On 25 April 2015, Nepal was struck by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, which killed over 9,000 people. The village of Langtang, at an altitude of 11,000 feet, was completely buried in a horrendous landslide. Over 200 people died there alone. In April 1999 I'd spent a month trekking in Nepal, from Kathmandu up into the Langtang Valley, near the border with Tibet and China. It was a beautiful, extraordinary time. Nepal was just about to hold its first democratic elections in over 50 years, and although the country was technically in the middle of a civil war, it was strangely relatively safe at the time. While you could often see groups of Maoist rebels and Nepalese army patrols on the same trails on the same day, there was no direct threat to tourists. I remember it very fondly.
I went back to Nepal with DFID in May 2015, as part of the UK's humanitarian response team. I didn't make it back to Langtang, but being back in the country again brought back all those memories from 1999. As we approach the end of 2015, I'm posting these images now from my archive, of happier times in Langtang, in memoriam for those who lost their lives, and to try and raise some money for the earthquake relief appeal. The images are for sale as 10x8in prints, £100 each, via www.printsforefugees.com. All proceeds will go to Doctors of the World (Medicins du Monde), an international humanitarian NGO who are helping support people in need of medical assistance in Nepal and around the world.