The village of Tanchok is around 600-years old (family tree of the village goes back eleven generations) and was created by Nauje Paingilama Gurungs, one of the many Nepalese tribes).

In the very beginning, ancestors had chosen a different spot for their settlement, called Kot, close to today’s Australian Base Camp. At that time Gurungs were hunters-gatherers and in search of food they roamed the jungle teeming with tigers. It was a perilous existence and casualties were a common place. One day someone must have thought that farming was a safer way of living.

According to the legend, after finding water sources in today’s Majgaun, Patilikhet and Tanchok, the elders of the tribe planted bamboos in those three places and waited for an omen. The bamboo planted in Tanchok thrived so there the first settlement was established.

The village emanates a romantic charm. The stone houses with little, labyrinth-like pathways leading from one household to another, slated roofs and ornamented wooden windows, that soften the spartan functionality of mountain houses, make the visit here worth your while. It is easy to imagine what the village looked like when the community was strong and thriving.

A lot has changed in the last sixty years. A landslide in Paidako caused first migration of the villagers to the valley. Many Gurungs became Ghurkas in Indian or British army and instead of going back to Tanchok, they moved their houses yet again, this time to Pokhara.

Today, many of the locals remaining in the village are Bishwakarmas (Kamis) whose traditional occupation was building and craftsmanship, from wood carving to metalsmith. Some of the few Gurung villagers are reluctant to swap the peaceful farming life to a more convenient lifestyle in busy cities. The younger generation often do not have ample choices.

The Gurungs do come back though and the close-knit community keeps the tradition alive by meeting at get-togethers, weddings and funerals. There is also a village committee, which in recent years ensured electricity supply to every household, it made the renovation of the temple to Khanci Barah happen and have built the road to the village.