Surrounded by snow capped peaks, it's a very picturesque and peaceful place (apart from some very loud cows), and sits below a small monastery (It's typical for a monastery to have a small settlement supporting it). The village livestock is kept in close proximity to the family homes, either inside walled enclosures next to the garden or in rooms below the main house; this area is blanketed in snow in the winter, so the warmth of the animals is a bonus. The dung from the animals is also spread on walls for insulation and/or dried in patties for fuel.
Kids with distinctly Tibetan looking features play games running through the narrow passage ways between houses or dry stone walls. They ask us to take their photos and pose eagerly in front of the camera. Thousands of prayer flags flutter loudly in the breeze and close-up are the dominant sound. Prayer wheels, the other essential feature of a Buddhist village are also found in abundance as are inscriptions carved into fragments of rock. At one place in the village these are piled up many layers thick.
Nako has a serene almost untouched feeling about it and unlike most other places we visited there is virtually no litter. The owner of the campsite we stayed at actively promotes this in the village and he works closely with the youth association to achieve this. It works.
A sacred lake sits on the edge of the village and no swimming is allowed, but in any case the heavy green algae colouring doesn't exactly induce the urge to dive in.
It's obvious that wood is a valued commodity as it's stockpiled by every house. Wood is a more effective fuel than dung but relatively scarce in the almost desert like environment in this valley; the trees in the village are probably off-limits as a fuel source. Cuttings from thorn bushes are used on walls around vegetable plots like barbed wire; it's not obvious that this is crime prevention, probably more to stop animals getting in - even the cows are surprisingly nimble.
This was the first place where I challenged myself to a climb at altitudes above 3000m and the breathless lowlander visited the collection of cairns and flags guarding the settlement. This was also a good place to see the village in perspective; it's very tightly packed as if development outside is forbidden. Could it also be an attempt to keep heat in the village during the hard winters?
One nod to modernity are the electricity pylons and the ubiquitous satellite dishes. Seemingly wherever you go in India you will not find one without the other. But this was also the first place we visited with no mobile network coverage - perhaps that's another reason why it was so peaceful!
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