Mountains have enticed me for as long as I can remember. As a child, I always looked at the mountains, which once used to be in plain sight from my house in Kirtipur, and wondered if there is anything beyond them. 

As I grew older, I mustered the courage to find the answer myself. 

I don’t know if I found the answer I was looking for, but when I got the taste of the Himalayas, I realised that just once was not enough. If there was curiosity before I climbed the mountains, there was this thirst to climb more mountains after. 

Mountains have been my source of strength and inspiration in the last few years. Mountains have been the source of my inner peace and they offer me a sense of belonging.

When up there, I am free from the chaos that crowds my head in the city. 

I cannot explain in words what it felt like when I completed the nine-day circuit to see the Manaslu Himal up close.

It was far away from home, yet, it felt like there was no place to which I belonged more. And that feeling can’t be encapsulated in writing, or even through photographs. But we can at least try. 

Photos & Text: Merit Maharjan 

Porter carrying goods towards Bhimtang Valley, having crossed the Larke Pass.

A deep greenish heart-shaped lake in Bhimtang Valley.

Bhimtang Valley leaps out as if from a fairytale.

Homecoming—a local carpenter from Shyala.

Dinner time.

Children from Shyala playing around. 

Mystical wonderland. 

An old, defunct suspension bridge has little other purpose than to pose for photographs now.