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
