Nepal is a rectangular country between India and China which sits at the foot of the Himalayas. In the middle of the 18th century it was an area ruled by many Kings, city states, principalities. A forward looking King Privthi decided to unify the various entities into a nation. He hired Khampas (Tibetan fighters from the Tibetan area Kham) as mercenaries and, beginning in the east, began to conquer territories. As he was approaching Kathmandu, the King there appealed to the British for assistance. King Privthi conquered Kathmandu, defeating the British forces, and established Kathmandu as his new capital. Continuing west he turned toward an area known as Lo Muthang. To this day there is no road into Lo Muthang. The only route in (unless you climb the Himalayas and come in from the north) is an historic trail where you must cross 6 mountain passes each over 16,000 ft. To say the least, it is not easy. All goods are brought into and out of Lo Muthang over this trail. Until recently it was very difficult to get into Lo Muthang as they only allowed 400 people to visit. It is a Tibetan enclave and now, with the Chinese destruction of Tibet, is probably the most Tibetan place left on earth. King Privthi ordered the Khampas to enter Lo Muthang to conquer it, but they refused to go. Of course, he realized that it was because they were Tibetan. After long negotiations with the king of Lo Muthang, it was decided that Lo Muthang could remain as it was but pay a tribute to King Privthi amounting to about $30. per year. With face saved for everyone, King Privthi moved on to the west and conquered the rest of Nepal and created a nation. My sons and I decided to go to Lo Muthang. You eat a lot of dust going up the Kali Gandaki gorge just to get to where the climb begins. Soon the trail was buzzing with the news that a father and his two sons were coming. I have a picture of my sons being interviewed by the King of Lo Muthang. It is a museum of time not passing. It only rains 11 days out of the year. One of the results is that thousand year old paintings have been preserved by the arid air. There is a well known DVD which tells the story of some Italian art restorers who were invited to attempt the restoration of some of the ancient art. It is fascinating to watch the Tibetans gathered in front of the restorers expressing with no inhibitions, their opinions about which color and where the artists might actually paint. Years later, my sons and I met in Crested Butte for some skiing. Mark presented us with a copy of GQ, one of the last magazines in the world I would think he would read. The cover story, it seems, was about a trip Sting made with his son to Lo Muthang. The article casts Sting as a praiseworthy father for taking his son, in an evident bonding attempt, to such an unusual place. The son was at an age where, even meeting the King, he apparently wasn’t impressed. And only at the end of the article did it quietly mention that they had entered and departed by helicopter from Kathmandu.
1 Comments:
Nepal is a rectangular country between India and China which sits at the foot of the Himalayas. In the middle of the 18th century it was an area ruled by many Kings, city states, principalities. A forward looking King Privthi decided to unify the various entities into a nation. He hired Khampas (Tibetan fighters from the Tibetan area Kham) as mercenaries and, beginning in the east, began to conquer territories. As he was approaching Kathmandu, the King there appealed to the British for assistance. King Privthi conquered Kathmandu, defeating the British forces, and established Kathmandu as his new capital.
Continuing west he turned toward an area known as Lo Muthang. To this day there is no road into Lo Muthang. The only route in (unless you climb the Himalayas and come in from the north) is an historic trail where you must cross 6 mountain passes each over 16,000 ft. To say the least, it is not easy. All goods are brought into and out of Lo Muthang over this trail. Until recently it was very difficult to get into Lo Muthang as they only allowed 400 people to visit. It is a Tibetan enclave and now, with the Chinese destruction of Tibet, is probably the most Tibetan place left on earth. King Privthi ordered the Khampas to enter Lo Muthang to conquer it, but they refused to go. Of course, he realized that it was because they were Tibetan. After long negotiations with the king of Lo Muthang, it was decided that Lo Muthang could remain as it was but pay a tribute to King Privthi amounting to about $30. per year. With face saved for everyone, King Privthi moved on to the west and conquered the rest of Nepal and created a nation.
My sons and I decided to go to Lo Muthang. You eat a lot of dust going up the Kali Gandaki gorge just to get to where the climb begins. Soon the trail was buzzing with the news that a father and his two sons were coming. I have a picture of my sons being interviewed by the King of Lo Muthang. It is a museum of time not passing. It only rains 11 days out of the year. One of the results is that thousand year old paintings have been preserved by the arid air. There is a well known DVD which tells the story of some Italian art restorers who were invited to attempt the restoration of some of the ancient art. It is fascinating to watch the Tibetans gathered in front of the restorers expressing with no inhibitions, their opinions about which color and where the artists might actually paint.
Years later, my sons and I met in Crested Butte for some skiing. Mark presented us with a copy of GQ, one of the last magazines in the world I would think he would read. The cover story, it seems, was about a trip Sting made with his son to Lo Muthang. The article casts Sting as a praiseworthy father for taking his son, in an evident bonding attempt, to such an unusual place. The son was at an age where, even meeting the King, he apparently wasn’t impressed. And only at the end of the article did it quietly mention that they had entered and departed by helicopter from Kathmandu.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home