INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN
INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN
In October 2015 I set off for the Tilicho
lake trek in the Annapurna region. I had
a guide and a porter with me. A long
journey awaited us to Besi Sahar from
Kathmandu. The plan was to kick off
from there. However, as we reached Besi
Sahar later than expected, we boarded
a jeep that took us to Syange in just two
hours.
During the trip, along the way we
travelled through a number of beautiful
villages with magnificent views. One of
the days, we stopped for lunch at a little
village called Thanchowk, just off the
main trail to Chame. The village remains
mainly unspoilt and the traditional
Nepali life is fortunately well preserved.
People from the Thakali caste live here.
They don’t speak a great deal of English
and some don’t even speak Nepalese.
There, I met a Thakali family. They were
outside, the mother doing laundry in
the sunshine and the father, looking
after their one-year-old boy. They were
very friendly and despite the language
barrier, we managed to communicate
and have an enjoyable time together.
That was a very pleasant experience.
We continued our journey and passed
through Khoto, a very picturesque
village. I was mesmerised by its beauty
and authenticity and it certainly felt like
a special place. There were a number of
shops selling hand-made hats, gloves
and socks, and at the far end of the
village at the junction where the treks
heading to the Nar Phu Valley start,
there was a police checkpoint. Half an
hour later we reached Chame, which is
the headquarters of the Manang District.
There, I had an invigorating Indian head
massage. In the meantime, a friendly
and audacious Nepalese guy started to
record a video of me being pampered
while I looked out onto the scene from
the window. I had such a laugh! Chame
was very lively and had a wide array of
tiny Nepalese restaurants to experience
the local cuisine.
After leaving Chame and before we
reached Pisang, we came across a big
plantation of apple trees where we
stopped for tea and apples. It seems that
the seeds for the trees were imported
from Italy.
We reached Upper Pisang a bit later in
the day than planned. We chose to stay
there as the following day we wanted
to follow the high route and behold
the awe-inspiring views over the valley
High Annapurnas. Photo: Eva Bustos.
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www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel | 2016
www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel | 2016
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