Lonely Planet Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya by Lonely Planet

Author:Lonely Planet
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lonely Planet

Day 3: Geling to Tsarang

6–7 hours / 890m ascent / 870m descent

The trail from Geling turns westward and climbs gently through fields in a broad valley, passing below Chhungar and its imposing chorten. Turning north, it rejoins the road and becomes an unrelenting climb across the head of the valley to the Nyi La (4020m). The Nyi La is the southern boundary of Lo; people who live south of the pass call it the Jaite La. The descent from the pass is gentle for about 45 minutes to the Ghemi La, a cairn on a ridge top about 45 minutes below the pass. The trail then drops steeply to the whitewashed buildings of Ghemi (3510m).

Ghemi is the third-largest village in Lo and is surrounded by extensive fields, about half of which are barren because of irrigation problems. Ghemi has a police post and a couple of guesthouses, including the Hotel Royal Mustang (%9851088720; r Rs 400), a traditional old building in the centre of the village operated by a grand-nephew of the King of Lo. The hotel offers camping in its peaceful walled orchard. At the southern edge of the village is the Lo-Ghami Guest House (%993694010; r Rs 300), which has a satellite phone (Rs 150 per minute). A small red nunnery dominates a crag at the far end of the village. The trail to Drakmar and Lo Gekar (your return route from Lo Manthang) leads to the west from the upper part of the village.

The Tsarang track descends below the blue, grey and red cliffs that crosses the valley to a steel bridge across the Tangmar Chu, then climbs past what is perhaps the longest and most spectacular mani wall in Nepal. The large building to the east of the mani wall is a hospital built by a Japanese project. Beyond the mani wall the route climbs a rocky gully, then traverses to the Choya La (3870m). Once over the pass the route (a dusty road) makes a long gentle descent past a big prayer flag and across fields to Tsarang (Charang; 3575m), the second-largest town in Lo and the former capital.

Tsarang is a maze of fields, willow trees and houses separated by stone walls at the top of the large Tsarang Chu canyon. The village sustained some damage in the 2015 earthquake and a number of its historic buildings need repairs, including the huge five-storey white dzong and ochre gompa, perched on the edge of the Tsarang Khola gorge at the eastern end of the village. The former palace was built in 1378 and once boasted the greatest library in Mustang. The library is a shadow of its former self, but it still houses a famous gold-leafed prayer book. In the gonkhang (protector chapel) you’ll find a cache of old weapons and the mummified severed hand of a thief clasped in the talons of 'Garuda'! The hand belonged to a pious monk or the architect who built the dzong, depending on who’s telling the story. The remarkable Japanese traveller Ekai Kawaguchi stayed in Tsarang for almost a year in 1899.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.