This is a long one! 

The last update came from Namche after we crossed Sherpani Col, West Col and Amphu Labsta. Having the 6000m+ adventures behind us was a relief and Namche was three days of no walking. Well, we did walk around the village which had about a 100m elevation loss and gain round trip from the hotel, so not complete rest days!

Unfortunately our Strava API connection timed out after 60 days and we need a laptop and patience to fix it, so our “lolly snake” map across Nepal is no longer working 🙁 You can see if we’re moving or not here (ignore the prompts to sign up for Strava): https://www.strava.com/athletes/67932602

Right, in Namche we stayed at Hotel Sherwi Kangba, run by the wonderful Kanchi and Sonom Sherpa. It’s a famous hotel for a number of reasons…

Firstly, it’s built on the site where the Hillary and Norgay’s expedition camped on their way to the successful first summit of Chomolunga (Everest). 

Secondly, Sonam has created an impressive library of panorama photography and Sherpa culture. 

Thirdly, it’s where Kristy camped in 2006 on her first trip to Nepal! Today the “Everest Museum” stands in that camp spot. You can see a pic from 2006 below (with one of two army helicopters that crashed) and the 2025 image. The museum also features Ang from Ang’s Himalaya Adventures for his five ascents of Everest and impressive mountain rescue: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/mount-everest-video-chance-encounter-heroic-rescue-saves-two-climbers

After a night in Thame and Tengbo we started for Tashi Labsta 5755m. It was sad to see the devastation of last year’s glacial lake burst that ruined much of Thame. The village is slowly rebuilding but we were reminded of the power of water seeing massive boulders atop sites of past tourist lodges. 

In the next village Tengbo, for those who love big walls, we spent an afternoon with Tengkangboche (6,487m) looming over us. It’s like two El Capitans in Yosemite stacked, but black rock and a pointy glacier and summit. When we asked the lodge owner Chutting if anyone had climbed it, she mentioned there had been three attempts and one successful ascent. When we had internet we discovered Ueli Steck and Simon Anthamatten had done the first ascent. Mind blowing.

And speaking of blowing the wind did! At our camp below the pass of Tashi Labsta we had a couple of pegs rip out (the ground wasn’t great below a moraine). Kristy added four guy lines and we were solid. We weren’t sure we’d even get over the pass with the weather, it was rotten with light snow and you could hear the wind gusts coming across the rock. When we woke for our alpine start the wind was still howling. Som suggested we wait to see if things improved. An hour later they did and it was on! Up we went.

Some fixed lines and a gentle snow slope and we stood at the pass as the wind picked up again. Roped as a four we moved fast down the glacier on the other side. There wasn’t much time for celebration at the pass, but Kristy did celebrate with her Tashi cup (from Tashi in Olungchun Gola) on Tashi Labsta. 

A snowy slog later and we arrived at the David Lama Memorial Shelter. Unfortunately it was full of water from a leaking roof and there was a lot of trash. Pasang cleared it out while Mike and I decided we’d camp. We overlooked the giant Trakading Glacier, which took us four hours to walk along the next day. It was another 3 hours on easy trail to Na, and our luck with the weather flowed into luck finding a dry place to stay! We arrived at the lodge in Na with only 15 mins to spare, as they were closing for the season!

Long story short it was heaven – milk tea in a huge thermos, a local guy who came to help cook, and Kambutti the manager had the best giggle. We were so grateful she let us stay and the thick chapati the next morning sent us on our way a couple of hours to Beding, where her daughters run a lodge and there was a cook. That became like a rest day, and the following day we legged it 20km and 2000m down to Chettchett. Our knees and ankles started to complain after many rock and concrete steps down, but our hearts were happy we weren’t going up them. 

Ang and Mingma drove from Kathmandu for a resupply. It was an afternoon of fabulous food and being spoiled! Fresh bananas and mangoes, bakery treats to rival any patisserie we’ve been to, and even a grill with chicken and pork sourced from a German trained butcher. It was a time of mixed feelings as Som and Pasang would be going with Ang and Mingma back to Kathmandu the next morning. 

It was Som’s last day of guiding us on this trip. It’s the second time he has guided the GHT from Kanchenjunga region to the start of the Langtang section. We were exceptionally grateful for his navigation and knowledge of the trail. It saved us many hours, and we would not have made it over the high passes without Som and Pasang. Mike also learned a Tamang song from Som. 

When the boys left the next morning we had a road walk before heading up to Orangdanda. The day was hot. And humid. The word for hot in Nepali is “tato”. We were tato that’s for sure. The sweat dripped as we climbed up through stifling terraces of corn. We walked further after finishing the elevation and camped that night next to a creek and shared a mango for dessert. Mike spotted fireflies, which neither of us had seen before, and one even landed on the tent!

The next four days were similar but never as difficult as that hot and humid steep climb to Orangdanda. Highlights were crossing Thingsang La, a cloudy pass with giant hemlock and cedar and pine, with ferns and orchids growing out of the huge trunks! We also loved Bigu Gompa, home of the Tashi Chime Gatsal Nunnery. 

Not only was Bigu Gompa incredibly peaceful and beautiful, it was the cleanest place we’ve stayed with a hot shower, wifi and excellent food! We chatted with a couple of the lamas and wished we had a zero there as it was very relaxing.

To reach the end of the Rolwaling map we did a 30km day from Dolansa via Barabise to Last Resort. It was a questionable decision road walking in a valley in the heat, but we got to our hotel by 3pm and were greeted with a cold lemonade, which was bliss!

Now we rest up, resupply, and prepare for the Langtang map. We will cross the remote Tilman Pass, as our final technical pass of the trip. Ang and Mingma have joined us at the hotel to undertake the resupply and do maintenance on some of the gear.

From Panch Pokhari (below the pass) we also welcome Mingma as our guide for the relevant sections in the second “half” of our journey. As a high altitude porter Pasang will join us again for the pass. 

Random things inspired by questions from family and friends…

Our backpacks in the last week have been around 15kg with food and water. 

We have had a number of dogs follow us for various parts of the trail. Temporary names include: Village Dog, Welcome Committee Dog, and Dreadlock Tail Dog. They were all friendly. Others do a good job of guarding their owners’ homes. We guard ourselves with walking poles. 

Favourite beverages are cold water on a hot day or milk tea. As we no longer drink alcohol we haven’t tried Tongba, a millet beer that contains all the millet, is scooped out of barrels into special containers, and drunk through a large straw. 

No specific food cravings but bread and fruit are up there. Yesterday we ate lychees, bananas and mangoes thanks to Ang and Mingma. The fresh fruit is absolutely delicious. Kristy also realized Ang’s name is in mANGo. Profound thinking on the trail!

As for our next update here we’re not sure when it will be.
We’re heading into lesser visited places for a while, and the next two day break is the end of July in the Annapurna region. Our itinerary is flexible though and we are nine days ahead of our plan, so hopefully the weather and our health align to continue good progress on the trail.

Wish us luck dodging the afternoon and evening rain!