Howdy Folkz! Thank you all so much for the encouragin' and entertaining posts from the last couple o weeks. Its great to know you are enjoying the pics and vid and I've some great onez to share from this last bit (once I get to Kathmandu and have a connection that isn't dialup).... the last 14days have been spent on my own, up the Langtang Valley (it means lost yak... apparently a lama lost his yak and tracked it all the way to the end of this valley where he located it, skinned it (guess he was pissed??), laid the carcass out on a rock, and then the yak and rock merged together, hence tha big red/brown rock at the far end of the valley.... while i can neither confirm nor deny all that, i can tell ya that Langshisha Karka, where the rock is, be a darn cool place, figuratively and literally! Spent 3 nights/4 days up there, exploring the glaciers, moraines, and cirques. It is just indescribable, really, tho hopefully the vids will give ya(ll) a little taste of it. The immensity, ruggedness, and harshness of this high country is like nothing I have ever experienced before.
After the time up the Langshisha (which HW Tillman, one of the early western explorers, in the '50s, found to be prime Yeti habitat), i dropped back down to Kyanjin Gompa, the highest permanent settlement in the Lantang Valley, at 3730M.... still a pretty chilly spot, but with a stove, hot dahl bhat, ruckche (tha nepali moonshine aforementioned... ;-) ), and hospitable folkz to hang out with.
as the wx had been picture perfect for nearly a month, i decided to have a go at Ganja La, the 5000M pass to the south of Gompa that allows you to make a nice circuit out of the Langtang Valley trek (and one of the steeper and more difficult of the major passes in Nepal). Got myself off the trail and XC travellin within the first kilometer, and made a grand day out of what is usually a 4-5 hr trek to base camp for Ganja la (good vid on this forthcoming...:-) ). Anyhoo, next night found me camping at 5000M, just at the base of the pass, tryin to melt snow for h20 with a stove that was freezin up, skosh weather conditions, and just an all around COLD night. Next morning brought more clouds, clouds brought snow, and snow brought me back down the mtn... pronto! Twas an invigorating adventure, lemme tell ya. (another good vid to share w. ya, meebee one pic for today from this?)
Anyhoo, headed back down the low route to Syabrubesi, where I started my Langtang trek, taking a couple of days to get there, stopping in to see many of the great folks I'd met on the way up (one meets so many more locals w/o a guide and really gets a taste for the culture, learns some language, and just all around melds betta with the experience, i'm finding).
Writing you here from Syabrubesi, where the weather is warm (30deg. can feel really warm, believe me ;-)), the food is cheap, and green things grow. One more rest day here, then its back up the trail a bit to Gosainkund Lakes (a sacred site for both Hindus and Buddhists and just all around beautiful area, I'm told), over Laurenbina La pass (only 4600M, this one, and much easier going), and walkin back down twd Kathmandu... bout 8 trail days in all and it avoids the 9 hr bus ride that brings one to Syabrubesi (over some rds that really aren't made for buses, or anything beyond a jeep or mountain bike, actually). Excited to be back out in it all, and for some serious grub in Kathmandu in a weeks time. Until next time, folks- eat some beast and take a really long, hot, nice shower for me... (it'd been 15 days w/o when I rolled into town last eve.... mmmmm hhmmmm, smellin good!) ;-)
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