Helambu is considered a 'beyul' or hidden valley, a pure place conducive for the practice of Dharma. In the past, the great yogi
Milarepa has meditated there for many years, following the instructions of his teacher
Marpa Lotsawa. In recent times,
Chatral Rinpoche spend many years in retreat there and founded a couple of monasteries.
Mingyur Rinpoche also visited and practised there during his
wandering retreat.
In May 2017 we went for a small trek for about a week, starting in Kathmandu. I always wanted to write a small report / guide about it, so finally, here it is.
Note: Helambu has been hit very hard by the earthquake in 2015, and two years after the quake, rebuilding has only barely begun. But that poses no obstacle for going there, and my hope is that this blog post might inspire some people to visit; any money spend there as a tourist will naturally help the locals to rebuild their temples and towns.
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View of Langtang range from Ama Yangri
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Yolmo seems
to be the Tibetan name and Helambu the Nepali equivalent. It is said that ‘he’ means
potato and ‘la’ is short for labu, which means white radish (daikon radish) in Tibetan;
these are the main produce of the valley. The people -Yolmos- have probably
migrated from the Tibetan region of Gyirong about 200 or 300 years ago, and
have mixed with the local Tamang population.
Helambu is the perfect place to go because it is not too far from Kathmandu, it is not so touristy,
nature is beautiful and the people are very spiritual (but don’t be deluded:
people are people!). It is perfect for beginner to medium level treks. The only downside
is that you don’t get very high up in
the mountains, but you can easily venture from Helambu to either the Gosaikund
lakes or take the pass to Langtang. The pass to Langtang seems to be for
more experienced trekkers though and should not be undertaken without a guide. There
are enough tourists and hotels in Helambu, but it’s nothing compared to the Annapurna region, Gosaikund lakes and Langtang valley treks. Even though you are not in the middle of
the highest mountains, still there are climbs going up 1 km straight, for
example climbing up Ama Yangri peak, with breathtaking views of the Langtang
range. The villagers of for example Tarkeghyang are devoted to Tibetan Buddhism,
and there are many yogis around.
Kathmandu to Nagi Gompa and Chisapani
There are at least three options when starting from Kathmandu. Most treks start in Sundarijal, which would take about 4 hours in total. However it is also possible to start in Boudha, walk to Pulahari, and then follow the ridge to Nagi Gompa. This took us about 4 hours. If you know the way, you can probably do it quicker, but we lost track at some point and had to clamber up the hill through the jungle for a bit; not recommendable.
Starting in Boudha
An easier way is to start in Buddhanilkanta at the official entrance of the Park (the entrance fee is 500 rupees and you need to show your passport). Then it will only take about an hour to get to Nagi, after which you can continue straight away.
Behind Nagi
gompa there is a path with concrete steps going up straight for a while. It’s very beautiful. After about two hours you’ll arrive at the
beginning of the Bagmati river, and another few minutes up, there is a small temple. Occasionally you'll also meet a sadhu there, who is called 'tarkebaba', since he has meditated over there for five years with only a tree whole or 'tarke' as shelter.
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| 'Tarkebaba' making chai |
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| The Start of the Bagmati river |
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Small temple on the way
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Then continue
in the direction of Chisapani. After about an hour there is a crossroads: do
not take the dirt road but continue straight. Then you’ll get to Chisapani.
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| Crossroads |
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| Mountain view from Chisapani |
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| Dangerously tilting hotel in Chisapani |
Chisapani to Kutumsang
This part
of the journey is perhaps least attractive. The main point is to keep your eyes open for shortcuts.
If you follow the main road all along it will take about 10 hours. This is what
we ended up doing and it’s not recommendable in the blazing sun. Especially before the village of Chipling there
are many shortcuts.
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| Chipling |
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| Small village, probably Banjang |
At the end
of the day's hike there is still a short climb to do to get to Kutumsang.
Alternatively, there are busses
going from Kathmandu to Kutumsang and it is an option to start the journey
here. It’s a nice town with quite some guesthouses; many popular trekking routes
meet here.
Kutumsang to Mangengoth
Leaving Kutumsang,
after about 15 minutes there is a field with a stupa on the left; after that you will meet the army post and entrance to the Langtang national park . You are not allowed to trek alone and the entrance fee is 3500 rupees if you pay at the gate. Yet if you get
your permit before in Kathmandu at the Nepal Tourism Board (on Pradarshani Marg
in the middle of Kathmandu) it would be around 1500, I have been told.
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| Stupa just before the entrance of the national park |
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| Information on Langtang National Park |
Climbing up
to Mangengoth is a isn't easy, it's around 1 km, and it will take a few hours. When you
get to Mangengoth there are two hotels, one as soon as you get up and one about
15 minutes further on.
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| Second guesthouse in the distance |
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| Trees in the valley high up Mangengoth |
Be mindful that in general in the mountains, the higher you go, the higher the price of food and bottled water becomes, since everything needs to be carried up by porters.
Mangengoth is at 3400 meters and it will get pretty cold during the night, even on
a warm summer day.
Nepali
signs by the way, are hilarious: "remoteness.. etc could cause the trekker unhappy
events" and also "it is unsafe to trekking single because undesirable
incidents such as tourist lost has been reported".
Mangengoth to Melamchigaon
The last
climb up to Thadepati will take two to three hours. Thadepati is the highest point in
the trek to Helambu. Here there is a split, the road on the left side leading up to
Gosaikund and the road leading down on the right descending into Helambu valley.
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| Thadepati |
The descent to Helambu is
steep, about 1km down, but not very difficult. You will arrive at Melamchigaon.
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| Melamchigaon |
At Melamchigaon,
make sure that you visit the Nyida Khajor cave (the cave of union of the sun
and the moon), where guru Rinpoche is said to have meditated. It’s just above
the village.
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| Entrance to the Nyida Khajor cave |
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| The sun and the moon on the sealing of the cave |
Melamchigaon to Tarkeghyang
This will
take about one morning, around 3 to 4 hours. At times the road is not very clear though, especially in the beginning. Don't hesitate to ask the villagers frequently for directions.
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| Stupa on the way to Tarkeghyang |
Tarkeghyang is completely destroyed by the eartquake, and even two years after the earthquake, the whole village still lives in makeshift houses.
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| Destruction in Tarkeghyang |
We stayed at Yangri peak hotel, one of the only hotels still standing. It turned out we slept in the same room where Mingyur Rinpoche stayed during his wandering retreat.
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| Hotel Yangri Peak |
Mingyur Rinpoche showed up as an ordinary monk, and the hotel owner had no idea who he was. He asked for a place to do retreat and the hotel owner decided to help him and bring him tsampa and other things every week. The place Mingyur Rinpoche did retreat is about 15 minutes up the hill from the hotel, and if you ask nicely, I'm sure the owner will guide you there. Unfortunately there is nothing left of the retreat house due to the earthquake; it's a pile of stones. It seems it could be rebuild for about 5000 dollar, so if any one is inspired and has some funds to spare...
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| The owner of Yangri Peak hotel showing the ruins of Mingyur Rinpoche's retreat hut |
The people of Tarkeghyang are very spiritual. I spoke quite a bit to many of the lamas, and I was told the whole village decided that they would first rebuild their temple before rebuilding any of their own houses. They have been living in houses made of corrugated plates for more than two years now, and the winters are pretty cold there.
360 view of the ruins of Tarkeghyang
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| Practice with Chime Rinpoche for the deceased |
At Tarkegyang, a nice thing to do is to walk up to the retreat centre of Chime Rinpoche. In 2018 they were just starting to rebuild the retreat house (drupkhang). There are many yogis there, but please don't disturb their retreat.
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| Chime Rinpoche |
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| Rebuilding the retreat house or 'drupkhang' |
Tarkeghyang - Climbing up to Ama Yangri
From the cave it
will take another two to three hours to get to Timbu, from which you can take the
bus to Kathmandu. The last bus leaves around 2pm I think, so make sure you
arrive before that time. The bus will take around 6 hours, so you’ll be back in Kathmandu
around 7-8pm.
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| Timbu in the distance |
If you want
to extend your stay, walking to the villages of Ghangyul and Sermathang is also
very recommendable.
There is a Guide to the Hidden Land of Yolmo written quite recently by a Khenpo, which can be accessed at the Rangjung Yeshe Wiki
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| Map of Helambu |
Enjoy!
