Kagbeni's tunnel lanes and the old khar

Kagbeni was built for defence. Houses are packed tightly around the khar and the gompa, sharing walls, and the lanes between them are narrow enough to close off quickly. In places the lanes pass under the houses themselves, so you walk through short dark tunnels lit by a single opening. Upstairs, families live above the animals and storerooms, and use the flat roofs for drying crops and firewood. It is a village made for walking.

Your guide will point out the details. Small prayer wheels sit in wall niches; kani gates painted inside with mandalas mark the entrances; and at the village edges stand old clay guardian figures, local protectors meant to keep harmful spirits out. Water channels run beside the lanes to the fields. Some houses have been turned into lodges, others are empty, and a few are slowly being restored. Look up as well as around.

We finish beside the old khar, the palace of the local rulers, whose high mud walls are now partly in ruins. Do not climb on them; they are fragile. In the late afternoon the low sun turns the ochre walls warm and long shadows fill the lanes, the best light for photographs. Ask before photographing people in doorways or courtyards, especially older residents. Finish with tea on a lodge rooftop.