Goshain Kunda trekking

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After having finished with festivals - dashain, tihar and Gyanendra’s brother's wedding party finally we have some free time. So we decided to have some fresh air of Himalaya, avoiding all those hassel and bassel of Kathmandu valley. Since long time Goshain Kunda has become an attraction trekking trail for us. December is off season for trekking. It is winter time and most of time snowing in the mountain and temperature decline till -20 degree. There were very few trekkers so we had ample of choice for the room. We had 6 days trekking that begin from Dhunche to Goshain Kunda.

12 december: Today we had to wake up early at 5 am but could not do so, as our alarm did not work. Taxi driver was already waiting for us in front of our house. But we were on time at the bus stop in Kathmandu. Than we had almost 7 hours long drive from Kathmandu to dhunche. It was a local bus that stopped many many times to pick up or drop off passengers - the bus was full of passengers inside and on the rooftop. And all of them brought lots of luggage, because it’s the only way for them to take their goods uphill. The road was up and down, zigzag and very narrow almost not enough for four wheels of the bus. Most of roads were bumpy because of landslides and in some part of road was terrifying but still exciting. Specially Zoe was afraid and even did not want to watch outside. At half passed three we arrived in Dhunche - the head quarter of Rashua. It is a small village located 2030m above sea level. But still a lively village - lot of shops around, children playing in the street and many activities going on. We had a good night with dal bhat and comfortable sleep in hotel Langtang view.

13 December: we were awake around 7 am, after having breakfast we began our trekking. It was a quite tough day because we climbed steep mountains for a whole day. Our final destination was Singh Gompa, which is 3300 meter. We were concerned about high sickness, so we walked very slow and relax, had rest almost every hour. It was quite challenging and tyring. We encountered very few trekkers on the way because it was off season. On the way we saw a big group of white monkeys – languor, heard lot of cry of barking deer and saw more other animals in the wild. We were quite surprised when our guide told us that some time languor can come and beat to the tourists with the tree branches. The weather was not really good but still we could see panoramic views of Ganesh Himal, Langtang and other cluster of Himalayas from Dhurali (3030m), where we had our lunch. From there in another 3 hours climb, we arrived to Singh Gompa (3300m). There were lots of tea houses but we stayed in hotel green hill room no 5, as we heard of another trekker that the chimney of their stove passes through that room, so it’s warmer than the others. Next to the hotel there was a yak cheese factory, we visited there. It was very traditional factory but still impressive. After dinner our guide made small briefing for tomorrow's program and also gave some advice for the night: wear a warm hat and put water below your blanket during sleep. So the water won't be frozen and still drinkable in the night. Because night is freezing cold temperature goes below 20 degree. Curious how such a night a night will be...

Tomorrow we will be heading toward Goshain kunda (4380 m) highest point of our trip.

14 December: Night was not really cold because of chimney. So, we had comfortable sleep. After having breakfast our guide gave us information about new horse riding trail around and we decided to check it out. We had one and half hour ride through wild forest to a 2000 years old Phulung monastery (boeddhist). It was located on a high mountain and most of the monastery was destroyed, but still impressive to see. It was still unbeaten path where very few tourists visit. Cluster of Himalayan - Ganesh himal, Fish Tail other peaks of Tibet and langtang could be seen in a very close up view. It was so fascinating, experiencing ourselves as in the film King of ring, riding horseback in such a dense wild forest and Himalayan view at our back. According to the legend a monk - lama used to live in that monastery long ago. He did meditation without eating anything. Every day one Yeti comes there with her daughter Yeti and brings him food. One day the monk realised that Yeti did not appear for a couple of weeks. He came out from the monastery and found Yeti and her daughter Yeti dead a few miles away. With big respect, the monk buried both of Yetis just few miles away from the monastery. That can now be seen in demolished condition. So now we’ve seen the graveyard of Yeti, we’re sure that he isn’t alive anymore ;-) After that, we began trekking toward Laurya vinayak (3900m). On the way we had lunch and walked top hill. On the way view of Himalaya was quite clear so we made number of pictures. We stayed in hotel GBC, where we were the only guests. So we had enough blankets to make ourselves warm in the icy cold night. Outside temperature was -20 so everything was frozen: water pipes, the water in the toilet,... Most of the people who live there have two houses – uphill and downhill. In summer they live in a high hill and in the winter season they move to downhill with their animals and belongings. But in off season one hotel in every village has to be open to shelter the trekkers and other religious pilgrims. Every week it will be another hotel, so the owners come up for one week and go back down afterwards.

15 December: Goshain kunda (4380m)
Around half passed six, our guide wake up us to see the Himalayan sunrise view. We could not see the sunrise itself from Laurya vinayak but view of Himalaya was super. Sky was blue and clear so the view was fantastic. We climbed top for better view and made lot of snaps. We started trekking after having breakfast. After a few hours trek, we saw no more Himalayas. We were another side of hill so we could see only high mountains, no plants anymore and numbers of frozen lakes and frozen waterfalls. The view was extremely different than what we had seen an hour ago. We walked very slowly because at high altitude, air was thin and hard to breathe and hill was very stiff to climb. Around 12 am we arrived in Goshain kunda ( 4380m). We had lunch and had walked around. The scenery was very picturesque and fascinating. Two lakes Goshain kunda and Bhirav kunda next to each other and Swarasati kunda was located below. All those lakes were partly frozen. Since Medieval time Goshain kunda was popular among Newar pilgrimage from Kathmandu Valley. According to the Hindu legend very long ago there was a big fight between god Shiva and devils. God Shiva got victory against the devils and the devils surrendered. In order to make a friendship with Shiva, devils organized a feast where the devils served poison to the god shiva. Shiva felt terribly burned with the poison and came to Goshain kunda. Where he punched on the stone with his shore, from there flew lots of water and a lake Goshain kunda was originated. He drank water from that lake and survived. And Buddhists have a different story behind. Legends can be different but one thing is for sure that Goshain kunda is worth to visit. After having lunch next to the holy lake, we decided to go back to Laury vinayak because the lake was too cold to stay and so windy. Both of us had a headache because of the cold wind and may be with high altitude. After a few hours walk down we arrived back in Laurya Vinayak. It was warm and cosy there because of the stove in the living room. Tomorrow declining to Tholu sherbu (2130m).

16 December: Thulo sherbu( 2130m)
We woke up with another sunny blue sky and nice Himalayan view in Lauri vinayak (3900m). We did not have good sleep because of high altitude and at 7 pm gyanendra's youngest brother wake us up with a phone call, yeah even in such a desolated and high place, there is mobile network... After having breakfast we begin trekking towards Thulo sherbu. Today for a whole day about 6-7 hours we had to walk down hill. We walked another side of hill, so we had a different view rather than Himalayan. Descending down the sloppy hill was bit tyring, Zoe had problem with her knee, so we walked very slow. When we arrived in the hotel Yak in Thulo sherbu, we were almost knock out, almost no more energy to walk. But warm shower (finally, more than washing hands with freezing water!) in a cosy hotel energized us and cold beers with chips refreshed our mind. We had a small walk in a narrow down hill, where a yak almost knock Zoe down ;-). The village was very calm and relaxing, small children playing around in a sloppy hill, animals grazing, and women weaving cloths was a wonderful atmosphere. It felt like a more lively and charming village than other villages around. Dinner was also served in a cosy room with fire, it was so relaxing after our trek. We felt fresh for tomorrow trek to Dhunche.

17 December: Dhunche and back Bhaktapur

Finally we had a good sleep after a few days in Thulo Sherbu which was just 2130m high. So we did not have problem with high altitude. Around 8:30 am, we began our trek down to Dhunche. It was up and down hill and some paths were too steep to climb down. We had to walk about 6 hours. The weather was still good, we enjoyed mountain view from different angles. Walking through Tamang village was so lively. It was bit tough for Zoe because she had problem with her knee. But we still managed to walk till Dhunche. Our plan was to stay in Dhunche for the night but we changed our mind and came back to Bhaktapur in the same day. Coincidently we happen to meet one jeep who had to return back to Kathmandu. So, we came back with a luxury car to Bhaktapur and we’ll have our last days home before we fly back to Belgium on Saturday.

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Comments

[jatdevta sandeep]

This is very good & idle place for trekking.

[mama]

Horse riding!?
Gelukkig begrijp ik uit jullie verhaal dat jullie niet op een paard zaten omwille van gebroken enkels of andere...! Hoewel, Zoetje, die knie... dat is toch ook niet alles! Wat een prachtige trekking moet dit weer geweest zijn!