An adventurer searches for self-knowledge as well as snow leopards and scriptures in a wintertime traverse of remote Dolpo.
EVEN FROM THE AIR, THE HIMALAYAS have the power to dwarf you. An unbroken chain of peaks, summits glinting white, alluring but nigh-impassable on the ground. Bracketed by the colourful planes of the Indian subcontinent and the high-altitude desert of the Tibetan plateau, the mightiest peaks in the world can only be attained with great effort and at some peril. For the Tibetans and Hindus that live under them, in remote and isolated valleys, they cast the shadow of the sacred too: they are the unreachable abode of the divine, the source of all water and life.
Our little airplane flies timidly from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj, a multicultural city in southeastern Nepal, bordering the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. A trading hub, there Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs and Christians live and work cheek-by-jowl. Most importantly for me, this is the gateway to the wilderness of Dolpo, long regarded as Nepal’s ‘next frontier’.
Accessible only by foot or on horseback – and that is when conditions favour it – Dolpo has retained its Tibetan identity, untroubled by the trials of its cultural homeland. Titanic encircling peaks have shielded it from the outer world. In the past, the only visitors would be lamas, or yak caravans bringing grain and other commodities over the high passes in exchange for salt.
Today, its ancient paths are irresistible to adventurers looking for a different Nepal and the sense of separateness is only heightened during winter when snowstorms make the mountain passes almost intractable. Jagan Timilsina, a Nepalese mountaineer, and I have therefore chosen this time for our crossing of the Himalayas via Dolpo.
This story is from the November - December 2018 edition of Action Asia.
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This story is from the November - December 2018 edition of Action Asia.
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