From wasteland to wonderland: a trek in Langtang

April 12, 2017 Trip reports edita, ganesh himal, gosainkund, helambu, himalayas, jamie mcguinness, langtang, langtang lirung, naya kang, nepal, nepal earthquake, project himalaya, shishapangma, teahouse trekking, trekking, trekking peaks, yala peak 8 Comments

I’ve been meaning to go to Langtang for a long time. It was Nepal’s third most popular trekking destination, but this changed suddenly after the Nepal earthquake. The region is getting back to normal again and I was long overdue a visit. Here’s the story of my trek.

The 3 curses of the Himalayan snow

March 29, 2017 Opinion and advice himalayas, langtang, naya kang, nepal, trekking, trekking peaks, weather, yala peak 3 Comments

When I was a small child I used to love fresh snow. If you’re trekking and mountaineering in the Himalayas, however, fresh snow isn’t such good news. It improves your photographs, but it also plays havoc with your plans. Here are three reasons why.

My first visit to the Langtang Valley

March 8, 2017 Expedition dispatches edita, gosainkund, jamie mcguinness, langtang, naya kang, nepal, nepal earthquake, tamang heritage trail, teahouse trekking, trekking, trekking peaks, yala peak 4 Comments

By the time you read this Edita and I will be somewhere in the Helambu region of Nepal, an area of low-lying hills and terraced fields north of Kathmandu. Our destination is the Langtang Valley, which in 2015 was the scene of a great tragedy.