Live from the Himalayas (2): Fair Trails Exploration

We, that is Peter Scheuch, Managing Director of ENNOVENT, Saurab Bhattarai (our Fair Trails Himalayas project manager) and me. We were accompanied by Prashant Ghamal, a well-known food blogger from Patan, and my old friend Mingma Sherpa. Furthermore, Raj Gyawali from our partner agency provided us with the local guide Tilok, who knows our chosen area best. A funny little fellow who preferred to be the last to leave and ended the day with rakshi. But this is another story.

The aim of our exploration is the Mahabharat mountain range, which stretches almost the entire length of Nepal parallel to the Himalayas and forms the border to the Indian lowlands. The Mahabharat mountains are only in a few places higher than 3,000, are mostly covered by dense jungle or are reclaimed by the people in the villages, fields and terraces. Our route was planned to cross the Mahabharat Mountains from north to south. Starting from the Trisuli Valley, trekking over the mountain ranges to reach the settlement area of the Chepang, one of the most extraordinary ethnic groups in Nepal, and then descending into the humid, steaming lowlands on the border with India, the Terai.

Untouched by Nepal’s great transformation of the past 50 years: Old Gurung woman from Baspur, Mahabharat Mountains; ® Trail Angels

With the Fair Trails we want to combine sustainable trekking with unique experiences. This requires precise research and a fascinating topic. After the Snow Leopard Trail, our 1st Fair Trail in the Himalayas, we have chosen this topic for this exploration: “Close to life” – immerse yourself in the life of the people in the villages, who get to know the different ethnic groups of Nepal and the dishes of these ethnic groups . For this we have just chosen the crossing of the Mahabharat Mountains. A real expert is needed for such a diverse topic. We found him in Prashanta Khamal, one of the most well-known food bloggers in Nepal and a profound connoisseur of rural culture and cuisine.

Hardly any tourist gets lost in the dense jungle and forgotten villages of these mountains. So there are no defined routes and the route presented us with a lot of challenges. On the one hand finding the right path and on the other hand avoiding the freshly bulldozed paths that are increasingly criss-crossing the country. What is a great relief in life for Nepalis progress and understandably, is a nuisance for trekkers. We were soon a well-rehearsed team when it came to finding routes and so we reached the Gurung village of Baspur, starting from Mawakhola in the Trisuli Valley via a steep path and after 1,200 meters in altitude, quite soaked. This is picturesquely situated on a plateau, in the midst of fertile fields and opposite is the awe-inspiring Himalayan chain. An idyllic place that slows you down quickly and imposes its own pace adapted to the country.

The concept for this trail is to stay overnight in “homestays”, i.e. directly with families. In Baspur we moved into a charming little alley, in the small but clean house of a farmer’s wife. She has 2 little daughters and runs the small farm while her husband has been working in Saudi Arabia for years. The stop of tourists would mean a welcome income for her and we can only recommend her homestay: She has proven to be an excellent cook and the kitchen and forecourt have turned out to be very comfortable. So we sat in front of the house for a long time on a full moon night, listening to the chirping of the crickets, playing with the little langur monkey that the family keeps as a pet and were completely satisfied. This is the magic of homestay trekking!

The Spirit of Homestay Trekking: Close to Life! Immerse yourself in the culture and life of the villages. The village girls bring breakfast for the goats; Baspur, Mahabharat Mountains; ® Trail Angels

The Spirit of Homestay Trekking: Dinner with the host family. The most authentic and sustainable form of trekking; Homestay in Baspur, Mahabharat Mountains; ® Trail Angels

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