IH issue 6

INSIDE

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

www.insidehimalayas.com

HIMALAYAS NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

BY ROYAL MOUNTAIN TRAVEL | ISSUE 6

One of the lesser-travelled trails in Nepal, the culturally rich Tamang Heritage Trail passes through ethnic Tamang villages high in the mountains.

Above Gosaikunda:

The Shortcut to

The still, crystal-clear Lake Gosaikunda in the Langtang National Park is a wellknown destination in Rasuwa District for pilgrims and trekkers.

Lubra

The Kopra Danda trek is a good option for travellers short on time in Nepal.

The Hidden Bon Village of Lower Mustang

The Honey Hunters of Nepal

Lubra village is believed to have been founded in the late 12th century.

In the Himalayan foothills, a brave group of Gurung people risk their lives to collect honey. www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

1

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

2

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

www.insidehimalayas.com

HIMALAYAS NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

BY ROYAL MOUNTAIN TRAVEL | ISSUE 6

Upper Mustang, Nepal Photo: Ashok Sah.

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

3

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Note from the Managing Director Community Homestays were born.

Nepal undoubtedly has some of the best trekking routes in the world, but the heart and soul of this country lies in its people, hospitality, culture and tradition.

For the past few years, one of our proudest achievements at Royal Mountain Travel has been building the Community Homestay program.

Through a growing network of community-based homestays throughout Nepal, travellers can experience authentic Nepali life while also making a direct economic contribution to their host communities.

A few years ago, we recommended that some guests visit and stay at Panauti with the locals. After returning, they told us that after trekking in the mountains, staying with a host family was the best thing they did in Nepal. From there, the

Now, we’re even prouder to announce that we have been one of ten recipients of the 2018 Booking.com Booking Booster grant, and have been recognised as a sustainable tourism startup. This grant will give us 12 months of mentoring and coaching from a mix of Booking.com experts, as well as opportunities to collaborate with Booking.com on initiatives that will help grow our sustainable business.

In an underdeveloped country like Nepal, the tourism industry is a significant pillar of the country’s economy. The travel industry accounts for 30% of the world’s trade of services, and 6% of overall exports of goods and services. But, it has been criticized as one of the main sources of environmental pollution, corruption of local culture and tradition and making rich hoteliers even richer.

Our Community Homestays, however, follow a different model. As a project they solve social issues, benefit the local economy, and help towards

protecting culture, tradition and the environment. In addition, we’re a driving force behind calls for gender equality in Nepal.

In this year’s edition of Inside Himalayas you can read several stories celebrating the benefits of staying with and interacting with the locals around Nepal. While trekking the Tamang Heritage Trail in the Langtang region, Iuliana Marchian found that a highlight was the encounters she had with local people. In a hidden corner of Lower Mustang—the Bon village of Lubra—Michael D. Smith and Yungdung Tsewang Gurung find that tourism initiatives are trying to preserve the unique, ancient culture of the region.

We have many more stories of bold adventurers in 2018’s magazine—from Jocelyn Powelson, who cycled the Annapurna Circuit solo (backwards!), to Michelle Welsch’s experience at the Lhosar festival to Cristina Podocea’s ascent of Island Peak. Read on for their gripping and inspiring stories. They’ll definitely leave you wanting to book your next trip to Nepal.

Shiva Dhakal Managing Director

Managing Director Shiva Dhakal Editor Elen Turner Cover Photo SOPA Images Limited Executives, Production Sudeep Singh and Sudan Budhathoki Contributors Iuliana Marchian, Michael D. Smith, Yungdung Tsewang Gurung, Erin Green, Cristina Podocea, Jocelyn Powelson, Ynske Boersma, Becky Carruthers, Herman Thapa, Anisha Mandal, Kusum Kalikote and Hemanta Bhandari

GET

CONNECTED www.facebook.com/insidethehimalayas/ insidehimalayas.com/blog/

@insidehimalayas

Design & Layout Streamline Design & Advertising Printer Jagadamba Press (P) Ltd. Published by Royal Mountain Travel - Nepal Lal Durbar Marg, Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: +977-1-4444378 Web: www.royalmt.com.np

4

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

@insidehimalayas

All rights reserved in respect of all articles, illustration, photography, etc published in Inside Himalayas Magazine. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or part in any form without the written consent of the publisher. The opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher, who cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions. All editorial inquires and submission to Inside Himalayas Magazine must be address to info@insidehimalayas.com

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

10

Cover Story The People You Meet on the

Tamang Heritage Trail

Above Gosaikunda ................................................................................................................. 15 The Lunar Losar Festival ..................................................................................................... 19 Gateway to Rolwaling ........................................................................................................... 22 Reaching New Summits While Climbing Island Peak ........................................... 28 The Annapurna Circuit on Two Wheels ........................................................................ 34 Lubra - The Hidden Bon Voyage of Lower Mustang .............................................. 38

SUBSCRIBE TO US! Fill our form at

www.insidehimalayas.com/subscription

Get our latest edition of Inside Himalayas Magazine on your doorstep or desktop!

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

5

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

54 A Road Trip to Mustang

42

Major Festivals of Nepal

Food and Fulfillment at the ............................................ 46 Patlekhet Community Homestay The Shortcut to Kopra Danda ........................................ 50 Sherpa Culture and Spirituality .................................... 60 in the Thangme Valley The Honey Hunters of Nepal .......................................... 64 Family, the Core of Community in Nepal .................. 68 An Eid to Remember in the Gurez Valley ................. 77

6

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

Where Tradition Meets Comfort

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Discover an

oasis of Nepali culture & hospitality in the heart of

Kathmandu.

For further details, please contact:

Krishna Pauroti, Kamalpokhari, Kathmandu, Nepal | +977-1-4410454/55, 4410009/10 info@traditionalcomfort.com | www.traditionalcomfort.com www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel Facebook: facebook.com/traditionalcomfort/ | Instagram: @traditionalcomfort | Twitter: @TradiComfort

7

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Langtang, Nepal Photo: Ashok Sah.

8

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

9

Cover Story

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

The People You Meet on the

Tamang Heritage Trail

by Iuliana Marchian

Woman at work, on the way to the Bamdang Khola Valley. Photo: Iuliana Marchian.

“Once we arrived in Syabru Besi, we started the preparations for the Tamang Heritage Trail, a trek that lasts five-six days. Close to the famous Langtang Valley, this trek is a lesser travelled one in Nepal and, as its name suggests, passes through ethnic Tamang villages high up in the mountains.”

10

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

The bus ran along the route between Kathmandu and Syabru Besi, the starting point for several treks in the Langtang region. I could see bottomless ravines that opened deep down the valley, while the rudimentary coach we were traveling in slowly braved the tight bends of the road. At one point, people from the bus started to scream and pointed to something out the window. The coach stopped right away, and Rishi (my guidecome-porter) jumped out and scooped up my small backpack. It had slipped off the luggage rack due to the repeated shaking of the coach on the bumpy road, and rolled fifty metres down a steep slope. I clutched my retrieved backpack tightly and the bus carried on.

Traditional houses made of stone, carved wood and slate, in Gotlang. Photo: Iuliana Marchian.

Once we arrived in Syabru Besi, we started the preparations for the Tamang Heritage Trail, a trek that lasts five-six days. Close to the famous Langtang Valley, this trek is a lesser-travelled one in Nepal and, as its name suggests, passes through ethnic Tamang villages high up in the mountains. The villages are lively and have distinct lifestyles, and can only be reached on foot.

The trek was initiated as a way of improving local lives through tourism.

Most inhabitants of this region are agriculturalists.

Unfortunately, the villages along the trek were severely affected by the 2015 earthquake. Some had been rebuilt, while in others the people still lived in military tents, a year and a half later. As these villages aren’t located on a popular trail, few tourists trek here, meaning the villages have had a harder time rebuilding.

Children from Thuman. Photo: Iuliana Marchian.

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

11

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

A bird’s-eye view of Briddhim. Photo: Iuliana Marchian.

On the first day of the trek, we left the small town of Syabru Besi and started the ascent to the Bahun Danda Pass.

Two young boys, Rohan and Nima, were going up to a neighbouring hamlet and joined us. Rohan wore sneakers, Nima beach slippers, while I had my highperformance mountain boots. They spoke little English, and Rishi translated for me. They didn’t know anything about my country, Romania, but Europe was easier for them to locate on the map.

They wanted to know the caste I belonged to, and wondered when I said there’s no such social system in my country.

At Bahun Danda Pass we ate traditional dal bhat for lunch, then hiked down a dirt road until we passed the Goljung Valley. We descended along a contour line to Gotlang village, where we stopped overnight.

On the second day, we left the village of Gotlang and, for a while, followed a line of chortens (stone pyramids with mantras) along the Bamdang Khola Valley. After we reached Chilime village, we started an abrupt ascent toward Cherka and Gonggang villages. As we were slowly

12

hiking up the steep slope, a local man smiled and joined us. Hari had worked in Malaysia and was coming back home to his wife and son after thirteen years. He hadn’t seen his family in Gonggang in all this time, but he didn’t seem to be in a hurry. He was happy to have someone to talk to on his way home. He carried only one bag on his shoulder, and we left him behind when he met an old friend and stopped for another chat.

In the evening, we stayed overnight in Tatopani village, where I made my first trekker friends, Matt and Heather from the United States. They waved at me as I hiked the last hundred metres up to the Eco Guesthouse. They said I was the first tourist they had seen in the two days they had been trekking.

After completing the Tamang Heritage Trail, they intended to continue with the Langtang Trek, and afterwards the Gosaikunda Trek.

On the third day, we climbed from Tatopani to Nagthali Ghyang village, located at the highest point of the trail (3165 metres). When we left Tatopani, the children laughed and ran after me.

They held their small hands together

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

and greeted me with their traditional Namaste. Matt and Heather hiked behind us, and we met again on the plateau on top of the mountain. After lunch, all three of us froze on a ground pad and waited in vain for the great Himalayan peaks to be released from a thick layer of cloud. Matt sketched the landscape—or as much of it as he could see—and Heather and I discussed the cultural differences between our countries, Romania and the USA. On the fourth day, I took a day off to rest at Nagthali Ghyang, but the following day we went down to Thuman village. From there, we abruptly descended through a forest and crossed a suspension bridge across the Bhotekoshi Nadi Valley. When we hiked up to Lingling, children from the village came to greet us and laughed behind me. Only a little girl dared to come and sit next to me at the lodge when we stopped for lunch. All the other children watched me and chuckled from the gate. The little girl studied my white face and shyly began to look through my notebook. Then she saw my camera and started studying it, too. I kept the strap in one hand, in case she dropped it. She brushed my hand away, and I had no

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

choice but to trust her with my camera. She pressed a button and the flash popped up, scaring her a little, but she continued to press all the other buttons. She pretended to be a great photographer, even though I kept the camera switched off.

The morning of the sixth day of the trek (and the last one), I walked through the village of Briddhim, where we had stayed overnight. I heard Tibetan music from the courtyard of the Lhasa Homestay, near the village monastery. I entered the courtyard, hypnotised by the harmonious melody of the mantras, and sat next to a smiling Tibetan woman. Her daughter, Karmo, offered me a cup of tea on the house and told me her father was the lama of the nearby monastery. She worked at a shop in Kathmandu but came to help her mother in the tourist season.

Her mother didn’t speak English at all, but she accompanied me into a room full of handmade objects: woollen bags, bracelets, scarves, and hats, knitted or worked on the looms, which they sold to supplement their income.

From Briddhim, we had to descend parallel to the Bhotekoshi Nadi Valley, back to where we had started, Syabru Besi. On the dirt road from Briddhim, we met an old Tibetan woman who wore a traditional guni (striped apron) and a syadi (beret), as well as colourful earrings and beads. The old lady kept whispering mantras while she counted beads along a rosary.

She held a wooden walking stick in her right hand and wanted to see the pictures I had just taken of her. When she saw herself on the display of my camera, she made a face meaning that she considered herself old and not beautiful anymore.

Winnowing millet in Gotlang. Photo: Iuliana Marchian.

The last night in Syabru Besi, a group of trekkers from our guesthouse organised a card game. They invited me to join in, which was a good excuse to get to know new people. They explained the rules of the game to me, but it became clear that we were more eager to share our experiences from trekking in the Himalayas.

Some of us had climbed snowy ridges, others had hunted panoramic views of the great peaks, while I had hiked through local villages, Buddhist stupas and chortens. I found out that I had already become known in the whole Langtang area as ‘the one whose backpack flew out the bus door’. That moment, I realised that besides walking a trail among unique, natural beauty, a trek is equally about people who talk and share experiences.

Tips for hiking the Tamang Heritage Trail:

Corncobs drying in Cherka. Photo: Iuliana Marchian.

The normal duration of the trek is five days: Syabru BesiGotlang / Gotlang-Tatopani / Tatopani-Thuman / ThumanBriddhim / Briddhim-Syabru Besi. If you want to include a visit to the border with Tibet, add another day.

Add another two days for the return trip to Kathmandu. The Langtang area is only 200 km from Kathmandu, but the busy, bumps, winding road takes about 9 hours by bus.

This trek can be combined with the Langtang Valley Trek. They both start at Syabru Besi.

You’re unlikely to have acclimatisation problems while trekking the Tamang Heritage Trail, as the highest point reached is 3165 metres, at Nagthali Ghyang.

Good physical condition is required to hike up and down steep slopes every day, sometimes with a difference in altitude of up to 1000 metres per day.

Heading towards the Bamdang Khola Valley. Photo: Iuliana Marchian.

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

13

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

If one creates in earnest the armor of bodhicitta, It is like the treasury of space offering unlimited largesse.

For fortunate beings, this temple and all it contains Are like the wondrous bursting forth of spring.

Thrangu Tashi Yangtse Monastery is located at the sacred pilgrimage site of Namo Buddha, Nepal. It is home to more than 250 monks and includes a monastic college, a school for young monks and a Tibetan Medical clinic.

For more details, please contact:

Royal Mountain Travel - Nepal 14

P.O. Box: 8720 Lal Durbar Marg, Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: +977-1-4444376 / 78 / 79 Fax: +977-1-4444380 Email: info@royalmt.com.np URL: www.royalmt.com.np

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Above Gosaikunda: Highland of Sacred Alpine Lakes

by Michael D. Smith

Lake Gosaikunda. Photo: Cristina Podocea.

The still, crystal-clear water of Gosaikunda Lake in the Langtang National Park is a well-known destination in Rasuwa District for trekkers and pilgrims alike. Gosaikunda is known as the “Holy Lake of the Lord of Senses.” A kunda is not any kind of lake, but actually refers to the holy dipping tank at a Hindu temple used for ritual cleansing before performing puja, artificial or natural. Many refer to Gosaikunda as the “Frozen Lake”, due to the fact that it freezes over in the middle of winter, though the extent of freezing is less each year due to climate change.

The holy lake is situated in Rasuwa District, which means ”Sheep Grazing Land” in the local Tamang language, apt as many shepherds take advantage of the high pastures, not only for sheep and goats but horses and yaks as well.

According to Hindu tradition, there are 108 lakes in the Gosaikunda area, owing to the astrological significance of 108 as the multiplication of the planets (9) and Zodiac houses (12), of which Gosaikunda is the primary holy site. Of this multitude of alpine lakes, Bhairab Kunda, Surya Kunda, Chandra Kunda, Saraswati Kunda, and others are within one to two hours’ walk of Gosaikunda.

Inner peace is assured for those who rest awhile at any of these serene clear ponds that reflect the sky above and the mind within. One reason Gosaikunda is considered holy for devotees of Lord Shiva is that the lake itself resembles an enormous yoni-lingam, the symbolic representation of creative feminine shakti energy in union with the active masculine shiv energy, a small rock island in the center.

Trekkers should properly acclimatise before reaching the high alpine lake, as it is perched at 4380 metres elevation.

The area around Gosaikunda has been designated as an internationally important wetland according to the UNESCO Ramsar Convention, with various species of migratory birds dependent upon the waters in the catchment area, including the Brahmani Duck, Brown Dipper, White-capped Water Redstart, Common Teal and others. Gosaikunda is fed by a tripletapped spring, aptly called Trishul Dhara (Trident Spout), the ultimate source of the Trishuli River system.

Walking to Gosaikunda The trek up to the Gosaikunda watershed, while arduous, is stunningly beautiful, stirring the soul in the quiet

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

15

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

way that only nature can. The area may be accessed by climbing up from Dhunche or Syabru Besi in the west or crossing the Lauribina Pass in the east.

Either route may be connected with the other in order to make the trek into a loop, taking ten to twelve days: five to six days up, an extra day at Gosaikunda, and another four or five days down.

The eastern route to Gosaikunda has two approaches. The first is to start from the Kathmandu Valley via the Shivapuri National Park entrance at Sundarijal or Budhanilkantha, over the northern ridge of the Kathmandu Valley, to Kutumsang, up the Phedi Valley to Gopte, and finally over the Lauribina Pass, where one is rewarded by meeting the pristine Surya Kunda and Ganesh Kunda Lakes. The other way to Gopte and Lauribina Pass begins at the bottom of the Helambu Valley via the bus stop at Timbu, a fivehour drive northeast from Kathmandu.

The trail passes massive construction for the Melamchi Water Project bringing drinking water to Kathmandu, gradually ascends to Melamchigaon, winds up an enchanting forest to Thadepati (3640 metres), on to Gopte and the Lauribina Pass, which at 4610 metres elevation marks the entrance to the Gosaikunda wetland area and is the highest point on the trek for most visitors.

The climb from the west begins in Thunche or Syabru Besi, via an eight to ten-hour drive from Kathmandu through Trishuli Bazaar in Nuwakot District. By accepting a challenging shortcut uphill, it is possible to climb directly from Dhunche to Sing Gompa (3254 metres). Sing Gompa, or “wooden monastery”, refers to the original temple built over 100 years ago, but completely destroyed by fire. It is worth taking an extra day and ascending first to Thulo Syabru from Syabru Besi to acclimatise and enjoy a trail that winds through lush forests of ningala (small bamboo), red laligurans (rhododendron) trees, deodar cedars, the trees of the gods, dhoop (juniper) tree, varieties of pungent herbs, and orchids perched wherever life offers a niche. The forested area before reaching Sing Gompa from the west is known as Chandan Bari, or Sandalwood Gardens, although it’s been a long time since sandalwood

16

trees were harvested here. Local cheese is available at the dairy in Sing Gompa, as in Kyanjin Gompa further north in the Langtang Valley. The trail then ascends to Lauri Binayak (3920 metres), with unforgettable panoramic Himalayan views the Annapurna massif in the west to Langtang and Dorje Lhakpa in the west, and finally passes by Saraswoti Kunda on the way up to Gosaikunda.

The Legend of Gosaikunda’s Origin Many eons ago, when the gods were performing Samudra Manthan to extract amrita nectar from the ocean, the entire universe became threatened by the highly poisonous by-product, which threatened the existence of the gods themselves. They requested Lord Shiva, the god of power and destruction, for assistance. He swallowed and held the burning poison in his throat, which stained it blue, thus earning him the name Nilkantha, the Blue Throated One. However, Shiva became desperate for perfectly pure cold water to soothe his burning throat, so he stabbed his trident into the Himalayas. This act created the Trishul spring and three large basins, which filled with water and became Bhairab Kunda, Saraswati Kunda, and Gosaikunda, by which he cooled his throat and nullified the poison’s affects, saving the universe from annihilation by the poisonous substance.

Pilgrimage to the Sacred Lake Each year during Janai (“Sacred Thread”) Purnima, the full moon of the lunar month of Shravan (July/August), thousands of Hindu pilgrims trek to the lake, some walking from Nuwakot or even Sundarijal for days practically without rest. They come to make offerings with aspirations to behold the image of Lord Shiva in the lake, to atone for misdeeds, meditate, and pray for the protection of the pure lake waters to cool the burning heat of their worldly burdens and cleanse them of the poison of negative deeds. Janai Purnima corresponds with the Newar holy month of Gunla, and the Raksha Bandhan festival when the devout wear blessed bracelets for protection, an important time for renewal and cleansing. On this day, Brahmin and Chettri men who wear sacred threads take a ritual bath and replace the thread with a fresh one.

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

Many pilgrims return home carrying jal (blessed water) from its source. Pilgrims also visit on the Ganga Dashahara, the 10th day of the lunar month Jyestha (May/June), which commemorates the Ganges River Goddess’ descent to the earth, as holy lakes and rivers are worshipped on this occasion.

The lake is not only held as sacred

by Hindus and Buddhists, but by the local dhami-jakri (healer-shaman) community, which holds a large gathering each Janai Purnima, when various offerings are made to local spirits. The festival is important to the local communities for maintaining the well-being of the relationship between the human and spiritual worlds of the environment, natural deities, and ancestors who are believed to reside at the Trishuldhara.

Climbing Surya Peak At 5145 metres Surya Peak is a vigorous day trip ascent from Gosaikunda and offers breathtaking close-up mountain views, on top of the real sense of climbing a Himalayan peak. Our group of fifteen (three Nepali guides with twelve international trekkers) got an ill-advised late start from Gosaikunda around 8am, so by the time we reached the summit, clouds had risen to obscure the view of the far-off mountain ranges to the east and west. However, we were still rewarded with incredible close-ups of imposing Langtang Ri (7205 metres) and Langtang Lirung (7234 metres) towering over us in the north.

Though Surya Peak does not require technical climbing skills, one should go with a guide to show the way, as it is not easy to follow the rock cairns amongst granite rock falls on the scramble up the boulder field. Loose sliding rocks require a slow, careful ascent and add a sense of danger to the adventure. A light snow greeted us as we returned to our campsite in Gosaikunda around 3pm, which felt like the gods were showering blessed white confetti down upon us to congratulate our success.

Whether or not one climbs Surya Peak, or is rewarded with light snow or blue skies, the blessings of sacred Gosaikunda are felt by all who visit tourist and pilgrim alike.

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

A COMMUNITY FOR ADVENTURE & LOCAL EXPERIENCE

NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

TRAVEL-NEPAL Lal Durbar Marg, Kathmandu, Nepal Email: info@royalmt.com.np URL: www.royalmt.com.np

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

17

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

BRIEF ITINERARY Day 01: Arrival in Kathmandu | Day 02: City Tour & preparation for the trek | Day 03: Lukla Flight / Phakding | Day 04: Namche Bazaar Day 05: Namche Bazaar – Acclimatization Day | Day 06: Debuche | Day 07: Dingboche | Day 08: Dingboche Acclimatization Day Day 09: Lobuche | Day 10: Gorakshep | Day 11: Pheriche | Day 12: Namche Bazaar | Day 13: Lukla | Day 14: Kathmandu Day 15: Departure For more detail, please contact:

Royal Mountain Travel - Nepal

18

P.O. Box: 8720 Lal Durbar Marg, Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: +977-1-4444376 / 78 / 79 Fax: +977-1-4444380 Email: info@royalmt.com.np URL: www.royalmt.com.np www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

The Lunar Losar Festival

by Michelle Welsch

A Tibetan Buddhist monk blows a conch shell. Photo: Becky Carruthers.

If you do find yourself lucky enough to be in Tibet for the New Year, you’ll find an enthusiastically celebrated holiday. Losar has become a kind of carnival for communities: parades, sporting competitions, horse races, and revelry.

The monks’ faces show traces of exhaustion. They have spent days preparing for Losar, sitting for hours molding torma, intricate statues made of butter and wax. I stare at the large figure of Mahakala, one of the Buddhist deities sculpted out of the same waxy clay and painted black. At least ten men struggle to hoist the statue and throw it into the raging bonfire in the courtyard outside. I watch the creature’s eyes melt and disappear into flames.

I ask some of the monks what the black Mahakala statue represents, and am told, something to do with letting go of the bad energy and mistakes of the past year, but their answers are short.

Older lamas are busy with chores and duties, racing from temple to kitchen to bonfire. Teenage monks serve butter tea to the waiting devotees. The drink is oily, but in the cold winter months, it’s a welcome beverage to stay warm, Khapse is eaten along with it, deepfried pastries synonymous with festive occasions.

Losar, the Tibetan word for New Year, falls on dates dictated by the lunar calendar. The several-day-long celebration often corresponds to the Chinese New Year and tends to occur in February or March. Tibetan Buddhist monasteries throughout Asia conduct rituals for as long as two weeks, with

monks donning intricate costumes, dancing rehearsed routines, and spending hours in temples reading books of Tibetan prayer. During this time, Tibetan Buddhist communities will visit monasteries and prepare their homes for the year to come.

Delicious food, song, friends, and cultural costumes are incorporated into daily life. Prayer flags are strung from rooftops, and silk prayer scarves, called khata, are offered in blessing.

Many Losar ceremonies and traditions are believed to remove obstacles and ease challenges before the New Year begins. According to the Tibetan calendar, each year is named according

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

19

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Tibetan women gather near the great stupa at Boudhanath. Photo: Becky Carruthers.

to a specific animal (rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, bird, dog, pig, mouse, bull, or tiger) and element (fire, earth, iron, water, or wood); the New Year will be characterised by corresponding traits.

The monks have had little sleep in the previous week, waking up early and chanting from morning until night. I join them for the final day of the ceremony, and I am transfixed. Smoke filters through gaps between the banners that cover the temple’s entrance. When a monk passes, the large Tibetan infinity knot sways back and forth. Mallets of cloth hit drums stretched of leather and reverberate the floor on which we sit, cross-legged in rows. Brass horns echo into the valley below.

Cultures around the world have adopted their own ways to mark the beginning and end of seasons. In Nepal, groups across the country recognise their own New Year holidays: Tamu Losar is celebrated by the Gurung people, Sonam Losar is the Tamang equivalent, and Gyalpo Losar is the Sherpa tradition. Since Tibet is frequently closed to travelers during Losar, Nepal is a fantastic substitute to watch and participate in various New Year activities. With influences from Tibet and Bhutan, India and China, even Malaysia and beyond, Nepal provides travelers an experiential feast.

If you do find yourself lucky enough to be in Tibet for the New Year, you’ll find an enthusiastically celebrated holiday. Losar has become a kind of carnival for communities: parades, sporting competitions, horse races, and revelry. Homes and gardens are scoured and cleaned to perfection, and Chemar boxes can be found in each

20

residence. These detailed containers hold barley and tsampa, roasted flour mixed with butter, sugar, and Tibetan tea, all thought to bring good luck, good health, and a flourishing harvest.

New paintings are hung and doors are coloured with signs to welcome good fortune and a long life. Gutu, a festive New Year’s Eve dinner made of special soup with balls of dough, is eaten with levity. Doughy dumplings conceal surprises for the diners: wool, pepper, salt stones, even coins are hidden in the centre. Depending on the item found, unsuspecting family members are thought to have some aspect of that ingredient in their personality (a pepper might signify a fast temper, a stone could mean a stubborn heart).Barley wine always lightens the atmosphere.

Areas throughout Tibet have adopted their own customs: exorcisms and jiaxie dances are performed in Shigatse; communities around Gongbu throw rocks into corners of houses to scare ghosts, and dogs are invited to participate in celebrations (depending on which food the dog first consumes, a hopeful or misfortune year is to come); in Lhasa, horse racing draws masses; and in Yushu, yaks are trained to participate in contests.

Similar activities can be found throughout Bhutan. Festivities begin with Nyi Shu Gu, Losar New Year’s Eve, and can last for two weeks. Some of the same traditions found in Nepal and Tibet are celebrated here, and guthuk is heartily consumed, a creamy noodle soup also containing surprisefilled dumplings. Punakha, the old capital of Bhutan, hosts celebrations at the old palace Punakha Dzong.

Nestled at the crossroads of two rivers, the area provides a beautiful

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

backdrop for annual festivals. Sweet smells of sugar cane and green bananas are plentiful and thought to bring good luck for the coming year.

Local traditions colour Bhutanese celebrations, with communities incorporating their own customs and beliefs into the holidays.

I watch an elder monk dance beneath a silk costume with embroidered folds.

A mask balances precariously on his head as he lifts his heavy boots to the beat of hand-held cymbals. The rest of the monks stand shoulder-to-shoulder, the yellow plumes of their hats spilling toward the ground. Once the last of the Losar rituals has been performed, I stand in line with the other attendees to receive blessings from the oldest lamas. Though the line wraps around the temple, everyone is happy, smiling, and excited. Small pieces of braided thread are tied around our wrists.

The five colours are thought to bring protection for the coming year, a block against evil spirits and unfortunate happenings.

Losar can be traced back to the mystic Bon religion, when a winter festival was held to please spirits, yet modern-day ceremonies continue to offer unique cultural experiences. As a traveller, have an open mind and show respect.

Monasteries are places where men have dedicated their lives to religious study and practice; it is their home.

When visiting, you can say “Tashi Delek” as a greeting, the Tibetan equivalent of “Namaste.” Enjoy the dancing, the celebrations, the reverence.

Though the way New Year is celebrated differs, hope for the future remains the same. And Losar offers the perfect time to welcome a new year.

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Heli Sightseeing Package: For group of 3 pax Itinerary Schedule: 07:00 am: Reporting time at the airport Heli takes off from the Kathmandu airport Each pax gets a Window Seat Mountain sightseeing all the way to Everest Base Camp 5 - 10 minutes landing at Kala Patthar for quick photography Return back to Syanboche - landing at Everest View Resort Breakfast in Syangboche Return back to Kathmandu Total Flight time: 03 hours, approximately

For group of 4 - 5 pax Itinerary Schedule: 07:00 am: Reporting time at the airport Heli takes off from the Kathmandu airport Heli lands at Everest View Resort, Syangboche Drops off passenger and takes off with 3 passengers Does the Mountain flight and lands at Kala Patthar 5 - 10 minutes for photography Return back to Everest View Resort Returns back for mountain flight and landing at Kala Patthar with remaining passengers Returns back to Everest View Resort Return back to Kathmandu after all pax have taken their breakfast Total Flight time: 03.30 minutes, approximately

NOTE: Landing at EBC/Kalapatthar Subject To Weather Condition.

For More Details, Please Contact:

Royal Mountain Travel - Nepal Lal Durbar, Durbar Marg, Kathmandu, Nepal +977 1 4444376 / 78 / 79 info@royalmt.com.np, www.royalmt.com.np

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

21

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Gateway to Rolwaling: Two Weeks with the Thami in Chokati

By Michael D. Smith

Locating Chokati on a map can be difficult, as many maps of the Rolwaling Trek don’t extend far enough eastward to include it, and until recently the village did not even have a gravel road.

22

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

The village of Beding in the Rolwaling Valley. Photo: Herman Thapa.

In September, I accompanied a group of North American teenagers to stay for two weeks in the farming village of Chokati, located in Sindhupalchowk District. Our team of three instructors and eleven students enjoyed homestay accommodations with families throughout the village, spread out along a sweeping, undulating valley. Chokati is one of the few villages mainly populated by the Thami (Thangmi) ethnic group, who have preserved their indigenous language and identity despite their low numbers. Thami is a Tibeto-Burman language closely related to Newari, and the people believe they migrated from an area bordering Tibet.

Bahrabise Bazaar is the nearest town to Chokati. It’s roughly 80 kilometres northeast of Kathmandu, and takes four hours by bus. Local buses regularly depart in that direction from Koteshwor on the Kathmandu Ring Road, and proceed along the beautiful Araniko Highway via Bhaktapur, Banepa, Dhulikhel, and through the lush countryside of Kavrepalanchowk. The highway meets the Bhote Koshi River at Dolalghat, passes turn-offs to popular trekking destinations Helambu, Jiri, and Rolwaling, onward to Bahrabise Bazaar, and follows the Bhote Koshi all the way to the Friendship Bridge, which crosses the Tibetan border at Kodari.

After reaching Bahrabise from Kathmandu in time for an enjoyable local lunch of dal bhat, we were met by one of our local hosts, Ram Bahadur, who led us on a gradual four-hour walking ascent along a dirt road and foot

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

23

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

The waterfalls at the entrance to Chokati, Sindhupalchok District. Photo: Michael D. Smith.

trails, northeast to Chokati. Locating Chokati on a map can be difficult, as many maps of the Rolwaling Trek don’t extend far enough eastward to include it, and until recently the village did not even have a gravel road.

In monsoon and early autumn, the ranges above Chokati ascend into a misty sky like a Chinese scroll painting, inviting the wandering mind into their heights. Water continuously flows down the valley sides to the Sun Koshi River below, providing plenty of irrigation for farming. Like many Himalayan hillsides that are blessed with ample water, where the forests have not been gambled away through over-forestation or reforested with non-native species that reduce the water table, the people and animals are able to enjoy and rely upon abundant natural resources of ningla (small bamboo), baas (bamboo), sisnu (stinging nettles), hardwoods,

wildflowers, wild mushrooms, herbal medicines and plenty of fodder.

Slightly off the traditional tourist route, the Chokati Gau Paulika (Village Municipality) consists of over 800 families, yet has no guesthouse catering to travelers, despite the holy Lateshwor (“Lord of Dreadlocks”) Shiva Temple situated an hour up the valley in Latu, a destination for domestic tourists and Hindu pilgrims. The enchanting temple has large water taps and an enormous tree growing out of the shrine. It is said to have been built by a cowherd who, having discovered his cow giving away its milk to a stone in the forest, struck the stone with his axe, splitting it and causing it to spill water, blood and milk. He realised the stone was an incarnation of Lord Shiva and built the temple as an atonement.

In rural areas, staying with a family is the best way to directly understand

how people make their living off the rugged land. For the first few days, our hosts insisted on offering us their every hospitality, not even allowing us to wash our own dishes! However, after repeatedly requesting to join them in their work, our new friends provided us opportunities to experience household chores and agricultural life, though they were shy at first. Ram Bahadur taught us how to prepare fields with organic compost, spreading the mixture of manure, dry leaves, and decomposed weeds around, breaking dirt clods, and casting tori (mustard) seeds to harvest to make oil. Afterwards, he led us up a small jungle path to see where he captures honey bees in a trap made from a log.

We often found ourselves challenged in the homestay situation: how to efficiently milk Santa Bahadur Bhika’s cows, how to weave simple bamboo mats with Man Bahadur Thami,

Working with the water buffalo. Photo: Herman Thapa.

24

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

The walled approach to Na, uninhabited in winter, in the Rolwaling Valley. Photo: Herman Thapa.

and most of all, how to refuse the extreme hospitality of third helpings at meal time! At least harvesting and preparing cardamom for sun drying is easy enough for the novice, taught by fourteen-year-old Rajan Thami and eleven-year-old Gautam Nagarkoti. A few of our group stayed in the homes of the local blacksmiths, who were happy to let us try to pound a redhot iron bar into the curved shape of the kukuri, the ubiquitous knife of the Nepali woodsman. Ishwari Thami, a local tailor, did a splendid job of measuring and stitching beautiful and practical cholo, the traditional women’s winter shirt, for some of our female students. Our group also spent two days helping a local family deconstruct an earthquake-damaged stone house, and use earthen plaster to render the walls and floors of a newly built house, which was incredibly fun and excellent full-body exercise!

Like most of Sindhupalchowk, Chokati was heavily affected by the earthquakes of 2015. Every building in the village was destroyed, and most people still reside in temporary wooden or tin shelters provided by a hodgepodge of NGOs. Many families are slowly building permanent housing, now that Nepali Government funds have become available for reconstruction, but progress is slow as stone is excavated by hand from the hillside, and other construction materials such as bricks, steel and cement must be delivered up a the difficult gravel road from Bahrabise, adding to building time and cost.

The Rolwaling Valley Trek The Rolwaling Valley Trek, which transverses the Gaurishankar Conservation Area from east to west, is an unexcelled yet strenuous journey for

travellers who wish to explore traditional Sherpa culture in a remote setting little affected by tourism. It’s an expeditionstyle tent trek, rather than one that stays in lodges or tea houses. Most approach the trek by traveling east out of the Kathmandu Valley on the Araniko Highway, turning east on Feeder Road 32 to Ramechhap, and again turning north at Charikot. The mountain road passes the Bhimeshwor Temple, meets the Tama Koshi River, reaches Dolakha and eventually beyond the Upper Tama Koshi Hydropower Project. This route to Dolakha District from Kathmandu can take eight or more hours along rough upper stretches. The trail starts at Dolakha, or nowadays farther up in Shigati or all the way to Gonggar. Popular routes in the remote high Rolwaling Valley often visit Tso Rolpa Lake (4540 metres), and cross the Tashi Lapcha Pass into the Sagarmatha National Park in the Solukhumbu District. From there, the trail descends to Thangme (Thame), the eastern gateway to the Everest region of the Khumbu Valley.

Some choose to begin the Rolwaling Trek in Bahrabise, which reduces arduous road travel time and allows one to experience more of Nepal’s incredible geographical, biological and cultural diversity. From Chokati, the trail to Rolwaling wraps around the valley to the east, by the Lateshwor Temple, descends to cross the river, and turns northwest, ascending through villages and descending to cross streams on the opposite side of the valley. Trekkers often stop in Dolanga for the first or second night from Bahrabise or Chokati. One must pay the Rs 2000 fee to enter the Gaurishankar Conservation Area if this hasn’t already been paid in Kathmandu.

The following morning walk ascends the top of the Kalinchowk Bagmati

Danda (Ridge), and crosses Tingsang La (Pass) at 3378 metres, where the trail turns north and descends east into the neighboring valley to Bigu Gompa. In this valley, the Thami and other loweraltitude Nepali hill groups give way to Sherpa cultural influence.

From Bigu Gompa, the trail drops down to the Singati Khola (River), past Alampo, and turns southeast toward Singati. The high route of the Great Himalayan Trail splits off to the east and crosses the river past Sarwa, climbs up to Loting, and skirts the villages along the upper reach of the valley southeastward to Laduk, and along the Gyalsung Danda for excellent sunset and sunrise views. The following day may be used to connect with the more popular Rolwaling Trek route at Jagat.

The low route continues to follow the Singati Khola down to its namesake to meet the Rolwaling Trek route at Singati, where one can also return to Kathmandu.

From there, the Rolwaling Trek can be done in ten to fifteen days, or much longer, with optional high pass and peak ascents. You can also connect to other high Himalayan treks throughout the Everest region. Depending on time, one may return back to Kathmandu via domestic flight from Lukla, or continue walking to make a return via the airport at Phaplu, catching road transportation from Salleri, or even completing an extra week walking the loop down to Jiri through the charming town of Junbesi.

Due to the heavy monsoon in the area, a stay in Chokati combined with trekking in Rolwaling is best done after September and before June, and will certainly make for an unforgettable and unique mountain adventure.

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

25

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

26

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Muktinath Temple Photo: Ashok Sah.

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

27

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Reaching New Summits While Climbing Island Peak

By Cristina Podocea

“I could barely breathe as I was pulling myself up the fixed ropes. The air felt empty and I was constantly struggling for oxygen. However, this was why I had chosen to climb this peak.”

28

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

I couldn’t sleep at all. It often happened before a big ascent. I was too excited.

Only about a year earlier I was summiting my first 4000-metre peak, and learned that the only limits are the ones we set for ourselves. I decided to push them further every time. I had fallen in love with mountains.

They are like a drug, one that you become addicted to easily, causing you to want more and more. There is no apparent use in putting one’s life in danger, nor in putting one’s body through the pain of going up, high above the clouds, on the icy slopes.

But here I was, in the Himalayas, the playground of mountaineers and alpinists of all sorts, sleeping at the foot of a peak higher than 6000 metres, Island Peak, which I was hoping to successfully summit in the following hours.

Summiting a 6000-metre-plus peak in the Nepali Himalayas is relatively easy for those with a good level of fitness and previous high-altitude trekking experience. You’re not allowed up the mountain without a proper permit. It’s possible to apply for an independent trekker permit if you are an experienced mountaineer, but most people are required to get a guided permit. This means you cannot climb it without being accompanied by a guide. While this makes it more expensive, it is safer. A guide will help you along the way, will arrange everything at the mountain’s base camp and shows you how to use the equipment.

Navigating the Island Peak Glacier, a technical part of the climb. Photo: Cristina Podocea.

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

29

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Marvelling at the icy beauty while catching my breath on the descent. Photo: Cristina Podocea.

“It’s not possible to stay up there for long. The way back is almost as exhausting as the way up.”

30

I chose to hire a guide only for the peak days, and trekked to Island Peak Base Camp independently. The trek follows the Everest Base Camp trek route. I was happy to have a guide for the climb as I wouldn’t have wanted to try to find my way up in the middle of the night.

Ascents begin around 12.30am.

In the dark, I could only see the whiteness of the glacier. Billions of stars were frozen in the stillness of the kerosene sky. We put on the equipment—harness, rigid boots, and helmet—tied our ice axes and crampons to our backpacks, packed lunch and started off. It was taking me some time to get comfortable in my rented boots. Ideally, I should have had my own equipment. However, carrying it for two weeks—the time needed to reach Island Peak Base Camp and properly acclimatise—was not an option. Luckily, the equipment was

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

included in the package I purchased, and I chose my gear in the small village before Base Camp.

Gradually, I fell into my guide’s footsteps.

We seemed to be moving incredibly slowly but I could barely catch my breath. At 5000 metres the oxygen is thin, and you constantly feel thirsty for it. That is why the pace has to be even and slow. The climb was steep, and we could only see the beam of bright light cast by our headlamps, round, in front of our heavy steps. From time to time we stopped and tried to make sense of the dense darkness around us. The moon was faint so there was not much to see other than phantasmal silhouettes of huge, silent mountains.

After about three hours of mindconsuming, steep ascent on rock, we reached the crampon point. This is where things get really exciting when climbing a

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Ama Dablam is stunning from every angle. Photo: Cristina Podocea.

Getting ready to cross the first ladder over a crevasse. Photo: Cristina Podocea.

mountain, so I was really looking forward to this. We roped up together to cross the glacier. From here, the ascent was a bit gentler. The cold was more biting though. My feet and hands were numb.

Around me was a frozen world that I could barely see through the timid light of the approaching sunrise.

This section is the most exciting when climbing Island Peak, as you must climb an ice wall up about fifteen metres. I must admit that the guide almost pulled me up it. Then came the infamous ladder crossing over the open mouth of the crevasse. The last part is the most daunting. A 200 to 300-metre climb that seems vertical, even though it is at an angle of about 75 degrees. Everything else before that seemed easy in comparison.

I could barely breathe as I was pulling myself up the fixed ropes. The air felt

empty and I was constantly struggling for oxygen. However, this was why I had chosen to climb this peak. From the three most popular peaks above 6000 metres that can be climbed in the Khumbu region—Mera, Lobuche and Island Peak—the latter is the most technical. Mera Peak is the highest, at more than 6400 metres, but it’s only a walk up. It is said that Lobuche has better views, but it is still less technical. Island Peak seemed like the best compromise between technicality and views.

Dablam was rising. In front of me, the silhouette of the 8516-metre Lhotse was rising above the ‘small’ peak I had just conquered. I started to feel alive again.

I expected to be exulted when reaching the peak but, the truth is, I felt exhausted. I threw myself on the ground and breathed big gulps of empty air for minutes on end.

And I did! I came down safe and sound. Once again, I looked humbly up at these giants, covered in glaciers, who had allowed me to touch their foreheads. Most people only get to see them from below, but few of us are allowed to climb them.

The rising sun started to cast its light on the white beauty around. Behind me, to the right, the intimidating Ama

It’s not possible to stay up there for long.

The way back is almost as exhausting as the way up. The dehydration, altitudeinduced headache and exhaustion made the return long and difficult. You can only celebrate climbing a mountain once you’ve successfully come down from it.

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

31

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

13

Mustang Bon Community Homesta

9

Humla

Annapurna C

Darchula

Bajhang Baitadi

hura deld Dah

12

Mugu

Tam

Bajura

Doti

Kalikot

Achham

Jumla

Dolpa

Mustang

Kanchanpur Dailekh

Jajarkot

Kailali

Rukum

Manang

Su rkh et Bardia

Myagdi Salyan

Baglung

Rolpa

Kaski

Banke

10

Pyuthan

Bardia Community Homestay

Dang

Pa rb et Sy an ja

jun Lam Gulmi Arga khachi

ahu Tan

Palpa Kapilbastu

8

Palpa Community Homestay

SAMPLE ITINERARY Day 1:

Arrival in Kathmandu

Day 2:

Sightseeing tour of Bouddhanath Stupa & Pashupatinath Temple and drive to Patlekhet Community Homestay.

Day 3:

Panauti Community Homestay

Day 4:

Hike from Panauti to Sanga via Chamkharka Village and drive to Neydo Monastary via Bhaktapur

Day 5:

Drive to Chitwan

Day 6:

Jungle activities in Chitwan

Day 7:

Palpa Community Homestay

Day 8:

Drive to Pokhara

Day 9:

Sarangkot & World Peace Pagoda Hiking

Day10: Fly back to Kathmandu & Transfer to Patan Community Homestay

4

ehi end Rup

2

Barauli Community Homestay

3

Nuwakot Community Homestay

Day12: Departure

We are regularly welcoming new communities into our Homestay Network.

For the updated information, visit our website www.communityhomestay.com. www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

C

Tharu Community Homestay

Day11: Sightseeing tour of Swayambhunath

32

i ras lpa wa Na

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

N

ay

NEPAL

E

W

Community Trek

S

mang Heritage Trail

6 Bhaktapur

Lalitpur

5

kha Gor

ung

Patan Community Homestay

Rasuwa

Nuwakot Dolakha

Udaypur Dhan usa

Sar lah i

Rau tah at

Khotang

Taplejung

1

m hu r at r e tha ch Th n Pa

Bhojpur

Dhankuta

Ilam

Siraha Saptari

7

a bh asa w hu nk Sa

Okhaldhunga

Sindhuli

Ba ra

Solukhumbu

Kavre

Ma kaw an pu r

Maho ttari

Dh ad ing

Sindhupalchowk

Par sa

Chitwan

Nagarkot Community Homestay

Kathmandu

i ar ns u S

ng ra Mo

Jhapa

Panauti Community Homestay

Patlekhet Community Homestay

11

Illam Community Homestay

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

33

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

The Annapurna Circuit on Two Wheels

by Jocelyn Powelson

After two days of slow and bumpy bus rides, with my bike carefully strapped to the roof, I finally arrived at Ghasa, the starting point for my two-wheeled adventure.

Uphill sections were long and tiring, especially in the hot weather, but the amazing views made them a little easier. Photo: Jocelyn Powelson.

34

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

The track on the Mustang side of Thorung La is dotted with ancient villages like this one, Jharkot. Photo: Jocelyn Powelson.

“Alright, fifty more steps and then you can rest. one, two, three...” For the past four hours, my thoughts have been dominated by counting my steps and controlling my breathing. Every time my legs get too tired to go further, I pause, look around, and enjoy the view. The sun is slowly rising up from the horizon, lighting up the barren but beautiful landscape of Lower Mustang.

I reposition my mountain bike on my tired shoulders and continue to trudge up the steep trail towards Thorung La. During the Dasain holiday at the end of September 2017, I escaped from Kathmandu with my mountain bike for a trip around the Annapurna Circuit.

The route is famous for the Thorung La crossing, a pass at 5416 metres elevation that separates Manang and Mustang districts. Most people start the trail at Besisahar and gradually gain elevation while moving northward through Manang district, before reaching the pass. Following the pass is a rapid descent into Lower Mustang.

I decided at the last minute to do the circuit in a clockwise direction, which is in reverse from what is normal. I wanted to do this so I would have a bit more time at the start of the trip to ride on the Lower Mustang side of the route, where the weather is generally better,

before crossing the pass into Manang, where there were forecasts for rain and snow.

Charabu, 4230 metres), the highest place to sleep on the Mustang side of the pass.

After two days of slow and bumpy bus rides, with my bike carefully strapped to the roof, I finally arrived at Ghasa, the starting point for my two-wheeled adventure. From Ghasa, I rode on jeep track to reach Kalopani, from where I crossed the Kali Gandaki River and found myself on a beautiful singletrack trail that went along the river almost all the way to Jomsom. For the most part, this trail is easy to ride since there’s not much steep uphill or downhill. After a full day of riding, I made it to Kagbeni, where I settled in for the night.

After a cold night, I woke up early and began hiking at about 5:30am. Though the distance from Phedi to the top of the pass is only about 6 km, the net elevation gain is nearly 1200 metres, making the trail too steep to even push my bike. Instead, I hefted it onto my shoulders and carried it the whole way up, reaching the top nearly five hours later. The views from the top of the pass are amazing, and it’s the perfect vantage point to see how the ecology and climate shift from the very dry, barren, and vast landscape of Mustang, to the wetter, more colourful, and more topographically squashed landscape of Manang.

Doing the Annapurna Circuit in the clockwise direction is usually not recommended, due to the very rapid ascent from Kagbeni (2804 metres) towards the Thorung La (5416 metres).

I decided to spend an extra day acclimatising and rode up to Muktinath, from where a spectacular singletrack trail crosses down into the Lubra Valley.

The riding here is amazing, though a bit sketchy at times, with some very steep, slippery, and off-camber trails and a lot of tight switchbacks. The next day, I rode up towards Muktinath again, but continued a few more kilometres to stay at Muktinath Phedi (also called

From the Thorung La, I spent the full afternoon descending a net of almost 2000 metres to reach Manang village.

After five grueling hours of carrying my bike up to Thorung La, I could finally fly down the other side of the pass towards Manang. After descending towards Thorung High Camp, the valley views became dominated

by Annapurna III and Gangapurna, towering in the distance. Below my wheels, the trail gently flowed down, with the occasional steep, tight

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

35

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Mules carry supplies from Muktinath, across Thorung La, and down to the upper villages on the Manang side of the pass. Photo: Jocelyn Powelson.

switchback. I was careful to make sure I didn’t get going too fast or out of control on the slippery, loose gravel; I was completely alone and knew I was far from medical help. So, I took my time to enjoy the trail and the views.

There are many trails branching out from the Manang Valley, allowing for short side trips or an extended trip into the Naar Phu Valley. I decided to leave my bike in Manang and make the two-day return trek to Tilicho Lake, the highest lake of its size in the world, at 4920 metres. This is one of the most beautiful lakes I’ve ever seen, with water of the spectacular bluishturquoise colour that you can only find in glacier-fed lakes. This was definitely a very worthwhile side trip, and a good break from the bike saddle.

After returning to Manang from Tilicho Lake, I hopped back on my bike and enjoyed some final sections of singletrack trails, riding up to Ngawal and then down to Pisang. From Pisang, I got back onto the main jeep road and powered through the long final leg of the trip. Despite the net descent of over 2000 metres, this jeep track stretch was surprisingly exhausting, with plenty of long uphills, and rough, rocky downhills that left my hands and wrists sore from the vibrations through the bike.

After a full day of riding, I finally reached Besisahar, the ending point for my trip. The next day, I loaded my bike onto the roof of a microvan and arrived back in Kathmandu in the evening, exhausted, satisfied, and not at all excited to go back to the office the next morning.

36

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

After crossing Thorung La, I enjoyed a beautiful descent on fast, slippery singletrack down towards Manang village. Photo: Jocelyn Powelson.

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Countryside Cycling Tour in Nepal

Cycle Globally, Live Locally

Itinerary: Day 01: Cycling from Kathmandu to Nagarkot / Overnight Nagarkot Community Homestay Day 02: Start cycling from Nagarkot to Patlekhet -downhill / Overnight Patlekhet Community Homestay Day 03: After breakfast continue cycling to Panauti / Overnight Panauti Community Homestay Day 04: Cycling from Panauti to Pharping / Overnight Neydo Monastery Day 05: Cycling back to Kathmandu

For more detail, please contact:

Royal Mountain Travel - Nepal

P.O. Box: 8720 Lal Durbar Marg, Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: +977-1-4444376 / 78 / 79 Fax: +977-1-4444380 Email: info@royalmt.com.np URL: www.royalmt.com.np www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

37

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Lubra

The Hidden Bon Village of Lower Mustang

by Michael D. Smith and Yungdung Tsewang Gurung

Livelihoods in Lubra are traditionally based on agriculture and livestock rearing, but tourism and hospitality are growing. Photo: Jocelyn Powelson.

Recently, the families of Lubra organised a community homestay project called Mustang Bon Homestay Village, to support the preservation of the unique culture and traditions of Mustang, which are slowly being lost due to the pressures of modernisation and emigration abroad.

38

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

The Annapurna Circuit is one of the most popular trekking routes in the world. In 2017, a total of 158,000 international tourists visited the Annapurna Conservation Area, including a record 27,000 foreign trekkers. However, semi-arid Lubra village (also called Ludak), deep in the Panda Khola gorge of Lower Mustang on the south side of the Lubra Pass (roughly 4000 metres) from Muktinath, has until recently been seldom visited.

After the motor road was completed on the western bank of the Kali Gandaki River up to Muktinath in 2007, the Annapurna Alternative Trekking Trail has been developed, in conversation with local communities, including Lubra.

The idea behind the new trail was to provide a foot- trekking route away from the road traffic, to sustain tourism in the villages along the traditional Annapurna Circuit. Although most villages above Jomsom have road connectivity, Lubra still remains mostly unconnected, which allows visitors to enjoy the quiet sounds of the river and the village uninterrupted by the noise of motor vehicles.

Inside Bon Temple, Lubra Mustang, Nepal. Photo: Yungdung Tsewang Gurung.

The people of Lubra, who believe the village was founded in the late 12th century, have preserved their traditional way of life. This includes practice of the ancient Bon religion.

Lubra, with just fourteen families, is one of the few fully Bon villages in Nepal. According to local legend, the Bon Lama Yangton Tashi Gyaltsen came from Tibet via Dolpo and subdued the unruly local spirits, allowing the area to become suitable for human settlement. He planted a walnut tree as a divination to determine whether a village would flourish there. The ancient, gnarled walnut tree survives to this day.

Once tamed, the most powerful spirit among them hollowed out a sunny meditation cave on the hillside opposite the Panda Khola from modern-day Lubra as an offering to Yangton Tashi Gyaltsen, so he would have a suitable place for his practice. The name ‘Lubra’ refers to uniquely textured cliffs on that side of the Panda Khola, which look like snake skin, spread out and frozen in time on the rock face. Serpentine naga spirits are known as lu in the local Mustangi dialect of Tibetan, and bra (also pronounced dak), means rock cliffs.

Traditionally, people of Lubra built their houses with combined techniques of stacked foundation stones and rammed earth walls, topped with earthen roofs. As in other Baragaon and Thakali villages, they plaster the outer walls with red and white clay for decoration, and store firewood on the top edges of their flat roofs. Lubra belongs to one of the nineteen villages of the Baragaon region of Lower Mustang, which is commonly misunderstood to mean the ”twelve villages” that lie above Jomsom and below Lo Manthang (now referred to as Upper Mustang). Baragaon is a Nepali mispronunciation of the Mustangi word Bar Gun, which means “the area in between,” referring to the region sandwiched between Lo Manthang above and the Thak Khola Valley below.

Lubra village, Mustang, Nepal. Photo: Yungdung Tsewang Gurung.

Bon women in Lubra make offerings. Photo: Yungdung Tsewang Gurung.

As is the case all over the Himalayas, climate change has altered the water cycle, and over-grazing on the slopes above the Panda Khola has reduced the capacity of the mountainside to retain water, resulting in the loss of top soil due to erosion and more intense higher-level flooding. In the past five years or so, glacial runoff has been increasing rapidly, eating away at agricultural fields along the river bed. Nowadays, during flash floods, the river violently Lubra is a 12th century village located on the bank of the Panda Khola river of Lower Mustang, Nepal. Photo: Jocelyn Powelson.

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

39

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Horses above Lubra Mustang, Nepal. Photo: Yungdung Tsewang Gurung.

carves away at the banks below the village, causing field edges to be lost to the torrent. During the summer monsoon of 2017, dozens of square meters of farmland were washed away, along with a 70-year-old chorten, an important local religious monument.

Recently, the families of Lubra have organised a community homestay project called Mustang Bon Homestay Village, to support the preservation of the unique culture and traditions of Mustang, which are slowly being lost due to the pressures of modernisation and emigration abroad. By offering visitors homestay accommodations in the village, the community hopes to create an economic incentive for young entrepreneurs to both remain in the village and maintain local cultural and agricultural practices by involving visitors in unique local experiences.

Examples of such experiences include participating in local performances, mask dancing, cultural songs, and learning alongside traditional agricultural practices, which include planting and harvesting buckwheat, barley, maize, millet, potatoes, and other vegetables, kidney beans, fruit

40

trees such as apricots, walnuts, and apples, and animal husbandry with goats, horses, cows, sheep, chickens, and dzo, the common cross between a male yak and cow.

In the centre of Lubra village stands Yungdung Phuntsok Ling, an ancient Bon monastery with unique wall paintings and statues, where a five-day masked dancing festival occurs every September or October, depending on the lunar calendar. There are other Bon monasteries in Lower Mustang, such as in Kobang and Naurikot, but none are maintained in the ancient traditional way of hereditary priesthood such as in Lubra, where the eldest son of every family must strictly perform ritual duties and participate in prayers on auspicious days throughout the year. Due to this system, the local traditions have been well maintained in a way that is uncommon in the modern Himalayas.

When visiting Lubra, one should make time to sit in the small Bon temple on the mountainside above the village, called Gon Phuk, which means “winter cave.” It is the site of one of the natural

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

meditation caves where the founder of Lubra village spent many years in meditation retreat, which was later developed into a temple. From the temple, one can climb to see ancient meditation caves on the rock cliffs above the village, which are seldom visited.

As a side hike from Lubra, on a roughly two-hour walk north along the Panda Khola from Lubra village on the opposite side of the trail down from Lubra Pass, visitors can see the ruins of a Tibetan Khampa army camp, from where guerrilla operations were conducted against the Chinese in the 1960s. From Lubra, there is also a challenging shortcut to Tilicho Lake that is used by locals, accessed from the northwest by walking along the Panda Khola to its glacial source high in the Muktinath Himal on the north side of the Annapurna massif.

Whether visiting Lower Mustang by foot, bicycle, motorbike or flight, as a part of one’s pilgrimage to the holy temple of Muktinath, an interesting side trip to the hidden Bon village of Lubra is well worth it.

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

glimpse of

Grandeur NEPAL

COMFORT TOUR BRIEF ITINERARY Day 01: Arrival in Kathmandu Day 02: Sightseeing Tour - Bhaktapur City, Boudhanath and Panauti City; lunch with a local family Day 03: Sightseeing Tour – Patan Durbar Square, Golden Temple, Patan Museum & drive to Pharping Day 04: Early Morning Prayer ceremony at the monastery and drive to Kurintar Day 05: Drive from Kurintar to Chitwan followed by Village Walk and Cultural Show Day 06: Jungle Adventure in Chitwan National Park Day 07: Drive from Chitwan to Bandipur Day 08: Hike to Ramkot Day 09: Drive from Bandipur to Pokhara Day 10: Early morning Excursion to Sarankot, later boating in Phewa Lake & Hike to World Peace Pagoda Day 11: Free day in Pokhara for Individual activities Day 12: Flight to Kathmandu & later sightseeing tour - Pashupatinath Day 13: Free day in Kathmandu – A day on your own Day 13: Departure For more detail, please contact:

Royal Mountain Travel - Nepal

P.O. Box: 8720 Lal Durbar Marg, Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: +977-1-4444376 / 78 / 79 Fax: +977-1-4444380 Email: info@royalmt.com.np URL: www.royalmt.com.np www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

41

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Major Festivals of Nepal 2018-19 SEPTEMBER

02 2018

SEPTEMBER

24 2018

NOVEMBER

07 2018

NOVEMBER

09 2018

42

KRISHNA JANMASTAMI Krishna Janmastami marks the birth of Krishna. Considered the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Krishna is the most important character in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharat. On this day Hindu devotees visit Krishna temples. In particular, thousands of devotees gather at the stone Krishna Mandir in Patan Durbar Square.

INDRA JATRA Indra Jatra is the most important festival of Kathmandu city, associated with Hindu God Indra, the king of heaven. The festival lasts for three days, with a chariot procession of the deities Ganesh, Bhairav and the Kumari (the living goddess). It starts in Kumari House at Basantapur Durbar Square in Kathmandu, and travels around the old parts of Kathmandu.

OCTOBER

TIHAR Tihar is Nepal’s second most important festival, after Dashain. On each of the three days a different deity is worshipped: on the first day the crow, the messenger of Yama (the bringer of death); on the second, dogs, which are believed to be Yama’s custodian; and on the third, the goddess Lakshmi is worshipped, the bringer of wealth. Lakshmi is worshipped by lighting houses with oil lamps, candles and colourful lights.

NOVEMBER

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

10 2018

OCTOBER

24 2018

13 2018

DASHAIN Dashain is the most important festival to Nepalis. It is a celebration of good prevailing over evil. Most families offer male goats, ducks, chickens, eggs and coconuts to the goddess Durga.

People return to their home villages and spend the fifteen-day festival with their families. Large swings are set up for children, and from the tenth day, family members receive Tika (rice, red vermillion and yoghurt) on their foreheads from their elders.

CHHATH Chhath is the most important festival observed in the Terai region, and falls on the seventh day after Tihar. Devotees fast and make offerings to the sun by gathering at riverbanks. The Terai region is the best place to observe this festival, or the Rani Pokhari tank in central Kathmandu.

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

DECEMBER

30 2018

LHOSAR Lhosar is celebrated by Nepali ethnic groups who trace their history to Tibet, namely the Gurung, Tamang and Sherpa people. Lhosar is the first day of the new year, and each community celebrates the festival differently. Traditional dress is worn by young and old, and festivities held in cities and more remote regions.

JANUARY

15 2019

MARCH JANUARY

21 2019

MARCH

20 2019

BASANTA PANCHAMI On this day, devotees worship goddess Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge and creator of arts, education and music.

Basanta Panchami also marks the end of winter and beginning of spring.

HOLI Holi is a very colourful and playful festival. It is celebrated in the Terai on one day, and in Kathmandu and the hill regions on the next day. People smear coloured powders on their friends, relatives and family members, and throw coloured water and water balloons. It’s important not to take any valuables out with you on this day, unless they are sealed in a plastic bag!

04 2019

APRIL

05 2019

MAGHE SANKRANTI Maghe Sankranti is celebrated by Hindus, and symbolises a farewell to the cold winter nights. Devotees eat ghee, yams and sweets made from molasses, and clean their houses thoroughly. It ushers in the warmer spring season..

Maha Shivaratri ‘Shivaratri’ means the ‘night of Lord Shiva’.

Devout Hindus bathe early in the morning and fast on this day. They visit Shiva temples. The best place to witness the festival is at the Pashupatinath temple of Kathmandu, where thousands of Sadhus (Hindu holy men) gather and smoke marijuana and hashish, considered dear to Lord Shiva. People also drink Bhang, a drink made by mixing ground nuts, spices, herbs and extracts of marijuana into milk.

GHODE JATRA Ghode Jatra is important to the Kathmandu Valley, and is celebrated to ward off demon Gurumapa. It is said the soul of the demon still lives underground at Tundikhel. To prevent him from rising again, a horse race is organised on this day by the Nepal Army.

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

43

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

APRIL

14 2019

MAY

18 2019

AUGUST

20 2019

44

NEPALI NEW YEAR This is a major holiday in Nepal. A particularly lively place to spend the day is Bhaktapur, where the Bisket Jatra festival takes place. A huge chariot carrying the god Bhairab is pulled through the streets, ending with a chariot battle at Bhaktapur’s Khalna Tole.

BUDDHA JAYANTI (Buddha’s birthday) Buddha’s birthday falls on the first full day of the first month of the Hindu lunar calendar, and is celebrated by Hindus as well as Buddhists. It is observed at Buddhist shrines and monasteries throughout Nepal, but a particularly grand ceremony is held at Buddha’s birthplace in Lumbini, on the Terai. In Kathmandu, the Tibetan enclave of Boudhanath is a particularly good place to watch the festivities.

NAAG PANCHAMI Naag Panchami falls in the middle of the monsoon. It is a Hindu festival that worships the serpent god, Naag. Pictures of Naag are posted in doorways, and milk is offered to him. It is believed that worshipping Naag protects against snakebites. This festival marks respect to serpents as water guardians, and to ensure regular rainfall in the Kathmandu Valley.

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

APRIL

19 2019

MAY JUNE 2019

MATA TIRTHA AUSHI (MOTHER’S DAY) On this day, children (including adult children!) offer sweets, fruits and gifts to their mothers to show their respect and gratitude. Those whose mothers have passed away visit Matatirtha in the west of Kathmandu, take holy bath and make offerings in their mother’s memory of their deceased mothers.

RATO MACHCHHENDRANATH This is Nepal’s longest and largest festival, held in Patan. A large chariot is built on Pulchowk Road over several weeks, and finally the god Machchhendranath is placed inside.

Three days later, the chariot begins its procession all throughout Patan and wider Lalitpur, towards Bungamati.

Machchhendranath is the Newar god of rain, and the festival ushers in the monsoon.

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

w w w. n e y d o h o t e l . c o m

Tucked away in the Himalayas of Nepal’s Kingdom, amidst the most scenic area, there lies a Buddhist Monastery Guest-house in the most peaceful location alongside Neydo Tashi Choeling Monastery, just 22km or less than an hour’s drive from the heart of hectic Kathmandu. It is located in the southwest corner of the Kathmandu Valley close to Pharping. www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

45

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

COMMUNITY HOMESTAY.COM

Food and Fulfillment at the

Patlekhet Community Homestay

by Erin Green

A typical Nepali meal of rice, lentils, and vegetable curries. Photo: RMT.

If you stay at a Community Homestay, prepare to get fed. The matron of the house will greet you and tikka you, squeeze your hand and assess you.

She’ll offer you tea, she’ll ask about your family. She’ll tell you what time to be home for dinner because she is going to cook you up a Nepali meal to remember.

For the past several years, Royal Mountain Travel has been developing a program where both foreign and Nepali tourists can come and stay with families in their homes. The idea is to foster a reciprocal exchange of cultures, and to provide a livelihood for the villagers, especially women.

Guests can share and compare their lives while living as their homestay hosts do. Staying in a Nepali home is a much richer experience than staying in a hotel or guesthouse. Hotel staff can be distant, and menu options include

46

things like sub-par pizza, tacos, and inferior token Nepali set menus. If you want to understand Nepali life, you must eat family dal bhat.

If you ask the majority of Nepalis what food they’d like to be their last meal, a hefty percentage would say their mother’s dal bhat: rice, lentils, curried veggies, and pickled and preserved accompaniments. This is the meal most Nepalis eat together with their families, twice a day. To go without is unheard of. Even if Nepalis spend a day off with friends, eating substantial snacks for hours, the day is not complete without a sizeable portion of dal bhat. When you visit the Community Homestays, expect to consume a healthy portion of this meal. Wear loose fitting pants, because you’re going to be offered seconds.

The Community Homestay experience is about sustenance and togetherness.

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

It’s a chance to observe day to day Nepali life.

White-water rafting, paragliding and summiting mountains are incredible and unique adventures to undertake in Nepal. But if you want to learn about the normal Nepali day and what home life is like, you’re going to find it in the kitchen making achar (spicy pickles), in the barn milking cows, in the fields tending to the rice, in the temple offering puja, on the terrace drinking tea, or just about anywhere watching YouTube. (A teenager in a Patan homestay taught me how to download free movies; it changed my life.)

In addition to cultural exchange, the Community Homestay program has other aims. Women’s empowerment and gender equality, along with environmental and cultural preservation, are core values. The modern world has merged with Nepal’s traditional way of life rapidly. Enormous

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Black gram being ground the traditional way. Photo: RMT.

change can be seen in one generation.

In the villages you see mamas wrapped in saris slaving over stone slab mortars and pestles, grinding sesame seeds in wood-fired kitchens. Their daughters attend university in Kathmandu and study social sciences or management, wear tight jeans and heels to class, sleep in group dorms and eat meals mass produced in the cafeteria. It’s almost two different worlds.

The homestay project is giving the female heads of household more responsibilities. The homestays are registered in their names. This in turn provides women a bridge into business and revenue generation, and

facilitates collaboration with males and local businesspeople. Raja, my host in Nagarkot, holds English training workshops for the ladies of the village.

They learn basics in communication.

Raja’s mom was mastering cooking terms. She’s even contributed a new word to the vernacular. She insists that the word for ‘salt’ is ‘salty.’ As much as Raja tries to urge her to drop the ‘y,’ she’s not having it. To the dal, add one teaspoon of salty, and that’s final. I completely understand her.

In Patlekhet, the female homestay heads meet in the town hall to make crafts to sell for profit. I attended a leafbowl-making day: environmentally

friendly and attractive! The ladies collectively invest their profits and earn interest on them. They’ll distribute the funds whenever a member needs financial help, for things like medical bills, school fees, or home renovations.

The women are savvy and they’re demonstrating newly acquired skills.

Tourism also changes the traditional dynamic in the community. Tourists bring money, that is certain. Money creates and opens all kinds of doors, and sometimes it can be easy to get caught up in the pull of wealth down these corridors. The Community Homestay program focuses on how to keep this surge in village tourism Members of the community spin thread. Photo: RMT.

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

47

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Preparing eco-friendly leaf plates. Photo: RMT.

developing in a responsible and sustainable way, emphasizing tradition.

Out in Patlekhet, I was there on the day the rice planting period ended. In the evening I was in my room doing some computer work and waiting for dinner. Jivan, the 20-year-old son of the family was watching YouTube. The father, Keshav, told us to shut off our devices and go visit the neighbors. Something was happening.

So, Jivan and I got up and walked through the back trails to the neighbor’s house on the hillside. We met up with two other families involved in the homestay program who had Nepali university agriculture studies students staying with them. We ended up participating in an elaborate ceremony, asking protection for the rice.

An elderly man blew on a conch shell and a woman drummed on a reed shield. We all received tikkas, and finally, a bundle of wooden sticks was set alight. We took turns chucking them in all directions, sending any ill fortune far away, incinerated into the dark night.

The most amazement came from the 20-somethings in the group, including Jivan, who hadn’t experienced this ritual before. The community had decided that now was the perfect opportunity to rekindle this practice so it didn’t die out. The young adults were wideeyed, smiling and surprised. It’s not every day you throw flaming torches into the dark fertile abyss. We were all energized.

Jivan and I made our way home in the dark to his mama’s meal. The visiting students went back with their host families to dine, too. Jivan’s parents made sure everyone was home, that everyone had a full plate of food to eat. Tonight was dal baht with curried goat. We filled our stomachs, and assured his mother we’d had plenty. With a satisfied smile, she allowed us to leave the table and make our way to bed, announcing that breakfast was scheduled for 6:30am.

Get to know local women at the Community Homstays. Photo: RMT.

48

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Sightseeing

Tour

Kathmandu Route 1 Route: Boudhanath Stupa - Pashupatinath Temple - Patan Durbar Square Starting time: 10:00 AM Reporting time: 09:45 AM Meeting Place: RMT Office Building, Lal Durbar Marg Services included: English Speaking Tour Guide, Private AC Vehicle as per group size Guaranteed Departure: Every Saturday, Sunday & Monday Private Group Departure: Available if there is minimum 05 pax in a group

Kathmandu Route 2 Route: Bhaktapur City - Panauti Town Starting time: 09:45 AM Reporting time: 09:30 AM Meeting Place: RMT Office Building, Lal Durbar Marg Services included: English Speaking Tour Guide, Private AC Vehicle as per group size Guaranteed Departure: Every Saturday, Sunday & Monday Private Group Departure: Available if there is minimum 05 pax in a group

For more detail, please contact:

Royal Mountain Travel - Nepal

P.O. Box: 8720 Lal Durbar Marg, Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: +977-1-4444376 / 78 / 79 Fax: +977-1-4444380 Email: info@royalmt.com.np URL: www.royalmt.com.np

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

49

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

The Shortcut to

Kopra Danda

by Michael D. Smith

Kopra Danda is a ridge with magnificent views. Photo: Michael D. Smith.

“Visiting the waterfall on the walk back down to Tatopani from Narchyang is a magnificent way to complete the counter clockwise loop. It’s often considered to be the most spectacular waterfall on the Annapurna Circuit.”

Trekkers in Nepal who don’t have the luxury of time—or the luxury of a budget that allows them to charter a helicopter deep into the mountains—have many options for shorter Himalayan treks that get right into the mountains and off the beaten path. However, finding information on these can be challenging, as most trekking and tour agencies promote the same, popular routes.

Typically, Kopra Ridge (3660 metres) is approached from the southeast as the last portion of the Myagdi Community Trek originating in Beni, or the Annapurna Dhaulagiri Community Trail, originating farther to the southeast.

However, by traveling directly to Tatopani from Kathmandu, one can get to the uniquely epic view point at Kopra Danda in just a few days.

While those popular routes are recommendable, one side-effect is that most tourist dollars only benefit hotel owners and restaurateurs along those routes, rather than providing meaningful economic benefit to rural households is lesser-visited areas. Even places less than a day’s walk from the popular treks may rarely get visitors, despite having the key elements that travelers in rural Nepal seek: warm and friendly people, charming rural homesteads, natural beauty, a feeling of remoteness, and stunning mountain views that lift one’s mind and spirit beyond life’s ordinary concerns.

Day 1: Kathmandu to “Dana” Tatopani Bazaar, Myagdi District

One such short trek that can be accomplished from Kathmandu and back in a week or less is the Paudwar to Kopra Danda (Ridge) Trek.

50

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

Day 2: Tatopani to Paudwar Village Day 3: Paudwar Village to Kopra Danda Day 4: Kopra Danda to Narshyang or Paudwar Day 5: Narshyang or Paudwar to Tatopani Bazaar Day 6: Tatopani Bazaar to Pokhara Day 7: Pokhara to Kathmandu Day 1: Those pressed for time who cannot make an overnight stop in Pokhara or Beni can catch an early morning minibus to Beni from Kathmandu Ring Road, outside Balaju,

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

at 6am. The journey is at least eight hours, and you’ll reach Tatopani from Beni by dark. Tickets do not need to be purchased in advance. For those traveling from Pokhara first, buses to Beni depart regularly from Prithvi Chowk or Baglung Bus Park, about a threehour ride. From Beni, local taxis are available for the two-hour ride to “Dana” or ”Burung” Tatopani (elevation 1190 metres), which should not be confused with “Singha” Tatopani. The route follows the southwestern side of the traditional Annapurna Circuit route to Jomson and Muktinath. A number of trekkers’ lodges are available in Tatopani Bazaar, all close to the roadside hot springs. For those seeking a more rustic experience, a local homestay is available on the opposite side of the river, just before reaching the local hotsprings on foot.

One should enjoy the wonderful healing power of hot springs in the evening to work out the kinks from the long road travel.

Day 2: If you are not already on the Narshyang side of the Kali Gandaki, anyone in Tatopani can point out the way to cross the river, either at the suspension bridge or at the steel bridge. After the bridge, the trail turns right, passes the local hot springs, and ascends for a four to five-hour climb to the scenic traditional Magar village of Paudwar.

Paudwar (elevation 2000 metres) has exceptional stonework. The labyrinthine paths, winding staircases, and attractive houses are some of the best surviving examples of Nepali stonework. Many houses are at least 80 years old (built since the major earthquake of 1934), and utilise a unique system of seismicresistant wooden locks and pins that bind the tops of walls to beams. The people of Paudwar are well-known for being friendly and industrious, and one can arrange a local homestay by inquiring at the Paudwar Secondary School. Otherwise, the Dhaulagiri Lodge is quite homely, with a good menu. Cheese is available at the local cooperative cheese factory.

Day 3: The six-hour walk from Paudwar village to Kopra Danda (3660 metres) begins with a steep climb through cow pasture and bamboo forest, then wraps around the hillside into the Jarbhang Valley, uninhabited except for a buffalo camp and local teahouse at Loreni, about two hours above Paudwar.

From Loreni, the trail enters a oldgrowth rhododendron forest, which explodes with large red, pink, purple, and white rhododendron blossoms

This waterfall is considered the most spectacular on the Annapurna Circuit. Photo: Michael D. Smith.

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

51

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

in March and April. The final few hours’ climb gradually ascends to Kopra Danda, which was only visited by yak herders and the occasional tent trekking expedition until local villages organised the building and operation of the Kopra Community Lodge a few years ago.

Proceeds support the local schools.

The panoramic view at Kopra Danda is truly extraordinary. The entire Dhaulagiri Range stands as a mountain temple to the west, and Nilgiri Himal, Bahra Chuli and Annapurna South totally dominate the northern view. To the south, the sun and clouds play a game of colours throughout the day. For those with an extra day, Khayer Lake (4650 metres) is sacred to the local Magar community and worth a magical day hike, where one can find remote wildlife and more incredible mountain views.

Day 4: Satisfied with the view from Kopra and a night at high altitude, visitors may choose from a number of trails for the hike out. The quickest way is to drop back down to Paudwar to Tatopani, in one long day, with a lunch stop in Paudwar. Otherwise, a longer day’s hike northwest along the ridge toward Dhaulagiri Himal continues to reveal gorgeous views, before descending to the Upper Narchyang village, where one can spend the night, or walk another hour back to Tatopani.

Day 5: Visiting the waterfall on the walk back down to Tatopani from Narshyang is a magnificent way to complete the counterclockwise loop. It’s often considered to be the most spectacular waterfall on the Annapurna Circuit. Back in Tatopani, don’t miss a welldeserved soak in the natural hot springs, relaxing amidst the surging power and gentle roar of the famous Kali Gandaki River. From Tatopani one can easily catch a bus, jeep or taxi back to Pokhara or Kathmandu to celebrate an amazing trek. However, for those with more time, there are numerous adventures that await in all directions from Tatopani. For those who came back via Paudwar, the Narshyang waterfall should not be missed.

The Dhaulagiri Range is visible from the Kopra Danda trek. Photo: Michael D. Smith.

A small temple sits beneath the waterfall. Photo: Michael D. Smith.

Since Kopra Danda falls within the Annapurna Conservation Area, an ACAP permit should be obtained for all foreign trekkers, in addition to a TIMS (Tourist Information Management System) card, both available at the Nepal Tourism Board Office in Bhrikuti Mandap by Ratna Park in Kathmandu or in Damside, Pokhara. There is a TIMS card checkpost just before Tatopani Bazaar. However, as there is no ACAP permit checkpost on the route from Tatopani Bazaar to Kopra Danda, it may not be necessary to obtain.

As always with trekking in the mountains, it is strongly advisable to travel with a guide, never trek alone, let others know your itinerary before departure, and plan accordingly for weather, altitude, and other potential hazards. Happy and safe trekking!

Layered mountain views in the Annapurna Himalaya. Photo: Michael D. Smith.

52

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

SAY “CHEESE”

Tharu woman with her child posing for a photo, Bardia, Nepal.

Photo: RMT.

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

53

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

A Road Trip to

MUSTANG

by Ynske Boersma

The rugged road to Upper Mustang. Photo: Ynske Boersma.

“The jeep trip may be quicker than walking but it´s no less adventurous as we discover when our vehicle crosses the fast-flowing river through the valley, the water up to the bonnet.”

54

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Night is falling in Lo Manthang. The city’s elderly are walking their daily round spinning the many prayer wheels along the city walls, humming om mane peme hum and carrying pots of burning incense. The narrow streets are occupied by sully cows, driven forward by tough Tibetan ladies slapping the cows’ buttocks. Then a roaring sound comes near and a bunch of horses enters the city gate at top speed, almost running us over.

“The King’s horses,” a local monk tells us proudly. “They come back to spend the night in the Royal Palace’s stables.”

Lo Manthang is the walled capital of Upper Mustang, in the north of Nepal.

The history of Mustang back to the end of the 14th century, when a Tibetan warlord called Ame Pal founded the Buddhist Kingdom of Lo. Thanks to its location alongside the Salt Route, an old trade route connecting India and Tibet, the kingdom would soon flourish. But at the end of the 18th century the kingdom was incorporated into Nepal and slowly fell into oblivion, hidden behind the mountain ranges of the Himalaya.

Because of its location on an isolated rugged plateau hidden behind snowcapped Himalayan giants, and because it managed to keep the Chinese outside its borders over the past century, Upper Mustang is considered to be one of the best-preserved examples of Tibetan culture in the world. Until 1992 it was forbidden for foreigners to enter the area, and access is still restricted to those willing to pay the permit to visit.

Our hostess preparing our food. Photo: Ynske Boersma.

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

55

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Until a few years ago, Lo Manthang was even only accessible on foot, says the young monk, who introduces himself as Kunga Lama. “It was a three-day walk to Jomsom, the nearest town in this area.” How was that, to be so shut off from the outside world? “It was a great time for me. All my friends lived close by. We enjoyed the silence, and we had the nature as our playing ground.”

When we enter the medieval fortress city we actually do feel thrown back into the Middle Ages. The tiny city is a densely built labyrinth of whitewashed houses made of mud and stone, with narrow alleys like little tunnels. On a square in the middle of the labyrinth, the city’s elderly gather to warm themselves in the

56

afternoon sun. The women are spinning their miniature prayer wheels, combing sheep wool, and making braids in each others’ long hair.

But as in all parts of the modernising world, also here change is coming.

The Chinese and Nepali governments are planning to construct a highway to connect the two countries, right through Mustang, following the old Salt Route. When the road will be ready, it will be the most accessible road through the Himalaya, with inevitable changes for the life of the Loba.

In the past decade, the rough version of the road has been bulldozed from the mountains. This dirt road connects Lo Manthang with the nearest city of

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

Pokhara, in the tracks of the old trade route, and continues north to the Chinese border. Although for the time being it is only accessible to jeeps and tractors, the road has meant a huge leap forward for the residents of Mustang, with travel times reduced from several days to six hours.

The road also means that the area is more accessible to travelers.

Most Mustang visitors opt for a trek through the area, staying overnight in guesthouses along the route or camping. With the ten-day permit, you can just make it to Lo Manthang and back to Kagbeni, the entrance to the former Kingdom. Therefore, we decided to travel part of the way by jeep. This saved us time to explore

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

The ancient town of Kagbeni is the gateway to Upper Mustang. Photo: Ynske Boersma.

villages further off the track, and get a better impression of the life of the Loba, at the crossroads of change to modernity.

But when departing from Pokhara we realised that the ‘forbidden’ kingdom is more difficult to reach than we thought.

Because of the strong winds, the tiny plane that would take us to Jomsom — the starting point for the journey through Upper Mustang — is kept on the ground. Being on a tight schedule, we have no other option than to take a taxi, a nine-hour ride on an unpaved road through the mountains. The vehicle, a Suzuki Alto, gets stuck in the mud several times. Late at night and utterly exhausted, we arrive in Jomsom, where early the next day

we continue our road trip with a jeep, entering Upper Mustang at nearby Kagbeni.

The jeep trip may be quicker than walking but it’s no less adventurous as we discover when our vehicle crosses the fast-flowing river through the valley, the water up to the bonnet.

Then the road winds through the mountains, higher and higher, along ever-deeper abysses, and over arid high plains where only short grasses survive, scorched by the brightest sun.

Surrounded by rocks carved out by rain, sun and wind in the form of pointed ochre, terracotta, and blue turrets and further away the 7000-metre high peaks of the Himalayas, you can do nothing but feel small and marvel at

the wonders of nature in this remote corner of the world.

The life of the Loba is like a spiritual battle against that wild nature, which they regard as divine. Wherever you look you will find the symbols and rituals used by the inhabitants to appease their gods. At the entrance of every village is a chorten, a red and white painted building with relics of Buddhist clerics to keep evil spirits at bay, and on each mountain pass you’ll encounter a pole with prayer flags, of which the Tibetans believe the wind will take the mantras printed on the flags, and spread them in the universe.

Normally about 6000 people live in Upper Mustang. But now it is almost

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

57

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

winter, and it gets so cold at these altitudes that those who can afford it descend to warmer places, usually to do seasonal work. In the village of Ghemi, a jumble of some forty houses, with large stacks of firewood on the roofs for the coming winter, we meet the 23-year-old Yantzing. Her husband has left for India, leaving her behind with their six-month-old baby Tenjing.

“But isn’t that lonely?” we ask. Yantzing shrugs. “I have to take care of the animals,” is her simple answer, warming herself in the morning sun.

In the morning we wake up to the singing of men working their land. Their plow is pulled by a dzo, which is a yak crossed with a cow. The traffic consists of cows exiting the city walls on their way to the grassy plains, and a herd of goats driven along by an old man with antique sunglasses. A student monk walks out with a cup of tea and throws it over the roof of the temple. A sacrifice to the gods, explains the teenager in sweatpants, while the lamas inside begin with their seven-hour ceremony.

We enter the Lo-Ghyekar Temple, the

oldest in Upper Mustang built in the eighth century. According to legend, it was here that Guru Rinpoche, who brought Buddhism to Upper Mustang, murdered a reluctant demon after he had chased him out of neighbouring Tibet. Finally they constructed this temple, on top of the heart of the unfortunate demon. The monastery guard takes us to the back, where candles are burning on an altar in a pitch-dark room. We also light one, quietly standing in front of the altar, feeling awed by centuries of spirituality surrounding us.

We find it very difficult to imagine a highway through this rugged land. If the demons will allow for that, at least.

• The best times to go are autumn and spring. Winters are very cold at these altitudes (around 4000 metres), and though Mustang is not affected by the monsoon season, it can be difficult getting to the region.

• Basic lodges are available in most villages across the central part of

Mustang. The same places also provide meals. Nights can be very cold so you may want to bring thermal underwear.

• Mustang is an extremely remote region, with almost no phone coverage, no banks, hardly any health posts, no clean water and harsh weather. Be prepared and you will have an incredible journey.

• Travelers to Upper Mustang need to pay a considerable fee of US$500 per person for a ten-day period. A TIMS card and Annapurna Conservation Area permit are also required. It is forbidden to trek independently in Upper Mustang.

• We hired a private jeep and driver in Jomsom, in Lower Mustang.

Another possibility is going back from Lo Manthang to Jomsom in a shared jeep, which is cheaper and most likely you will share the vehicle with locals.

The Kali Gandaki River weaves through the Kali Gandaki Gorge. Photo: Ynske Boersma.

58

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Daily yoga classes Yoga Workshops Yoga Retreats www.pranamaya-yoga.com 59 www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Sherpa Culture and Spirituality in the Thangme Valley

by Michael D. Smith

Large mani stones are seen throughout the Thame Valley. Photo: Elen Turner.

While the Everest Base Camp trek is a classic, for trekkers in the region who wish to encounter traditional Sherpa agricultural life and quiet expressions of Himalayan and Tibetan Buddhist spirituality, there are alternate trips in the Everest Region of the Khumbu. For those on the EBC itinerary, plan an extra day or overnight hike west from Namche Bazaar through the Thangme (Thame) Valley. Many trekkers visit this valley as it is a good place to acclimatise before heading to higher elevations. If making the walk to Thangme from Namche a day trip, it is advisable to depart as early as possible to provide ample time to explore Thangme village and the gompa (monastery) before returning to Namche. But, if possible, it’s best to stay the night in Thangme or Thamo and continue trekking north via the shortcut to Khumjung the following day.

Since 2003, I have enjoyed four trips up the Thangme Valley, and observed Himalayan tahr (a large majestic wooly mountain goat), white-bellied musk deer, countless Himalayan monal (large pheasants, of which the males

60

are very colourful like peacocks), domestic animals such as yaks and dri (a cross between a yak and a cow), and other birds and wildlife. One November I trekked three weeks from Jiri up to Thangme and back down to Salleri, escaping the crowds for an unforgettable private and spiritual adventure. Sherpas have long believed the Thangme Valley is the entrance to a Beyul, or “Hidden Valley”, a safe, fertile and spiritual home for sincere seekers. Walking up from Jiri or Salleri is highly recommended for the solitary views, charming remote homesteads, enchanting forests, delicious local cuisine, out-of-the-way temples and monasteries, and constantly changing local cultural scenes in the lower Solu Valley villages populated with Sherpa, Tamang, Rai and other groups.

To enter the Thangme Valley, climb west out of Namche Bazaar by the Namche gompa, along the well-worn trail that weaves through large mantra stones up on the ridge. Enjoy the view of the Himalayan ‘metropolis’ of Namche and proceed along the path that follows

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

the valley. Once you pass the western ridge of the Namche bowl, the path becomes less steep, a pleasant and gradual ‘Nepali flat’. The trail continues above the Bhote Koshi, a river that originates at the Tibetan border below the Nangpa La (Pass) and a tributary of the Dudh Koshi (not to be confused with the Bhote Koshi further west in Sindhupalchowk District). Don’t worry about packing lunch as there are small teahouses in Thamo and Thangme.

Along the way, the track passes beautiful restored stupas on each ridge, and bubbling clear creeks in each small valley. After roughly two hours, the trail rounds a bend and enters the village of Thamo, which means ‘warm place’ in Sherpa, as it sits along a south-facing valley that provides ample sunshine and protection from wind. From this vantage point, the remnants of landslides are visible, caused by the catastrophic 1985 Dig Tsho Glacial Lake Outburst Flood, which wiped out the almost complete Namche Small Hydroelectric Project and more than a dozen farmhouses down-river of Thangme.

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Thamo is home to the headquarters of the Khumbu Bijuli Company (KBC), the cooperative micro-hydro electric provider for 18 villages in the Khumbu Valley, and owned jointly by three community groups broken down geographically. Developed with the assistance of the Austrian government and fully turned over to local management in 1999, KBC was one of the first cooperatively owned and locally managed electric companies in Nepal, and has served as a model of inclusive economic development.

KBC’s powerhouse lies across the river from Thamo on the southern bank of the Bhote Koshi in Hungo village (3600 metres). Since most transmission lines are buried underground to maintain the valley’s pristine photogenic views, and the powerhouse was built to mimic a traditional Sherpa house, most trekkers don’t even realise there is a hydroelectric plant here! KBC also spearheads a number of sustainable development and environmental programmes in the area, including a high-altitude nursery and drinking water projects.

Be sure to stop at Ang Maya’s Lodge in the center of Thamo village for a delicious cup of salty, buttery Sherpa tea (think of it more as a broth!) that provides the fat, energy and salt needed to stay hydrated in the high alpine climate. Then, visit the recently renovated Khari Ganden Tenphel Ling Ani Gompa (‘Nunnery of Sky Mountain, Joyful Island Spreading the Dharma’), at the top of Thamo village, just before the path continues westward to Thangme.

The nunnery was established in 1963 on donated land by the Khari Rinpoche Lobsang Tsultrim, a revered Buddhist master who fled from the original Khari Gompa in Tibet via the Nangpa La. The nunnery is home to about 30 Buddhist nuns who maintain a rigorous daily routine of prayers and meditation, which are open to the public.

The handsome new prayer hall was consecrated and opened in November 2014, after over fifteen years of laborious construction work, primarily performed by the nuns themselves.

A unique aspect of the prayer hall is the three main statues of the Buddha Sakyamuni, Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava, and Je Tsongkapa.

The Khari Rinpoche enjoyed a close connection with Trulzhig Rinpoche, who founded the Thupten Choling Gompa above Junbesi and became the most important teacher for the Sherpa people, often providing protection and blessings to mountaineers before attempting dangerous summits such as Chomo Langma (Mount Everest).

Another unique hermitage, the Lawudo Gompa is perched about ninety minutes’ walk above Thamo at 4000 metres, backed by imposing granite boulders in a sea of juniper trees. It is well known to followers of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, the Abbot of the Kopan Gompa in Kathmandu, a wellknown international Buddhist teacher.

Visit Lawudo to acclimatise, sit quietly in the holy cave, and experience the peaceful surroundings of a secluded mountain hermitage. For those who wish to spend some time in retreat, Lawudo offers retreat rooms for longterm meditation practice.

From Thamo, continue walking roughly two hours west to Thangme village and Thangme Gompa. The trail follows the river upstream through juniper and pine forests, by waterfalls, paintings of mantras and Buddhist images, and eventually crosses the Bhote Koshi on a suspension bridge over an impressive raging torrent of glacial runoff. After the bridge, the trail ascends the southern side of the valley to the hamlet of Thangme (3800 metres), which means ‘Lower Plain’, referring to the large flat area where the Bhote Koshi turns west

Namche Monastery, on the way to the Thame Valley. Photo: Elen Turner.

from its northern origin, settled due to its suitability as pasture and farmland.

The Thangme Gompa Dechen Chokhor Ling (‘Dharma Wheel of Great Bliss’) was established by the legendary Buddhist master Rolpe Dorje in the 17th century, and lives up to its high name. At roughly 4000 metres, the affecting power of the spectacular view from the gompa, tucked into the imposing cliffs, and the almost 500-year-old temple itself, is palpable and unforgettable. Almost thirty monks reside there, who perform traditional lifecycle and blessing rituals for the local Sherpa households. Each year in May or June (depending on the Tibetan lunar calendar), the monks at Thangme perform the famous Mani Rimdu festival and sacred lama dancing known as cham, to inspire virtue in the minds of the community members and dispel demonic forces.

There is a small restaurant with a big view just below the Thangme Gompa, so make time for a snack before turning around or continuing upward.

From Thangme, the path along the Bhote Koshi turns north toward Renjo La (5340 metres), one of the famous passes crossed on the Three Passes Trek of the Upper Khumbu, and eventually reaches the Nangpa La, on the traditional trade route to the Tibetan highlands.

Rather than swiftly returning to Namche, trekkers can pick from a number of charming and quiet familyrun guesthouses that have mostly been rebuilt after the earthquakes of April and May 2015, as well as guesthouses in Thamo. After all, why rush through an enchanting hidden valley with deep history beneath every step, rich culture around every corner, and stunning mountain views all along the way?

Khumjung village in the Khumbu region. Photo: Elen Turner.

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

61

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Kailash & Mansarovar Lake Photo: Ashok Sah.

62

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

63

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

The Honey Hunters of Nepal

by Hemanta Bhandari

In the foothills of the Nepal Himalaya lives a brave tribe of Gurung people who risk their lives climbing up cliffs to harvest honey from one of the biggest and most dangerous honey bees in the world. This tradition dates back hundreds of years, and holds great religious and cultural importance to the people who live here.

From Kathmandu we made the long journey to Tanje village, home to 200 people and protected by thick jungle.

Most of the inhabitants are farmers, cultivating rice, corn, and vegetables for their own use. For income, they shear wool from the sheep and produce handmade clothes and mattresses.

Hunters must climb up to the hives to release the honey. Photo: 4AM.

64

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

The honey hunters live deep in the Himalaya. Photo: 4AM.

Men gather to collect the honey. Photo: 4AM.

The hives are built high into nooks in the cliffs. Photo: 4AM.

Special ropes are prepared. Photo: 4AM.

Creating the fires needed to smoke out the bees. Photo: 4AM.

Smoke causes the bees to leave their hives, leaving them vacant so honey can be collected. Photo: 4AM.

According to the local people, about 200 years ago, two tribes of Gurung and Ghale people left Tibet and settled here. They started to collect wild honey from the steep cliffs and began trading it.

We observed 18 daredevil climbers. A few of them prepared the ropes made of braided strips of bamboo. Some made the ladder, which is comprised of these ropes. The hunters told us that the honey reaches its highest quality in May and June, so we were there at the right time. Despite concerns that the traditional techniques of honey hunting might be in danger, the men we spoke to believe it will be kept alive by the younger generations. www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

65

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

A honey hunter waits patiently as he creates the smoke that will remove the bees from their hives. Photo: 4AM.

Hunters wear protective clothing (and smoke cigarettes) to protect themselves from bee stings. Photo: 4AM.

The honey is collected in pots and strained into storage bottles. Photo: 4AM.

The honeybees have made their beehives on gigantic cliffs. They collect nectar from poisonous flowers in the jungle, and convert that nectar into honey that has medicinal, amorous, and hallucinogenic properties.

The hunters respect the spirits of the forest, so they first perform a ceremony to placate the cliff gods. They sacrifice a chicken, offer flowers, fruit and rice, and pray to the spirits for a safe hunt.

The hunters wear masks like mosquito nets to protect their faces from the risk of stings. A group at the base of the cliff starts creating smoke by lighting a fire. Another group suspends a ladder from the top of a cliff.

One honey hunter is fastened to the ladder by a rope. He slowly descends, waiting for the smoke to drive the thousands of bees out of their hives. As the hunter reaches the hive to be harvested, a large woven basket is lowered to him and the exposed honeycomb falls into the basket. The group on the base of the cliff receives the honey-filled basket and pours it into the strainer, where the impurities are filtered out. When this is complete, the basket is sent back to the hunter up the cliff.

66

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Hiking Route:

Sanga to Panauti or Panauti to Sanga (10 Kms.)

BASDOL RESORT

SAMUDAYIK SAVING & CREDIT

PANAUTI

SANGA KHARIBOT MAHENDRA JYOTI

GANESHSTHAN

DHAD GAUN

For More Details, Please contact:

communityhike.com

Lal Durbar, Durbar Marg, Kathmandu, Nepal +977 1 4444376 /78 / 79 info@communityhike.com www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

67

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

COMMUNITY HOMESTAY.COM

Family, the Core of Community in Nepal

by Erin Green

Bastola Gaun, where the Nagarkot Community Homestay is located. Photo: RMT.

Nepalis are surprised when they find out I live alone in Kathmandu, that my family is in America. Women don’t live alone here. Hardly anybody lives alone here. Nepalis live together in multi-generational homes, cooking and eating and sharing the space. I had the chance to experience this integrated lifestyle, sharing a day with the Bastola family. My experience at their Community Homestay in Nagarkot, about ninety minutes outside of Kathmandu, fulfilled the family togetherness factor times 100.

As soon I arrived in the village I met Raja, the 25-year-old son, who showed me the ropes throughout my stay. I had a few questions, mainly about who lived in this community.

Raja told me, “We’re all Bastolas. We all have the same name. Everyone is related.

Everyone is my uncle or my auntie.”

68

The area has 23 homes and a few hotels, and everyone has the same surname.

The members of the community are all family, related through a web of uncles, aunts and grandparents. The only new blood that comes into the town are young wives, usually from arranged marriages. Other than that, every shopkeeper, land owner, hotel owner is genetically connected.

I asked Raja if it was his time to get married, since 25 is about the average age in Nepal to do so. But he wasn’t diving in just yet. “No, not now. Now I help my family and our village. These are my hard years to work. Until 40.”

Before the earthquake, 13 homes participated in the Community Homestay program in Bastola Gaon, but now there are just three. Ruins from demolished homes still remain throughout the area, some converted to cow sheds or storage spaces. But several new family homes have been completed, and the government is on a push to distribute long-promised rebuilding funds. Raja’s family has completed their new home, which has four floors, is solid, with captivating views from every room (even the bathrooms) over fertile fields and valleys. When the monsoonal clouds lift, the Himalayan range is right there.

Raja feels that it’s his duty to help get his community. It’s been three years since the 2015 earthquakes. Nepali communities countrywide, including Bastola Gaon, are starting to find their feet on firmer ground again.

The Bastolas hope that next season, business will pick up and benefit from tourism once again. Raja is helping make this happen. Since women are a huge part of Nepali families, and thus an important component of the

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

A child playing on a homemade swing in Bastola Gaon. Photo: RMT.

homestay program, Raja is helping everybody get involved.

“I teach the English classes to the women so they can communicate with the foreigners. It’s about one to two hours a day for 45 days.” They learn basic greetings, conversational language, and most importantly cooking terms—the language Nepali ladies use daily.

It’s important work, Raja knows. But still, he’s thinking of going abroad to make money. This is common around Nepal, meaning a huge chunk of the young workforce leaves the country.

Lots of Raja’s friends have left. But for now, he’s still in the village, helping to promote Bastola Gaon.

While I was with the community, Raja was an exceptional listener and an adaptable host. He was up for anything, and ready to take me on hikes to the dramatic waterfalls in the area, or take the local bus five kilometres away, to the Panchamahalaxmi Temple.

But after arriving from a bumpy drive from dusty Kathmandu, I was tired. I looked up at the cloudy skies, felt the moisture in the air, and stared out at the bright shades of emerald of the Bhaktapur Valley all around us. I asked if we could just have lunch and relax.

Raja asked, “Lunch? You didn’t eat lunch?” It was 11:45 am.

A typical home in Bastola Gaon.. Photo: RMT.

“Not yet. Was I supposed to? Did you?

When’s the next time you’re going to eat?”

“We ate dal bhat at 10 am. We’ll have rice again at 8 pm.”

Me, sheepishly, “Oh. Um. Can we please have lunch?” I felt so awkward. I didn’t realise I’d be fed enormous amounts of food over the next three days, and at the time, I was hungry.

Luckily Raja’s face brightened right up. He told me he loves to cook, so he skillfully whipped me up smooth dal, a bit of cumin-spiked potato curry, spicy tomato pickle and rice. He sliced up a freshly picked cucumber and it was

Have fun with your host family at the Nagarkot Community Homestay. Photo: RMT.

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

69

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

A popular activity at the homestays is cooking with the host women. Photo: RMT.

perfect. Raja didn’t join me, though. I asked him how he could manage not to eat between 10am and 8pm. He told me that he’d have a snack. In all my years here, I cannot adapt to the Nepali meal schedule. I was so grateful for that midday meal.

Together we modified our day’s itinerary. It was leech season and neither of us wanted to get bloody by walking through the jungle to any waterfalls. We’d also both been up watching the World Cup finals the night before, and were happy to take it easy. It wasn’t raining, but it was pretty hot. We decided to stroll through the village. Raja had plenty of stories to tell.

We walked through corn plants that were eight feet high, growing next to skinny green beans, potato patches, onions and scarecrows. Raja told me that when it’s time to harvest, all the manpower of the community comes together, moving from field to field collecting the goods. This system is becoming endangered as the young workforce continues to go abroad.

We ended up at the family’s local temple, where Raja told me stories of the gods, like Hanuman the flighty

70

monkey. Hanuman forgot which medicinal herb he was urgently tasked to fetch from the hilltop because he was playing with buddies he met along the way. Luckily, he was pretty strong, so he brought the entire hill back to his father so he could pluck the healing herb himself. These stories flowed freely from Raja, stories passed down from his mother and father.

In the afternoon we sat with his uncle, the temple caretaker, took some photos, and listened to the quiet. A little later we walked to a viewpoint high above the river that was roaring, swollen, below us, hidden by the thick green leaves of monsoon. We watched a husband and wife team, his distant cousins, adeptly collecting turpentine from pine trees, using an intricate system of funnels and slash marks in the tree bark. Raja said next time I come I can bring some friends, beers and a picnic and while away the afternoon here. I agreed that was a fine idea. It was wonderfully calming to be out of Kathmandu.

On the walk home we met more of Raja’s cousins. A group of bubbly kids came by and gave us candies because it was one of the little ladies’

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

birthdays. We met the yoga teacher, his uncle, who would teach me the next day. He stopped in for a tea on the terrace. The president of the local homestay committee, another cousin, stopped by for tea too. We sat on small stools as the sun set over greater Bhaktapur. Hunch-backed 78-yearold Grandpa came home from the temple, and Raja’s incredibly friendly father, a retired police officer, joined us too. It was nearing 8pm and every other household nearby was preparing dinner. The whole of Bastola Gaon smelled aromatic.

It came to me in a wave again, the family aspect. “So, all of these people around us are all related to you, aren’t they?” I asked.

“Yes. Yes they are. They are my uncles, aunties, brothers, cousins. My family.

We’re all Bastolas here.”

Then we all sat down together on the terrace to his mother’s meal of rice, dal and local greens, complemented by spicy cucumber and sesame pickle. There was a serenity in knowing that everyone, all the Bastolas in this community, were sharing meals together.

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

The romance of bygone era...

...the delight of tasteful cuisine.

Bricks Cafe is a multi-cuisine restaurant located in Lalitpur - offering a wide range of food menu, but prominently renowned for divine Nepalese flavor, which arrives in authentic hospitality.

The building of Bricks Cafe was built during the Rana era, and that classical, intimate, warm ambience is still evident today in the attic seating, sun deck couches, rich garden, and shady porch.

Please drop by to the Bricks Cafe and comfort your taste buds. We serve every day from 12pm to 10pm.

Kupondole, Lalitpur, 5521756 The Romance Of Nepal a Bygone Era info@brickscafe.com.np

Login to www.facebook.com/Bricks.Cafe1 for more updates

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

71

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

72

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Namtso Lake, Tibet Photo: Ashok Sah.

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

73

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Packing Tips for Tibet

by Elen Turner

The Potala Palace and shopping area of Lhasa. Photo: Elen Turner.

Travelling to Tibet is quite different from travelling in other parts of the Himalayan region, as it’s necessary to go on a guided tour. You’ll have a guide and driver, so won’t need to heave your own heavy backpack around to get on and off buses or into taxis, as you might in Nepal. Therefore, packing for Tibet is a little different. Here are some things you’ll need to pack for Tibet:

74

•

A small wheeled suitcase (not a backpack)

•

Many layers: cotton t-shirt, thin polyester-blend sweater, thicker woolen sweater, down coat, gloves, scarf, hat

•

Moisturiser and lip balm

•

Sunscreen

•

Sunglasses

•

Walking shoes and casual shoes

•

Warm pyjamas

•

Travel pillow for the car

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Tibet Tour

ITINERARY Day 01: Arrival in Lhasa | Day 02: Visit Drepung, Norbulinka and Sera Day 03: Visit Potala and Jokhang – Barkhor | Day 04: Lhasa | Day 05: Yamdrok Tso – Gyantse Day 06: Pelkor – SakyaGompa-Shegar | Day 07: Rombuk | Day 08 Shigatse | Day 09: Tashilumpo Day 10: Departure NOTE: From 2018, if the land border between Nepal and China opens, trip will end in Kathmandu by overland journey.

For more detail, please contact:

Royal Mountain Travel - Nepal

P.O. Box: 8720 Lal Durbar Marg, Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: +977-1-4444376 / 78 / 79 Fax: +977-1-4444380 Email: info@royalmt.com.np URL: www.royalmt.com.np www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

75

Momo

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Cooking Class

LEARN ONCE COOK FOREVER Despite having a vague history of its origin, Momo has become a traditional delicacy of Nepal, over the years, since decades. Learn to cook - delicious - Momo like a typical Nepalese, but under Tibetan hospitality at the Tashiling Homestay in Pokhara, and treat yourself from this quick-learned skill forever.

Contact Us:

Royal Mountain Travel-Nepal

76

PO Box 8720, Lal Durbar Marg, Kathmandu, Nepal Phone: +977-1-4444376 / 78 / 79, Fax: +977-1-4444380 Email: info@royalmt.com.np, Web: royalmt.com.np www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

by Anisha Mandal

A cluster of traditional log houses that comprise the village of Markot. Photo: Anisha Mandal.

We were used to Eid festivities in the rest of the Indian subcontinent being full of exhilaration, with throngs gathering in shrines, and people loudly and joyfully celebrating. But, watching Eid being celebrated in Gurez was a calming and peaceful experience.

The Gurez Valley, tucked between the belligerent sides of Nanga Parbat, is a tiny part of a region known as Dardistan. The ancient land of the Dardic Aryan tribe stretches across both Pakistan and India, and its capital, the village of Dawar, is situated in the Gurez Valley. In the northern part of Indian Administered Kashmir, the unacquainted might presume that this place is dangerous. But, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

July was a month of celebration for Muslims as they prepared to celebrate the holy festival of Eid, which marks the end of the month of fasting, Ramadan, and the first day of the Islamic month of Shawwal. Kashmir is a Muslim-majority state known for its breathtaking landscapes. It’s been called “heaven on earth” by poets and writers. But it’s also an area of political turbulence. The Indo-Pak border, hemmed by both the Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain

range, is one of the world’s most militarised zones.

While political discussions revolve around the quarrels between India and Pakistan, it’s scarcely known that the last few villages of India, in the Gurez Valley, are home to the Dard Tribe. Their identity is still largely unstudied, let alone adequately represented. They speak the Shina language and have countless folkloric tales and cultural nuggets that

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

77

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

The caretaker of the Tourist Reception Centre is one of the most hospitable natives of Gurez. Photo: Anisha Mandal.

The women of Gurez have a simple sense of style. Photo: Anisha Mandal.

A sister takes her brother out for a stroll on Eid. Photo: Anisha Mandal.

haven’t been adequately represented in any art form or by the written word.

My friend and I visited many homes in the eleven villages in the valley on the occasion of Eid. With 450 ‘chulhas’, or ovens (a way of counting the population), and an average of eight people residing around each chulha, approximately 35,000 people call Gurez home.

We were used to Eid festivities in the rest of the Indian subcontinent being full of exhilaration, with throngs gathering in shrines, and people loudly and joyfully celebrating.

But, watching Eid being celebrated in Gurez was a calming and peaceful experience.

The locals embraced each other with all the warmth of the world, wore their best attire, cooked lavish meals, cheered with a few firecrackers. But it was mostly a time of respite for the whole of Kashmir: India and Pakistan The village elders of Tulail gather in the common community area for a conversation on Eid. Photo: Anisha Mandal.

78

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

had mutually agreed upon a ceasefire.

Eid and the ceasefire were celebrated, in Gurez, by parents taking their young ones for walks, and exchanges between neighbouring villages.

The constant, nagging worries about unemployment, lack of basic amenities,

insufficient opportunities for children’s futures, and the subconscious fear of living in a border town were all pushed to the back of people’s minds during this celebration. The people here are unimaginably generous and hospitable.

A young man in the village of Tulail read parts of the Quran to us, who were born

Hindus and are practicing humanists.

As we looked outside at the Himalayan range, we knew we would have to come back to this most exquisite part of Kashmir. Dangerous? Not remotely, for a visitor. Home for a wandering traveller’s heart? Undoubtedly.

The view of the mountainous terrain is breathtaking while driving down from Bandipora to Gurez. Photo: Anisha Mandal.

Every village house greets travelers with unimaginable hospitality and countless cups of tea. Photo: Anisha Mandal.

The crescent moon and star of the Dawar Shrine glints in the clear skies of the Eid morning. Photo: Anisha Mandal.

Savouring Sweets the Local Way

by Kusum Kalikote Among the many lanes in Mangalbazar, around the Patan Durbar Square, are numerous street vendors, cafes and sweet shops that offer visitors a perfect place to stop and refuel. Located amid the ancient lanes is a 140-year-old Newar sweet shop, Shree Nanda Mithai Bhandar. It’s right behind the alley beside the stone Krishna Mandir. The four-generation-old sweet shop is famous for its thick, creamy barfi. One morsel of the sweet will leave you craving for more. They sell many types of Newar sweets. The jerry, swari, halwa, sel and malpua from this shop are extremely popular among devotees visiting the temples of Patan in the morning.

In Newar culture, sweets play an important role in any auspicious occasion. Regular visitors swear by their sweets, and some people even come from all the way across town to buy their sweets. Some locals sitting nearby said the shop is popular because their snacks are fresh and not so oily. The sweets are neatly stacked outside an old Newar house that has been home to this shop for around 140 years.

Next time you’re around Patan, drop by this sweet shop for some divine Newar sweets.

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

79

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Khudi, Jomsom, Annapurna Photo: Ashok Sah. 80

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel

81

INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN

Community Homestays benefit locals and travellers alike Many travellers seek a more authentic experience, to get to know a people and a place beyond what they see at a hotel. Nepal’s network of Community Homestays does exactly this, while also benefiting the host family and community. The homestays provide independent incomes for women, cross-cultural connections, opportunities to learn and a memorable travel experience.

Lal Durbar, Durbar Marg, Kathmandu, Nepal +977-1-4444376 / 78 / 79 reservation@communityhomestay.com www.facebook.com/communityhomestay

82

THERE IS NO BETTER WAY TOTravel UNDERSTAND A PLACE THAN LIVING LIKE ONE OF THEM www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain