{"id":1714,"date":"2017-06-08T04:33:04","date_gmt":"2017-06-08T04:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.snorkelbandits.com\/?p=1714"},"modified":"2017-06-09T05:09:29","modified_gmt":"2017-06-09T05:09:29","slug":"tansen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.snorkelbandits.com\/?p=1714","title":{"rendered":"Tansen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Each morning upon awakening we looked out the window of our hotel room, which was perched on the side of a steep hill, off into a valley surrounded by Himalayan foothills. A dense layer of fog settled in the bottom of the valley almost every morning, hugging the contours of the hills, but it was clear above the fog. It gave the impression of a white lake which is exactly what the locals called it and it clarified the name of our hotel – the White Lake Hotel. In Tansen, this phenomenon is an everyday part of the environment and it\u2019s one of the many things which give this place such a rich and unique atmosphere. So many of Tansen\u2019s features are probably very common amongst the towns of Nepal but for some reason they add up to something extra special in this particular town – one of our favorite places that we visited in Nepal.<\/p>\n

\"Sunrise<\/p>\n

Tansen is slightly larger than many other towns along the vast southwestern flank of the Himalayas, giving it just a touch of an urban feel, even though it still is very small. The old two or three story Newari buildings crowd the edges of the narrow streets so that one feels enclosed, like walking along the bottom of a small narrow canyon. Beautifully crafted woodwork adorns the windows and doors of the distinctive reddish brick storefronts and homes. They show their considerable age but are lived-in and fully functional. Due to the cool mountain air most locals wear long pants, jackets, hats, and scarves even when the sun is blazing although many of the older women are wrapped in robust bright red saris. Red is considered good luck and who wouldn\u2019t want that? Might as well just wear it all the time, just to be on the safe side. Fern and I would be walking around in our skimpy hot weather attire, only to freeze our asses off when the clouds rolled over. Some of the cobbled streets ascend the hillside at such a steep angle that we would be out of breath, hearts audibly pounding inside us, simply from walking a couple of blocks.<\/p>\n

We were warned by a fellow traveler back in Pokhara that the people of Tansen behaved coldly toward tourists, that they were proud of their home (justifiably) and didn\u2019t like outsiders. We did not find that to be the case. \u00a0Perhaps there were a few people who didn\u2019t want to see their home turn into a tourist circus but overall Fern and I found the people to be incredibly friendly. For the most part people just went on about their business without paying much attention to us, which I suppose could be mistaken for dislike. More likely a bit of shyness. Many people didn\u2019t speak much English and it didn\u2019t seem like they were used to having western tourists hang around for more than a night. Tansen is a common resting place for people making the arduous bus journey between Pokhara and Lumbini (the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama – the Buddha). Oddly, many Nepalis seemed to have a lot of enthusiasm for Lumbini even though very few of them are actually Buddhists. We liked Tansen so much that we stayed there for over a week and I think many of the locals were tickled and even a little bit flattered in their cute shy way that we stuck around so long to enjoy their home.<\/p>\n

One group of people who were not so shy were the children. They stared at us from windows and came up to talk to us when we encountered them in the streets. Education seems to be a high priority for those who can afford it, especially learning English. Children in uniforms approached us to practice their English. \u201cWhere are you from? What is your name? Do you like wrestling?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tansen<\/p>\n

The surrounding hills and valleys offered some nice scenic hiking possibilities to very small traditional villages. We took a long hike one day off to a strange old royal palace in the middle of nowhere and the trail cut through valleys carved with beautiful rice terraces and dotted with very rustic traditional buildings made of mud, logs, and straw. These homes were different than any we had seen so far because the people were of a different ethnicity. There are so many ethnic groups in Nepal and they hold on to their unique traditions. The most visible signs of this are the buildings and the styles of dress and jewelry. Dense tropical jungle filled in the rest of the rugged landscape on our hike. One of the unique things about the terrain in Nepal is that it goes from tropical lowlands to the highest of highlands within fairly small area. Some of the most interesting places are in between, where elements of both extremes coexist.<\/p>\n