Kyangjin

Kyangjin (4350m/14,271ft)

A three day trek up the Langtang Valley which lies northwest of Kathmandu, overshadowed by Langtang Lirung. The valley was said to have been discovered by a lama searching for a strayed yak, ‘lang’ meaning yak, and ‘tang’ a version of the word ‘to follow’.

The trek starts at Syabru Bensi to Kyangjin Village from where you can climb to the twin peaks of Kyangjin (4350m/14,271ft), which are a must for even the shortest of visits to Kyangjin Village and provide excellent views of Langtang Lirung (7324m/24,030ft).

Although close to Kathmandu, the Langtang Valley is not as visited by trekkers when compared to the Annapurna region, and yet the scenery is really magnificent.

We drove from Kathmandu along the Trisuli Valley to Trisuli Bazaar, and then joined the military road high above the river valleys and eventually dropped down to cross the Trisuli River.

We passed through Dhunche, which lies just inside the boundary of the Langtang National Park and spent the night at a sherpa village; Syabru Bensi (1450m).

We began our trek by following the Langtang Khola up the trail which undulates steadily through uninhabited forests of oak and rhododendron through Dhomen and Langmoche. After passing the Langtang Khola bridge, we climbed steeply up a winding path to Changdam (Lama Hotel), where we spent the night.

We then continued up through the forest, with occasional glimpses of Langtang Lirung through the trees until the trail came into open ground at Ghora Tabela (2950m).

The trail continues to climb up through the widening valley, passing through Thangshyap until we reached the village of Langtang (3480m).

We continued our trek through Mondoo, Singdum and Yemhu, where the valley opens out further and Himalayan mountains surround us until we arrived at Kyangjin (3900). There, we spent the night and the following morning headed north up a steep, but well marked route with cairns up to Kyangjin Peak and Kyimoshung Peak.

The prayer flags on the rocky peaks are about 1-2 hours from the village and the views of Langtang Lirung (7324m/24,030ft) and surrounding mountains (Tsergo Ri and Kangchenpo) are magnificent.