Advertisement
Published: April 2nd 2012
Edit Blog Post
Khanjin Gumba
Our first view of Khanjin Gumba after climbing the ridge Day 5 Langtang to Kahajin Gumba Our destination today is Kyanjin Gumba, the highest village on the trek nestled into a basin surrounded by the big peaks and glaciers on three sides. While it is a shorter distance we still need to climb 400 metres today to an elevation of 3900 metres (12,600 ft). The other challenge is the relative lack of oxygen at this height which makes us out of breath quickly,(tough to train for high altitude trekking at sea level) hence much slower walking.
The Risk of Altitude Sickness
Altitude sickness is a real concern above 3000 metres. It has been reported that a number of trekkers have died on this stretch of the trail. You know you are experiencing altitude sickness when you have a severe headache, lose appetite, get very dizzy and vomit constantly. The only cure is to quickly move to a lower elevation. The correct ascent is to climb gradually, sleeping at no more than 300 to 400 metres higher every night. You can climb higher during the day but should descend to a less high elevation at night. We also had a prescription for a rapid ascent
Langtang Peaks
From our guesthouse drug that helps mitigate the risk. It did cause a lot of tingling in our fingers and toes at various times in the days.
We did not experience any symptoms, however in our next days climb we met a German fellow who climbed higher then us, only to get a very bad headache and have to head back down the trail.
As usual the trail climbed and climbed, with the very frustrating down hill sections to cross a creek, only to have climb back up the other side just to regain the origional altitude. Yesterday we could see our destination, Langtang in the distance, although it seemed to take forever to reach it. Today we climb up to a high ridge and just over the top was the village. Nicer that way.
After a great lunch we explore the village and local monestary. The was also a bake shop that offered a variety of apple pies nd cakes, chocolate cake and pastries.
This was also to be the quietest night of the trek as the only other trekkers at our
Sunrise
We were up early to tackle our ascent guesthouse was a very nice young dreadlocked couple from Finland who had taken 4 months off work to trek. The young lady had the added challenge of having asthma which made their climb even slower. He was a big hockey fan and could name every Finnish hockey player and the NHL team they played for.
Day 6 The Ascent Today we set off to conquer our peak, Kyrajin Ri. While nothing like an Everest orAnnapurna ascent, we felt we should try a mountain top for ourselves. Overlooking Kyanjin Gumba is a small peak (likely a small hill by local or actual mountaineer standards) but big and staight up by ours. The climb was another 700 metres to 4600 (15,000 ft). It took us most of the morning and we we rewarded by magnificant views all around. As mentioned earlier we continued to experience perfect weather with crisp blue sky the whole of the trek. We took many photos, including some for Kalu for use on his companies website, of which I am going to help restructure when we get back to Vancouver.
There was a
higher point to the mountain, but we were pretty well exhausted after our 4 days of climbing so chose not to go further. We also had to start our descent back to Langtang after lunch so enough was enough.
Day 6 The (start of) Descent After lumch we headed down. We had assumed going down would be easier than going up. It was, but not by very much. While going up taxes ones cardio endurance, going down taxes the knees and thighs. As usual we we exhausted when we arrived in Langtang.
Transporting Goods
What is amazing about Nepal and the countless villages like Langtang is that they are only accessible by foot. This means everything from toilet paper to the tin roofs of the guesthomes has to be carried up the trail. There are two modes of transport. We would run into numerous "pony trains" on the trail. These would be a dozen or so small horses and donkeys equiped with saddle bags to carry sacks of dry goods. Even more common were the human donkeys (porters). These gentlemen, young and old would carry huge
baskets of goods, usually with a strap around their foreheads as the primary means of support.
On the way down we encountered most of a new guesthouse being carried up. There were porters carrying 2 x 6 planks, multiple sheets of 4 x 8 1/4" plywood, plumbing pipe, rebar, concrete, carpeting, and tin roof panels. The porters get paid by weight. For a 40kg (88 lbs) load they would receive the equivelent of $25. This for 2 days of hard climbing and 1 day return, about $1per hour. Most porters carry more weight to make it more worthwhile. This is how it works in Nepal. If you are out of money, have no job and a family to support, you take on a porter job for a while. The is no Employment Insurance or welfare system to fall back on.
We ended up staying at the same guest house that we stayed coming up. This time it was different as there were many more trekkers. It seems we were ahead of the crowds by 4days. From here through the rest of the trek we would encounter many more trekkers.
Day 7 The (rest of) Descent We retraced our steps back down the valley. We were planning on stopping at a group of guesthomes jointly called Lama Hotel however we keep moving and stayed at the same guesthome in Rimchie. Remarkably we got the same room we had going up, and the mother and daughter French team that we had first meet there were also there. Even more of a coincidence is during the first visit Anette had left here watch in the shower and the French woman found it and returned it. This time Anette left her shampoo in the shower and the same woman found and returned that as well.
Tomorrow we start all over again with another multiple day climb to 4600 metres, this time to Gosainkund Lakes.
Apologies for the slow postings. Electricty availability is a real problem in Nepal so most of the day everyone goes without. When there is electricity, than a reliable and fast enough internet connection becomes the challenge.
(See the video or our full trek at
)
Advertisement
Tot: 0.171s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 8; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0617s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Joyce & Ian
non-member comment
Congratulations!
Wow! Way to go. Trip of a lifetime and your photos are amazing. Such nice weather to make the tough trek much more pleasant!