Olangchung Gola
Also known as: Walangchung Gola · ओलाङचुङगोला
An old trading village near the Tibetan border, with a 17th-century monastery and stone houses of the Walung people.
Olangchung Gola sits in the upper Tamor valley close to the Tipta La pass into Tibet. For centuries its Walung traders carried salt, wool and grain across the border, and their prosperity shows in the big stone houses and in the Dechen Chokhorling monastery, which keeps old texts and images.
Few outsiders reach it: the village lies inside the Kanchenjunga restricted area and is several days' walk from the nearest road. Those who do find a small, proud community and some of the most unspoiled mountain culture in the east.
