The Langtang Valley

The Langtang Valley

The Langtang Valley is  located about 30 kilometers north of Kathmandu, and it was declared a national park in 1976 and remains the second largest in all Nepal, spreading over an area of 1700 sq km. The inhabitants of the Langtang, which is located very close to the border with Tibet, seem to be of Tibetan origin, despite having over time mixed with Tamangs in Helambu. While resembling the sherpas of Khumbu, both their appearance and their language are more reminiscent of the Tibetans of Sikkim. The lower part of the valley is still covered with dense vegetation: pine, birch, oak, and bamboo. In spring the slopes are covered with giant rhododendrons. The most important geographical emergency is certainly the Bhote Khosi river – which takes the name of Trisuli after Dunche – which descending from Tibet, cuts the Himalayan chain and marks the Langtang valley in a southwest direction. It has always been a corridor and an ancient way of communication between Nepal and Tibet. Unknown until 1949, when Bill Tilman obtained permission to explore it together with Peter Loyd, the Langtang remains one of the most beautiful and wildest treks in the whole of Nepal.