Nubri valley is super special! It is only accessible by foot. It is home to Mt Manaslu, world's 8th highest mountain. The people here are Tibetan. It is easier for them to reach Tibet than to reach rest of Nepal. To this day, they still continue to take yak caravans to trade for salt, butter and tea from Tibet. Nubri valley is one of Guru Rinpoche's rare 'beyul', "hidden valley".Tibetan Buddhists believe Guru Rinpoche hid these sacred valleys, very remote areas that can only be reached with extreme hardship (hence the 16850 ft pass). Once you reach a beyul, then Tibetan texts have stories of those who have reached beyul and written about very profound spiritual experiences that have inspired millions. For Buddhists, reaching a beyul is not an escape from the real world, but an environment to "understand the world more deeply".
