Trek to Gosaikunda: First Snow Experience
It was mid April, 2013 and we were just out giving our final paper for seventh semester exam. We already knew the place we were going, the only question was how many of us were really ready. When others were planning to rest to overcome the exam hangover, the four of us: Roshan, Sudip, Sujit and I, had already made up our mind. We will go whether anyone is coming or not and it was decided tomorrow we will leave for Gosaikunda. Later evening, Santosh also confirmed and so there became five of us going.
Gosaikunda is a lake famous both as a religious pilgrimage and a great hiking adventure. It lies in Rasuwa district, north-west of Kathmandu at an altitude of 4380 metres in Langtang region. The place is also famous for around 108 other lakes in the area, the highest one, Suryakunda, being at an altitude of nearly 4600 m.
We set out the next morning at around 8 for Dhunche, the headquarter of Rasuwa district and our adventure began right from the bus. Sudip and Sujit did not get seats so we seated turn by turn for half of journey and remaining half we were on the bus roof. I like travelling on the bus roof while on the uphill journey. The surrounding views, flowing Trishuli river on one side, cool air, sitting tight and going round the hill is just so much fun and sometimes thrill. We reached Dhunche at around 4 and decided to stay there for the night. The bed was pretty hard and small with only very light sheet and most of us did not get good sleep. Once I woke up thinking it was morning when the time really was just 12:30. The waking up continued 2–3 times more till it was morning.
Next day we set out on the real trek. We talked with the locals to know if there was any chance to see the snow and were disappointed to know that we may have been little late. We felt quite low, however, Roshan was confident that we will see the snow. It was a cool morning with dew drops all along the path, though mid April, and we started climbing really steepy mountain. After nearly 2 hours we reached a place called Deurali for breakfast. There were lots of other hikers, some natives and some foreigners going and coming the path. We spent almost entire day climbing uphill through steep paths, villages, straight roads, forests with rhododendron trees enjoying the view and the surrounding mountains major being Langtang, Dorje Lakpa, Ganesh, Manaslu offered by Langtang region.
At around 3, we stopped for tea at a place called Cholangpati. The cold breeze was starting to turn fierce and the innkeeper warned us that we will not make it to the top that day and suggested to spend the night at hers as it was about to rain. We learned that it will take us around 2 hours to reach to another hotel and so we decided to take the chance. I feel that we made one of the most adventurous decisions because I was about to witness something I never did before. After around 1 hour the wind was strong and there were drops of rain falling around. But wait, those were not water drops, that was snowfall. At first we could not believe it, we were leaning against a stone when we noticed that the ground was filled with white drops. And, that really was snow. I was so excited, it was the first time I ever saw snow and damn I was witnessing a snowfall. But my excitement did not end there because it was just the start. The coming 1 hour was one of the best time of my life.
It was really wonderful. I was feeling the snow. It was falling on my head, my face, my jacket. Those little white cotton floating in the air turning to water as soon as they touched me. But soon the snowfall grew heavy and after sometime we were running to reach the nearest hotel. But, I was still enjoying it, though my head and jacket was now wet with snow. To avoid being more wet Santosh opened the only umbrella we had and we both struggled beneath it to reach the top. Finally we saw some houses at the top and ran to reach there. The black umbrella had turned white with the snow. We reached inside and drank some hot tea. It was really good tea and I could feel the heat flowing from my mouth to the stomach. We stayed at the same hotel, five people sleeping on two beds with the help of each other’s warmth.
Next morning we woke up to see a completely different place. The whole area was white and I was standing on a snow ground with at least half a foot snow. We left the place and climbed uphill. It was all snowy and felt like we were climbing a mountain. Though sun was shining bright, all the surrounding green hill summits had turned to white mountains and we could see pile of snow falling from the hillside like a small glacier. After around 2 hours of walk we began to see lakes deep below. The road was slippery around 2 feet wide with a steep fall on one side. We reached Gosaikunda at around 10 and what a beauty it was. A small blue lake surrounded by white snowy hills. The water was crystal clear with stark images of the sky, clouds and surrounding hills. There were around half dozen small lakes nearby but Gosaikunda stood with pride of beauty.
We had our lunch and left the place at around 1. We still needed to climb for around 1 hour to reach Lauribinayak pass which was the highest point of our climb before descending. After around half hour, the cloud began to grow dark and it started snowing but we moved along. We reached the final lake named Suryakunda which had turned to ice due to cold and soon reached the Lauribinayak pass. I felt like reaching at the summit of a mountain. We were at 4610 m altitude. It was a marvellous scene to watch standing on an altitude surrounded by white hills with snow all around and deep descend below.
We rested for about 5 minutes enjoying the view and began our downhill trek. We were literally running to reach to the nearest shed because now the jacket was beginning to soak and it was really really cold. The downhill trek was much faster and we crossed the snow line easily. Then we reached the marvellous rhododendron forest. At this time of year, forest was covered with colorful rhododendron flowers. There were red, white, pink flowers everywhere we looked. It was like we fell from one heaven and reached another. We crossed the forest to reach the hotel in the evening. Sujit was telling that his eyes had started to burn really bad and we told him that it may have been due to cold but we did not know what was about to happen.
I could not sleep the whole night due to my eyes burning. It burnt like hell and tears kept flowing whole night. I had no idea of the cause of pain and thought I was going to lose my eyesight. Next morning I came to know that all except Roshan’s eyes was burning. When I entered into the kitchen to get some heat from firewood, the locals saw my eyes and told me that it was affected by the snow and I should not go near fire. All of us had the same condition but my eyes and face were in the worst condition. Roshan wore glass all day so his face and eyes were not affected. One of the guide sitting at the same hotel put some drops into my eyes but it did not quite work. That day we again had to climb uphill to the snowy hill that the hotel owner showed us as our way before descending all the way down and I had no idea how I was going to walk because I could barely open my eyes.
We left off and I was walking by covering by head with my jacket hood down to my eyes. I rarely lifted my head, could not see straight and had to walk whole day by bowing my head really low because sunlight was like a curse. The place that we saw from the hotel earlier was called Mangengoth from where we had options of going either to Helambu or to Melamchi and we decided to go Melamchi. My eyes were swollen, face was red and I could not recognize myself in the mirror. Later in the evening that day when we reached our final stop a tourist saw me hiding from the light under a tree and inquired about the condition. He gave me some pills which really helped to bring the pain down. We rested at a hotel and caught a bus next day to Kathmandu.
When I reached home, my family was really frightened to see me with my swollen eyes and red face. They told me I looked like a ghost. What would they have told if they looked me a day before. It took around a week for my face to become completely normal. This was one of my most memorable, exciting and adventurous trip because of the lot of things like snow, burning eyes, rhododendron, really nice and helpful people, realization of the importance of sunglass. Though I visited and may visit a lot of snowy places later, this will always remain one of my best.
P.S. This is what I looked at the start and end of the trek
