Some consider the Himalaya Mountains the
most
beautiful mountains on earth. They are definitely the tallest. I trekked
the Langtang
trek in Nepal to the Langshisha glacier, along the Tibetan border. This is a
traditional teahouse trek in Nepal.
On the way, I passed through many remote villages, most with no electricity
and stark living conditions. My travels started in Kathmandu, where my guide
Chudamani and I, caught an early morning bus for an all day ride to Dhunche.
The bus ride is very dramatic, slowly creeping its way higher and higher into
the Himalaya mountains on steep, cliff-hanging roads of huge boulders and deep
ruts.
Filled with locals, their animals and supplies, people jam together on the
inside and on the roof as well, filling literally every available space.
Heavily over-loaded, these buses lurch and sway only inches from sheer cliff.
I remember hoping and praying the bus driver was happy in his love life.
When coming down from over a rise, the brakes give a terrible screech. I
wondered how often the rickety old bus received maintenance.
After
the grueling 8 hour bus ride, we spent the night in Dhunche (1950m). The next
morning
we began our trek, spending many days hiking mountain trails to and through
Bharku (1860m), Syabru (2130m), Bamboo, Lama Hotel (2400m), Ghora Tabela (3000m)
, Langtang (3500m), Mundu, Sindum, and
the last of the villages habitable year-round in this part of the Himalayas of
Nepal -
Kyangjin Gompa (4000m). From Kyangjin Gompa, Chudamani and I made a long and
grueling
dayhike further, to the approach to Langshisa glacier at about 4300m elevation.
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The people in this part of Nepal are Tamang, a people that crossed the Himalayas
from Tibet before recorded
history. The Tamang religion is a kind of Tibetan Buddhism, which includes a belief
in earth spirits and evil forces. In my photographs of Nepal, you will see many
vertical white
streamers, which are Buddhist prayer flags. There are also many Buddhist
prayer walls that stretch often for a hundred or more meters. These are made
from flat stones with painstakingly engraved Buddhist prayers.
Many
of the villages in the Himalayas have no electricity, whereas others have just
enough electricity to provide one or two light bulbs in the few "teahouses"
that house the trekkers. The teahouses in this part of Nepal are often little
more than a
stone hut with rooms furnished with only a wooden cot and a one inch pad for
sleeping and a candle for light. Most have only a stone outhouse, some also
have a
separate stone bathhouse with water provided from a sun-warmed tank mounted
on the roof. I always insisted on a teahouse with one of these crude,
solar-heated showers in
one of these stark bathhouses. Information on the trekking agency I used
for my Himalayan trek can be found in the link at the top of the page. I hope
you enjoy my photos of Nepal.
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Approaching Syabru in the Himalayan Mountains of Nepal
Villages in the Himalaya Mountains are usually built
along a strip of mountain crest. As a result, homes are not clustered or
situated facing one another along a street as our towns and villages are.
Indeed, there are no streets, the villages having only foot trails. Everyone
moves around here by foot. There are no motorized vehicles. I'd guess these
people
have never seen or heard one.
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The Terraced Landscape from a Himalayan
Mountain Pass High Above Syabru, Nepal
Like many places with ancient human habitation, people
in the Himalayas have painstakingly terraced the land for agriculture over the
centuries. These terraces are tilled today still by oxen-pulled wooden plows,
just as they have done for centuries. |
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An old man near Langtang, Nepal
There seemed only to be young people and old people
here. Faces age rapidly in the ultraviolet rays of the sun, which are poorly
filtered at such high altitudes in the Himalayas. You might notice the hilt of
this man's khukuri knife, a kind of sword almost, similar to the type used by
Gurkha soldiers. All males in this part of Nepal carry one from the
time they are about 12 or so. |
The village of Syabru, Nepal
The views from the trails that interconnect the Himalayan
villages in Nepal are beautiful. Syabru at an elevation of about 2200 meters
sits along a scenic ridge. |
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More Himalaya
Photos - page 2
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