Four Wonders of Langtang and Gosaikunda

I EXPERIENCED/SAW FOUR NEW THINGS DURING LANGTANG-GOSAINKUNDA TREK:

1. White and pink Rhododendron flowers: I had not seen pink and white Rhododendron (laligurans) flowers. I chewed some flower petals. They are edibles. Both flowers were beautiful but I liked white flowers more than the pink ones. A walk into the jungle near Langtang village was exciting.

2. Being close to Himal: Seeing Himals (or Himalayas) from so close was another new experience. Standing on the barren land of Langtang valley I could almost ‘touch’ the mountains! A thrilling moment. Climb up to the Kenjing Gomba, not far from the Valley, and you’ll realize that you are surrounded by mountains from all sides. Yes, you are in the middle of the Himalayas.

3. Glacier right under my nose: We tried to climb up to the glacier from Kenjin Gumba but we were unable to do so, partly because we were hungry and mainly because we lost the trail. For about three minutes, we were walking randomly over the thorny bushes hurting ourselves. Cold and strong wind made it difficult to concentrate. We briefly walked through a stream that originated from the glacier which looked near from where we stood. I am sure it could have taken another half an hour for us to reach there. May be more. Walking on the stream was kind of risky but I loved that bit of ‘adventure’. We were well above 4,000 meters which meant it wasn’t easy to breath. The unkind wind made breathing more difficult. I managed climb a small hilltop under the shadow of giant Langtang. I played with the snow and scribbled my name there. The little ‘mountain’ instantly became Mt. DINESH!

4. The Gosainkunda Lake and the Gosainkunda Pass: Both of these places were amazing in their own ways. I walked around the Gosainkunda Lake which has religious significance for the Hindus. Most part of the lake was covered with ice giving the lake a new name: The Frozen Lake. Adventurous souls would have been tempted to skate there had the iced layer been a bit stronger. I did some yoga at the bank of the lake. I also climbed a huge rock near the bank of the Surajkunda, another lake just below the Gosainkunda. The Surajkunda looked more dangerous, deep and dark. That was probably because it wasn’t covered with the ice like the Gosainkunda was.