We saw many porters along the Langtang trail. They carry everything you can imagine. Iron stoves, gas canisters, rice, sacks of cement, wood beams and even re bar twisted into ten foot paperclips. At one point we saw a string of porters with baskets of live chickens. They were headed up to a group of Koreans who couldn't bear the thought of a single meal without poultry. Everything in the higher elevations of Langtang was lugged up on someones back except for the stones. They make it look easy, at an altitude above which planes are required to be equipped with oxygen masks.
Our porter Naresh got off relatively easily with our light load of pillows, clothes, snacks and makeup. Every time Jean asked him if were ok, he just smiled. Among the porters I saw, he was the coolest, hands down. He was my height but probably weighed no more than 130 and not an ounce of fat. Strong as hell. Sang or whistled as he walked, never got out of breath.
We saw relatively fewer fellow hikers. We'd picked a perfect time - the very end of the season before the 4 months of monsoon. This is the only fellow we saw who took the easy way out - on horseback. Everyone else was on foot, many without guides or porters, which seemed crazy to me. Definitely cheaper to go it alone but you better know what you're doing. I was happy to have MB and Naresh with us. MB soothed us when needed "today is very gradual, no problem, slowly, slowly" and pushed us when required. He supervised the preparation of every meal we ate, standing in the kitchen and even manning the stove at times.
The wild horses didn't care about humans. They trotted by as if they never saw us. Ditto the donkeys, cows, chickens, goats, yaks, dogs and cats. It's an equal opportunity trail covered with more shit than a Paris sidewalk.
I did notice that the Nepalis gave wide berth to the yaks. When I asked about it they claimed that yaks are mellow but nobody was acting that way when they were near.
This is a video you can watch from the blog.
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