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Gauri Shankar and Menlungtse Photos - Kathmandu To Beding in the Rolwaling Valley

Gauri Shankar and Menlungtse Photos - Kathmandu To Beding in the Rolwaling Valley

Rolwaling 00 01 Dhaulagiri V, III, II, Dhaulagiri I, and Tukuche Peak On Flight To Kathmandu The early morning flight from Doha to Kathmandu became a mountain flight as we passed Dhaulagiri. To the left of Dhaulagiri are Dhaulagiri V, Dhaulagiri III, and Dhaulagiri II. To the right of Dhaulagiri is Tukuche Peak.

Rolwaling 00 01 Dhaulagiri V, III, II, Dhaulagiri I, and Tukuche Peak On Flight To Kathmandu

Rolwaling 00 02 Annapurna South, Annapurna Main, and Machupuchare From Flight To Kathmandu The early morning flight from Doha to Kathmandu became a mountain flight as we passed Annapurna. Annapurna South is on the left, the broad steep Annapurna I South Face in the middle, and Machupuchare on the right.

Rolwaling 00 02 Annapurna South, Annapurna Main, and Machupuchare From Flight To Kathmandu

Rolwaling 00 03 Google Earth Image Of Trip Google Earth shows the full trip, driving from Kathmandu to Dolakha, trekking the Rolwaling Valley, crossing the Tashi (Tesi) Lapcha, Renjo La, Cho La, and Kongma La passes, and flying back to Kathmandu from Lukla.

Rolwaling 00 03 Google Earth Image Of Trip

Rolwaling 00 04 Google Earth Rolwaling Trek Google Earth shows the Rolwaling trek, starting from Dolakha, up the Tamba Kosi Valley to Simigaon, and then following the Rolwaling Valley to Beding, passing Tsho Rolpo and then over the Tashi (Tesi) Lapcha pass (5755m) and down the Thame Valley.

Rolwaling 00 04 Google Earth Rolwaling Trek

Rolwaling 00 05 Drive Kathmandu To Dolakha I met my guide Gyan at the airport, and we drove in a private van out of chaotic Kathmandu on the highway to Tibet. We turned off the highway and drove on, passing Charikot (2000m) before descending to Dolakha (1660m).

Rolwaling 00 05 Drive Kathmandu To Dolakha

Rolwaling 00 06 Dolakha Lodge And Flowers We stayed in a beautiful flower-filled lodge just a minute from the end of the road in Dolakha.

Rolwaling 00 06 Dolakha Lodge And Flowers

Rolwaling 01 01 Dolakha Entrance Gate and Start Of Trek Our Rolwaling trek began in Dolakha (1660m), a large bazaar town at the end of the paved road.

Rolwaling 01 01 Dolakha Entrance Gate and Start Of Trek

Rolwaling 01 02-1 Gauri Shankar, Menlungtse, Tamba Kosi Valley From Dolakha Near the beginning of the steep and slippery (from yesterday's rain) descent from Dolakha (1660m), there was a wonderfully clear view of the Tamba Kosi valley with Gauri Shankar and Menlungtse rising above the ridges at the end of the valley.

Rolwaling 01 02-1 Gauri Shankar, Menlungtse, Tamba Kosi Valley From Dolakha

Rolwaling 01 02-2 Gauri Shankar and Menlungtse From Dolakha Near the beginning of the steep and slippery (from yesterday's rain) descent from Dolakha (1660m), there was a wonderfully clear view of Gauri Shankar and Menlungtse.

Rolwaling 01 02-2 Gauri Shankar and Menlungtse From Dolakha

Rolwaling 01 02-3 Gauri Shankar Close Up From Dolakha Near the beginning of the steep descent from Dolakha (1660m), there was a wonderfully clear view of Gauri Shankar.

Rolwaling 01 02-3 Gauri Shankar Close Up From Dolakha

Rolwaling 01 02-4 Menlungtse Close Up From Dolakha Near the beginning of the steep descent from Dolakha (1660m), there was a wonderfully clear view of Menlungtse.

Rolwaling 01 02-4 Menlungtse Close Up From Dolakha

Rolwaling 01 03 Trek From Dolakha To Piguti Upper left: It took 80 minutes to descend from Dolakha to the suspension bridge over the Doni Kosi (800m) and climb briefly to Malepu (880m). Upper right: The trail was fairly flat and easy along the Tamba Kosi, taking another 105 minutes from Malepu (880m) to Piguti (920m). Lower left: I saw what looked like small trees actually walking along the trail, but it turned out to be a couple of women carrying them to their village. Lower right: I stopped to watch playful monkeys running up and down the trees by the side of the trail.

Rolwaling 01 03 Trek From Dolakha To Piguti

Rolwaling 01 04 Lunch In Piguti It rained over lunch in Piguti (920m), but it cleared off in the afternoon. I watched some children having fun on an elaborate Dasain Festival wooden swing / roller coaster in Piguti.

Rolwaling 01 04 Lunch In Piguti

Rolwaling 01 05 Singati The trail from Piguti (920m) jumped up and down to avoid cliffs and landslides, taking 55 minutes to reach Singati (950m). You can now drive from Dolakha to Singati, but, as of 2008, it takes longer than trekking. It took me more than 20 minutes to pass through the large Singati bazaar town. While I waited for the porters to arrive, I had a wonderful chat with two young women in Singati.

Rolwaling 01 05 Singati

Rolwaling 01 06 Trek Singati To Suri Dhoban The trail from Singati took 35 minutes to reach a bridge and a small village on the far side, and another 25 minutes to reach the village of Suri Dhoban (1030m), passing a waterfall along the way.

Rolwaling 01 06 Trek Singati To Suri Dhoban

Rolwaling 01 07 Suri Dhoban Lodge Upper left: We stayed in a small lodge in Suri Dhoban. Upper right: Many children were visiting their families for Dasain, having fun on a very high swing. Lower left: The daughter of the owner of the house in Suri Dhoban cleared out her room so I could sleep there. Lower right: The toilet even had a crude western style seat.

Rolwaling 01 07 Suri Dhoban Lodge

Rolwaling 02 01 Gauri Shankar Sunrise From Suri Dhoban There was a perfect view of the two summits of Gauri Shankar at sunrise from Suri Dhoban towards the head of the valley.

Rolwaling 02 01 Gauri Shankar Sunrise From Suri Dhoban

Rolwaling 02 02 Gauri Shankar Sunrise From Beyond Suri Dhoban The trail from Suri Dhoban was fairly easy, reaching a teahouse in 30 minutes, with views of Gauri Shankar ahead.

Rolwaling 02 02 Gauri Shankar Sunrise From Beyond Suri Dhoban

Rolwaling 02 03 Trek From Suri Dhoban To Jagat The trail from Suri Dhoban was fairly easy, passing a teahouse in 30 minutes. It then got a little more tricky, reaching Manthale (1070m) after another 80 minutes.

Rolwaling 02 03 Trek From Suri Dhoban To Jagat

Rolwaling 02 04 Jagat The trail crosses a suspension bridge over the Tamba Kosi into Jagat (1150m), 15 minutes after Manthale.

Rolwaling 02 04 Jagat

Rolwaling 02 05 Jagat Flowers There were many colourful small and large flowers at Jagat (1150m) on the way up the Tamba Kosi to the Rolwaling Valley.

Rolwaling 02 05 Jagat Flowers

Rolwaling 02 06 Trek From Jagat To Gongar The trail from Jagat has many ups and downs, entering a steep walled gorge with countless waterfalls, with the mellow Tamba Kosi turning into a thundering whitewater.

Rolwaling 02 06 Trek From Jagat To Gongar

Rolwaling 02 07 Lunch In Gongar And Flowers The trail from Barabise joins the Dolakha trail just before we reached Gongar (1440m), 70 minutes from Jagat. We had lunch at Gongar (1440m), with colourful flowers flanking the walkways.

Rolwaling 02 07 Lunch In Gongar And Flowers

Rolwaling 02 08 Road Being Built From Gongar To Lamabager The trail from Gongar follows the new road from Singati to Lamabager, being built in various stages along side the Tamba Kosi.

Rolwaling 02 08 Road Being Built From Gongar To Lamabager

Rolwaling 02 09 Trek To Simigaon The easy trail from Gongar took 45 minutes to reach Chechet (1524m), passing by another beautiful waterfall. The trail from Chechet (1524m) descends to the Tamba Kosi River, crosses a suspension bridge, and ascends on a new set of steps to Simigaon. The steps were built with Japanese support just a year or two ago. The trail from the Tamba Kosi took 55 minutes to reach the first houses of the picturesque village of Simigaon sprawling over a terraced knob (1600-2000m).

Rolwaling 02 09 Trek To Simigaon

Rolwaling 02 10 Simigaon The trail took 40 minutes to climb through the village of Simigaon to reach the Simigaon saddle (1990m). I stayed in a comfortable lodge just a few steps from the gompa in Simigaon. Lower left: The Tamba Kosi valley continues north of Simigaon to Lamabager, and on to Tibet. Lower right: The Simigaon gompa is just a few seconds from the lodge on the Simigaon saddle.

Rolwaling 02 10 Simigaon

Rolwaling 02 11 Simigaon Gompa Prayer Wheel, Altar, and Paintings I visited the gompa in Simigaon and admired the large entrance prayer wheel, the main altar, and the many wall paintings.

Rolwaling 02 11 Simigaon Gompa Prayer Wheel, Altar, and Paintings

Rolwaling 03 01 Trek Simigaon To Shakpa Kharka It rained overnight in Simigaon, and the excellent view of Gauri Shankar remained hidden beneath the clouds. I had planned to trek the Daldung La route, but found out that it hasn't been used in a few years because of landslide danger. Therefore, I used the normal lower Rolwaling route. The trail from Simigaon enters the Rolwaling valley, climbing steeply through the trees for two hours to Shakpa Kharka (2660m). I had my first experience with leeches, one getting under my pants to suck the blood from my leg. Gyan ripped him off, leaving a splotch of dried blood on my leg.

Rolwaling 03 01 Trek Simigaon To Shakpa Kharka

Rolwaling 03 02 Trek Shakpa Kharka To Gyalche Kharka After an early lunch, the trail from Shakpa Kharka (2660m) took 75 minutes to climb to Gyalche Kharka (2990m), passing another beautiful waterfall.

Rolwaling 03 02 Trek Shakpa Kharka To Gyalche Kharka

Rolwaling 03 03 Dongang Rolwaling River Kharka The trail from Gyalche Kharka (2990m) took 30 minutes to descend to the Rolwaling Chu and the Dongang Kharka (2800m). While waiting for the porters to arrive, I sat next to a small fire in a small makeshift hut. It rained again in the afternoon, but cleared off by the next morning, with a cooler overnight temperature of 8C.

Rolwaling 03 03 Dongang Rolwaling River Kharka

Rolwaling 04 01 Rolwaling Chu Glistens In Early Morning Sun From Dongang Kharka, the trail goes up and down following the rough and tumble Rolwaling Chu glistening in the early morning sun.

Rolwaling 04 01 Rolwaling Chu Glistens In Early Morning Sun

Rolwaling 04 02 Gauri Shankar South Face The enormous steep south face of Gauri Shankar suddenly towered over us along the trail from Dongang Kharka to the trail from the Daldung La on the way to Beding.

Rolwaling 04 02 Gauri Shankar South Face

Rolwaling 04 03 Waterfall We passed yet another beautiful waterfall on the way from Dongang Kharka to the trail from the Daldung La on the way to Beding.

Rolwaling 04 03 Waterfall

Rolwaling 04 04 Chekigo And Menlung La Chekigo (6257m) shone in the morning sun, seen on the trail from Dongang Kharka to the trail from the Daldung La. The Menlung La is to the left. The first ascent of Chekigo was completed on May 15, 2005 via the west face by Bruce Normand from U.K. and Oliver von Rotz from Switzerland.

Rolwaling 04 04 Chekigo And Menlung La

Rolwaling 04 05 Menlung La Close Up The Menlung La shone in the morning sun, seen on the trail from Dongang Kharka to the trail from the Daldung La. I decided not climb to the Menlung La for its spectacular view of Menlungtse in Tibet because I could see from the close up telephoto image that the pass was choked with snow and ice.

Rolwaling 04 05 Menlung La Close Up

Rolwaling 04 06 Samtar Gora Sacred Site It took almost three hours from Dongang Kharka to a bridge over the Rolwaling Chu where the Daldung La trail joins the main trail. Prayer flags and katas in the trees mark the Samtar Gora, a site sacred to many Hindus as well as Buddhists.

Rolwaling 04 06 Samtar Gora Sacred Site

Rolwaling 04 07 Trek Nyimare To Beding The trail took 30 minutes from the bridge over the Rolwaling Chu to reach Nyimare (3600m), and another 45 minutes to pass other winter settlements before reaching Beding (3690m).

Rolwaling 04 07 Trek Nyimare To Beding

Rolwaling 04 08 Beding Beding (3690m) is the biggest village and the centre of the Rolwaling valley with the houses built on the hillside. Gauri Shankar pokes its lower south east shoulder above the intervening ridge. We camped below a fairly new lodge on the far side of town. There is a nice waterfall just a few minutes past Beding. The cooler temperatures have finally arrived, with an overnight of -2C.

Rolwaling 04 08 Beding

Rolwaling 04 09 Beding Gompa The small Beding gompa is situated at the beginning of town, with some fine murals painted in 1960 by the famous artist Kappa Kalden from Khumbu. The northern wall of the Gompa is filled with the books of the Kangul and Yum, which were carried from Tibet after being printed in 1944.

Rolwaling 04 09 Beding Gompa

Rolwaling 05 01 Gauri Shankar South East Face From Beding I walked back out of Beding for a few minutes to catch the lower part of the south east face of Gauri Shankar at sunrise. The twin summits were hidden above that lower ridge.

Rolwaling 05 01 Gauri Shankar South East Face From Beding