Langtang Valley Short Trek Itinerary - 5 days

You will start your journey early in the morning from Kathmandu and board a vehicle bound for Syabrubesi. The drive takes you across a scenic landscape filled with charming hillside towns and villages. The road snakes past lush semi-tropical jungles, rivers, and waterfalls. At Dhunche, your trekking permits will be checked, and you will formally enter the Langtang National Park. Along the way, you will come across Tamang villagers in their traditional attire doing their chores. From Dhunche, the road winds down to Syabrubesi, which lies at the bottom of a hill beside the Trishuli River.

On reaching Syabrubesi, you will get off the vehicle and gather your luggage. A small riverside town, Syabrubesi is the trailhead of the Langtang Valley trek. There are many lodges and hotels around the town, and it is a popular place for trekkers to stay overnight at the start or end of their trek.

But you will not stop at Syabrubesi; instead, you will begin your trek from there. Leaving the small town, you will walk towards the trailhead, which lies about an hour's walk from the village. Walk on the dusty road leading towards Kyirong and later take the small footpath that leads you towards the Trishuli River. Get to the other side of the river after crossing a metal bridge. A jeep track has been built for a hydropower project, and you will follow that till you reach the trailhead. The track is flat and dusty and easy to walk.

After walking for some time, you will ascend a path leading up to Domen Village. The village lies on the bank of the Langtang River and can be accessed by crossing a metal bridge festooned with colorful prayer flags. You can stop for a brief rest at the village and have tea and refreshments at a local teahouse. Later, take an uphill ascent and climb up a narrow stone staircase. The trail winds along the side of a forested hill. It’s not entirely uphill, and there are some flat sections too, which makes walking easy. After a brisk hike, you will reach a fork on the trail. One path leads to Gosainkunda, while the lower trail leads to Langtang Village. You will take the lower one and continue your trek.

The trail descends to the Langtang River. Walking beside the river, you can smell the sulphuric fumes of a hot spring that lies by the riverside. Leaving the riverside, you will climb again and reach Pairo, a small resting point with few lodges and teahouses. Pairo is Nepali for landslide, so this is a landslide-prone area. You continue your journey and head up on a forested path. Trees grow close to the trail, offering shade with their leafy canopies.

You can probably spot some gray-faced langurs swinging from tree to tree. The trail is fairly even and easy to walk. Take pleasure in nature while walking through moss-covered rocks and trees. After climbing on a gentle uphill trail, you will come across a bamboo grove, and beyond it, lying close to the Langtang River is the settlement of Bamboo. This is your overnight stop for the day. Rest and relax at a teahouse run by a local family.

Overnight in Bamboo.

Start your day early with a hearty breakfast. Afterward, bid goodbye to Bamboo and continue your hike towards Langtang Village. Today’s walk is tough and tiring, so brace yourself. Follow a path that ascends and exits d out of the village. Climb on the stone steps and walk past huge stone boulders. These had apparently toppled down from the mountains during the 2015 earthquake.

Make your way deep into the forest, enjoying the sounds of the birds chirping and the Langtang River roaring on its way down. The trail weaves above the Langtang River, and you will walk past charming wooden bridges built across small streams. The trial is flat and easy to navigate, but as you approach Lama Hotel, the route goes up and you have to make some steep ascents. The forest landscape filled with moss-covered oak and alder trees seems enchanting and beautiful.

Later, you will cross a metal bridge and get on the other side of the river. The trial remains flat, with some brisk ascents in between. On the way, you will come across a dangerous landslide-prone zone that lies close to the river. You should be careful while crossing this section, especially if the weather turns bad while you are trekking. There is always a danger of stones and mud sliding down from the top. Thus, proceed through this area swiftly, but cautiously.  From here on, the trail climbs up gently, and you will make an ascent up to Lama Hotel via Rimche. At Lama Hotel, you can stop for refreshments.

After a brief rest, continue your hike and walk towards Riverside, your lunch stop for today. It takes a little over two hours to reach the picturesque place called Riverside. You can have your lunch at one of the teahouses, enjoying the view of the Langtang River.

Later, continue your trek and make your way to Ghoda Tabela, a grassy pasture where the locals and travelers used to rest their horses in bygone days. Now Ghoda Tabela has a checkpost set up by the government where the permits of tourists are checked. There are also teahouses from where you can buy refreshments.

At this point, the lush semi-tropical jungle vanishes and the views open up. Short and stubby rhododendron shrubs dot the landscape while the ground is covered by stubby grasses. Far in the horizon, you can see the snow-covered Langtang Range. After your permit is checked, you will continue your hike towards Langtang Village. On the way, you will walk past the quaint village of Thangshyap. From Thangshyap, the trail goes down and follows the side of a hill. Wild yaks and ghorals, or mountain antelopes, can be seen roaming freely on the rocky sides of the mountains.

As you inch closer to Langtang Village, the landscape becomes more barren as you now walk above the treeline. You will walk in a valley surrounded by rocky cliffs and jagged, snow-capped mountains. First, you will come across the ruins of the old Langtang Village, which got completely destroyed by a landslide during the 2015 earthquake. The entire village was flattened, and about 245 locals and tourists lost their lives. Many yak herders also lost their lives together with their herds of yaks. Around three hundred yaks are said to have perished during the earthquake.

The new Langtang Village has been built a few hundred meters away from the site of the old village. A Buddhist memorial has been built for the victims of the earthquake at the edge of the new village. On reaching Langtang Village, you will head to a lodge and rest for the night. Facilities in Langtang Village are better than at other places on the trail, as all the buildings are new and the majority of lodge owners have added modern amenities like western toilets, hot showers (from proper showerheads), rooms with en suite bathrooms, electrical charging ports, etc. in their lodges.

Overnight in Langtang village.

After spending a restful night at Langtang Village, it’s time to walk to the final destination of your adventure, Kyangjin Gompa. This is going to be the easiest day of your trek. You will start your hike immediately after breakfast.

It’s an easy walk to Kyangjin Gompa past a wide valley dotted with stone chortens and mani walls. Right in front of you can see the snow-covered summits of Langtang Lirung, Dorje Lakpa, Gangchenpo, Langshisa Ri, Changbu, etc., rising majestically. En route, you will come across the charming village of Mundum and a café built on the side of a boulder, aptly named Hard Rock Café. The mountains appear closer as you approach the village, and after trekking for about two or three hours from Langtang Village, you will finally reach Kyangjin Gompa.

Kyangjin Gompa lies at an altitude of 3830 meters, and it is the last point of the Langtang Trek. Surrounded by grand Himalayan mountains and glaciers, Kyangin Gompa is an ancient settlement built around a centuries-old sacred Buddhist gompa or monastery. The people of Langtang Valley call themselves Langtangpas, but they are referred to in the official census as Tamangs. The Langtangpas are descendants of Tibetan highlanders who migrated from Tibet years ago. They speak Tibetan and follow Tibetan Buddhism, customs, and traditions. They have close links with Tibetans living close to the Nepal-Tibetan border in Kerung, which lies only a few kilometers from Langtang Valley.

Kyangjin Gompa has many old and new houses. The newer buildings are lodges that offer modern amenities to trekkers like wi-fi, hot showers, and rooms with attached toilets. You will make your way towards a lodge where a room has been booked by your guide. You can have lunch and rest for a while after settling into your room.

Later, you can explore the village. The monastery and the Swiss Cheese Factory are worth visiting. The cheese factory in Kyangjin Gompa was first established by a Swiss dairy specialist in the early fifties. The factory was destroyed during the earthquake, but it was rebuilt and is now fully functional. Yak milk is used to process the cheese, which is made using traditional Swiss cheese-making tools. Visitors can buy cheese as well as curd made from yak’s milk at the factory.

If you wish to go for a hike, you can head to a glacial lake that lies close to the village. It takes less than an hour to hike to the lake, which sits next to a small hydroelectric dam.

Overnight in Kyangjin Gompa.

Wake up early in the morning and make your way towards Kyangjin Ri, a hill that lies to the north-west of the village. After leaving the settlement you ascend a steep hill. While technical climbing is not required, the path is steep and slippery, so you need to be careful. It is a strenuous hike, and you gain an elevation of about 800 meters.

There are two peaks of Kyangjin Ri, Peak 1 and Peak 2. It takes about two hours or less to reach Peak 1, while getting to Peak 2 can take another forty minutes of hiking. The views from both of these viewpoints are awesome and stunning. Peak 1, which lies at an elevation of 4,400 meters, has stone chortens and prayer flags decorating its top. Trekkers who find the hike tiring reach only up to here. The views of Kyangjin Gompa, the glacial lake, and the surrounding mountains and glaciers look incredible.

If you wish to get more awesome views, you can contune further to Peak 2 of Kyangjin Ri. The path follows the top of a ridgeline and climbs up to the peak. The trail is exposed and has a steep drop, so proceed with caution. On reaching Peak 2, you can savor grandiose three sixty-degree views of Langtang Lirung (7234 m), Langshisa Ri (6427 m), Changbu (6251 m), Yubara Himal (6264 m), Tsergo Peak (5700 m), Yala Peak (5500 m), Naya Kanga (5846 m), Ganjala Chuli (5844 m), and the Langtang Lirung Glacier.

Later, you can hike down to Kyangjin Gompa. The descent is quicker, and you will reach the village within an hour. Head to your teahouse and prepare to leave. After a hearty breakfast, bid goodbye to Kyangin Gompa and retrace your steps to Rimche.

While you will have to cover a long distance, the hike is easier as it’s mostly downhill and on flat ground. As you storm down the trail, take time to pause and savor the views.

Once you arrive in Rimche, spend the night at a teahouse.

Overnight in Rimche.

Today marks the last day of your Langtang Valley Short Trek Itinerary. After an early breakfast, you will leave Rimche and descend to Syria. The walk is easy, as you will be walking down. But be careful at the landslide-prone section, as the trail is slippery and dangerous. After crossing bridges and leaving the woods, you will finally reach the dirt road. Walk through this portion for about thirty minutes until you reach the highway. On reaching Syabrubesi, you will board a vehicle bound for Kathmandu and return to the city. By late evening you will arrive in Kathmandu.

Your trip will end once you reach the capital city.