Want to stay in Gatlang for more than a day? We would love to have you! There are a number of short day trips you can take around the village. 

Parpati Kunda

Parparti Kunda (2,504 m) is a holy lake an hour’s walk uphill from Gatlang. It is a beautiful and peaceful place, where you can have a picnic or meditate on the stone steps by the water. Legend has it that if you drink the water from Parpati Kunda, you will be granted good luck. Maybe that’s why the lake provides the drinking water for Gatlang, as well as the village of Chilime, further downhill (don’t worry, it’s filtered)! Locals also wade into the reed-filled shores to gather plants for use as traditional medicine.

Just outside the stone walls of Parpati Kunda, is a Hindu temple that is still used today by the district military force.

Parpati Kunda is said to be 900 metres deep in some areas, and serves as a water reservoir for many downhill villages.

Gumba/gompa monastery

A short walk from Parpati Kunda will find you in the small village of Gumba, where there is a monastery with spectacular views of Langtang-Lirung. When the Lama living next door is home, he can open the monastery’s main sanctuary, where butter lamps illuminate Buddhist iconography. Otherwise, you can still walk inside the monastery, and spin the giant prayer wheel in the corner three times to cleanse yourself of all wrongdoings. Families from Gatlang visit the monastery every full moon to make puja (offerings).

The main entrance area to the gompa

Spinning prayer wheels three times in a clockwise motion is said to cleanse you of your wrong-doings.

Yak cheese factory

You might be hungry after a trip to Parpati Kunda and the monastery. Another 15 minutes uphill is the Dairy Development Corporation building, also known as the best place in Langtang to buy yak cheese. It’s a hard cheese, meaning you can carry it with you throughout your trek, without the need for refrigeration. The yak cheese factory is open from April 1 to Nov. 30. If you’re visiting outside these dates, the owner of the factory lives in the house next door, and can open up shop for you. Cheese costs around Rs 1,000 per kilogram.

Old Gatlang village (Khe Dho)

A visit to the abandoned Gatlang village makes for a haunting exploration. Here you can see the crumbling stone walls of what used to be the main village. There are still three families who live amidst the village ruins, in reconstructed houses.

Old royal palace

The old royal palace is called Bongo Ghale, and it is found an hour-and-a-half away from Gatlang. Many years ago, there was a king for each of the 75 districts in Nepal. The ruins of Bongo Ghale are all that is left of the Rasuwa District palace. Nowadays, the old palace is an excellent place to view the Gosaikunda Range, the Ganesh Himal Range, and Langtang-Lirung.