http://www.travelhimalayamagazine.com TRAVEL HIMALAYA SPRING 2019 | 25
A SHORT WALK IN THE ROLWALING VALLEY
cars along with broken windows and parts of
houses was a sobering experience. It was almost
impossible to imagine the lay of the town, it was
that badly destroyed. It wasn’t much more than
an hour later that we arrived in Bedding.
Bedding, being a Sherpa town, is littered
with huge mani stones, large boulders with
Buddhist inscriptions carved into the rock
face that dominate your arrival. Passing the
Rolwaling Sangag Choling Monastery, we were
told there were almost 35 households in Bedding,
yet in total we maybe saw 10 people, none of
them males of working age. Like so many other
places in Nepal, Bedding was bereft of men,
many working in cities or the Gulf countries. The
lack of people, certainly when the weather turns
nasty, gives the whole area a kind of deserted
atmosphere surrounded by damaged building
and no-one else. Our arrival into Bedding also
appeared to coincide with the point where
waterfalls ceased to run and instead became
frozen waterfalls, all adding to the feeling off
isolation and remoteness. In Bedding they used
to have V-net satellite phones but they stopped
working over 4 months ago and to date no one
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in the villages adds to the slight feeling of
abandonment that had been gnawing away at
me. Certainly the Rolwaling Valley feels miles
away from the relative hustle and bustle from
its two adjacent valleys, Langtang to the West
and the Solukhumbu to the East
We had aimed to make it to Na, however
upon arrival in Bedding we were told it was too
early in the season and no-one was in Na. Faced
with the decision of another 2 hours walk to
camp, potentially having to pitch our tent deep
in snow, or staying in Bedding and being able
to get warm food, we made the easy decision to
stay in Bedding. It was only whilst having dinner
we realised the family we were staying with was
the family Thunda had meant for us to get in
contact with. We got ready for an early start to
Na and Tso Rolpa, yet as with so many things
here, it would all depend upon the weather.
With our alarms set for 5, we woke up and
set the stove to boil water for coffee. However
our early start had to be delayed as it was still
pitch black outside, as it remained until 6:30.
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leaving Bedding we were greeted by a stunning
sight. It had snowed overnight, yet again but
the early morning weather was fantastic
and without a cloud in the sky. The trail left
Bedding and continued to head up through the
valley. As the early morning sun hit the upper
echelons of the Himalayas, the light radiated
its way back through the valley. What had not
been clear to us in yesterday’s cloud and snow
became immediately apparent. We had thought
Bedding was nestled in the bottom of the valley,
hemmed in by high hills at all sides. What we
didn’t know is these hills, gave way to behemoths
that dominated the skyline. One such mountain
was the sacred Gauri Shanker, which appeared
behind us as 7134 metres of glistening white
Himalaya. Looking from right to left, our necks
craned as we tried to take in 6000 metre peak
after 7000 metre peak, just several of the 50
peaks over 6000 metres in the valley. It was in
such a moment where we having stopped simply
to remind ourselves of where we were, an eagle
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above us and snowy peaks surrounding us, we
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almost 1 hour the trail continued to follow the
river before we climbed again, onto a plateau in
the valley. In the near distance we could see a
small settlement, Na, and behind that the rise
of what could only be the banks of Tso Rolpa.
Walking into Na we caught the familiar taste
of abandonment, with everyone in Na living at a
lower altitude waiting for the trekking season to
begin, we had the town completely to ourselves.
Apart from numerous groups of yaks that is
.Similar to Bedding, walking through a village
with 20 households but no people is a slightly
surreal experience.One such mountain was the sacred Gauri Shanker,
which appeared behind us as 7134 metres of glisten-
ing white Himalaya. Looking from right to left, our
necks craned as we tried to take in 6000 metre peak
after 7000 metre peak, just several of the 50 peaks
over 6000 metres in the valley.