It's hard to believe it's real.... The Destruction of Langtang Village

The quake in Nepal was a massive tragedy, but what happened in Langtang is hard to believe.  Most of the news coverage was from Kathmandu, but later the rescue crews and news reporters began to reach more remote places.

Langtang was a beautiful village north of Kathmandu that hundreds of trekkers visited each year. You had to ride a bumpy bus for 8 or 9 hours, then hike for 4 days to get there. It has gorgeous mountains, hanging white glaciers, yaks, stone villages, prayer wheels and mani stone walls, and especially, friendly welcoming people.

This valley is a very important part of my life.  My parents took me here on a 2 week trek when I was just 1 1/2 years old.  I returned when I was 12 with my family and good friends from Yosemite to do the same trek.  We had SUCH a wonderful time in Langtang!  There were frozen creeks (it was December), bamboo forests, yaks & monkeys to see. We stayed in small tea houses with such kind people, who were excited to have 5 young girls trekking through their valley.

I remember exploring the town of Langtang at sunset, visiting Tibetan ponies, petting the village sheep, and spending time with local families.  We helped them put their goats away for the night, and bring the ponies in from the fields.  We were invited in for tea, in their old hand-carved wooden homes.  The barns and homes were all made of stone, with lovely carved wooden windows and doors, and plenty of yak turds drying on the outer walls!  We stayed in a really cozy guest house, with delicious food a family with cute kids running around.  It was an amazing place.... one of the most beautiful villages I've ever seen.

And now?  It's gone....   I can not wrap my brain around this.  All those villagers, all those friendly people, animals, homes.... gone!    The hardest part for me is that this is just ONE tragic story from a mountain village, and there are thousands of villages that have experienced similar tragedy.

For me, Langtang is especially difficult to comprehend.  It was such a beautiful time in my life.



I don't remember much from our first trek, but there was one girl that I met and played with way back in 1999.  I was an active toddler & walked as much as I could, but my parents carried me in a backpack some of the time.  My new friend's name was Tsering, and she shared her one toy trike with me... way out in the mountains of Nepal.  A little red trike!   She also gave me Pringles!  That was the first time I'd ever had Pringles... imagine, way out in the Himalaya!  Even today I think of Tsering and Langtang when I see a can of Pringles!  

Returning in 2010 we brought photos, and found her parents.  They were still there, running a different tea house, so we stayed with them for the night.  Tsering was a teenager, attending boarding school in Kathmandu, so she wasn't in the village.

Right now, I have no idea if they made it through the avalanche alive.  When I look at the news photos, Langtang is just a tangled pile of stone and shattered boards.  The satellite photos show it totally wiped away...

What if Tsering was back home, working with her parents at their tea house?  Were they in the village of Langtang, or further down valley?  I have no way to contact them...  I'm praying for that family.  Tsering's family....  But also the hundreds of villagers and trekkers who perished in this avalanche.

When I started creating this summer project, almost a year ago, I just wanted to return to Nepal and "help others."  I didn't really know what good I could do, and were I could best serve others.  My plan was to teach and tutor at a school in Kathmandu, and seek out other places to volunteer.  Now this horrible earthquake has hit, and there is suddenly a million lifetimes of help and service needed in Nepal.  I want to help everywhere, but know I can only do my one small part.   But if thousands of people all do something positive, and we give what we can, I think we really can make a difference for the people of Nepal.  

I don't know exactly what my project will become this summer.  I will have to adapt to the conditions in Kathmandu when we arrive.  But I have to believe I can make a positive contribution.

Namaste,
Eliza