Trekking in Nepal

It is not often that you would see word 'easy' and 'Himalaya' in the same sentence. This being Mike's third time to Nepal and my second we had decided to do a reasonably lengthy and bit more remote trek than the usual Everest Base camp or Annapurna Curcuit.

Being keen adventurers or suckers for punishment depending on which way you look at it we chose an 8 day trek in the Langtang Valley region north of Kathmandu. The trek climbs to a 4600m pass and is rated as medium to hard in the Lonley Planet. And let me tell you it was hard!

We did not make it any easier on ourselves however! After travelling on a local Nepali bus (more like a tin shed on square wheels!) for 7 hours we realised that we had forgotten we would need to pay the National Park fee and had not included this hefty cost in the money we had budgeted for the 8 days. Also we thought we would get the bus to the end of the line thinking it would be the best place to start the trek and were sat mouths agahst as we then dropped a winding 1000m further down the trail. So now we were not only short on money but also a 1000m downhill from our first day start point!

So, our first day consisted of a climb from an altitude of 1000m to 2900m and was a long 9 hour day through forests of pine, oak and hemlock. It was great to be out in the fresh air again although the calf muscles were not so appreciative! Being the end of the trekking season and just prior to the monsoon here the trails are quiet and the locals extremely welcoming.

Mountain views are what trekking in the Himalayas is all about. During this season the views are best at sunrise and early morning through until about 8am when the cloud roles in. So this means early starts and big days. On the the morning of the third day we were greeted with the most spectacularl views through the the west of Nepal and to Tibet where the afternoon before there had been nothing but cloud!

Ever uphill we climbed to one of the highlights of the trek and toward the pass of 4600m at Gosainkund. The Holy Lake at Gosainkund if one of 6 at this high altitude but is one that attracts many Hindu pilgrims who believe the head of Shiva is within the lake. Particularly picturesque at dawn!

Onward and upward to the pass where the snow blocked our path and the lakes were iced over. Glimpsing the grandure of the tallest mountain range in the world in the background.

What goes up must come down! A long way down! Day 4, another 9 hour day, as we condensed 2 days into one. Short on money, but also enjoying being outdoors rather than couped up in lodges (there's only so many games of cards you can play!) we pushed on. Our path was haphazzard. At times crawling on all fours up near vertical climbs of loose rubble and rock, traversing icy streams and encountering huge landslides we gained the respect of local villagers when they learned how far we had come.

Another 2 days of downward climb and on our last night we had another interesting experience. We stayed in a lodge checking in before the regular afternoon downpour. All that night and the next morning we could hear a funny 'meowing' sound. I thought it was a strange sounding cat and curious, in the morning, Mike asked about it. The girl said ' not cat, tiger!' Mike nearly fell off his chair, as you can well imagine! We of course asked if we could have a look and low and behold not a tiger but a leopard cub!!! Barley weeks old it was tiny. In halting english the girl explained that there were three (the others were in the village somewhere) and no mother. They were keeping it under a basket in the kitchen!

We are not sure how they came across them, if the mother was poached?, what they plan to do with the cubs? But even giving benefit of the doubt the cub was obviously distressed and would struggle to survive. What would they do with it when it got big?! They are also worth quite a bit of money on the black market and this is not uncommon in these parts in terms of poaching. On returning to Kathmandu we have been to the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) to report it and show them the pictures. They said it is probably a common leopard and not a snow leopard (protected species) and so therefore probably deemed as less important! They said they would contact the National Park in the region and see if they would take action.... so we will see. We have done what we can and I am hassling WWF International for follow up action. After all if they don't look after a species in the first place then this is how they become endangered in the first place isn't it!?

So...... action, adventure and wildlife presevation all in 6 days! No rest for the wicked!