Ghalegaun, situated on the lap of beautiful Lamjung Himal, lies north-east of Pokhara at a distance of 115 km via Prithvi Highway and Dumre- Besisahar Highway and 185 km away from Kathmandu via Prithvi Highway. An exotic pristine village, Ghalegaun is home to brave Gurkha Soldiers, with the majority of Ghales, one of the popular Gurung communities.
Lying at an altitude of 2,100 m, Ghalegaun provides you panoramic views of the mountains like Machhapuchhre (6,693 m), Anapurna (8,091 m), Lamjung Himal, Bouddha Himal (6,974 m), Annapurna II (7,939 m), Annapurna IV (7,525 m), Himalchuli (6,747 m), and several other peaks.
Ghalegaun forms from two words – Ghale and Gaun. Ghale is the ethnic group of people living in Ghalegaun, and Gaun means village. It is a popular homestay destination with fantastic accommodation services on the homes of locals. Most of the houses in Ghalegaun act as local hotels that provide accommodation, local Nepali cuisines, and local drinks.
Tourists get to learn the lifestyle of the Ghales, who welcome tourists with broad smiles and serve them warm hospitality. Though the homestays lack facilities like flushing toilets, hot-shower, comfortable beds, and AC rooms, you will experience local living, and feel like one of the villagers yourself.
Ghales have been preserving their cultures and traditions while still performing traditional customs during birth, death, marriages, and festivals. Famous for old cultural dances as Jhyaure, Ghantu, Ghyabring, Dohori, Krishna Charitra, and Jhakri, Ghalegaun lets you be part of these dance forms, along with traditional music, musical instruments, and costumes. New Year and Buddha Jayanti are two popular festivals in Ghalegaun when people perform traditional Ghatu dance.
Homestay owners welcome their guests with garlands, tika, perform a dance for them, make sure they receive the best service, are always open about their culture and lifestyle, and bid farewell with traditional farewell songs, and rituals.
You can take a public bus from Pokhara or Kathmandu till Besisahar. The roads till Besisahar are excellent, but from Besisahar to Ghalegaun, the off-roads are quite risky for other vehicles except for two-wheelers and jeep. You can find public jeep in Besisahar that will take you to Ghalegaun. Some hikers usually stay one night at Besisahar and hike to Ghalegaun the next day.
The trail is beautiful, easy, with outstanding views of the hills and mountains and forest and vegetation on both sides. Ghalegaun is perfect on every season except monsoon as the off-road becomes muddy and risky.
Bhujung, another homestay destination of Lamjung, lies 7.7 km away from Ghalegaun, is very popular for beautiful views of the mountains, perfect weather, warm hospitality of the homestay community, and local cuisines and drinks. Tourists usually prefer to stay one night at Ghalegaun and stay at Bhujung the other day before returning, making it a three to four-day trip.
