So off we set with some trepidation (at least on M's part) into the high Himal for a trek up the Langtang valley.

Of course we had to get there first. For us this involved an 8 hour jeep journey from Kathmandu to Syabrubessi. This was a good plan (the jeep that is) as the road there, although it starts off okay soon degenerates into a bone-jarring track full of potholes and ruts, winding its way through valleys and up into the mountains. This is "okay" in a jeep but there was general agreement that it would have been murder in one of the local buses.

Luck was on our side during the journey as we nearly got caught in a bandh about 2 hours out of Kathmandu. There we were bowling along quite the thing when suddenly we grind to a halt behind a string of cars, buses, motorbikes etc. It turns out the locals had blocked the road to protest about an accident that had occurred the week before that resulted in someone being killed.

We milled around trying to find out what was happening and were told it was an all day closure. Now this would have mucked up our plans but fortunately the police arrived and after some discussion the bandh was called off - a real stroke of luck! How, why it was called off we were none the wiser but we were relieved to be on our way again.

So early afternoon we arrived at our hotel in Sybrubessi a couple of beers and then we met up with our porter for the week - Sidhar. Lovely guy who had just walked down the valley in 5 hours (this is a 2 day trek for mere mortals) to meet up with us.

It was up early (5am) the following day for the first leg of the journey. Off we all strode out through the village, a right turn at the end, over the suspension bridge and onto the trail proper. We were now away from the road and in fact wouldn't see a car or motorbike for another week...bliss. The lower part of the trek (in fact the whole trek) follows the course of the Langtang Khose river, which crashes down the valley fed from the glaciers up inthe mountains. Its all waterfalls and rapids and that lovely blue / green colour that mountain rivers tend to be.

Sidhar had no problem hefting our two rucksacks onto his back, securing them with the standard issue headstrap. I guess he was carrying about 30-40kg in total. We were told that this was a pretty light load and that most of the porters on the route will take 50-60kg quite happily.

Certainly most of the porters we passed, or that passed were carrying larger loads.That will probably be one of the abiding memories of the trip. The number of porters, the loads they were carrying and the fact that everything, the food we ate, beer and water we drank, beds we slept on, chairs we sat on - pretty much everything really had been carried up there on someone's back.

It wasn't too long before we came across our first wildlife, with a troupe of langur monkey's spotted by someone up in the trees. This part of the trek beside the river is in forest and jungle so only to be expected really but still quite exciting.

By late afternoon we'd reached Lama Hotel our first overnight stop on the way to the top of the valley. M pronounced herself happy with the walking on the first day and all was well with the world.More monkeys spotted next to the river when M and myself went for a wee wander before dinner, whichwe had a bit more time to watch. We had a lovely meal that night at the Jungle View Lodge, hosted by Karma a friend that Simon and Laura our trekking companions had made on their last visit to the Langtang area. Much relief that the menuincluded cheesy pasta in addition to that other well known Nepali delicacy "dhal bhat".

Day 2 took us higher still (close to 4000m) as we continued climbing up towards Langtang Village. The trees were getting a bit more sparse now certainly on our side of the river but we were heading into rhododendron territory with bushes spotted in a variety of colours. The mountains which we'd caught glimpses of at the bottom were now starting to dominate the skyline directly ahead...awe inspiring. We were getting into the swing of things now and were making steady progress with regular stops at teahouses for milky coffee and snacks. We overnighted at Karma's "other place", The Eco Hotel in Langtang and this was just as good as the Jungle View.

Day 3 and a short leg (so to speak) from Langtang up to Kanjin Gompa, only 3 hours or so walking. By now it was mountains all around and lots of yaks! They can only live above a certain altitude you know and we were clearly reaching that level. We were also all slowing down a bit, as the air was definitely getting a bit thinner. Not that Sidhar was affected, he spotted one of his sons coming down the mountain on an errant mule and promptly started chasing it around to get it back on the trail...whilst still carrying our rucksacks!

When we reached Kanjin Gompa, M and Laura spotted a nice looking hotel with a sign advertising a hot shower and they immediately headed off to investigate. This created a bit of a problem for Sidhar, as he'd been hoping we'd stay at "his" place in the village. Over apple pie and coffee (at his place, which was much smaller and had "outside" facilities), we were able to reach a compromise. We agreed we'd eat some meals at his hotel and stay in the "big " one, which I think worked for everyone.

As we'd got to Kanjin quite early, we had time for some exploring in the afternoon, a walk up to see a glacier . Then retiring to the "big" hotel for hot showers and a warm up next to the wood burning stove. It was quite a bit colder up here and the warmth was mucho appreciated.

Day 4 and off exploring the valley east of Kanjin. The weather was fabulous and we had great views of the peaks on both sides of the valley. We walked out for about 4 hours and could probably have kept on going for another 4 until we reached the glacier at the end....up the glacier, over a 6000m peak and we'd have been in Tibet ! Not an option we were told, as there is no trail to Tibet that way...so near yet so far and end of the road for us.

So we hung some prayer flags we'd been given by the family at the Langtang Hotel and headed back. The return journey to Kanjin seemed to go on forever, with a difficult river crossing near the end. What had been a stream in the morning had become a raging torrent with snow melt coming from above after a day in the sun. We got back about 6pm in the end, just around dusk. There had been a few trekkers in the valley, some heading out when we were walking back and they were still returning to Kanjin long after dark.

Day 5 and we headed back down the valley as far as Lama Hotel. So what had been 2 days trekking to Kanjin on the way up was only one on the way back down. Maybe we were getting fitter!

Day 6 and we bade farewell to Karma at Lama Hotel and set off back down the lower part of the trail to Syabrubessi. It was lovely walking and you do get a different perspective going down as opposed to up. As you drop back below the tree line and you notice different types of trees appearing that clearly don't survive at the higher altitudes. So back to civilisation, a couple of beers and a trip to the internet cafe.

Our last day was spent around Syabrubessi. We'd actually got back with a day to spare and whilst waiting for the jeep to arrive from Kathmandu to take us home we had intended to explore the surrounding area. We set off in the morning and wandered off up the new road which is being built that will connect Nepal to China in the north. However fatigue kicked in and it was a pretty half hearted effort by all of us and we ended up back in a cafe eating cake and drinking coffee by late morning.

The driver and jeep turned up mid afternoon and we were able to persuade him to take us about an hour down the road to Dumche (he wasn't mad keen after an 7-8 hour journey to get there). This gave us a change of scenery and would help ensure a return to Kathmandu in time for the F1 Grand Prix the following day, so it was for the best really.

A fairly uneventful journey back to Kathmandu, although we did grind to a halt again 15km from the city, with a bus blocking the road this time. With no lay-by's around, when the driver got a puncture he just had to stop in the middle of the road and change the wheel. There didn't appear to be any shortage of willing helpers amongst the passengers and it wasn't too long before we were underway again and entering the smog filled atmosphere surrounding our beloved Kathmandu.

All in all we thought this was a great trek.

Those people that we've spoken to who have been here for some time and have walked in various locations generally agree it is one of the nicest treks in Nepal. It's fairly quiet, the scenery is varied and the mountains although not the highest in the Himalaya are spectacular . It's not the most demanding of terrain, although you can spice things up by walking back to Kathmandu via a couple of different routes over high passes that would take you above the snowline.

Anyway enough holiday's for the moment. We've got work to do !