Gurung, Tamang, Thakali, Newar: who lives where, and why it matters on a trek
Nepal has well over a hundred ethnic groups. You will meet four of them on the routes we run, and knowing which changes what you notice.
By Dawa Gurung · 7 min read · Updated 1 August 2026
Most trekkers spend two weeks walking through villages without knowing whose villages they are, which is a shame because the architecture, the food, the religion and the farming all change as you move — often within a single day's walk.
Nepal recognises well over a hundred ethnic and caste groups and more than a hundred languages. You do not need to learn that. You need four, because four groups host almost all the trekking we run out of Pokhara.
I am Gurung, so take the section on my own people with whatever pinch of salt you think it needs.
Gurung — the Annapurna middle hills
Ghandruk, Sikles, Landruk, Ghalel and most of the villages on the Annapurna Base Camp and Mardi routes are Gurung. Stone houses with slate roofs, stepped into the hillside, animals below and living space above.
Traditionally herders and farmers, and since the nineteenth century heavily recruited into the British and Indian armies — which is why you will meet grandfathers in these villages who speak English learned in Hong Kong or Brunei, and why some houses are considerably grander than the farming alone would explain.
Religion here is a blend of Tibetan Buddhism and older shamanic practice, with Hindu influence layered on. You will see both a gompa and a shrine in the same village and nobody finds that contradictory.
Thakali — the Kali Gandaki
The Thak Khola, the upper Kali Gandaki around Marpha, Tukuche and Jomsom, is Thakali country. Whitewashed flat-roofed houses in tight lanes, built for wind and cold rather than monsoon rain — a completely different architecture from the Gurung hills a few days south.
Historically traders on the salt route between Tibet and the Indian plains, which made them prosperous and unusually mobile, and which is why Thakali families run good hotels and restaurants across Nepal.
Their food is the best regional cooking in the country and 'Thakali khana' is a mark of quality on a sign anywhere in Nepal. Apples, apple brandy and dried fruit are the Marpha specialities.
Tamang — Langtang and the hills north of Kathmandu
The Langtang valley and the Tamang Heritage Trail region are Tamang. Tibetan Buddhist, with their own language in the Tibeto-Burman family, and villages built around a gompa with mani walls and chortens on the approach paths.
Historically among the more economically marginalised groups in Nepal despite living closest to the capital, which is part of why community tourism in Langtang matters as much as it does. The 2015 earthquake hit this area hardest of anywhere on a trekking route. The rebuilding you walk through is theirs.
Newar — the Kathmandu valley, and Bandipur
The Newars are the historic inhabitants of the Kathmandu valley and the builders of essentially everything you will photograph there — the durbar squares, the pagoda temples, the carved windows.
Newari towns are dense, brick-built and organised around courtyards and squares rather than strung along a ridge. Bandipur is a Newari trading town transplanted onto a hilltop on the old India–Tibet route, which is why it looks nothing like the hill villages around it.
Their cuisine is a separate tradition from anything else in Nepal, and their festival calendar is the densest in the country.
What this changes on the trail
You will 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. Kitchen and hearth conventions are stricter in some Hindu households than in Buddhist ones. Clockwise around a chorten matters in Tamang and Thakali areas and is simply good manners everywhere. And it changes what to ask about. '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 specifically is not small talk and is 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 longer.
Is the Tamang Heritage Trail worth doing?
It is a good route and it is not one we run from Pokhara — it sits north of Kathmandu near Langtang. We would refer you rather than pretend otherwise.
Do people mind visitors in their villages?
On the trekking routes, no — it is the economy. Ask before photographing, and the difference between a visitor and a guest is usually one question about whose house you are standing next to.
What language will I hear?
Nepali is the lingua franca, but Gurung, Thakali, Tamang and Newar are distinct languages, not dialects. Older villagers may be more comfortable in their own than in Nepali.
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