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Nepal, Trekking around Annapurna - the Jomsom side
you can enlarge most small pictures by clicking in on of the corners. Sorry, due to technical problems the pictures on this page kann not be enlarged to the full side. only the left corner click is possible.
Marpha *** (internet, safe drinking water station, money changer) Marpha is one of the places you should not miss and is worth spending some time exploring. So don’t mind if you have already arrived at 3 or 4 p.m. and enjoy it. All the houses are painted with bright white colour and the lanes are paved with spotless clean stone slabs.
Every house will keep enough firewood for a cold winter. The Samtenling Gompa
Apple country Marpha is the centre of the apple-growing area and it was in the agricultural research centre of Marpha that the apple story began. Now you will find apples in all possible forms: Fresh apples, apple pies, apple cider, dried apples or the famous Marpha apple brandy and apricot items as well. The apples bring a lot of wealth to the region and apple farmers have greatly benefited from the cheaper transportation on the new road. Most lodges will offer you at least two different apple pies and some more cakes during the trekking season.
The lodges of Marpha are excellent; most of them are inside old and large Thakali houses. It is just a pleasure to stay there. The big Gompa was renovated and enlarged in 1996 and it is certainly worth a visit. Above it is a new meditation centre with some hermitage cells behind it. You can walk to the huge natural stone chorten overlooking the village, from where you have a wonderful view. Rhingin Komba:
The Cliff Hermitage Pra Gompa
Behind the house is a cave and i think that here some venerated LAma was living an meditating before the hermitage was built. Musicians at a wedding In 1999 there was a wedding in Marpha and Musicians with thier traditional instruments were there. if you look at their facesoyu can directly see that they are not from the hills, but from hindu casts.
Overview Annapurna region NATT 60 Jomsom to Marpha by thinni and Dhumba lake   To the page
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Marpha has a large Gompa. Abaove the Gompa oyu find the newly built Meditation Center which has some small meditation cells. Westerners can take a retreat there.
On the northern cliff there is an intriguing little Hermitage. for more than twenty years i wanted to visit
it, but it was alway closed. In 2012 i talked about this with the Didi of Nerus Gusthouse and it turned out, that a relative of them was taking care of this little hermitage. And luckily we could join him the next
morning when he went there to perform some daily little ceremonies and changed the water in the the bowl with fresh one.
