Gurung, Tamang, Thakali and Newar country, and why it matters on a trek
Nepal has well over a hundred ethnic groups. You'll meet four of them on the routes we run, and knowing which is which changes what you notice.
By the Lakeshore team · 7 min read · Updated 5 October 2026
Most trekkers spend two weeks walking through villages without knowing whose villages they are. That's a shame, because the houses, the food, the religion and the farming all change as you go, often within a single day's walk.
Nepal recognises well over a hundred ethnic and caste groups and more than a hundred languages. You don't need to learn all that. You need four, because four groups host almost all the trekking we run out of Pokhara.
I'm Gurung, so take the section on my own people with whatever pinch of salt you think it needs.
Gurung, in the Annapurna middle hills
Ghandruk, Sikles, Landruk, Ghalel and most of the villages on the Annapurna Base Camp and Mardi routes are Gurung. The houses are stone with slate roofs, stepped into the hillside, with the animals below and the family living above.
The Gurung were traditionally herders and farmers, and since the nineteenth century the British and Indian armies have recruited heavily from these villages. That's why you'll meet grandfathers here who speak English learned in Hong Kong or Brunei, and why some houses are a lot grander than farming alone would explain.
Religion here is a mix of Tibetan Buddhism and older shamanic practice, with Hindu influence layered on top. You'll see a gompa and a shrine in the same village, and nobody finds that contradictory. On our Ghandruk and Sikles treks your guide is Gurung too.
Thakali, in the Kali Gandaki
The Thak Khola, the upper Kali Gandaki around Marpha, Tukuche and Jomsom, is Thakali country. The houses are whitewashed and flat-roofed, packed along tight lanes and built for wind and cold, not monsoon rain. They look nothing like the houses in the Gurung hills a few days to the south.
The Thakali were traders on the salt route between Tibet and the Indian plains. That made them prosperous and unusually mobile, and it's why Thakali families run good hotels and restaurants all over Nepal.
Their food is the best regional cooking in the country, and 'Thakali khana' on a sign means quality anywhere in Nepal. Apples, apple brandy and dried fruit are the Marpha specialities, and our Jomsom Muktinath trek walks right through Marpha.
Tamang, in Langtang and the hills north of Kathmandu
The Langtang valley and the Tamang Heritage Trail region are Tamang. The Tamang are Tibetan Buddhist, with their own language from the Tibeto-Burman family, and their villages are built around a gompa, with mani walls and chortens along the paths leading in.
They have long been among the more economically marginalised groups in Nepal, even though they live closest to the capital, and that's part of why community tourism in Langtang matters as much as it does. The 2015 earthquake hit this area harder than anywhere else on a trekking route. The rebuilding you walk through is theirs.
Newar, in the Kathmandu valley and Bandipur
The Newars are the historic inhabitants of the Kathmandu valley, and they built just about everything you'll photograph there: the durbar squares, the pagoda temples, the carved windows.
Newari towns are dense and brick-built, organised around courtyards and squares instead of strung along a ridge. Bandipur is a Newari trading town transplanted onto a hilltop on the old trade route between India and Tibet, which is why it looks nothing like the hill villages around it.
Newari food is a separate tradition from anything else in Nepal, and the Newar festival calendar is the densest in the country. Our Kathmandu heritage tour includes a Newari dinner.
What this changes on the trail
You'll notice the transition. Walking from Ghorepani over to Jomsom takes you from Gurung and Magar hill country into Thakali high desert in three or four days, and the houses, the food, the religion and the crops all change with it.
It also changes how you behave. Some Hindu households are stricter about the kitchen and the hearth than Buddhist ones. Walking clockwise around a chorten matters in Tamang and Thakali areas and is good manners everywhere. And it changes what you ask. 'Which village are you from?' opens a much better conversation than 'Do you like living here?', in any language.
Walk it with us
Private departures on your dates, guided by the people who wrote this page.
Questions we get asked
Should I ask people about caste or ethnicity?
Ethnicity, generally yes. People are usually pleased you noticed the difference. Caste is not small talk, and it's better left alone.
Which trek has the most cultural variety?
Jomsom and Muktinath, because you cross from the middle hills into the Tibetan rain shadow and the change is dramatic. The Annapurna Circuit does the same over a longer walk.
Is the Tamang Heritage Trail worth doing?
It's a good route, but it isn't one we run from Pokhara. It sits north of Kathmandu, near Langtang. We'd refer you to someone else instead of pretending otherwise.
Do people mind visitors in their villages?
On the trekking routes, no. Tourism is the economy there. Ask before you take photos. What turns a visitor into a guest is usually one question about whose house you're standing next to.
What language will I hear?
Nepali is the common language, but Gurung, Thakali, Tamang and Newar are separate languages, not dialects. Older villagers may be more comfortable in their own language than in Nepali.
Still deciding?
Tell us your dates, and we'll tell you whether Ghandruk Gurung Village Trek is right for you. If it isn't, we'll say so.
Nothing to pay online. We confirm your dates first.
Or call the office +977 61-457830