Su Cha

The Tibetan butter tea, known as 'Su Cha' (or is it 'Su Ja' ?) in Manang is an excellent beverage for the Himalayan conditions. In absence of central heating or other such provisions to fight the cold, reliance focuses on calorie rich diet. Su Cha serves this purpose well.

Su Cha served with a couple of Tibetan breads and a plate of spicy potatoes makes a good breakfast

The preparation is very simple. Add a tablespoon of tea leaves and about 200gm of butter in 1L of hot water. Add salt according to your taste. Stir to melt all the butter, then enjoy :)

Yak Meat

Click on the picture to see album, WARNING: BLOOD

Although Vajrayana buddhists by religion, Manangis don't consider killing yak for meat as a taboo. Probably for practical reasons, they have resorted to tweak this part of the religious laws.

One fine morning, Tashi invited me to watch the ritualistic slaughtering and butchering of yaks. The event took place in a field on the outskirts of the village, by a little stream.

Four cows and a bull yak were slaughtered. Instead of slitting the throat open, a long narrow knife is driven right into the animals heart. This ensures quick death without spilling much blood. Every part of the animal is consumed or used in one way or another, including the blood.

Use of axe and hammer in butchering is another speciality of their culture. For an animal as thick skinned and heavy boned as the yak is, this is no surprise.

Only men are allowed to go on the butchering field. Perhaps a tradition being carried on since the hunter-gatherer period.

Skin Protection in the Himalayas

Cracked skin on my knuckles

Himalayan air is usually very dry except for the monsoon season. Skin cracks in all kind of strange places of our body. Skin on my knuckles cracked. Another guy had the palm of his hands cracked.

Locals rub fat from yak and other domestic animals on their skin to prevent cracking.

EU Visa Policy

Checking the visa policy of the European Union countries can be worth while before you make your travel plans. This page on wikipedia comes in handy in this regards.

Yak Artifacts

Yak plays an important role in Tibetan society. Food, garments, fuel come from the yak. Over the course of evolution, the yak has also found way into their myths and folklore. Here is a collection of artifacts derived from or related to yak, as seen in and on my way to Manang, Nepal.

Yak's head is hung in the front of houses, near the entrance sometimes. Probably considered a good luck charm. The head is preserved by hollowing the skull and then drying in sun.

Yak skull used to decorate the interior of Hotel Mountain Lake. Not sure if it's for good luck or just decorative purpose.

Yak rug in Hotel Mountain Lake. Manangi equivalent of grizzly bear rug, I guess.

Dried yak meat, eaten raw.

Ceremonial yak mask, seen in Manang Heritage Museum.

Stuffed yak head, in Manang Heritage Museum