INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN
INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN
The ancient town of Kagbeni is the gateway to Upper Mustang. Photo: Ynske Boersma.
Until a few years ago, Lo Manthang was
even only accessible on foot, says the
young monk, who introduces himself
as Kunga Lama. “It was a three-day
walk to Jomsom, the nearest town in
this area.” How was that, to be so shut
off from the outside world? “It was a
great time for me. All my friends lived
close by. We enjoyed the silence,
and we had the nature as our playing
ground.”
When we enter the medieval fortress city
we actually do feel thrown back into the
Middle Ages. The tiny city is a densely
built labyrinth of whitewashed houses
made of mud and stone, with narrow
alleys like little tunnels. On a square in
the middle of the labyrinth, the city’s
elderly gather to warm themselves in the
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afternoon sun. The women are spinning
their miniature prayer wheels, combing
sheep wool, and making braids in each
others’ long hair.
But as in all parts of the modernising
world, also here change is coming.
The Chinese and Nepali governments
are planning to construct a highway
to connect the two countries, right
through Mustang, following the old Salt
Route. When the road will be ready,
it will be the most accessible road
through the Himalaya, with inevitable
changes for the life of the Loba.
In the past decade, the rough version
of the road has been bulldozed from
the mountains. This dirt road connects
Lo Manthang with the nearest city of
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Pokhara, in the tracks of the old trade
route, and continues north to the
Chinese border. Although for the time
being it is only accessible to jeeps
and tractors, the road has meant a
huge leap forward for the residents
of Mustang, with travel times reduced
from several days to six hours.
The road also means that the area
is more accessible to travelers.
Most Mustang visitors opt for a trek
through the area, staying overnight
in guesthouses along the route or
camping. With the ten-day permit,
you can just make it to Lo Manthang
and back to Kagbeni, the entrance to
the former Kingdom. Therefore, we
decided to travel part of the way by
jeep. This saved us time to explore
villages further off the track, and get
a better impression of the life of the
Loba, at the crossroads of change to
modernity.
But when departing from Pokhara we
realised that the ‘forbidden’ kingdom is
more difficult to reach than we thought.
Because of the strong winds, the tiny
plane that would take us to Jomsom
— the starting point for the journey
through Upper Mustang — is kept on
the ground. Being on a tight schedule,
we have no other option than to take
a taxi, a nine-hour ride on an unpaved
road through the mountains. The
vehicle, a Suzuki Alto, gets stuck in
the mud several times. Late at night
and utterly exhausted, we arrive in
Jomsom, where early the next day
we continue our road trip with a jeep,
entering Upper Mustang at nearby
Kagbeni.
The jeep trip may be quicker than
walking but it’s no less adventurous
as we discover when our vehicle
crosses the fast-flowing river through
the valley, the water up to the bonnet.
Then the road winds through the
mountains, higher and higher, along
ever-deeper abysses, and over arid
high plains where only short grasses
survive, scorched by the brightest sun.
Surrounded by rocks carved out by rain,
sun and wind in the form of pointed
ochre, terracotta, and blue turrets and
further away the 7000-metre high
peaks of the Himalayas, you can do
nothing but feel small and marvel at
the wonders of nature in this remote
corner of the world.
The life of the Loba is like a spiritual
battle against that wild nature, which
they regard as divine. Wherever you
look you will find the symbols and
rituals used by the inhabitants to
appease their gods. At the entrance
of every village is a chorten, a red and
white painted building with relics of
Buddhist clerics to keep evil spirits at
bay, and on each mountain pass you’ll
encounter a pole with prayer flags, of
which the Tibetans believe the wind
will take the mantras printed on the
flags, and spread them in the universe.
Normally about 6000 people live in
Upper Mustang. But now it is almost
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