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Here is why. Recently I hiked as part of a “Green Hiker, Green planet” group of change-makers, along the Langtang region in Rasuwa, north of Kathmandu for four days. As we hiked, I couldn’t help but realize that Nepal is simply beautiful and it is just fine the way it is. Sadly it is us who are abusing it. Here are some of the experiences that convinced me, we need to change ourselves, not Nepal.

Where else would you be garlanded with assorted vegetables like tomatoes, potatoes raddish (mula), maize, onions, beans and garlic! For you non-believers, here is a photo of Miss Nepal Sadichha Shrestha wearing just that on the trip :)

Where else can you play “Chipleti” i.e desperately crawling and slipping downhill on a slippery red mud path with rain pouring over you for hours. Here we were swinging crazily between fun and danger like little children.

Where else can you sip hot, therapeutic, Seabuckthorn juice (made from wild berries found in high himalayas) and watch the panaromic mountains as clouds disappear below us.

Where else can you feast your eyes upon white, pink, red rhododendrons on the backdrop of beautiful Langtang mountains, that shine like one of Monet’s painting?

Where else can you have “Nettle Soup” (Sishno) with Maize pudding (dhedo) for dinner?  My favorite punch line was: “Aaja nikai Sishno khaiiyo”.

It was snowing up there, in mid April. We didn’t mind.

Where can one  sip fresh nyak milk from a local yak dairy as well as nibbling nyak cheese while chit-chatting with yak herders, surrounded by majestic Ganesh, Langtang and Gosaikunda mountains. (btw, a female Yak is called nyak, Hence I use the term, Nyak cheese.) :P

Imagine taking midnight photos of Ganesh himal glowing on a full moon night! Listen with awe, to a local village girl recite poems about impacts of climate change on her village.

Where else can you find local lamas (shamans), at our behest start elaborate masked dance rituals, to scare away specifically the ghosts who are stopping our constitution assembly members from making the consitution?

Nepal is full of wonderful experiences. But Climate change instigated by our own actions in the past and present, threatens this way of life. If we don’t change our habits today, decisively and collectively, the next time you or your children go up to Langtang, you might not get to sip Yak milk or nip its cheese. Erratic climate changes might mean, yaks no longer find greener pastures and lose their habitat. You may no longer enjoy the beautiful forests color painted with rhododendrons because the rampant forest fires (which we saw ourselves) burnt it down.

Playing “chipleti” in the rain becomes out of the question as it either rains too much, causing huge landslides or became drier creating a dusty arid trails devoid of life.
The locals may only welcome you with a plastic “khasa made” rose garland instead of these fresh assorted vegetables because people could no longer grow vegetables in their unproductive lands.
You may not be able to watch the local Sherpa/ Tamang songs, dances and rituals because they all had to scatter away because of shrinking water supplies from the mountains.
And you might just have to be satisfied with photos of bare naked mountains because the snow melted away, leaving you with ugly ash rocks to snap at.
You may not be able to enjoy poetry slam-fest with local young poets because they had to leave for “Arab” to sustain their families as local means of income through agriculture, tourism dried up as a result of climate changes.

The rampant forest fires, the erratic rains and landslides are just the tip of the iceberg. Climate change is persistently trying to turn Nepal into an inhospitable, inaccessible, unsustainable place.

So, lets take a stand today, to protect and enjoy Nepal’s beauty as we still see it. We have a moral choice. Are we going to keep being part of the problem or a solution. As you finish reading this, turn to your best friend, and talk about how the two of you can start right away to keep our Nepal beautiful. This would be a wonderful start to turning things around. Because at the end of day, Nepal doesn’t need to change. We do.

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1. Nepal is beautiful day and night. Happy Earth day 2011
2. Nepal is beautiful. It doesn’t need to change. We do.
3. little ways YOU can help change the political landscape in Nepal

A Happy Earth day 2011 to you! Pictures are of Langtang, Gosaikund region (click on pictures to read a travel diary)

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1. Travel to Upper Mustang in Nepal
2. Nepal is beautiful.

Upper Mustang in Nepal

Sometimes we forget the big picture. Nepal is beautiful. It does not have to change. It is us who have to change.

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1. Nepal is beautiful. It doesn’t need to change. We do.
2. Nepal is beautiful day and night. Happy Earth day 2011
3. Travel to Upper Mustang in Nepal

Enjoy, :)

“Hail, Lord Pashupati nath”. The plane full of Hindu devotees on a pilgrimage to Muktinath,  were busy chanting as we moved through the deepest gorge in the world in between two 8,000 meter high mountains onto a narrow landing strip in Jomsom.

We had left Pokhara on a gloomy rainy weather. As soon as we landed, we were delighted to find ourselves in sunny Jomsom. the administrative capital of Mustang. Mustang lies in the rain shadow of Annapurna, in other words, it rarely rains much during monsoon as all the monsoon clouds are stopped by the high rising Annapurna and Dhaulagiri mountains.Still the wind was still strong enough to bring out the wind stopper jacket from my back pack.

In Kagbeni, the gateway to upper mustang, we met a french group heading up to Upper mustang there, shared a bit of insight with the Nepali guides who were quite amused to hear Nepalis traveling. (who would have thought !). I suppose Nepalis traveling in Nepal is a rarity, something I hope traveling and sharing our experiences here would encourage more Nepalis to travel within their own country). Even local Mustange’s find it odd that a nepali is traveling to Mustang for fun. They are first un-believing, then slowly accepting, and after a good hearty talk, wholly embracing and enjoying the company of Nepali travelers who bring them news of Kathmandu and beyond. We found this quite comforting despite our initial fear of being treated inferior to other tourists.

We made our way from Kagbeni to Chiele to Syangboche to Dhakmar to finally reach Lo-Manthang the capital of (the former kingdom of) Mustang on the fourth day. Through all the places on the way to Lo-Manthang (the captial of Mustang) we immersed ourselves on breath-taking landscapes and generous people who graced us with their hospitality.

Lo-manthang is a town full of monasteries. Every direction lead to gompas (Buddhist monasteries). The former King’s palace lies smack in the middle of the town. In a sentence, its a place thats a mix of a millenia old customs and habits mixed with 21st century.
We happened to be there just in time for the “Yarthung” festival. It is a festival of horse-mastery. The former king of Mustang and his entourage start the festival by riding around the city and going out to the meadows where they test the skills of the best riders of Mustang. And there is a lot of drinking involved too! We watched as waves of riders marched past and as beautiful ladies of Lo-manthang were in their finest dresses welcoming the riders. The pink barley fields surrounding the red fortress seemed to heighten the festive atmosphere. The horse riders were put to a series of tests and the natives of Lo-manthang were there to see the performance in display along with a few lucky travelers.

In the afternoon, we hired a few horses to travel to the nearby ancient mountain caves nearby made by ancient dwellers in this region.

After two nights in Lo-manthang, we were on our way back through another ancient town, Tsarang, On the 4th day back, we reached Kagbeni. From there, we made a little side trip to the holy pilgrimage site of Muktinath.

Looking behind we feel every Nepali should at least trek to Upper regions of Mustang before the road from Mustang to the rest of Nepal is joined in a few years. You can still enjoy the pristine beauty while walking quietly through the wilderness of Mustang. As a Nepali couple traveling alone without any guides or porters, we found Mustang safer and comfortable than traveling along some streets in Kathmandu. It was also a much needed break from the hectic claustrophobic social life we were used to here in the massive cities.

More pictures up here.

A Full day by day Travel diary (log) is posted on the travel portal on Nepal website here.

More Travel stories here.

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1. Nepal is beautiful.

It is people who make all the difference to a traveler.. So It is you who will make a travelers moment beautiful or boring.

Share what you have got, share cleanly. share openly.

Make it easy for guests to come in to your house and village and easier to leave.

Give generously, and you will receive in kind.

Treat guests like gods, and blessings (rewards) will flow in return

Clearly label directions, sign boards, titles well ( please spell-check, it isn’t that difficult, is it? )

Take a simple initiative. Interact with travelers…even a “Bonjour, or “hai” or a “namaste” or a “how are you?” helps tremendously !

Don’t beg, don’t teach your children to beg. Do teach them how to sell with dignity.

Every village is unique, they don’t all come here to see Mountains, or rivers. Sell what you have, not what you think they will buy.

Maintain your village pavements and alleys. Remember, your fore-fathers used to maintain it well, This  is not the government’s responsibility. It is yours.

It is people who make all the difference to a traveler.. So it is you who will make a travelers moment beautiful or boring.

Much is possible. lets get the basics  to work first! Stop blaming the government !

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