Story: From Tibet to Carasc

Nearly 7 years in Ticino

He used to live in a country with the highest peak in the world, Everest. Now he lives near the longest suspension bridge in Ticino.

Chothar was born in Tibet. His homeland is located on the highest plateau on the planet, at 4,900 meters above sea level. He has been living in Ticino, the southernmost canton in Switzerland, for four years. Is it really so far-fetched to find similarities between two countries so far apart?

THE CHARACTER

Chothar, the chef who brought a pinch of Tibet to Ticino

When they ask me what Tibet is like, I take them to the Carasc Bridge.

Chothar came here from Tibet 4 years ago. His homeland is also known as the Land of Snows or the Roof of the World. It is located on a plateau 4,900 meters above sea level. The most famous peak is Everest, the highest mountain on the planet at 8,848 meters.

All features that don't really remind you of Ticino! Yet, Chothar has found his second home here in the southernmost region of Switzerland. He gladly takes his friends and guests to the Carasc Bridge. He loves this bridge's symbolic power: joining two municipalities, Monte Carasso and Sementina, which used to be unreachable though just a few hundred meters apart at this point, divided by the Sementina Valley, 130 m deep below the present-day bridge.

Sometimes he comes here alone. The bridge makes him feel happy, though sometimes a little melancholy as well.
When he stops here and lets his gaze wander over the Magadino plain, he relives some good memories.

He carries on sure-footed, accustomed as he is to the slight shaking of suspension bridges.
When he has company, he tells stories about his Tibet to distract anyone who isn't used to it and is more hesitant to cross.

Every so often he stops to point out the glimpses that most remind him of his homeland.

Over the last 4 years in Ticino I've built up lots of new experiences and more and more often, I find myself telling people who accompany me across the bridge anecdotes from my life in Ticino.

Pro tip

There is a cable car from Monte Carasso to the centre of Curzútt, the starting point of the walk with the Tibetan bridge. The cable car continues up to the Monti Mornera, a very popular peak among paragliders at 1,400 m above sea level.

It may not be the Tibetan cuisine made by Chothar, but you can enjoy superb Ticinese dishes under the shade of the trees on the terrace at the Ristorante Ostello Curzútt.

The San Bernardo church is located between Curzútt and the Tibetan bridge. It is open from 10 am to 5 pm from Wednesday to Sunday. With its valuable frescoes, it is one of the monuments of national importance.