Liang Sheng-yueh, a a 20-year-old Taiwanese trekker is currently recovering in hospital after rescuers found him and his dead girlfriend on a mountainside in Nepal where they were stranded for 47 days.

According to The Sun UK, his girlfriend, Liu Chen-chun, 18, died just three days before the rescue team located the couple in northwest Nepal.

But her boyfriend managed to survive despite losing nearly five stone during the ordeal. He survived on only water and salt after their food ran out.

A severely malnourished Liang Sheng-yueh was being treated in hospital in Kathmandu, where he was airlifted after being rescued from the remote region.

Rescuers said the pair followed a river downstream in the hope of finding a village after getting lost. But they became stuck when they reached the edge of a waterfall and were unable climb back up.

“They had a drop of about 100 metres on one side and a steep uphill on the other. They were trapped,” said Madhav Basnet who found them.
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Speaking haltingly and in broken English as he sipped hot soup, Liang revealed on Wednesday it had been “very cold” on the mountain, and difficult to sleep.

Basnet said that it was snowing heavily in the region when the couple reached the cliff and they had to shelter under a rock because they couldn’t put up their tent on the uneven ground.

They survived on potatoes and noodles until their food ran out, leaving them with nothing more than salt and water.

Rescuers headed to the isolated area after they saw crows hovering above and found them lying down.

“The area was so deep and narrow that it was impossible for a helicopter to land,” Basnet said.

The team used a long line to airlift them out and bring them to Kathmandu.

Doctors treating Liang said that as well as his extreme weight loss, maggots had infested his right leg, but that he was recovering and regaining strength.



The families of the trekkers alerted authorities when they didn’t get in touch as scheduled on March 10.

Liang’s father travelled to Nepal after the couple went missing and chartered a helicopter to search for them.

Chou Chiang-chieh, a friend of the pair, said they were biking from India to Nepal on a “dream adventure”.

“She (Lui) fought to survive in the Himalayas for so long and I am really sad she didn’t make it, it’s such a pity, she’s like a family to me,” said Chou.

Another high school friend posted a tribute to Liu, remembering her as a “happy child” always seeking new places to go.

“I believe you will also live well on the other side,” Corn Huang, who said she lived with Liu for a year during high school, posted on Facebook.

The couple had been hiking at about 9,842 feet without a guide.