Journey to a land beyond time
As I have already posted on Facebook, my documentary about my crazy expedition to Upper Dolpo, Nepal is now available to watch on Youtube. Enclosed below are some photos of the journey. What was so crazy about it? Well, one colleague of mine who happens to be a mountaineer, said after reading the book: “You were nuts. How could you be so unaware of the dangers involved?” Well, I thought I was aware, but perhaps not. Or maybe I didn’t care.
The Snow Leopard trek was blazed by famed explorer/writer Peter Matthiessen, whose 1979 book of that name is still in print. The book describes a 500-mile trek over the highest mountains in the world, crossing four 18,000-foot passes, to arrive at Shey Meadows, a veritable Shangri-la of peace and beauty. But Matthiesson was only there to study the blue sheep, and maybe get a glimpse of a snow leopard. I went during the Nepal civil war, where a trekking permit was denied because it was guaranteed I would be captured by Maoist guerillas, and perhaps held for ransom.
Our trek was led by Lama Tenzin, a charismatic young Tibetan monk from India, and Thinle Londrup, a 66-year old Nepali tribal chieftain from Upper Dolpo who had starred in the movie Himalaya (also known as Caravan), a film nominated for the Best Foreign film at the Oscars. My faith in going to Upper Dolpo and coming back alive was because Thinle had made this same trek hundreds of times in his life. My faith in Lama Tenzin, as explained in my book about this trek, was somewhat less.
Many travel writers aspire to a great adventure once in their lives. The opportunity to trek to Upper Dolpo came out of the blue and I seized the chance immediately. Would I do such an insane adventure again? No, but I am older now and know better. Due to the altitude alone, trekking to Upper Dolpo can kill any trekker, at any time, simply because of cerebral or pulmonary edema, rock falls or other dangers. It’s not for the faint of heart. One thing for sure, I won’t be doing it again.
