Royal Mountain Travel Magazine Royal Mountain Travel Magazine Issue 1 | Page 16

The Great Himalaya Trail

Western Nepal
The Far West is one of the least explored areas of
Nepal. Its area is bounded to the east by the mighty,
turquoise Karnali River that flows from Tibet’s
sacred Mount Kailash. Myth and superstition
remain part of the fabric of life here. Though the
Nepali language originated here, it seems a distant
world from ‘modern’ Nepal. One Nepali visitor
describedhisvisitas“fascinating,liketravellingback
to the 18th century.”Along the trails you may meet
a turbaned Dhami, a shaman, with silver-bangled
limbsandgold-ringedears,whoarestilldepended
on for treating sickness.
OrganisedtourismhassofarbeenlimitedtoKhaptad
National Park, the only national park in the midhills of Nepal and held dearly by conservationists.
Gentle hills, pristine forests and abundant wildlife
with a snow-covered backdrop of the Nampa, Api
andSaipalpeaksmakeforbeautifultrekking.It’salso
aholyplaceassociatedwithKhaptadSwami,agreat

Rara and Jumla

Richard Bull

asceticwhowasrenownedforhiswisdom.Helived
to be 110 and people travelled from far to receive
blessings from him in his cave dwelling.The Jestha
Purnima(Junefull-moon)festivalattractsthousands
to Tribeni, at the confluence of three rivers, to
worship at Shiva’s shrine.
The lower route of the GHT passes just to the north
of here and it will one day connect Rara with the trail
in India.Trekking here is less easy tha