INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN
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.
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 high-
performance 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
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
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
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 Besi-
Gotlang / Gotlang-Tatopani / Tatopani-Thuman / Thuman-
Briddhim / 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.
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www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel
www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel
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