Langtang Lirung

You can see the upper bit of Langtang Lirung 7,234 meters from Kathmandu valley, but getting there is a problem.

First you have got to find Langtang which is one of those hidden beyuls or meyuls or sanctuaries concealed by the gods of Buddhism.

So you travel to Tarke Ghyang, the biggest village in the Helambu region roughly north of Kathmandu it is a fascinating place, known for its beautiful women, its small, sweet apples and the magical monk of Tarke Ghyang village.

In the early quarter of the 18^th century a terrible plague struck Kathmandu and the king sent for the Magical Monk. The plague was stopped and as reward the Monk asked for 100 horses which he took back to Helambu. around the monk and his horses a village sprang and a gompa, a Buddhist shrine. it was called Tarke Ghyang or the shrine of 100 horses.

The village of Tarke Ghyang is still there and so is the strangely Bhutanese looking shrine. A faintly ribald Nepali refrain is sung about the shrine which says.

 Tarke Ghyang shrine, Now listen all of you has phalluses at each corner.

Now listen all of you. The protective phalluses are common in Bhutan but worth singing about in Nepal.it was from Tarke Ghyang or so I like to believe, that long, long ago, a Yak strayaed and got lost. But it was a considerate yak and it left its hoof prints on rocks as it went. its keeper, coincidently a monk, followed its trail, crossed a ridge a few days later and stumbled into a beautiful valley-Langtang valley.