Hidden Village Trek Nepal - 8 Days

Detailed Overview of Hidden Village Trek

The Hidden Village Trek starts in Kathmandu, then a flight to Pokhara, and 3-4 hours drive through the beautiful Myagdi valley to reach Beni and Darbang (1560m) where the final road on the western approach to the Dhaulagiri massif runs into the mountains. Darbang is a lively Bazaar town that is found on the Myagdi River, and is not much known to those following the main circuit of the Annapurna and Everest Circuit. The Hidden Village Trek from here leads into a sparsely visited area, with just a few trekking groups visiting the area during one of the seasons.

This is the first full trekking day, starting from Darbang, going through an extraordinary variety of landscapes, via a jeep road to a forest path, then through terraced farmland, subtropical woodland, and the picturesque village of Takam with its small pagoda temple, then climbing steadily through forested ridge country to the village of Sibang, where the trail leads to Lulang (2,450m). One of the most interesting cultural sites in the trek is the large Kami (blacksmith caste) Magar settlement, whose approximately 200 households are spread out around a steep amphitheatre of terraced fields and marigolds and pumpkins, rows of maize being dried, and houses painted in distinctive splashes of red, white and black mud plaster. The people are friendly and helpful and the accommodation in the homestays offers a glimpse into the village life of the highlands which few visitors get to see.

The highlight of the trek is the crossing of Gurja Pass (3250m) on Day 3, which is both a physical and scenic crossroad of the trek. The trail rises quickly from Lulang, passing through thick moss-covered oak and rhododendron woods (the branches almost smothered under mats of ferns, orchids and dangling lichens) before reaching the open ridgeline at the pass. Views here are magnificent if they arrive before noon: the dramatic south face of Gurja Himal that towers over the northern horizon, and the bulk of Dhaulagiri that dominates the western horizon. The long descent from the pass through the cedar forest to Gurja Khani (2650m) with a hot tea and noodles shop along the way, across a suspension bridge over the Dhaula Khola and up to the final steep stretch to the village meadow.

Gurja Khani is truly unique in all of the trekking trails in Nepal. The village is nestled in a sloping green plateau just under the south western slope of Gurja Himal and is almost encircled by the glacier-streaked mountain overhead and the ridgelines on the other side cutting off the outside world. The community has a lifestyle that is defined by its isolation in the mountains, seasonal migration between highlands and lowlands, traditional agriculture using barley and potato on steep terraces and an ancient culture that started long before the modern trekking industry in Nepal. The day trip from Gurja to the Base Camp of the glacier is through open and alpine area and passes through the moraine to the glacier’s foot and offers a view of Dhaulagiri peak, Churen Himal and the entire western Himalayan range which very few trekkers in Nepal ever get to see.

The return trip is a repeat of the outbound hike, crossing Gurja Pass and passing through Lulang again on the way back to Darbang and then to Pokhara and home to Kathmandu in one of the most true-to-form short hikes in Nepal.