Nako, July 15, 2016, 1550 hours.

After lunch, we headed out towards #NakoMonastery. Before we reached Nako, all I had thought of was the Lake in Nako, mostly because I am not given to researching a destination before I get there, and whenever Kaushal spoke of Nako, it was that there’s a lake in Nako.

Then somewhere during the journey, I figured out from the conversations that there’s an old monastery in Nako as well. In fact, as I walked into the village I realised that the Nako monastery is central to the village.

Photo: Sanjay Mukherjee

Photo: Sanjay Mukherjee

Photo: Sanjay Mukherjee

The little main road which doubles up as the market at the junction, has like half a dozen shops. There’s a grocery shop, a souvenir shop, a home-stay and so on. The market ends almost as soon as it starts – like within 25 metres maybe – and the village starts, which means that houses line the roads.

Farms are all around the village so you would find mattar crops (green peas) jostling for space with pahadi aloo (mountain potatoes) on the same patch. The Wayfarer tells me that mattar and aloo are frequently planted together – the mattar have smaller leaves and violet coloured flowers while the aloo have bigger leaves.

Photo: Sanjay Mukherjee

Photo: Sanjay Mukherjee

Most of the inhabitants follow Buddhism and the culture and social life of the village reflects Buddhist beliefs and ways of life. Some villagers said the monastery and village is 1300 years old, some said 1100 years old. Both of which seem very likely given the structure of the village and the methods employed to protect against the elements and also to harness all the energies for productive living.

Photo: Sanjay Mukherjee