Bigger Mountains, Higher Flags.

After a restless night due to a hard bed and cold evening I wake up at around 7:30 and brave the outside loo.  This is basically a porcelain hole in the floor with added foot grips, all paper waste is put in a box by the toilet, it is pretty grim but all WC's up here are the same and I am starting to get used to it.

I wolf down a breakfast of bread and honey with a black tea and head out.  The Swiss guy is having a day of rest and looks pretty dehydrated.  I give him a few sachets of Dioralyte before I head off, I hope he starts to feel better, he seems in good spirits considering.

We are in the mountains proper now and it is two hours to our final destination the village of Kyangjin Gompa where we will be spending the night.  Apart from a couple of windswept looking tea houses there isn't much to see apart from the scenery the odd flutter of birds (There are loads of different birds in Langtang Park, its a twitchers paradise) and the ever present Yak's.  It is both hot and cold at the same time, the higher up we go the stronger the sunshine and the colder the breeze.  Snow starts appearing in big white blotches and the reflection of the sun from the snow covered mountains that now surround us is very strong.

The best thing about this trek is the ever changing scenery. At the start it is all tree covered hill sides, bridges over a fast flowing river and lodges a plenty.  The further up the valley you travel the more U-shaped it becomes and the tree's give way to barren rocks and snow covered peaks, the houses become more rural with far more traditional Tibetan style houses.  Oh and of course 'The Bob Marley Tea Shop', he loved his Yak Curd did Bob.

As we head towards our final destination the pathways are lined with low and thick stone walls.  The slabs of rock on the side of these walls have Buddhist mantra's carved into them, you must always walk with the wall on your right in a clockwise fashion as is the way with Buddhist monuments.  There are also piles of stones in a pillars that are another offering to God to help bring peace and prosperity to the mountains.

Despite the short distance it is hard going, as the altitude increases breathing becomes harder and my chest starts getting tight, I drink more and more water to get hydrated, for Geljin this is a walk in the park he has been to Everest four times and is planning his fifth ascent this year, but it is a whole new experience for me.

The scenery is also breathtaking and when we reach Kyangjin Gompa the highest village in Langtang Park we are completely surrounded by snow capped mountains.  We arrive at 11:00 and I order veg fried rice at the hotel which has fantastic views and is bathed in sunshine for most of the day.  Later we are going to a monastery and the local Yak Cheese Factory.  It will be nice to do some walking without a heavy backpack.

The Monastery is close by but first we stop at the Cheese Factory which is basically a small barn with two rooms one that stores the cheese and one that makes the cheese. A man is working away on his own when we arrive I purchase some cheese which isn't as potent as I thought and is not too dissimilar to Edam. It is said to be a good source of energy due to the Yaks diet of mountain grass.

We get to the Monastery only to find that it is closed for Losar, but the views from there are fantastic and the buildings some new some in ruins are interesting enough from the outside.  Mark & Tammie are there with their guides and we decide to walk a little further up to get as better view of the ice cap that falls down the side of a mountain, who knows if it will still be there in ten years time.  We also walk over to a nearby Stupa and Tammie and her guide build a snowman while everyone else rests and takes photographs before heading back to the hotel.

I do some sunbathing whilst listening to some post rock, which makes much more sense when surrounded by mountains and decide to have Dhal Bhat for dinner before grabbing an early night as tomorrow we climb up to Kyangjin Peak.