Trekking the Himalayas

 

COUNTRY: Nepal
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Abby & Kasia

Overwhelmed with exhaustion we limp off the bus in Kathmandu after a 10 hour bumpy bus ride from Syabrubesi, already feeling nostalgic about our amazing 7 day Langtang trek. We started off with a rather "cosy" bus ride to start our trek at Syabrubesi. Along the crumbling cliff faces of the Trisuli Nadi, we shared the bus with a chicken, 3 vomiting children, 4x20kg bags of rice and a barrel of raw meat - but this didn't stop our excitement for the adventure ahead!

To encapsulate it in a metaphor- trekking is like giving a toddler a piggyback, uphill in perpetual rain, occasionally accompanied by leeches and blisters BUT there is nothing more comforting than a warm cup of tea by the fire in a traditional tibetan teahouse after a 9 hour day of walking. A tough decision had to be made when we hit a rocky crossroad whether to throw away our map and take a short trip to Tibet (which borders the langtang region) or continue our upward journey towards the awaiting Himalayas?

Although tempted, we pressed onwards for the next three days to our final destination Kyanjin Gumba (3830m) passing an array of unique landscapes along the way. As the days passed, we gained more layers of thermal clothing, leg muscle mass and the mountains became clearer into view. we did NOT however acclimatize as efficiently as our fellow european trekkers. We are both still uncertain whether it was the altitude or spectacular mountain views that left us "breathless" at 5am standing on the 4773m Kyanjin Ri mountain peak.

On our slow but steady decent, we reflected on the many unique experiences we shared - from a teahouse rat giving Abby a midnight nibble on the ear to being winded by a passing donkey (as if the altitude sickness wasnt enough!) none the less we both agreed our trek was the highlight of our trip, only fueling our addiction for the outdoors

See you at Everest!
Abby & Kasia