First of all, the Langtang Valley Trek is one of the least advertised treks in Nepal. Much more famous are its big brother treks – Everest Base Camp, and the Annapurna Circuit, to name just two. But if you want something a bit different, or don’t want to fly into the mountains, as you have to do to visit Mt Everest, the Langtang Valley Trek might be just right.
Location
Langtang Valley is situated about 7 hours drive out of the capital city of Kathmandu. But don’t let that put you off. Everything in Nepal takes time to get there, even if its only a hundred kilometres or so away, as this trek is. The road follows the Trisuli River until you reach a place called Trisuli Bazaar. From here you can tell you are in the mountains as they dominate your view. You can research the main ones before heading to Nepal: Langtang itself, the Manalsu Massif, Ganesh (named after that elephant headed god) and Jungal Himal.
At the end of the road journey you reach Syabrubesi from where the trek begins the next day.
You are not going to find luxury accommodation on this trek, and you might find Syabrubesi a bit… well it is the entrance town to this region with plenty of local buses coming and going to disturb the peace. Bear with it, things are going to get better!
The Culture of the Langtang Valley
One of the fascinating things about Nepal is there is a blend of Buddhist and Hindu culture. Predominantly Hindu in the lowlands and central belt, as you move up into the mountains the culture takes on the look and feel of Tibet. In fact, many of the inhabitants of the high mountains migrated several hundred years ago from Tibet. Some arrived more recently due to the clamp down on their religion.
In this region, the main peoples are Tamang. With their name roughly translated to ‘horse warrior’, to our outsider eye, these people don’t look dissimilar to the Sherpa of the Everest Region or the Tibetans across the border. Interestingly they are also native to some areas of Bhutan, and parts of India such as Sikkim and Darjeeling. Therefore, it is not surprising that you will see many Buddhist artifacts along this trail and visit many Buddhist monasteries.
The Trail
This is not a high altitude trek, the highest you will go is around 4,000m. Having said that, there is a day when you hike to Tsergo Ri at 5,000m /16404 ft. What is Tsergo Ri? It is a high peak which gives you amazing views. Of course, if you don’t want to make the extra effort, it is optional as you start and end that day in Kyanjin Gompa – a Buddhist monastery. But you will be missing out on seeing frozen lakes and over 20 glorious Himalayan peaks from the top of Tsergo Ri.
The majority of the trail involves around seven hours per day hiking. The overall trek is eight days, but two are spent on road travel, thus you are hiking for six days. Like most treks in Nepal, you need to be reasonably fit. This is not for couch potatoes! However, since it is not at high altitude, the possibility of altitude related illness is pretty much taken off the table.
Life on the Trail
Let me give you an idea of what a day on the Langtang trek is like before going into the best time to go there.
Seemingly, no two days are the same on any trek. I say seemingly because there are a lot of similarities in that you rise early, eat breakfast, start walking to be overwhelmed by beauty, reach the next lodge, eat dinner and collapse into bed!
But each trek and each day on a trek is different in what you see, what you experience, and how big your blisters are! Note: good, pre-worn hiking boots are a must!
In brief, on this particular trek, you are walking through forests and yak (high altitude bovine) pastures, and some rough and steep sections, past prayer flags, chortens (Buddhist shrines), Buddhist inscriptions carved into rocks, visiting, and sleeping in a monastery and gazing at the mountains.
Best Time for the Langtang Valley Trek
And finally, when is the best time to do the Langtang Valley Trek?
Most treks in Nepal take place in the spring in autumn because that is when the weather is at its best and the days are warm and nights not too cold. With the skies being so blue during these two seasons, the mountains look particularly wonderful set against them. A general idea of temperatures in Langtang is around 10 to 20 degrees Centigrade in the day. Evenings and early mornings are a bit chilly, so pack accordingly. It doesn’t rain in spring and autumn in Nepal. Naturally, there may be the odd, unexpected rainfall, but that is uncommon.
Trekking during the monsoon (July and August) is not recommended as trails become slippery and driveable roads often become impassable due to landslides or river overflow. And who wants to walk for hours in the rain anyway?
Winters are cold. Unless you are experienced in winter trekking and very well prepared for snow and freezing conditions, its enough to say just that. Winters are very very cold.
It should also be pointed that during October/ November it is major festival time in Nepal. Being that Nepal works on the lunar calendar, these festivals are never on the same dates on any given year. Sometime in October and November (in other words, autumn) there are two of the biggest festivals in the country. Dashain and Tihar. They spread basically over a one month period when everything is shut down. By that, we mean the restaurants in Kathmandu, the intercity bus service; just everything! Being that it is also peak tourist and trekking season, things are open on the treks. However, it will be more difficult that normal to get a trekking guide or porter. Accommodation on the trails will also be fuller than normal being that it is peak trekking season, and many locals will also take holidays. It is an exciting time to be in the country, especially round colourful Tihar but do be prepared.
Spring or Autumn?
In conclusion, either of these times spring – March, April, May, June and autumn – September, November and first half of December, are the most perfect times weather wise to trek in the Langtang Valley. They are also popular with everyone and so to avoid the crowds somewhat, best to go at the very beginning or very end of these seasons.
