After an overnight flight to Nepal, the first few days in Kathmandu were spent smelling and tasting, and getting into the swing of being in Asia...

Lots of shopping, bartering…sightseeing of temples, durbar squares, stupas and more…vibrant alive and in your face!

On the 4th day after after leaving UK, we set out for Syabru Bensi for the start of our Langtang Trek.

This involved a drive of 8 hours in 3 minibuses.

At last we were out of hustle and bustle of Kathmandhu…

We saw magical terraced hills, people, mud huts and greenery!…

It was a long day… and we arrived tired...dirty and ready for our first teahouse experience... complete with our only hot en-suite showers!! and Dhal Bhat for dinner!!

First week of perfect weather - crisp clear with excellent mountain views of Langtang, Tibetan peaks, Hanesh Himal...

Mountain people…variety of tea houses all to ourselves…mountain people so wonderful with their hospitality and loveliness…

The first night we spent at Lama Hotel (2748m), so we had made an ascent of approx 750m.

Our bags had been carried there by our friendly women porters, so we only carried our day sacks.

The next day we were headed further up the valley to Langtang Village at (3500m)

Along the way we saw black faced monkeys and white faced monkeys… We never did see the red panda - but not for lack of searching!!

The tea houses higher in the mountains were very very basic, full of wonderful characters, often with our porter women and guide singing and dancing with us in the evening, but no hot water, a central stove only, dhal bhat (lentils & rice) every night (though never tasting the same)...

The next morning we set out from Langtang Village to Kyangjin Gompa (3800m) where we would have a rest day to aclimatise.

At Kyangjin Gompa, the highest point in Langtang, we were blessed by a Rinpoche Lama (re-incarnated lama).

What a moving experience - all of us got personally blessed as we joined the rest of the village in a lifetime blessing - and we were there surrounded by mountains, snow and sunshine... wow!

6 of the party made it to Kyangjin ri a wonderful jaunt up to 4500m... with stunning views of Langtang and the Tibetan peaks…we could almost touch Tibet!!

Those aclimatising back at Kyangjin Gompa enjoyed strolling stunning scenery of the upper Langtang valley.

Langtang - not just a land of mountains, but of waterfalls galore. High up on hillside - moonlit nights... just great!

From here, the next day, we turned back down the Langtang valley and after another night at Lama Hotel, we crossed the Langtang Khola on a long suspension bridge to take the path to Syabru.

Beyond the bridge our path started to ascend again, this time towards Sing Gompa and the Gosainkund Lakes. We had fabulous high views again across the tops of the foothills at every tea house stop.

After Syabru (2130m), we stayed at Sing Gompa (3254m) - a climb of 1124m in a day, easier now that we were aclimatised to the altitude.

Then overnight at Laurabine village (3901m) before we even reached the Gosainkund lakes, some totally freak and unseasonal weather rolled in.

One of our porters was hurt when a ball of lightening hit the lodge, and a snow storm turned the mountains into serious terrain by morning.

Snow ball fights ensued while we waited to see what the weather would do.

When the weather started to lift, we continued on in the snow toward the Gosainkund lakes, sacred to Hindus.

It was heavy going and we were relieved to reach little Gosainkund tea house. However the snow was too deep for us to make it over the Laurabina Pass beyond the lakes.

So in the end, after getting warm at the Gosainkund tea house, some fun in the snow, and some good views of the lower lakes, we headed back to Lorabine while the improvement in the weather held.

After a night at Laurabine village, we continued down to Dunche. Here we had a vehicle waiting to take us to Nargakot.... the end of an amazing life changing expedition - a wonderful joint venture of local and European women...

Nargokot - views of the rooftop of the world - including Everest! in wonderful characterful lodgings...Nepali style - fed, watered and relaxed with a days hike to local village via agricultural landscapes and children at school just hungry for our company and conversation...

Our walk from Nargakot involved very different scenery from the mountains - rurual terraced farmland, small farms and villages, flowers...

Finally, we returned to Kathmandhu via the superbly preserved medieval city of Baktapur.

After Baktapur, we returned finally to Kathmandu, and ending our jaunt with everyone getting the first mountain flight of the morning to view Everest (an additional £70)... an exciting way to round of the trip.

There was time also for shopping, and we were treated by our agent Hari to a final meal at local style restaurant with fine local food and local dancing to boot!! Farewell Nepal after last minute shopping!!