Langtang National Park

The Langtang National Park is the third biggest national park of Nepal. Established in 1976, the protected area covers an area of 1,710 km2 (660 sq mi) of Nuwakot, Rasuwa and Sidhupalchowk districts of the central Himalayan region encompassing 26 Village Development Committees. Sacred lake of Gosainkunda is one of the key trekking destinations of the National Park. The summit of Mount Langtang Lirung , 7245 meters is the highest point of this region. The northern and eastern border of the national park coincides with China. The western boundary follows the rivers Bhote Kosi and Trisuli. The southern border lies 32 km (20 mi) north of the Kathmandu Valley.

Most people living here are Tamang and Sherpa. About the way of life, “Syabru Songs” and performing a few ceremonies are performed routinely. Individuals living here are exceptionally kind, liberal and supportive. Their livelihood mostly depends upon agriculture; tourism and hospitality industry; and raising livestock, mostly yaks.

We were fortunate enough to come across Snow Leopard and Red Panda on our journey, which are very rare and listed on the endangered species. Being here feels euphoric and fulfilling.

Our trip was of 6 days to The holy lake Gosainkunda (4380m).

Day 1:

Our journey began by taking a bus ride from Jorpati, Kathmandu to Thankuni Bhanjyang. A four hours ride to the north of Sindhupalchowk district. We had our day meal at Thankuni Bhanjyang and after a short rest, we started our trek to Golfu Bhanjyang. It was a 7 hrs walk to reach our destination for the day at Golfu Bhanjyang.

Day 2:

Second day was the main day of the trek. We entered Langtang National Park with a steep climb to Kutumsang. It marks the beginning of the himalayas. It was a terrifying walk through dark forest because of the silence of the woods and cold winds. Our plan was to reach Thadepati on the second day, but sometimes things don’t go as you plan. Due to the heavy rain shower, we had no other choice than to settle our tents in the woods, somewhere in between Kutumsang and Thadepati. We spent the night with camp fire, eating packaged foods we carried and singing songs of love and friendship.

Day 3:

We had to begin early today, as we were behind by two and a half hours behind our goal of last night. The path ahead was more dangerous than we expected. Steep elevation with narrow path and landslides all over the trail added thrill and fear both on us. The trail offered excellent views of the mountains and rough slopes. With this we ended our day at Ghopte.

Day 4:

Today was a big day as we had to climb 1000m uphill in a single day to reach Suryakunda (4700m). Terrified by the views of gigantic rocky hills above us, our journey began towards Phedi which was an hour of straight walk. We took our meal and took some photographs at Phedi(3700m).

It was a long walk of about 7 hrs before we reached Suryakunda at 4pm in the evening. Despite all the trouble during the journey, it felt worthwhile, looking at the shimmering lake under the sky encompassed by relentless mountains.

Suryakunda, a blue water lake surrounded by big mighty rocky hills, the cold breeze passing by us made our tiredness fade away in a minute. After spending half an hour there, we proceeded further towards Gosainkunda(4380m), which was just about 30 minutes walk away.

The evening view was mesmerizing. We walked clicking photographs along the trail. It was a pleasant view to watch the sun settling down over the holy lake of Gosaikunda. We sat beside the lake watching the golden light fading away and talking about our trip. The day ended with smiles on our face as our trip was successful.

Day 5:

Gosainkunda is highly revered by the hindu community. Next morning we took a dip in the chilling water of the holy lake. Worshipped lord Shiva, prayed for the happiness and prosperity of our Motherland and meditated for about an hour.

With a heart full of joy and ecstasy, we headed for Laurebinayak (3700m) after our day meal. We reached Laurebinayak at around 12:30 pm. But as the weather was dim and smoggy, we decided to stay there for the day and enjoy the splendid view of mountain range one more time.

Day 6:

Our room at Lauribinayak offered a sparkling view of mountain ranges of Annapurna, Macchapuchre, Manaslu, and Langtang shining in the brilliant light of the morning sun. After a wonderful glimpse of a golden morning, we took our lunch and started to descend to Thulosyabru at around 9am. We reached Thulosyabru at around 4:00pm and continued to walk down for 2 more hours before we reached Syabrubesi. We booked a bus ticket back to Kathmandu and ended our beautiful journey of the holy lake Gosaikunda.