Nepal Gosaikunda Sacred Lakes

Langtang, Nepal · Nepal

Moderate10 daysAsia~£700 est.

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Overview

This is two treks joined at the hip, and worth ten days. Go up the Langtang Valley first — rebuilt teahouse by teahouse since the 2015 earthquake buried Langtang village — to Kyanjin Gompa at 3,870 m, with a dawn push up Tserko Ri (4,984 m) for the full Langtang Lirung panorama. Then double back down-valley and climb south via Thulo Syabru and the yak-cheese monastery at Sing Gompa to the Gosaikunda lakes at 4,380 m, a chain of dark glacial tarns where Shiva is said to have driven his trident into the mountain to drink. At the Janai Purnima full moon in August thousands of Hindu pilgrims climb barefoot to bathe in the freezing lake — an extraordinary thing to witness, and the one week the trail is genuinely crowded. Otherwise you will have the Lauribina ridge largely to yourself. Go March-May for rhododendrons or October-November for the sharpest skies. Langtang National Park permit and TIMS card required; teahouses run the whole route. Around £700 for ten days from Kathmandu — the closest big-mountain trek to the capital, seven rough road hours away.