Travel Story: 75-year-old Aama from Langtang

We all love to visit the mountains. They are majestic, surreal, magical, and a lot more powerful. Many of us feel that we have entered another world once we reach the mountains. But this travel story is not about those majestic beauties which we all admire, but about a simple human being whose life is much tougher than those Himalayan ridges, yet holds a much more powerful smile prettier than those mountains.

On the way to Kyanjin Ri(a famous trekking destination in the Langtang region, Nepal), there lies a small village called Thansyap where there are about 5–6 teahouses. I was guiding a group to the Langtang valley trek, and I decided to make the second day a rest in that place. I booked a teahouse/guesthouse from Syafrubesi, where the hotel owner told me about Potala Guest House, which had warm hospitality and good service. I went searching for the guest house but couldn’t find one. After another 2–3 minutes of walking, I found the Potala guest house at the end of the village.

It was a small yet spacious, peaceful guest house which often got ignored by the travellers as it was the last guest house in that village. The guest house was owned by a 75-year-old strong lady whom I called “Aama”(Mother). This travel story is all about her. My first question after arrival was “ Aama, how old are you?” to which she replied “I don’t know”.

It was clear that she understood no business. She was just a kind-hearted owner of the property whose eyes had hidden a lot of stories inside them. She had a cook who handled all the orders in the guest house, and her grandson and granddaughter, who handled the business there who were also filled with hospitality and kindness.

Mountain people are always kind, and I have numerous stories of kindness in every place, which can be another travel story for some other day.  That day, the guest house remained empty for a long time until a group of Nepali people made a late entry, which kind of surprised us, how such a good hotel with such good people struggles for business while others have full occupancy.

 Aama was alone doing her chores, asking us if we were fine. But she looked to be alone. So out of curiosity, I asked her, “Aama, where are your children?”

She looked at me straight, a 2-second pause, and said “ Gayo Bhukampa Sangai” which meant “ they are gone with the earthquake”. The moment felt uneasy, but she was unfazed. She started with her usual chores while I sat there speechless, not able to fully understand what I was supposed to do.

After a brief moment, my mind started playing all her care, affection, and smiles that were there in every encounter with her that day. It was different. I didn’t for once feel like a client. I didn’t interact with her much throughout the day, yet every encounter was filled with a smile and eyes full of affection. Every encounter with her felt as if I were a member of the house, her own grandson.

The flashbacks of the sweet day made me uncomfortable, yet curious to know what actually happened. I asked her, “Aama, where were you during earthquake?”.

“In Langtang Village in open fields, suddenly everything started falling. I got buried in the rubble of the landslide after the earthquake. My hands were broken, my legs were broken…”. I further couldn’t dive deep into the story. It was just too uncomfortable.

Langtang Village was one of the most affected villages in the 2015 Massive Earthquake in Nepal. A massive landslide was triggered because of an earthquake that swept away an entire village that day. Somewhere around 260 people died, mostly locals, a few trekkers and guides, a few tourists, and a few army personnel. A lot more people were injured and living tough life still. The rubble of the landslide(falls on way during Langtang Valley Trek) remains to date, and being in the rubble makes you realise how big the landslide was.

Later, upon asking her grandson, I got to know she lost many members of her family in the same earthquake, her house in Langtang Village was swept away, and in Thangsyap, it was her daughter’s house where she had been staying alone since the earthquake. Her grandson and granddaughter were also very kind and empathetic towards the visitors. It felt as if their genes carried the sweetness along with them. You might have heard different travel sory of people full of kindness but to feel the warmth in real was a different experience.

Aama still lives in that place alone. The next day asked her if she goes somewhere in winter because it gets too cold in winter. “No, if I leave this house, bears will come and destroy everything around. I need to take care of the house in winter.” Oh, how tough it must have been for her to be alone in the harsh winters of the mountain. It just made me feel pity on myself for complaining over small problems while the world has been way nicer to me always. My complaints seemed embarrassingly cheap every time I looked at her face.

In the morning, someone came asking for raksi(alcohol). “Aama, dont you know how to make alcohol? Why are you buying it? Everyone else makes it on their own.” I asked. To which she replied, “ I know how to make it, but I don’t have the utensils to make alcohol. Maybe the earthquake was also a drunkard, so it took the utensils along with my house.” She smiled and that smile will be engraved in me forever.

That’s my version of the travel story of a mountain hero. Being a trekking guide, I had multiple opportunities to see and experience people’s lives from up close. Stories like these motivate me to love my work. Thanks to my own trekking management company (firstcamptrek.com)for allowing me to reach various places, for giving me such a humbling experience in life.

If you are travelling to Langtang Valley for Langtang valley trek, you can consider staying at Potala Guest House, Thangsyap. Honestly, it was a 10 on 10 experience.

Travelling and managing other people’s travel and trekking plans becomes more and more interesting for me because of the morals and values I get to learn from people in the mountains. People often ask how I stay so active on Facebook and Instagram while I’m deep in the mountains with no signal. The secret is preparation; before I head out to guide on the trails, I use social media scheduling tools to ensure our community stays updated with fresh content even when I’m completely offline. More travel story to come …