After the steep climb from Dhunche, an easy stroll around the clearing helps your legs recover and your body adjust to 3,330 m. Start at Sing Gompa, the small monastery at the top of the settlement. It is a simple building with a painted interior, prayer wheels and a chorten outside. If a caretaker is present, you can step inside, remove shoes and leave a donation. Evening is the best time, when lamps are lit.
The cheese dairy, run by a government dairy corporation, sits a short walk away. Herders bring milk from yaks and chauri grazing on nearby pastures, and it is pressed into firm wheels similar to the cheese at Kyanjin Gompa. Production is seasonal, mostly from late spring to autumn, but cheese is usually for sale. Lodges serve it on toast, in sandwiches and pizzas.
Children enjoy seeing the cheese being made when it is in season, and the monastery is peaceful even when the trail is busy. The whole visit takes about an hour. If you have energy left, walk 10 minutes into the forest above the lodges to look for birds in the late light, but be back before dark.
Good for
- Families
- Pilgrims
- Seniors
- First-timers
Questions travellers ask
Is there a cheese factory at Sing Gompa?
Yes. Chandanbari has a small government-run cheese dairy that makes hard cheese from yak and chauri milk collected from nearby herders. Production is seasonal, mainly late spring to autumn, but cheese is usually on sale at the dairy or lodges. It is smaller than the better-known Kyanjin Gompa factory.
Why is Chandanbari called Sing Gompa?
Sing Gompa is the name of the small Buddhist monastery in the settlement, and trekkers and guides adopted it for the whole place. Chandanbari, meaning sandalwood garden, is the official Nepali name you will see on park signs and maps. Both names refer to the same lodges and clearing.
Can I enter Sing Gompa monastery?
Usually yes, when the caretaker is around, often in the morning and evening. Remove shoes, walk clockwise, do not touch statues or offerings, and ask before taking photos. A donation of NPR 100–200 is appreciated. During Janai Purnima the monastery is busy with Buddhist and Hindu pilgrims alike.
