Detailed Langtang Valley Trek
Distance: 77 km/48 miles
Days required: 10 days including 2 days of travel to and from Kathmandu (8 days trekking)
Total Incline: 4000 meters
Total Decline: 4000 meters
The highest point on the trek: Kyanjin Ri (4,773m) and Tserko Ri (5,033m), the highest point of the trek.
Langtang Trek Difficulty
The Langtang Valley Trek takes you to an altitude of 5000m. The route ascends quite quickly. It is a good beginner trek but challenging.
Permit/Documents for Langtang Valley Trek
The two permits: TIMS card and National Park Entrance Permit are necessary and can purchase when entering the park.
Langtang Trek Permit
The Langtang National Park fee and Trekker’s Information Management System (TIMS) card are necessary for Langtang valley trek. TIMS card must to show at the entry point at Langtang Trek. Actually, Langtang trek is a moderate grade trek. So, there is a low chance of getting altitude sickness, but be sure to take precautions while advancing to a higher altitude.
Langtang Guide Trekking
A guide is nice on this trek. However, the guide manages all of the logistics, distances, directions, and tea houses for group. If it’s your first time trekking in Nepal, a guide is necessary. Guide cost ranges from USD 30 to 50 USD.
Accommodation on Langtang Trek
Guest Houses, also known as Tea Houses, are available along trail of Langtang trek where you will sleep in a comfortable bed and have access to showers (extra charge) and restaurant facilities. Most of the villages are Tibetan, which give you a great insight into their unique culture.
Langtang Valley Trek-Packing Lists
Pack pretty light and you will manage to wash most of the clothes each afternoon/night for the first half of the trip. It is pretty cold as you go higher and no sweating as much and wear warm gear basically non stop while at the teahouses.
The below gear list is just a guide and it works quite well for you with no complaints from your set-up. You won’t need a sleeping bag as there are blankets in each guesthouse and when it got cold, just wear your down jacket to bed. So that you don’t have to carry a sleeping bag for the entire trek. All of the below list should fit into a backpack no bigger than 50L and should be less than 14kg.
- 1 pair of pants that maybe convert to shorts
- 1 pair of shorts
- 1 Warm or thicker pair of hiking pants1 Long sleeve quick-dry shirt
- 1 Long-sleeve thermal shirt
- 2 Short-sleeve t-shirts
- 1 Thermal long underwear
- 4 pairs of quick-dry underwear
- 1 Lightweight down jacket
- 1 Heavy-duty summit down jacket
- 1 Beanie
- 1 Cap
- Sunglasses
- 1 Neck Buff
- Gloves
- Hiking boots
- Head Torch
- 1 pair of warm summit socks
- 2-3 pairs of regular socks
- Sunscreen
- Trekking poles
- Water filter
- Power bank
Wifi/Electricity Available on the Langtang Valley Trek.
Wifi-
Costs anywhere from $ 2 to $ 4 to use wifi at the guesthouses. Buy an NTC Sim before you go. It works in most spots after Lama Hotel with a weak signal so that you will be able to send emails, watch YouTube, and message friends from Langtang and Kyanjin Gompa.
Electricity-
You will have to pay from $ 2 to $ 5 to charge your power banks, cameras, and phones. The key is to get a big power bank. Pay to charge it then charge everything from your power bank. The power bank lets you charge your phone and camera batteries before it dies. Most of the places you stay let you charge your gear for free but when it is busy they usually charge a fee as many teahouses run off gas or solar.
Drinking Water on Langtang Valley Trek
The Grayl Ultralight Water Purifier is super easy and cheap. The Grayl Ultralight Water Purifier removes 99.9999% of viruses of disease-causing bacteria. The best thing about it is it only takes 15 seconds and one press to purify water from any fresh water source. You don’t need to buy bottled water at every tea-house contributing to large amounts of plastic waste and costing you $4+ per day.
Along the Langtang Valley Trek, you fill up at tea-houses, rivers, and local village taps. Unlike aqua purification tablets which require you to wait 30 minutes before drinking, you can have rehydrated yourself immediately with the Grayl Ultralight Water Purifier.
Travel Insurance
Trekking or hiking in the mountain is risky because the high altitude can lead to many illnesses, weakness in trekkers, and misjudgments. There is also a risk on trails for falls, avalanches, or other mishaps. Your regular travel insurance probably won’t cover you at high altitude and won’t cover a helicopter evacuation. Please make sure that your travel insurance policy will cover helicopter rescue and all the other medication in case of emergency. Hence, travel insurance is compulsory, trekking to Langtang.
Best Seasons for Langtang Valley Trek
March to April and October to November is the peak season for the Langtang valley trek. The time to avoid this trek is during the rainy season from June to August.
During the winter from December to February, the trek gets very cold and there will be snow cover in the higher parts of the trek. Many of the guesthouses actually close up for the winter and re-open in late February to March. However, it is possible to hike the Langtang Valley Trek on the fringe of the season in late February/early March and it can be quite beautiful with snow cover. You may encounter a heavy snow on Tserko Ri and Yala Peak even though the trekking routes are clear.
Travel Options to Syabrubesi for Langtang Valley Trek.
Two main ways to reach Syabrubesi, the small town is the starting point of the trek. Despite the distance from Kathmandu to Syabrubesi only being 125km, the journey takes a long time due to the traffic and quality of the road.
Jeep: You can go by private Jeep. It costs about $180. It’s not cheap but much less brutal than the lengthy bus journey.
Public Bus: The bus costs about $15 USD and can take anywhere from 7-9 hours depending on the traffic and if there are any roadworks or landslides recently. The bus leaves every day from Kathmandu to Syabrubesi at 6 am and 8 am as well as other defined times and continue to Langtang village and Kyanjin Gomba.
