The terrain becomes vacant of life forms except trees and shrubs, and the trail gloating immersion into curves. The walking effort needed to reach Nagthali from Brindang is easily dismissed, because the self disappears, and the ego evacuates among the cloak of clouds floating with you. All the while the imposing Langtang II (6561 m) mirrors the scale of dominion it casts upon the deep valleys and gorges. With all my senses active, the only living souls I come across are two eagles struggling hard to make their flight above the clouds. Not surprisingly, they may be just as amused as myself to see a moving object, and to their glee, a potential meal. While they continue to hover above me, I react to my temptation of taking few photos of them. But the pounding altitude heartbeats convince my muscles to move on with the climb, and I succumb to the decision. Read Previous Blogs: Tamang Heritage Trail, Langtang - Nagthali Part I Nagthali – Part II Nagthali– Part III Before I come out of the cocoon of thoughts swimming in my head, I realize I am already above the clouds at 3300 m. I grin with swathes of mirth, either because the eagles are no longer hovering like helicopters or because I could see broken spectra of my own shadow cast upon the clouds below. I could not decide. And maybe it was not necessary. I was just quintessentially looking at the orchestra of nature, and listening to the symphony carried through the clouds. Nagthali arises at hindsight, and true to its rumors – it inhabits four lodges, all serve to meet your basic needs of shelter, food, and discharge. However, the water service may be questionable – either frozen or muddy – depending on which time of the year one
The terrain becomes vacant of life forms except trees and shrubs, and the trail gloating immersion into curves. The walking effort needed to
Nagthali – a terrain unfrequented, isolated, and attired with blanket of clouds If there is one thing that pulls me back to sublimity, it is the grandeur immensity of the mountains – the width and breadth of the Himalayas – and the freedom of imagination that strolls about me when I am struck with the lightening speed of senses unaccounted. Technically speaking, there are spaces with in and with out each of us that sow the seeds of beauty in every notch of our being. Beauty is inherent for human nature, and the quest is only logically exuberant. In that very quest, I find myself straying in and around the mountains, exhausting myself to limits just to find that little space to plant impressions of beauty as I experience them. Following onto that addiction, if that word does any justice to my reverence, I embark on journeys well unplanned. Some are pure accidents, and others simply the result of poor map-reading abilities. But there are very few, if any, ‘lost track’ journeys I have regretted for. In fact, some of them have been the most rewarding and enlightening ones of all journeys. One of them being a hefty stride to Nagthali. Let’s get the facts straight first – the longitudes and latitudes. Nagthali is an uninhabited terrain on a hilltop in Langtang region that stages a close view of the Langtang, Kerung, and Ganesh Himal. A place unidentified by GPS might be difficult locating. But to make it at ease, it falls just outside the less known Tamang Heritage Trail. That’s the closest apparatus I can associate Nagthali with. However, if we intend to find it, it can be found. Read Next Blogs: Nagthali – Part II Nagthali– Part III Nagthali – Part IV
Nagthali – a terrain unfrequented, isolated, and attired with blanket of clouds If there is one thing that pulls me back to
On a distance, I catch up with four children, carrying loads of dry twigs and green leaves for firewood and cattle feeding. We talk about life in the village, and at a distance, it appears. Apparently, it looks like Lego’s building bricks – each systematically concocted as in an orchestra. My imagination is stirred by a herd of cows and mountain goats. I excuse myself from their way. We shared the same path. Read Previous Blogs: Gatlang - A traveler's epitome Gatlang- part II Imagine the remoteness of Gatlang when I, with typical newar-looking face from Kathmandu, am mistaken as a westerner. No surprise, Nepali is a second language here after Tamang. The view of Langtang II (6561m) is impressive at sundown. Views captured, and set to shelter. The first feeling I get – in Gatlang, life seems to be suspended in time; and time, with all its might, defies changes of ‘so-called-modernity’. Here, life unfolds at its own pace regardless of what minor events and petty changes occur in the world outside. I question, how long the threads of isolation for? If I am to paint this hamlet in few tangible semantic colors, I would come as close as the Shire from The Lord of the Rings. I stray around the village for a while. People have a curious but twitchy look on their faces. Outlanders! But that anxiety soon fades and blends with warm reception. Children are driven with gaiety and glee, and ‘Namaste’ is the first notch of words I hear. They guide me to Community Lodge – a lodge run by the community. There is also a home-stay and a private lodge. The differences are minimal to non-existence. After all, it’s a close community with 300 households of homogenous folks, flanked by their isolation and self-sufficiency.
On a distance, I catch up with four children, carrying loads of dry twigs and green leaves for firewood and cattle feeding. We
In a world where culture, language, religion, identities are bland with globalization, Tamangs have preserved their unique culture and identity over hundreds of years. We owe them appreciation in that regard. Here, time is still a product factor of sunrise and monsoon, full moon and harvest. In a place like this, something like clock flunks to command recognition for its existence. In contrast, in our modern lives, the same mechanical tick-tuck decides the pace of life – when to eat, when to sleep, when to work, when to shit. That last phrase was probably too much. If there’s anything that is moving with the pace of life in Gatlang, that is covalence and harmony between the people and nature for hundreds of years. And, their lifestyles still retain similar characteristics of the lifestyles many grandfathers ago. Read Previous Blogs: Gatlang - A traveler's epitome Part II A simple dinner with the locals – millet and potatoes, and I am set to roll out. But that was a failed quest. In glimmering light of firewood and kerosene lamps, neighbors talk about daily affairs in their language. The houses are made from stacked stones and wooden roof. That allows enough space and air for sounds to escape. Result? Neighbors five houses apart hear what one talks about in his house. I am no exception. I am hung on thin air without sleep. The twilight stricken Langtang II and Langtang Lirung (7246m) make up for the stolen sleep. Not too long, the sounds extinguish, and suddenly a freezing silence stalks the narrow alleys of the village. It’s 9:00 pm, and smoke cease to exit chimneys. We are deep asleep. It’s another 6:00 pm, and I was one of the last souls to rise. The sun gilds the flanks of Langtang Lirung, and I
In a world where culture, language, religion, identities are bland with globalization, Tamangs have preserved their unique culture and identity over hundreds of
It is neither my quirky dreams, nor my religion. But there are few things in life you know you can’t go without. You wake up with a thrust for love, lust, and morsels; and yet, you know there is something else that completes you. For me, it is the mighty mountains – the Great Himalayas. Telling stories across all-too-busy ears through photographs and events is never an easy task. Because the actual experience is far removed from the atmosphere where the story is told. As such, the story told easily becomes a third party interpretation. The intensity of the adventure is more often either diluted or spiced up to feed the need of the audience one is faced with. The harshness of the environments encountered in the journeys allows little comfort to exercise creativity in developing stories as one experience in real. One has to depend on flailing memories to account episodes and sensations during the journeys. This is my modest attempt to share such escapades and events as they unfold in the field, and entailing feelings from rather ordinary treks in the Himalayas. In this series of treks from Langtang, I do not promise to entertain you with fascinating stories from far away places. But to depict the beauty and gravity of the life that is shared by millions of people, wildlife and their environments. Read more exciting blog: Nagthali - Tamang Heritage Trail, Langtang
It is neither my quirky dreams, nor my religion. But there are few things in life you know you can’t go without. You
