Summits of Island Peak!

Photo: climbing to summit of Island Peak

Well done to our Island Peak expedition: Sophie, Garnet and Jo all summited Island Peak on April 18th. Thanks to their climbing Sherpa, Nurbu, who led this trip. The Mountain Company has now organised successful expeditions to Island Peak every Spring for the last four years.

If you are interested in joining one of our expeditions please get in touch with us

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Trekking from Helambu into Langtang via Laurebina La pass and Gosainkund

Namaste and Happy New (Nepali) Year! It is now year 2067 in Nepal, there were big celebrations last night in Kathmandu. I just got back after a trek from Sundarijal on the outskirts of Kathmandu through Helambu over Laurebina La passing Gosainkund lakes and into the Langtang valley. Early April is a good time of year to do this trek as the rhododendrons are in full bloom with white, pink and red flowers covering the hills. Now I understand why laliguras (Nepalese for rhododendron) is their national flower!

The drawback of trekking in the middle hills of Nepal during this time of year is a the presence of a thick haze that obscures the views however once over 4,000m one rises above this and the mountain views from Laurebina La were superb (see photo). Certainly the views would be clearer during the period October to January although of course the rhododendrons would not be in flower at that time, as ever there are pros and cons of trekking for each month in Nepal.

Photo: terraced field in Helambu

We approached this trek in a reverse direction to most itineraries including The Mountain Company's Langtang and Laurebina La trek i.e most people start from Langtang then head over Laurebina La into Helambu and walk back to Kathmandu whereas this time we walked the other way from Kathmandu into Langtang. In fact I think both directions work well for this trek, of course either way it is important to be sufficiently acclimatised before crossing Laurebina La at 4,700m.

Our Kathmandu to Langtang itinerary seemed to work well as everyone felt strong going over Laurebina La and no-one had any headaches throughout the trek. I was conservative with the time acclimatising before the pass by spending one night at Magin Goth (3,200m), next at Tharepati (3,500m) followed by Phedi (3,700m) and then next day crossing Laurebina La.

Photo: rhododendrons in flower

On leaving Magin Goth on the trail to Tharepati we met a Sherpa family walking back to Kathmandu after having spent their easter holidays with relatives at Kutumsang village. We walked together chatting about how life differs living in Kathmandu compared to the village. On the way the father of the family pointed an interesting shaped rock and explained how this was formed when Guru Rinpoche kneeled on this spot and meditated. At this point they asked if I would like to join in their puja ceremony, the father chanted mantras and gave everyone some rice to throw over the rock. It was a lovely experience and without meeting this family we would have wandered past without knowing how important this particular rock is!

Photo: Guru Rinpoche's rock

In December 1991 James Scott a 22 year old Australian medical student attempted to cross Laurebina La however subsequently become lost for 43 days with only a couple of chocolate bars for sustenance. At this time of year sudden winter storms can happen at this altitude, and this is what happened as James approached the pass and at the time decided to turn back by himself. He followed the drainage hoping to get to Talu village however soon was unable to proceed due to a steep waterfall and after a while found shelter under a narrow rock ledge. 

Another event occurred in this area on July 1992 when Thai International flight 311 crashed close to Phedi below Laurebina La sadly killing all 113 people on board. There is now a chorten next to the teahouse lodge at Phedi in remembrance of a Japanese passenger who was on this flight.

Our day crossing Laurebina La and walking past Gosainkund lakes was definitely the highlight of this trek, luckily the weather was good and at that altitude we were above the haze as mentioned earlier in this article. The Gosainkund lakes are a pilgrimmage site for Hindus during the summer months. The lakes are said to have been formed by the digging of Lord Shivas' holy three pointed sword known as a Trishul after he drank the poison from Samudramanthan in order to get some cold water to quench the heat of the burning poison. The Gosainkund lakes are the source of the Trishuli river that flows through Nepal.

Photo: Gosainkund lake and teahouse lodges

Photo: old chorten above Bharku village

Once we trekked past the Gosainkund lakes we walked into the Langtang valley, the villages here are inhabited by Tamangs whereas on the Helambu side the higher villages such as Kutumsang are Sherpa. Tamangs came from Tibet about 500 years ago and still follow Tibetan Buddhism. The villages in this area are well known for the intricately carved wooden window frames.

Photo: carved windows at Bharku village

Please get in touch with us if you are interested in joining this trek or would like any information, take a look at our website for our Langtang and Laurebina La itinerary and Trip Dossier

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Good to be back in Kathmandu!

Photo: Thamel in Kathmandu

As usual it is good to be back in Kathmandu, the weather is sunny and warm so it is looking like a good start to the Spring trekking and mountaineering season. Climbers on Annapurna are taking advantage of these good conditions and are making good progress on the mountain currently fixing ropes between Camp Two and Three.

There have been several changes announced recently over the trekking permits for Nepal (called Trekkers Information Management System or TIMS). There are now two types: firstly organised group trekkers will be issued a blue TIMS card costing US$10 and secondly independent trekkers will be issued a green TIMS card costing US$20. TIMS cards will be checked while on trek so it is important you have these otherwise you might be returned to Kathmandu! The new TIMS rules are effective from April 1st 2010.

I read an interesting article this morning from the New York Times, the piece discusses the Annapurna Circuit and the impact of the new road on this classic trail. At The Mountain Company we have been aware for a long time of this issue, we have been working hard developing our portfolio of treks to visit remote regions to avoid the ever increasing road construction in the hills of Nepal.

If you are looking for a trek with similar landscape and characteristics of the Annapurna Circuit you could consider the Manaslu Circuit to the east of the Annapurna Circuit. This trek starts at Arughat and finishes at Besishar the starting point of the Annapurna Circuit. Or for a more challenging alternative you could trek the Dhaulagiri Circuit that joins the Annapurna Circuit at Marpha however we then fly out from Jomsom so avoiding most of the road.

If you are looking to get away from the roads and busy trails then you should think about walking along the new Great Himalaya Trail ("GHT"), we are organising two sections of GHT firstly Upper Dolpo to Jomsom in April 2010 and Makalu BC to Khumbu in April 2011. Please get in touch with The Mountain Company if you are interested in joining one of these groups.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Our Upper (Inner) Dolpo to Jomsom trek in April/ May 2010

Photo: Upper (Inner) Dolpo

Is anybody interested in joining an adventurous reconnaisance trek exploring a remote region near the Nepal and Tibet border starting in late April this year? If so, please read on....

As mentioned in our New Year newsletter we are organising a trek to Upper Dolpo in Nepal from April 25th to May 22nd 2010. I am leading this trek along with several of our Sherpa guides.

Upper Dolpo is a remote region in northern Nepal where few other groups have visited, I have no doubt this trek will be a superb journey. The trail crosses a number of high passes as well as exploring unspoilt Tibetan Buddhist villages and monasteries along the way.

Most other trekking companies run the relatively easier Upper Dolpo Circuit whereas we plan to walk out on the remote and challenging trail to Jomsom along a section of The Great Himalaya Trail.

Upper Dolpo has near mythical status among travellers and was first written about by David Snelgrove in his book titled "Himalayan Pilgrimmage" and more recently by Peter Matthiessen in "The Snow Leopard".

Please get in touch soon if you would like to join our group, for more information on the Upper Dolpo to Jomsom trek

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

The Great Himalaya Trail

Photo: Mount Makalu seen from GHT

The latest trekking news from the Himalaya is the exciting development of The Great Himalaya Trail ("GHT"). This is a trekking route that crosses Nepal starting near Kanchenjunga in the East and continuing to Humla on the Tibetan border in the West. The future plan is to extend the route across other countries in Himalaya going from Bhutan to Pakistan!

GHT takes the highest feasible route along the spine of the Himalaya, this involves very challenging trekking as well as several mountaineering sections over technical passes (eg Sherpani Col near Makalu). Completing the Nepal section of GHT would take over 5 months of non stop trekking. As far as I am aware no-one has yet completed GHT in one push instead trekkers like Robin Bousted (author of the excellent The Great Himalaya Trail- A Pictorial Guide) have completed the route in a number of sections.

The development of GHT has been encouraged by a several NGOs operating in Nepal such as ICIMOD (International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development) and SNV (Dutch Development Organisation. They see the long term advantages of encouraging trekkers to visit regions of Nepal other than Annapurna, Everest and Langtang. By getting away from the busier trails trekkers following The Great Himalaya Trail will bring income to remote and poor communities.

For further information on GHT I suggest taking a look at this website:

www.greathimalayatrail.com

You might be interested to hear that The Mountain Company has several treks that explore sections of GHT such as our Upper Dolpo to Jomsom trek in May 2010 and our Makalu BC to Everest in April 2011. We also have plans in the future to explore other areas along GHT so please get in touch if interested in joining one of our groups.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Best of Kendal Mountain Film Festival in London on March 16th

The Best of Kendal Mountain Film Festival will be shown at Royal Geographical Society in London on March 16th, I already have my ticket so hopefully see you there! The details are as follows:

Date: Tuesday 16 March 2010

Time: 7 – 10 pm (Exhibition Road Doors and pay bar in the Map Room open at 6 pm)

Venue: Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR (nearest tube South Kensington)

Tickets: £10 each / telephone 020 8545 9030

Films include: First Ascent: Alone on the wall (winner The Grand Prize and Best Climbing Film), Afghanistan – A small flame of hope (winner Best Short Film), Samsara (winner Best Mountain Adventure Film) and The Asgard Project (winner The People’s Choice Award).

All proceeds from this evening go to Porters Progress UK, a charity which supports projects to improve the safety and welfare of mountain porters in the Himalayas and other mountain ranges.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

A visit to the birthplace of Lord Buddha at Lumbini, Nepal

Back in December last year I enjoyed visiting the UNESCO World Heritage site at Lumbini in Nepal, the birthplace of Lord Buddha. At the time I did not write anything on our blog however it is worth describing to you as this is an interesting place and well worth incorporating into a tour of Nepal especially if you entering Nepal from India through Sonauli.

Photo: marker stone showing birthplace of Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama, the Lord Buddha, was born in Lumbini in 623 B.C. This holy site is surrounded by a monastic zone where commercial enterprises such as shops or restaurants are not allowed. The zone is separated into two areas, the eastern side having Theravadin monasteries and the western side with Mahayana and Vajrayana monasteries. The Mayadevi Temple at the centre is the actual birthplace of Buddha.

It is well worth wandering around the monastic zone and visiting the monasteries from various Buddhist countries and soaking up the peaceful atmosphere. Lumbini is a sacred spot and attracts many pilgrims so you will see monks and nuns as well as other devotees from all over the world.

Photo: inside Mayadevi Temple

Photo: Maya Devi temple complex

Photo: eternal flame in monastic zone

There are a number of good hotels near Lumbini, I stayed at the Buddha Maya Garden part of the Kathmandu Guest House group, I also visited Lumbini Hokke and Lumbini Garden hotels to take a look at their facilities and rooms. Please get in touch with The Mountain Company if you would like any further information.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk