It was nearly 10 years ago that I first set foot in Nepal’s capital city, Kathmandu: a veritable whirlwind of sensory input, where even seasoned travelers find themselves dazzled by the sheer vibrancy of an urban metropolis positively pulsing with life. Rooted deeply in the Culture in Himalayas, the city feels alive not just in movement, but in spirit. But what made the most vivid and indelible impression upon me wasn’t the raucous cacophony of car horns, the intoxicating aromas of incense and spice wafting from street-side shops, or the vivid saris of Hindu women contrasting with the ancient stonework of narrow alleys in bright splashes of color.

Instead, it was something more subtle; something that revealed itself only in glimpses, becoming clearer as I began to understand the evidence of what I was seeing. It was only when I reached Kathmandu Durbar Square that I found myself able to articulate what makes this city so special: the way in which Hindu and Buddhist traditions are intertwined throughout the literal and figurative architecture of Kathmandu—a defining expression of the Culture in the Himalayas. This is a place where you’ll find Buddhist monasteries and Hindu temples side-by side, where pilgrims from across the world spin row upon row of prayer wheels before paying their respects at elaborately carved shrines to Shiva. Nepal may be comprised primarily of Hindu residents, but it’s plain to see that other religions aren’t just tolerated: they’re embraced.

While my time in Kathmandu Durbar Square was equal parts fascinating and enlightening for a first-time visitor to Nepal, it’s an experience that should already be pretty familiar to just about everyone who’s ever traveled to the country’s bustling capital city. Likewise, what pilgrim in Kathmandu could fail to explore the Hindu Pashupatinath temple complex on the banks of the holy Bagmati River? And if you’ve ever hiked the fabled trails of the Everest Base Camp Trek, you’ve already seen the colorful frescos and gilded statuary of the Tengboche Monastery: quite possibly the most well-known Buddhist temple in the entirety of Nepal. These religious destinations are famous for a reason: they’re accessible, beautiful, and important to their respective faiths.

But what about the lesser-known temples and monasteries of the high Himalayas? There are untold treasures to discover in the mountains of Nepal, and you never can predict just what you might find in the far-flung reaches of the country’s Himalayan wilderness.

Bön in The Higher Himalayas

It’s hard to imagine a more remote region than the sparsely populated Mustang District in northern Nepal. While it’s just on the other side of the oft-visited Annapurnas, this is a former Himalayan kingdom that has long been forbidden territory to international travelers. Mustang is a world dominated by craggy brown mountains bare of snow, where herds of yaks graze on endless pastures beneath a cerulean Trans-Himalayan sky. The ethnically Tibetan people of this spectacular country pursue an agricultural lifestyle, cultivating barley, potatoes, and wheat in the valleys between the district’s highest mountains.

It’s also a place where history, culture, and customs have long been shaped by the Bön faith: an indigenous Tibetan tradition that’s often mistaken for just another offshoot of Buddhism. But that’s
an impression that some residents of Mustang are trying to shake. “Bön was the native religion of Tibet and the old Himalayas,” says Geshe Sonam Gurung, founder and leader of the Mustang Culture and Education Centre. Geshe is not a name, but an honorific: it denotes a monastic academic degree, approximately equivalent to a doctorate in Western cultures. Geshe Sonam has certainly earned his credentials: he’s been studying since the age of nine, when he was sent from Nepal to India by his mother to study for life as a monk.

After 14 years of education, he was able to enjoy the achievement of becoming a respected teacher, even traveling abroad to introduce the key principles of Bön to eager learners across the world. But his homeland was always on his mind, and it wasn’t long before he returned to Mustang to carry out his most sacred duty: to create a place where children and adults alike could study the Tibetan language and the precepts of the Bön faith. “We are trying to preserve our culture and language,” says Geshe Sonam. It’s a pretty big undertaking.

Mustang Culture and Education Centre

TheMustang Culture and Education Centre’s mission is to provide more than 50 students with a comprehensive foundation in Tibetan culture and Bön traditions, from elementary to university-level education. The organization’s students receive instruction at government schools during the day, but they attend specialized classes at the Centre during mornings and evenings. Now that the school is up and running, Geshe Sonam has turned his indefatigable energies towards the construction of a local Bön monastery.

The first phase of construction is already done, and the temple is scheduled for completion in mid-2024. When it’s ready, it’s sure to be one of the remote region’s most important religious institutions—and Geshe Sonam is already looking forward to welcoming visitors.

“I want people to know that Bön is not a religion, actually,” explains Geshe Sonam. “You can understand Bön through the experience of practicing it. People don’t know who they are, why they are stuck in their lives, or why they have so many problems.” But he’s confident that visitors to the monastery will acquire an understanding of what this ancient Tibetan tradition has to offer. “If you practice it, the answer will be there: the meaning of life, and how to free yourself. The answer will be found in the experience.” It’s an ambitious goal—but from what this writer has seen, Geshe Sonam is the man for the job. In just a few months, you’ll be able to visit the monastery for yourself. Trekkers exploring the isolated Mustang region will find the Centre’s monastery located between Jomsom and Kagbeni.

Dolpo Bön School

Visitors keen to learn more about Bön needn’t necessarily wait to discover more about this fascinating faith. In the distant Dolpo region of western Nepal, other organizations are hard at work to preserve the traditions and culture of ancient Tibet. Even the landscape of the Dolpo echoes the Tibetan plateau: this is a land of high-altitude deserts, low rainfall, and friendly locals who are only too keen to share their culture with visitors from afar. When you trek in the Dolpo, you’ll encounter Buddhist customs straight from Tibet in their most undiluted form. Dolpo is also a place where the Bön faith still holds sway—and the Dolpo Bön School has been working to advance religious, educational, and social causes in the region since 2009. The school operates under the auspices of the Dolpo Bön Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting Bön traditions and culture throughout the length and breadth of Dolpo.

“Our mission is to provide free education to the children of the Dolpo,” says Namdak Rokaya, the head teacher of the school. The organization currently provides a primary curriculum up to the fifth grade, and students are empowered to bring their knowledge of Bön traditions back to their home villages in order to keep the faith alive.

Rokaya’s road to the Dolpo Bön School makes for a fascinating tale. “My father is also a Bön priest and lama,” Rokaya says, “when I was nine, I was sent to India to study Bön and modern education.” In an interesting turn of fate, he studied at Menri Monastery in India’s northernmost state of Himachal Pradesh: the very same monastery where Geshe Sonam Gurung earned his academic qualifications before establishing the Mustang Culture and Education Centre. It’s here that their paths diverged.

“From 2010, I worked as the head of the school,” explains Rokaya. “And in 2018, I took trekking guide training and trekked with foreigners who were interested in the Bön religion.” This makes Rokaya uniquely qualified to introduce the precepts of the Bön tradition to curious travelers. The school is located just a stone’s throw from the village of Dunai, which can be found on the popular Upper Dolpo trekking route. If you choose to visit this unique melting pot of education and religion, you’ll be welcomed with open arms. “We will be delighted to see you there in our school,” says Rokaya.

Namgung Gompa

While you’re trekking in the far-flung Dolpo, you’ll also want to pay a visit to the 17 th -century Buddhist monastery known as Namgung Gompa. Most travelers will find themselves exploring the village of Namgung about halfway through the three-week Upper Dolpo Trek, and it’s a place where charm abounds around every corner. Namgung is an oasis of barley fields cultivated in green terraces, set amidst a vast bowl of dry mountains fashioned from the very bones of the earth. But nowhere is the scenic and cultural allure of the village more apparent than at its principal monastery. Namgung Gompa has a long and storied history: over the centuries, its sacred caves and halls of meditation have drawn reclusive Buddhist masters and even the royalty of the erstwhile kingdom of Mustang.

In the modern era, the gompa also weathered the 2015 earthquake that devastated much of Nepal, proving its resilience and reaffirming its permanent place in the cultural fabric of the Dolpo. If you’re embarking on the Upper Dolpo Trek, you might even be the next visitor to experience the charms of Namgung Gompa—but there’s more to see here than just the monastery itself.

Dolpo Nyinchung Foundation

“The Dolpo Nyinchung Foundation was founded by the chief of Namgung Gompa: Nyinchung Dungse Rinpoche,” says Passang Lhamo Lama, a member and spokesman for the foundation. The organization represents a relatively new initiative of Namgung Gompa, as it was only established in 2019, and it seeks to preserve the cultural heritage of the remote Himalayas. The primary mission of the foundation is to provide education and health care to the impoverished residents of the isolated Dolpo region. Lessons are based around key Buddhist principles, like compassion and nonviolence. The foundation’s health care program incorporates elements of the region’s traditional medicine and also provides emergency assistance during natural disasters. What’s more, the Dolpo Nyinchung Foundation offers Buddhist teachings throughout the entire Dolpo—and it’s for this reason that visitors are especially welcome here.

“You can visit our monastery in Dolpo,” Passang Lhamo Lama offers, “and you can meet the founder of this foundation.” For travelers who are interested in an ancient and vibrant lineage of Himalayan Buddhism, the opportunity to speak with Nyinchung Dungse Rinpoche is simply too good to miss.

As one continues to grow acquainted with the cultural and religious traditions of the Nepal Himalaya, it soon becomes apparent that these opportunities occur more frequently than might be expected. Whether you’re traveling in the Dolpo or Mustang—or whether you’re simply exploring Kathmandu for the first time—you’ll discover that a friendly hello and a simple conversation can open doors and offer unexpected insights into a world where the Bön and Buddhist faiths have thrived for centuries. So don’t be afraid to venture off the beaten path: the little-known religious destinations of the high Himalaya have a lot to offer, and your visit means a lot to the many charitable organizations striving to provide education, health care, and cultural enrichment to the residents of Nepal’s most remote and beautiful territories.