Helambu Trek

Over the Easter break we had the opportunity to go trekking for 6 days with some friends including fellow BMS workers, Chris and Debbie Drew. We were 5 adults, four children aged 6-9 and four teenagers. We travelled less than two hours to the north side of Kathmandu and were trekking by 8.30am on the first day. We spent 3 days heading north towards the Langtang mountain range before turning East.

This is a very Tibetan area, most people coming from the Sherpa people group. We enjoyed their cosy lodges with wood burning stoves and delicious Tibetan bread, as well as the more commonly found chapatis and dhal bhat (Lentil curry and rice).

We saw beautiful scenery, stunning terraced hillsides dotted with villages, rhododendron forests just coming into bloom, yaks, jumas (half yak, half cow) and of course, mountains. Sam and Mim even got to see their first snow – which we were not very well prepared for!

The area we were trekking in was badly affected by the Earthquake in 2015. We passed through many villages which seemed to be just starting the rebuilding process, and stayed in two where nothing survived the Earthquake. Many houses we saw and stayed in were built from corrugated iron and wood. There was rebuilding starting everywhere but for many they have spent nearly 3 years in temporary accomodation. We were glad to see that the rebuilding seems to be being done well, with lots of rebar (iron reinforcement rods) being used. We were glad to be able to bring a little income into these communities to help them with the rebuilding process.

EQ damaged houses stripped and left to balance.

A village we stayed in the second night, every house was destroyed

This week we are back to school, feeling a little tired and achy, but enjoying being back. This is our final term at KISC, so it feels quite strange as we are excited for what’s ahead and sad to be leaving our home of 10 years.