My travel diaries
Monday 4 June, 2007 - Syaphru Besi, Tamang Heritage Trail, Nepal
I feel a little better by the morning, though still not 100%. Siling suggests Maila and I take the low, easier route back to Syaphru Besi that day while he investigates accommodation in the villages on the main trail, but I tell him I'm determined to press on with the harder route as long as I'm able.
We start out at 7am heading south along the gorge we traversed high above yesterday afternoon. We descend for about 100 vertical metres amongst patches of pine and wild marijuana a short way above the river. After about an hour and a half the path begins to ascend again to the village of Briddhim. It's a long hot climb, and I make sure I drink plenty of water as I'm still not feeling great and finding it hard work in the sun.
We reach Briddhim shortly after 10 o'clock, and Siling is delighted with the place. The village has its own tourism committee, and every house is geared up for authentic homestay accommodation. They have also rigged up two solar showers, created their own trek from the village to Langtang, with local guides available for hire, and organise traditional dances for trekking groups. Siling realises it will be perfect for The Responsible Travellers. They've even produced a very professional looking leaflet advertising the village, and although it's obviously written by a non-native English speaker ("All accomodations [sic], lodgings and foodings are offered at individual houses on a rotational basis") its standard of English is far superior to most of the literature produced by Nepalis for tourists. However, the leaflet states that Briddhim can be reached easily from Kathmandu after, "an 8 hours memorable bus drive to Syabrubesi" and a, "3 hours light trek, passing through . blooming forest of rhododendron". I reflect on this for a while and conclude the leaflet could more accurately describe an 8 hours blooming bus drive followed by a light trek through memorable forest of rhododendron. Siling theorises as to why the villagers here are more enterprising than along other parts of the Tamang Heritage Trail. "The Tamangs this side of the valley are of Tibetan origin," he says. "Nepalis of Tibetan extraction, such as Sherpas and Manangis tend to be more resourceful." Siling, of course, is a Manangi.
We sit in a smoky room waiting for an old lady to cook our lunch. In 1949, Tilman stopped in Briddhim on his way north to the Tibetan border, and was invited into the home of the village headman. He describes a place where the family live "together in one spacious upper room furnished with shelves, cupboards, chests, and a raised dais for a comprehensive bed. On a stone hearth in the middle was the fire from which the smoke of juniper wood had coloured ceiling and rafters to a highly polished black." ( HW Tilman, Nepal Himalaya ). While the tourism committee, solar showers and printed tourist leaflets may be new, the interior of the peasant home hasn't changed in over 50 years.
In the afternoon we descend the path to Syaphru Besi, though are dismayed to find that much of the blooming rhododendron forest has been destroyed by a recent forest fire. We are told that two people died in the fires when a landslide of dry earth covered their house, and we pass through the burned area nervously looking above us. We reach Syaphru Besi at 1.30 at a confluence of rivers. While the Bhote Kosi continues south to join the larger Trisuli on the way to Kathmandu, the Langtang Khola branches off to the east. We briefy investigate two basic lodges on the east bank of the river before opting to cross over for the comforts of the Buddha Guest House, where we stayed four nights ago.
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