4/9/22 Post (we are totally confused on time and order)

Dawa Lama

Emmanuel Gurung

Pemba

Ari Day #25

Lama Hotel, Langtang National Park, Nepal

4/9/2022

Unbelievable. That’s the word that comes to mind right now. We just finished our first day of 8 days in the Langtang valley. Over the past 6 months, I have been preparing myself for the very real possibility (or probability) that despite all our best efforts to make this sabbatical work, we may not actually make it to Nepal. Between COVID, the Ukrainian war, and so many moving parts, the chances of making it here didn’t seem great. And, here we are. I guess that unknown makes this all seem just a bit sweeter.

So here we are at Lama Hotel, the first stop of our trek. We came from Syafrubesi this morning, going about 9 miles and 4000 vertical feet. We have 2 porters, Emanuel (19 years old from Kathmandu, on his first trek, his father died 2 years ago from a brain tumor and now he’s supporting his 2 younger sisters and his mother) and Pemba (20 years old, has done some treks), and our guide Dawa Lama who grew up in the Langtang valley just the other way from Syafrubesi. Dawa has been wonderful, giving us so much insight into the Langtang region and Nepal as a whole. He grew up in a town isolated from the rest of the world and didn’t taste sugar until the age of 12. He then moved to Kathmandu at the age of 15 to attend school and never returned to his hometown. He is now 30 years old and his family’s house was destroyed in the 2015 earthquake along with all of the 360 other houses in his village. 50% of the houses have been rebuilt, but his has not. His parents live in a “temporary” shelter made with tin roofs. Dawa also has not had any work for the last 2 years due to the COVID pandemic. Hearing the stories of each and every person here is a continued lesson in gratefulness.

Back to our trek. Asher and Linden have continued to step up when they needed to. This hike was the RD (real deal). Millions of steps, straight into the sky. This place is unreal. The rocks, rivers, waterfalls, and mountains are just BIGGER!!! The mountains never end. We will be climbing 9000 vertical to our base camp at Kyangin Gompa, and another 3500 vertical on our day hikes, only to see mountains that go another 10,000 feet up… Unreal.

What was so surprising to me was the Langtang River. This river is something out of fantasies, doesn’t seem possible. It is a large river losing altitude incredibly fast. It thunders between boulders the size of large houses, seemingly quaking the ground. The sound is deafening, only matched by the symphony of cicadas playing in the rhododendron laden forest.

Eating Nepalese food along some of the most impressive hiking I will ever experience is truly the definition of being spoiled. I am now in a cute lodge with comfortable beds, waiting to have my 3rd hot Nepalese meal of the day. Mat: I think of you every time I have a $3 bottomless (yes, you can have all you want) plate of daal bat…

And…we haven’t even seen the mountains yet (hopefully the ?smoke/clouds lift), what draws people here in the first place.

So far, this has been everything I hoped for: eye opening cultural experiences and jaw dropping natural experiences. Now, the computer is about to die, so I’m outta here…