Day 1 Sundarajil to Chisopani
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Day 1 Sundarajil to Chisopani |
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The Shiva lignum where pilgrims make offerings...
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Begin the trek to Langtang by stepping out of your hotel in Kathmandu and stopping a taxi that looks to be in reasonable condition. Negotiate a trip to Sundarajil. I paid 500 Rupees, probably too much. It’s 15 kilometres to Sundarajil. The journey takes about half an hour. In 1999 the first part of the road was old and potholed, but the final half of the road is paved and smooth. You can’t mistake Sundarajil [1,379 metres], for it’s an ugly bus stop where the path from the north meets the road. You will see a square section water conduit which carries Kathmandu’s water supply from the Shiva Puri catchment area above. Follow the water conduit to the right (north north west) along the path next to it. The square conduit changes into a round section steel pipe. Follow this uphill as you climb up to the Shiva Puri Ridge. In the gorge on the right is the holy Bagmati river which flows through Pushpatinath on its way south through Kathmandu to India where it eventually joins the River Ganges. Reach a cave in which there is a Shiva lignum (30 minutes). A Shiva lignum is a phallic fertility symbol, over which offerings to the god Shiva are poured. Shiva is the Hindu god of destruction. The offering to Shiva flows onto the ‘yoni’ plate and off though a channel. This shrine is the first sign that you are on the Shiva pilgrim trail to Gosainkund. Continue up the hill to the entrance to the Shiva Puri Watershed National Park (45 minutes). The entrance fee is 250 Rupees, which is paid to the army officer stationed at the entrance. Keep the receipt to show as you leave the park at Chisopani. At the entrance is the first tea house of the trek, in which the army officer can usually be found playing cards, to while away the time between trekkers. Pass through the gate to the National Park. The path forks above a dam (which you can’t see at this point). Turn left, downhill by a small house. Cross the dam, over wooden slats, past an ancient mechanical sluice gate. Follow the concrete steps uphill past a dirt road until you reach the Lakpa lodge (1 hour) near to Mul Kharka. These concrete steps, not popular because they are just a bit too big, seem to go on forever. |
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Shishi Pangma...
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Near here you will pass some houses which are part of the village of Mul Kharka. When I passed this way, the monsoon rains had not yet stopped. It rained all day. I stopped for some respite from the miserable rain at a village farmhouse. I sat outside under their porch. The lady of the house kindly lent me a mat to sit on. Eventually all 6 of the children came out to look at the poor soaked trekker on their porch. They were so full of good humour and unaffected by the bad weather that they gave me the energy to continue. Continue up the seemingly endless steps until you reach an army base (2 hours 15 minutes). This base has the most impressive ‘bog block’ in Nepal. Now’s the time to go. There’s also a helicopter pad for emergency evacuations. Above here, the path is sunken deep into the hillside. Ancient and continuous passage of feet over the centuries has worn the path through the surface clay to the rock below. Vegetation on each bank leans over to form a green canopy to the path. Continue along this amazing path as it meanders past an abandoned village until a chorten and white Buddhist prayer flags mark the crest of the ridge (3 hours 55 minutes). Disappointingly, there is no tea house here to mark the summit. 
You can see the whole Nepalese Himalaya from Chisopani Walk, mostly downhill, to Chisopani (4 hours 45 minutes). Chisopani is a weird place. It has magnificent views from Annapurna to Everest. But the hotels, well... The place looks like a experiment in concrete construction, that went terribly wrong. It’s a sort of architectural Chernobyl. The hotels are:
The hotels in Chisopani can get booked up by massive tourist groups, who insist on taking a whole hotel to stop their groups talking to independent trekkers, so get here early, or employ the same trick that they do. Book in advance by phone! It’s worth staying in Chisopani just for the view in the morning. The next village, PatiBhayang, is in a valley and does not have the same view. Chisopani has a reputation for theft. I left my bag for a moment to check a lodge room. When I got back, I found a local ‘rogue’ about to ‘dip’ my rucksack. The Hotel Mountain and Galaxy insisted on serving ‘room service’. The owner keeps his dogs in the hotel corridor so that they don’t keep HIM awake at night! Trekkers rarely get any sleep. At least you won’t oversleep and miss the early morning view. Get up early to see the view or it’s not worth staying here.
A distant view of the Annapurna range
A view of Manaslu
Note that Chisopani is not marked on the Nelles Verlag Langtang map. Last updated March 2000 - copyright Ian Johnson |
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You can see the whole of the eastern Himalaya including Makalu and Everest |
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Comment by: Emma |
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Thanks Ian, we followed your guide and found it indispensable, completely thorough, interesting and do-able. The trek was out of this world, it was our first time trekking, so were slightly apprehensive before staring out without a person to guide us, but we didn't need one, your instructions and a map were all we needed.
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Comment by: Jean-Francois Dufour jedufa@gmail.com
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This was a wonderful trek. I got in Kathmandu alone from a trip in India and just put an ad on the wall of an hostel in Kathm. It took only 2hours before someone phoned the hostel I was living in, and we left the next day for the Langtang.
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