Rhenjo La Crossing | Everest Trek

The Rhenjo Pass as seen from the third lake of Gokyo

The trail to the top of Rhenjo La

Rhenjo La  - The crossing of the pass from Gokyo to Thami

The Rhenjo La is one of the three high passes on the Everest trek the other two being Kongma La and the most popular one is the Cho La.  The Rhenjo La can be crossed from the Gokyo side as well as from the Thami - Lungden side. However it is advisable to cross the pass from the Gokyo side as the climb from the Lungden side is extremely long and tiring.

Gokyo 4750 metres  to Rhenjo La 5357 metres 
We left Gokyo at around 6 15 am and headed out towards the pass on a trail that skirted the third lake and climbed gently for an hour. The trail then began to climb steeply following a series of switchbacks for another 45 minutes to one hour until it reached a flattish plateau from where there was an excellent view of Everest and the other peaks including Makalu which started peeping over a rock face.  This plateau can get snowed under and there are cairns to show the way. From the plateau the trail swung to the right and began climbing again through rocks and moraine. The pass can be seen from here with a row of prayer flags strung across the rocks. The climb from the meadow to the top of the pass would be another hour.
Gokyo to the top of the pass 3 to 4 hours

View from just below the pass looking down on the plateau

Looking towards the Lungden side of the pass - the trail below can be seen 

Rhenjo La 5357 metres  to Lungden 4400 metres
The pass has an excellent view both to the north and to the south. From the pass a very steep stone staircase leads down to an emerald lake which can be seen from the top. Pass the lake and the trail swings left following the natural contour of the valley. In about an hour or so there is a large lake on the left side - the trail passes this lake and climbs gently until it reaches some yak herders settlements made of stone. This part of the walk can be extremely cold and windy especially if it is foggy and cloudy. From here the path heads downwards and the lodges of Lungden can be seen in the valley below around 30 to 45 minutes away. Lungden has four or five lodges now so accommodation is not usually a problem.
Rhenjo La to Lungden 2 to 3 hours 

Looking back at the pass from about 20 minutes below on the trail to Lungden

The trail down past the first  lake to Lungden - the second lake below on the left

The last portion of the trail down to Lungden

Lungden 4400 metres  to Thami 3800 metres
It is now a pleasant stroll down the valley following the Bhote Kosi river. In around 40 minutes you reach the village of Maralung which has a couple of lodges. The trail continues to lose altitude and reaches the village of Taranga in another half hour. From here it is about  60 to 90 minutes pleasant walking to the lodges of Thami.
Lungden. To Thami  2.5 hours to 3 hours

The village of Thami

Thami  3800 metres to Namche 3450 metres  3 hours to 3.5 hours

For more information on South Col's treks do visit www.southcol.com 

Rebuilding the Villages of Kaule and Bhangeri - III

The Kaule Prototype

April - May 2015 

Recce visit 

In May 2015 Sujoy Das, and Sharan Lal, both from Kolkata, visited Kaule and Bhangeri - villages in Nuwakot District and home to South Col’s friends, porters and guides – Santaman, Shyam, Sushil – among others. 

In this trip, corrugated Zinc Sheets donated by the trekking community from South Col Expeditions and Sujoy’s friends and contacts were distributed among the villagers. The sheets provided temporary relief to the villagers and has seen them through the monsoon season.

A report filed by Sujoy on the May 2015 recce visit can be found here: http://sujoyrdas.blogspot.in/2015/05/nepal-earthquake-support-report-on.htmland another one here: http://sujoyrdas.blogspot.in/2015/06/nepal-earthquake-rebuilding-villages.html 

June 2015

Design of a House

On their return from Kaule and Bhangeri, realizing the need for design intervention, Sharan Lal set up a small group of email friends and worked on a design of a prototype house with the intention of helping the villages to re-construct their village in a an appropriate manner. The design would seek to resist inappropriate construction materials and technologies - like Reinforced Concrete – that threaten to obliterate the invaluable vernacular building traditions and community wisdom that the villages of Kaule and Bhangeri possess, and have take generations to acquire, nurture, and preserve.  

The draft concept design (video) developed with this brief after the May 2015 recce visit can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggYpcH0APXk

July 2015

Prototype for re-construction 
The draft design received a good response, and we decided to:

a. build a prototype for a house in Kaule that is built using traditional building materials and techniques, and caters to requirements of a seismically secure structure as per the Nepal Building Codes. 

b. Conduct a Training Workshop for the villages' masons, carpenters, and other artisans to empower them with necessary skills for making the prototype, and by extension their own houses in the future under our guidance.

September 26 – Oct 5, 2015

Pre-training recce and village survey 

A pre-training recce trip was carried out in September 2015 – soon after the monsoon - when the villages of Kaule and Bhangeri were observed more closely, and some basic measurements. Apart from this, the villagers were photographed, and their basic family data studied. A report on the September trip can be viewed here: http://thekauleprototype.blogspot.in/

October 26 – November 3 ,2015

Skills training

A six day hands-on training and workshop for the villages of Kaule and Bhangeri is planned from Oct 26 onwards in the Kaule School compound. The training aims to make villagers aware of the properties of traditional materials and techniques used in construction - bamboo, stone, mud, and timber - and to empower them to use these in ways that would make their structures seismically less vulnerable. 

December 2015 Onwards

Construction of the Prototype

The prototype for a typical house will be constructed by the villagers under our supervision over a period of 2-3 months. The exact dates for these are yet to be finalized depending on availability of funds and resources for the same.

2016

Reconstruction and rehabilitation of Kaule and Bhangeri

The lessons learnt in the construction of the prototype will be used to prepare a detailed plan for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the villages of Kaule and Bhangeri.  The plan includes incorporation of concepts like Community Forestry, Solar Micro grids for electricity generation, ulitisation of Boi-mass for energy and long-term, sustainable income generation schemes utilizing the natural and tourism potential of the villages. A consortium of professionals will be formed as an SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) to take this stage forward. A report on the Prototype process and village planning and design is being prepared by Sharan and the same will be presented to an international agency for funding support. 

The Kaule Protoype Team

The people who have been working on the project till now are:

 Ashish Sharan Lal, Architect, Alleya and Associates, Kolkata, India 

Team leader

 Sujoy Das, South Col Expeditions, Kolkata, India

Group mentor

Santaman Tamang, Tour operator, Kaule, Nepal

Village Representative and Local Support

Ajmal Shoban, Retired edical professional, Virginia, U.S.A. 

Donor Representative

Hanif Barma, Finance Professional, London UK  

Donor Representative

  

Archana Hande, Artist, Mumbai, India

Photographic documentation, Administration and Accounts 

Vivek Rawal, Architect, Ahmedabad, india

Technical Mentor and resource person

Areen Attari, Architect, Mumbai, India

Training and Workshop resource person  Manu Narendran, Engineer, Ahmedabad  Training and Workshop resource person

 

Pradeep Humagain, Electrical Engineer, Gham Power, Kathmandu Nepal 

Rebuilding the villages of Kaule and Bhangeri in Nuwakot district Nepal- II

South Col Expeditions Earthquake support has been working with a team of architects to make a suitable prototype for the villages of Kaule and Bhangeri in Nuwakot district of Nepal.

Last week I had posted the progress made on this project and the links to a blog site which documents the work done so far.

http://www.kauleprototype.blogspot.in

The photos below give an idea of the new prototype to be constructed:

This is the site where it is proposed  to construct the new prototype with the building destroyed by the earthquake. The second photo (below) shows the same site with the new building:

We will update you further on the progress of the work very soon

Rebuilding the Villages of Kaule and Bhangeri in Nuwakot district Nepal

A pictorial report on a survey conducted for the villages of Kaule and Bhangeri in Sundara Devi VDC, Nuwakot District, from Sept 28 - Oct 2 2015, prior to Prototype Construction Training Workshop scheduled for Oct 25 - Nov 5. Please see the link below

http://thekauleprototype.blogspot.in/

Till Now...


Recce visit by Sujoy Das and Sharan Lal
April - May 2015
I was trying to get my
trekking team back to Kathmandu through the rubble and chaos that followed the shake, when  Sharan offered to help to find a design solution with a traditional approach to reconstruction.

In May 2015 Sharan and I  visited Kaule and Bhangeri - villages in Nuwakot District and home to our friends, porters and guides - led by the indomitable Santaman Tamang.

In this trip, corrugated Zinc Sheets donated by the trekking community from South Col Expeditions were distributed among the villagers. These would provide temporary shelter to the villagers and see them through the monsoon.

A report filed by me on the May 2015 recce visit can be found here: http://sujoyrdas.blogspot.in/2015/05/nepal-earthquake-support-report-on.html

and another one here: http://sujoyrdas.blogspot.in/2015/06/nepal-earthquake-rebuilding-villages.html

Mustang and Lo Manthang Trek | Photographs in Black and White

South Col Expeditions trekked to Mustang and Lo Manthang in April 2015. The account of our journey and return after the great Nepal earthquake is given in these two blog posts:

1. http://www.sujoyrdas.blogspot.in/2015/09/mustang-and-lo-manthang-itinerary-part-i.html

2.  http://www.sujoyrdas.blogspot.in/2015/09/mustang-and-lo-manthang-itinerary-part.html

These are some photographs from that trek:

The village of Chusang

On the trail between Samar and Shyanbochen

The village of Ghilling

Entering Drakmar

Mani stones near Ghar Gompa

Rock inscription near Ghar Gompa

On the outskirts of Tsarang

Near the village of Drakmar

The Kali Gandaki near Kagbeni

Mustang and Lo Manthang | The Itinerary Part II

South Col Expeditions had a team of eight trekkers to Mustang and Lo Manthang in April 2015. The first part of the journey is covered in this blog post:

http://www.sujoyrdas.blogspot.in/2015/09/mustang-and-lo-manthang-itinerary-part-i.html

This is the second and concluding part.

April 23 2015

Drakmar

It was a windy and cold morning at Drakmar and we waited for the sun to hit the trail before setting out at 8 am. The trail initially travelled through the village and then entered a canyon with steep walls and amazing rock formations. The trail then started a steep climb to the pass of Mui La 4070m. There were some steep switchbacks and the path finally went through a narrow canyon which opened out onto the pass in about an hour and ten minutes. The trail then traversed a ridge for about 15 min and reached another pass on the other end of the ridge.

Ghar Gompa from the trail above

 From the  second pass the trail dropped steeply to Ghar Gompa which is about an hour from the pass. From the pass the high route to Lo Manthang across the Marangla pass can be seen. Below are the twin villages of Lo Gekar and Marang.  The spectacular Ghar Gompa is situated at the end of the valley pressed against the hill side. We left Ghar Gompa around 1 pm and travelled due east down a broad trail to the village of Lo Gekar and then onto Marang in about 45 min. From Marang cross a long suspension bridge and then reach Tsarang in about two hours from Ghar Gompa.

April 24 2015

We left Tsarang at 8am and walked down to the river. Cross the river on a bridge and then start the climb up on the other side to a small pass which is reached within one hour. From this pass the trail follows the jeep road climbing slowly until it reaches a large attractive chorten in yellow orange and white at the bottom of a climb in about an hour and a half.

From the chorten the trail climbs up again to another small pass and then again climbs across a large level windswept plain for about another hour until it reaches the last pass. Below lies the walled city of Lo Manthang about forty minutes away. The walk on this day was the hardest of the trek due to the  relentless wind, long distances and a long stretch on the jeep able road. Further there is no  tea shop anywhere between Tsarang and Lo Manthang.

April 25 2015

We had decided the previous evening to go to the Chosser caves in the morning but when we woke up the weather was dark and grim - low clouds hung over the mountains to the north and fresh snows covered the peaks. So instead we stayed at Lo and visited the walled city with its splendid monasteries and frescoes many in need of restoration. The mandala frescoes were particularly outstanding.

Lo Manthang

Nearing noon we visited the studio of a tankha painter and while we were there the earthquake struck. Michele, one of our trekkers from Australia  who was ill was sleeping in her upstairs room and was helped out by Shyam and our porter Bikram and shell shocked she was put on the road on a mattress.  The owner of our lodge Mystic Himalayan Ram Gurung suggested that she be put on oxygen and he hooked her onto to an oxygen cylinder.  We did I not know then about the intensity of the earthquake. I tried calling Kathmandu but all lines were busy.  Finally on the CDMA sky phone I was able to call Paula who told me that the epicentre was north of Pokhara.

With the quake and Michele's illness we decided to cut short the last day and start our return journey by jeep as planned. We left Lo at around 2pm.  There were thirteen of us in a long wheel base Mahindra jeep and it was a very  tight squeeze.

The jeep ride down to Chuksang

Within half an hour of leaving  a rock fall which had occurred due to the landslide blocked the road and Shyam and the porters had to get down and clear the rocks. The  weather had also become ominous and a few drops of rain had started to fall. The jeep careered down the darkening hillside the grey brown cliffs of Mustang assuming a monstrous hue. We had planned to reach Chuksang but were told that this jeep would go up to Shyanmochen only.

Just before Shyanmochen the road had become caked in mud and the jeep slipped across  a number of times and tethered very close to the edge. We finally all got off and walked up the hill for a short distance to the waiting jeep. We reached a river flowing across the road and had to tranship to another jeep. Finally around 7 pm we reached the Himali guest house in Samar and decided to call it a day. It had been a very long day and we were all exhausted.

We tried to use our phones but all lines were busy and we were unable to reach anyone's phone.  We still had no idea about the severity of the earthquake. At around 11 pm there was a knocking on my door. It was Bikram. A  phone call from Santaman had conveyed really bad news- Shyam's father had died, their house had collapsed and most of the two hundred houses in the village had been raised to the ground. I went down in the freezing night to find Shyam sitting outside the lodge sobbing loudly. I somehow got him to bed but there was no further sleep for any of us that night. The enormity of this tragedy really hit me then.

April 26th 2015

The next morning also dawned ominous and angry. It had again snowed at night and a weak and watery sun was trying to push its way through the clouds. We left for Chuksang around 7 30 am. Fortunately there were no landslides and we entered Chuksang in about 75 minutes.

We had planned to take another jeep to Jomsom but learnt that there was a big landslide ten minutes ahead which had blocked the road. The landslide could not be cleared in the next two hours and finally we crossed the slide on foot. There were jeeps waiting on the other side and we got to Kagbeni in about 45 minutes.

Crossing a landslide at Chusang

The final drive to Jomsom took about another hour and dusty, weather beaten and exhausted we entered the Windy Valley Hotel. We then learnt of the severity of the quake and that Kathmandu, many districts in the vicinity had been very badly affected.

April 27th 2015

At Jomsom below Nilgiri

We had managed to pre pone our tickets on the Jomsom Pokhara flight and we had been assigned the third flight of the morning at 8.20am. The morning was clear at  Jomsom and Niligiri could be seen clearly behind the tarmac. But no flights came that morning. We tried to get a jeep but none of the jeeps were available. Finally around 9.30 am we managed to get a local bus which was going all the way to Pokhara.

Archana in the bus down to Pokhara

The dirt track to Pokhara was more suited for a pony than a vehicle. The 74km section to Beni took us seven hours and the final 81 km to Pokhara was covered in around three hours. Dog tired, shaken and exhausted we had completed this bone rattling journey all the way from Lo Manthang at around 3850m through the deep gorge of the Kali Gandaki to Pokhara around 850m in three days. We were lucky to have escaped unscathed.