Royal Mountain Travel Magazine Royal Mountain Travel Magazine Issue 3 | Page 52

Experiencing the Tibetan Way of Life the one above, visiting Tashi Palkhiel, Tashiling, and Paljorling. There is also a full day tour that starts at around 6 or 7am and ends at 5pm. This takes you to Dhulegaunda, Tanahun, and Jampaling. In addition to the usual things like a hearty Tibetan breakfast and a delicious lunch with local families, meeting the residents of the settlements, a visit to a monastery, and so on, you will also get to meet villagers and see how organic farming is done according to Buddhist principles. In addition, you will be regaled with a performance of Tibetan songs and dances performed by some of the older women. There is an overnight tour that starts at 6 or 7am and ends at 9am the next day. This has the same itinerary as the half day programs except that you’ll be staying overnight with a Tibetan family and get to spend more time with Tibetans over dinner and along the way. Young monks at Monastry. Photo: Sudeep Singh. Tibetans to share their way of life with tourists, in a way that is mutually beneficial. There are well planned half-day (morning or afternoon), full day, and overnight tours to all the four Tibetan refugee settlements in and around Pokhara. It’s something that is sure to give you a good understanding about Tibetan culture and their way of life. You can expect to hear many interesting accounts of Tibet and the events related to the Chinese invasion. These programs are well designed to make you more familiar with the culture and traditions of the Tibetan people. It’s a great initiative to make the Tibetans’ way of life and their philosophies better known to the world, by giving tourists more insight and understanding into their way of life in Nepal. If you are in a hurry and don’t have much time, there’s a morning half-day program starting at 7:00am and ending at 12:30pm. This will take you around Tashi Palkhiel, Tashiling and Paljorling. Thought it’s a short visit, you pack in a lot, starting with a hearty Tibetan breakfast of tsampa, butter tea, and Tibetan bread shared with a Tibetan family, a visit to a monastery where you can meet monks, and a visit to an elderly people’s home where you might hear firsthand accounts about their flight from Tibet. You will also be able to see carpet weavers at work, watch how noodles are made, meet a Tibetan doctor of traditional medicine, and enjoy lunch with another local family. Alternatively, you can also go for the half-day program that starts at 11:30am and ends at 5:30pm. You can take a morning half day tour that includes a visit to Sarangkot to see the sunrise. This begins well before dawn and ends at around 12:30pm. You first go to Sarangkot, a mountain on the south side of Pokhara where you can see the sun rise over the magnificent ice-capped Annapurna peaks. You then have breakfast and then the program is more or less similar to The World Reveals 52 www.royalmt.com.np May 2014 Tibetan woman making carpet. Photo: Sudeep Singh.