Nepal is blessed with the heavenly places. Every region of Nepal has it’s own unique identity given by the attractive places there. Those magnets of attraction are the lures for the people admiring nature. Especially in the high altitudes of Nepal, the variations offer breath taking views and scenes. Apart from these everyone of them posses a particular feature that serves as the major identity and the major attraction centre. The distinctive charm of those specialities offer the heavenly please for each one of the visitors. It snatches all your sufferings for a brief moment and fills your soul with cool breeze of positive energy. The natural vibe there dissolves all your being and makes you dance with the swift of the air leaving just the admiration and gratitude in you. The cool breeze of himalayas tickling your cheeks everytime you wrap yourself around Ghandruk, will merge you in the better you. It recharges your soul. Ghandruk, a boon from god to Nepal, where you can have most of it. Yes, I’m explaining about Ghandruk, one of the most beautiful and characteristic village of Nepalm that lures every visitors and magnetise itself for the internal and external tourists. A village cuddled by mountains.
Ghandruk lies in the Kaski district of Nepal in the Gandaki Province. It the village development committee lying 32 kilometres north west to another natural beauty, Pokhara. The village sits in the Modi Khola valley. The population count is very low in the village. The transportation facility by road is well developed for you to visit on your holidays. The roads supports buses, taxis and motorbikes. The village is elevated at an altitude of 2,012m (6,601 ft.) from the sea level. The location of Ghandruk is 28.377°N 83.807°E.
Ghandruk serves as the beautiful destination for treks in the Annapurna circuit and Annapurna base. The village is looked after by the beautiful snowcapped high hills of Nepal. Mt. nnapurna, Mt. Machhapuchhre, Mt. Gangapurna and Mt. Himchuli. Every day you can wake up and find out these mesmerising scenes of himalayas from your window at your service. Ghandruk is the gateway to the Poon hill trek. This further adds the reason to be the major magnet for tourists in the provincial tourism industry as well as on national level. Modi khola sails though the Annapurna and Machhapuchhre ranges of mountain. The largest rhododendron forest in the world is shared by Ghandruk and Ghorepani lying in between. The Meshrom Baraha temple situated in Ghandruk is also the one not to be missed. The Ghandruk village is also called Baarha Gharey. Infact it is the trademark of the village. The speciality is the 12 houses made up of stones. The entire village had the houses, stairs and the other infrastructures made up of stones only.The village is the home for Gurung community originally. People follow Gurung culture. ‘Aama samuha’ is established in the village for the conservation of their cultures and traditions. The influence of modern cultures is the major threat for the people. So they have been continuously working on the conservation of their originality. Aama samuha also practise their traditional singing and dancing and pass it onto the coming generations.
The village is invaded the by the RCC developments of infrastructures which is not supported by the locals. Locals claim that the speciality of the village is the infrastructures built by all stones. The government must be concerned for the protection of signature speciality. Ghandruk is the boon for the tourism and economy. It must be promoted worldwide and attract international tourists. It must be conserved by the joint efforts of the locals and the Government. The government should stop the RCC infrastructures. It should inspire and promote the traditional way of using stones. These sorts of gifts from the mother nature are priceless. So, let’s promote the valuable assets and stand tall in the tourism sector.
-Article written by: Suyash Dhakal for Land Nepal
