the city there was a nice vista to the north of the Langtang mountain range. From a distance they seemed so much bigger than when we were actually there. But to experience the Himalayas, it doesn't really matter how close you get to the mountains. Just walking towards them is enough.