Visiting the hill town of Tansen

So we left our main bag, ate breakfast and headed off to Prithvi Rajmarga Bus Park in Pokhara to buy our ticket and catch the ‘local’ bus (costing 550 Rupees each (NZ$8)) to Tansen. This town is a traditional Nepalese town, located 119 kilometres south of Pokhara at an altitude of 1,372 meters.. It is situated on the southern slope of the Shreenagar hill and is known for its natural beauty and is regarded as the cultural center of Newari culture and tradition.

Fortunately we caught the one bus that travels directly to the ‘hill town’, meaning we didn’t have to change buses. Although the roads were less bumpy, there were soooo many twists and turns, and of course being a local bus we travelled at break neck speed stopping for a few seconds to either let people on or off. However, after 6 hours we arrived in Tansen and we were confronted with a (very steep) walk/climb of 800 metres to get to the Horizon Homestay., but once we recovered we could see how amazing the views were from our balcony.

Our walking shoes were put on (again) and we visited Sita Pati monument, Amar Narayan Temple, Sheree Rana Ujeshwari Mandir, Bhagwati Temple and looked around the various sights on Srinagar Hill. Of course er also hiked to Bagnas viewpoint (only 11.5 kilometres – 16,553 steps). The hike enabled us to walk through local villages, talk to the locals (that were inventively sitting outside their homes) and seeing spectacular views of the Himalayas.

Spending a week in the small town allowed us to observe rural life, including tailors sewing clothes, barbers cutting hair, retail shops (toy shops, TV repairs, motorcycle repairers and fruit and vegetable stores), men hanging out watching life pass by, toddlers throwing tantrums and teenagers posing for photos/on cell phones. As always we found a great local eatery where we had lovely ‘buff’ Momo’s and Chow Mein, washed down with local Raksi (Rice wine); plus the owners special supply, which he kept giving us to taste ‘samples’ – it was so good, that we brought a litre for 300 Rupees (NZ$4).

During our stay we also managed to witness a local Magar festival, and we also joined in the 2nd largest festival in Nepal (Tihar), which last for 5 days and incorporates Diwali (known as Dipawali in Nepal) as well. As with the largest festival Dashain, this meant the closing of almost all shops, eateries and other establishments – so locals could either visit family or enjoys the celebrations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJYzhE4SAyY, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n49Br3g4dw0 and https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VYlsyb62bOo.

The festival started with local residents hanging lights from all their balconies and drawing Rangoli or Kolam at the entrance of a houses, which is made by drawing elaborate and intricate patterns with an array of colours. It is believed that these symbols of welcome to the Goddess Lakshmi, bring wealth, prosperity and happiness into the home. What followed was days of traditional costumes being worn, swings being made out of bamboo for kids to use, music blaring, people dancing, singing and fire crackers being set off – such a feeling happiness and joy throughout the community. Of course the dogs in the town could not be left out, and a seperate day was set aside for them to have a festival day!! As the festival progressed into day 4 and 5 the town started to close down as people left to visit family in the surrounding hills, which meant 2 days of peace and quiet, apart from the occasional fire cracker.

Unfortunately, our time in Tansen has come to an end and we leave the Horizon Homestay (Dhani and Janaki) with sad hearts, as we’ll miss their fantastic Magar hospitality – especially the amazing food we ate during our stay, the molasses bread was heavenly.

We next commence our journey further south from the Tansen Bus Station, to our next stop, Lumbini.