Ghami -> Lo Manthang – The dog gets washed in the sink and afterwards acts like crazy

7. August 2026

 

 

Since we like walking around in the countryside, we decided to walk to Dhakmar on foot. The place is famous for its massive red rocks. We first hiked down through the village and across a small, new suspension bridge over the river. Driver Shankar was with us, but son Dipsan was not. He sometimes whined a bit about not feeling well, including on that day.

 

 

 

Then we headed up a mountain path to an absolutely beautiful viewpoint, where we lingered for a while. You could take in so many different mountain details. Unfortunately, again with low-hanging clouds. Ute was dressed perfectly for the landscape that day. And my mood had surged as soon as we set off. Walking around in the mountains obviously still works quite well for me when I’m in a bad mood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then we turned the corner and were able to look at the massive red cliff faces. It was so impressive that I pointed the camera here and there, targeted details, and tried to capture all the splendor in a single picture. And that’s why there are probably way too many pictures to see now, but I simply can’t decide which one I like best.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We walked slightly downhill toward the village.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the cliffs are the so-called Sky Caves, meaning cave-like structures built into the rocks where people used to live, look out, and meditate. A path led upwards. Because it had rained so much, it didn’t seem super firm, and I didn’t want to walk the last section due to my fear of heights. Ute and Beate made it up there, but said that you couldn’t really see much, as you had to crawl into the first cave through a damp passage, which wouldn’t have been any fun. But even from the outside, I found it all very impressive and worthwhile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The view from above was lovely, too. We could have continued over a pass to Ghar Gompa from here, but that wasn’t our plan for the day. Instead, we headed back and ate our packed lunch at the viewpoint.

 

 

 

Then we drove on.

 

 

In Chharang, we made a coffee stop, and it was totally worth it. In the cafe, a dog was being washed in the sink, and afterwards, he zoomed around like crazy, rolling around here and there and running back and forth. Very interesting behavior.

 

 

 

Then we saw a drunk man being led out of a bar and sitting down in the street. Shankar had bought small plums that tasted delicious. We met a government worker traveling on a motorcycle with someone else to manage and inspect something related to the infrastructure here. We didn’t fully understand it—at any rate, he had studied civil engineering. And then we saw a group of young people busy filming. A young man was the singer, but he didn’t want to be in the video (at least not in this part). It was supposed to be a story about Mustang and love. Now I’m eagerly waiting for it to appear in his Youtube-Channel.

 

 

 

 

Then we drove on and came to a pass that offered a great view of the wide Lo Manthang plateau. It was nice that there were also a few more sunny patches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was also an interesting bench here, which had been set up in 2023 by a Swiss doctor and a doctor from Dresden.

 

 

And then we drove to Lo Manthang, were amazed by how much livelier it was here, thought the landscape was great right off the bat, also found a nice place to stay, and looked forward to the next day after a delicious dinner.