Furba gave a solemn after dinner briefing at Lama Hotel next to the gushing waters of the Langtang Khosi where the river gets squeezed through a impossibly narrow, jungle clad valley. It reminded me of Remembrance Sunday as he described the next day's trek.
We have come to Langtang as it was the area most devastated by the 2015 earthquake. It was the home village of many of our porters and staff who had looked after us in 2015 and who lost their homes and families when that 7.9 shake occurred. Many were with us in Kathmandu when that fateful quake occurred.
Furba describes the cataclysmic event that saw ice break off the mountain and then trigger a massive rockfall that swept down thousands of metres burying the village. The villagers saw and heard it coming and those that could ran for their lives. Those that ran were killed as the avalanche blasted the whole valley. The old and the infirm could not run and, miraculously, some of them survived in a cavern created by the falling debris.
It will be a sad trek into the valley tomorrow that will reveal just how brittle existence is in this region. We will climb steadily for a 1,000 metres over 12 kilometres and, no doubt, there will be a good deal of puffing along the way as we struggle towards 3,500m. The reward will be a rest and acclimatisation day. I think we are all looking forward to day 7!