The Herdsmen of the Lhonak Valley, Sikkim

Located in the north west corner of the Sikkim Himalaya, the Lhonak valley remains cut off from the rest of the country for more than eight months of the year. The only access to Lhonak is the high and treacherous Lhonak La Pass, almost 5000 metres. The lone village of Muguthang with about twenty houses lies in the valley. The inhabitants of the valley are herdsmen, the graze yaks, sheep and goats. This is a photo essay shot during two weeks in summer.

A yak caravan makes it's way across the North Sikkim plateau between Giagong and Cholamu at an altitude of more than 16,000 feet. On these remote barren heights the yak is used as a means of survival.
The wind swept village of Muguthang. Kesang and her brother Pemba come to walk to school while their parents graze yaks and sheep high on the mountain pastures.
The lone school teacher Lama La teaches English in a makeshift school outside his home. The bleak Lhonak plateau lies more than 14,000 feet above sea level.
Tibetan herdsman Wangdi and his wife in their Muguthang home.

Sheep are taken to graze in the high meadows above Muguthang village every morning.
Sonam with his two gradnchildren in their Muguthang home
Wangdi's mother lights a fire in her Muguthang kitchen.
Remnants in the yak graveyard on the high trail to Naku bordering Tibet

Entrance of a monastery doorway
The desolate upper reaches of the Lhonak valley approaching the border with Tibet in the distant horizon

Sujoy Das | Photographs 1986 - 2023

The Herdsmen of the Lhonak Valley, Sikkim