Level 9/20 8 days of trekking at a maximum altitude of 4600m. Average stages of 5 to 6 hours. A trek starting at low altitude to reach the pass in 6 days with significant ascents.
The Tamang are the second largest Mongoloid ethnic group in Nepal. Their rituals, similar to those of their distant Tibetan cousins, remain tinged with animistic elements attesting to their pre-Buddhist Bön past: exorcisms and divine propitiations are invoked by the Bompo, a Bön priest; animal sacrifices are performed by the Lambu, a traditional healer from distinct clans; while important life events are celebrated by the Buddhist lama. The Tamang people, who have remained largely untouched by development and access to modernity despite their proximity to the Kathmandu Valley, are heavily employed in porterage, the making of Nepalese paper (Lokta, Danphe Bholua), Tibetan carpets, and the creation of Thangkas (Buddhist religious paintings used as meditation aids), an art form in which they have become masters. This journey combines the experience of an authentic and little-visited Nepal, with its traditional villages and vibrant gompas, its hot springs with numerous beneficial properties, its trails dotted with chortens overgrown with vegetation, and the challenge of high-altitude Nepal, with its unpredictable yaks against a backdrop of gigantic glaciers and majestic peaks. We will experience powerful human connections during nights spent with local families, and unforgettable personal challenges (ascents of Tserko Ri or Kyangjin Ri), the efforts of which we will recover from in family-run lodges…