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
Each family owns a piece of farm – growing maize, rice and seasonal vegetation. On that very occasion, I come across farmers harvesting maize and I could not resist the temptation of giving them a hand. Those songs of harvest, the air fluttering those chorus, mud on the hands, and wet feet – all with which remind me that life, sometimes, is made out of episodes – so short and momentous – that we forget to think of life itself, and live within it. Such moments, episodes are invariably the ones that leave deeper impressions on our minds and hearts, and last longer than any mundane year. There was little I shared verbally with the farmers, except few smiles and some water to drink. But I realize those smiles are more strongly held in the soft corners of my mind than any spoken words since the morning. Read Previous Blogs: Tamang Heritage Trail, Langtang - Nagthali Part I Nagthali – Part II After the harvest, the farmers suggest me to visit the old gompa of the village at a hilltop. I was never good at facts or history in high school. In fact, dates and numbers caused me to hallucinating dreams of mustard flowers baking in the sun. And the gompa offered me just that – broken scriptures, dampened architecture, and the big prayer wheel. I offer my respect with seven rotations of the wheel. But what the farmers did not mention was the viewpoint beyond the gompa. It is as if the viewpoint projects a “mini” view of what Nagthali does. The tease factor is herewith me to stay for another couple of hours before I collapse in the laps of Nagthali. Read the last part - Nagthali - Part IV
Each family owns a piece of farm – growing maize, rice and seasonal vegetation. On that very occasion, I come across farmers harvesting
When one is on the Tamang Heritage Trail, Tamang villages are obviously the yolks of the journey. But to depart onto lesser known desolate lands is a luxury on its own – be it to face the solitude, or to find oneself nurtured in pristine nature, or just to explore the depths of our consciousness. Whatever the motive, service is rendered. Read Previous Blog: Tamang Heritage Trail, Langtang - Nagthali Part I From Tatopani, the trail ascends through a deep damp forest of old rhododendron trees. One is forgiven for getting lost in the dense forest with virtually non-existent trails. I find myself divided in various occasions, not being able to choose a path or sometimes, it is all onto me to sculpt one. Whichever path you choose, or wherever you may wander, all paths lead to a huge pointed rock at the hilltop visible throughout the forest. Brindang, a small settlement is based a little far below the rock. It is early morning, and the sunlight penetrates and glows through the dews on leaves as if each dew holds a sun within itself. After a couple of hours of huffs and puffs on the climb, Brindang is a pleasurable pause for sun basking and sweat drying. This small settlement boasts a community of 6 houses, all cluttered one after another. As with traditional Tamang settlement, each house is only a room big and shelters 6-8 members in a family. After being in Gatlang for a couple of days, I am pushed back to seriously reconsider my definitions of space per capita. Read Next Parts: Nagthali – Part II Nagthali– Part III
When one is on the Tamang Heritage Trail, Tamang villages are obviously the yolks of the journey. But to depart onto lesser known
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
