Chepel is a small village with about 400 inhabitants at an altitude of approx. 2300 m in the district Solukhumbu east of the capital Kathmandu. When I first visited Chepel in 2012 it was a one-day jeep ride and thereafter a five-days hike over 3 passes to get there. Now, the “street” goes closer to Chepel, however, it is still a very exhausting and long trip. Since Chepel completely lies aside of any tourist route, there are no real tourist lodges around and a trip to Chepel is really like a trip into the very and still natural heart of Nepal.
A center like we know it does not exist in Chepel. The village looks more like 70 houses dropped from 2 km height with corn and potato fields around each house.
The middle picture below is taken from a place which is on the same altitude than Chepel and around 6 walking hours away. Chepel is behind the 4th mountain on the right side. All in the back the Himalaya range of mountains with over 6000 m can be seen, behind these the 8000 m high summits would appear. To get to Chepel from the place of the picture you need to go down 1200 m of altitude, cross the 250 m long hanging bridge, and then 1200 m up again on the other side of the Dudh Khosi. There it goes on in the typical “Nepali straight” style – meaning up and down and up and down and…
