2nd March
to
 6th March 2000

The author

The first day had been something of a gruelling Landrover ride (!) for seven hours (spread each side of a somewhat basic stopover at a particularly hard-bedded hotel - best thing, apparently for a case of the Dahl Bat's - the only thing on the menu!) (remember this comes from a fresh faced new-boy on this whole Human Power Around The World extravaganza). Amazingly precipitous and winding roads didn't seem to deter the driver from attempting a church-on-time style ride up to Dhunche and the beginning of the track.

Five Langtang Special Porridges (one each, obviously) later we were off on the first leg walking through forests alive with birdsong, crossing the river who's roar was to accompany us nearly up to Gosainkund itself, and then climbing incredibly steeply up the left hand side of the valley. This sort of steep climbing could only be sustained for any length of time in the enormous Himalayas and sure enough it wasn't to let off through lunch, afternoon tea and our arrival at Sing Gompe, (3300m). This was a gloriusly big day for legs and lungs and the teapot on constant boil seemed happy to fill our bottomless cups. There was a blizzard that night and our sleeping bags were put to the test in no uncertain terms.

Day 3 was a unanimous rest day, the sun came out and trekkers basked looking oddly incongruous (sort of white and pasty) in their supposed natural habitat. The next day saw an unfortunate split party as Andy reaquainted himself with his recurring bug and Nadine valiantly escorted him back to Dhunche and so to Ktm for proper treatment. Tim, Rich and I, for fear of the bus journey back down the way we'd come up from the capital (!) struck off towards the pass hoping to make it up over and down to Kathmandu the easier-on-the-bum way. From here, Langtang Lirung - an amazingly impressive peak - had us spellbound much of the time in it's aura towering as it did above the Langtang Valley up whose eastern flank our path led. Tim and I actually got our first glimpse of the mountain at the door of an ornately carved and decorated, but abandoned Buddhist temple in an Alpine Meadow behind Sing Gompe. Inside, the careful woodwork was painted with an array of symbolic figures - tigers, snakes, dragons, male and female human figures covered the now muddy walls (summer grazing cattle had taken over, their milk churned to an apparently famous cheese in a dairy next door to our lodge in Sing Gompe.) Straight out of the front door was beautiful Langtang Lirung somehow with its own character hidden in the thick folds of blue and white ice and snow and seemingly accessible rock gullies and ridges.

The three of us took a further two days to reach Gosainkund - a physically fantastic and spiritually holy place, many pilgrims making the trek that we had done each year - where we were to arrive exhausted and decide to return the way we had come, only to receive the stalling advice that began this 'postcard'. As I mentioned, it was welcome as we were able to enjoy the pervading peace of the mountains for a little longer, drink some more black coffee, eat another bowl of onion soup and.......no, no, no, we didn't do that - it would've been no good at all. To get stuck into the return journey was actually a treat as we regained sanity with the drop in altitude and enjoyed passing again the landmarks of our walk up. It was as if we had been pilgrims, too and it felt good to have committed ourselves to such a trek into the heart of the Himalaya and back out again, just for a look. Great stuff. I'd go for more of the same, and if you're going to the bar, mine's an, erm.... onion soup.

Nick.