My first visit to the Langtang Valley

By the time you read this Edita and I will be somewhere in the Helambu region of Nepal, an area of low-lying hills and terraced fields north of Kathmandu. Our destination is the Langtang Valley, which until recently was Nepal’s third most popular trekking region, after Everest and the Annapurnas.

Two years ago, the Langtang Valley was the scene of a great tragedy. Langtang village lies directly beneath 7,227m Langtang Lirung, the highest mountain in the region. The narrow valley witnesses man...