|
|
Hidden Valleys of the Himalayas
| Article
# : |
17849 |
|
|
Section : |
CULTURE
|
| Issue
Date : |
3 / 1990 |
1,988 Words |
| Author
: |
Elaine Brook and Lhakpa Sherpa
|
In the spring of 1988 we led one of the first western expeditions to reach the remote valley of Tsum in northern Nepal, close to the Tibetan border. We had overcome not only the barriers of the rugged terrain but also five years of organization and negotiation with a ponderous Nepalese bureaucracy before obtaining permits to enter the region.
Tsum is said to be one of the eight bayul, the legendary "hidden valleys” of Nepal, concealed in the remote mountain wilderness of the Himalayas. Many of the valleys still remain concealed from the outside world, but some, like the cold, high reaches of Tsum, have been discovered and inhabited.
The valley is isolated, both geographically and politically. Lying between the ice-hung Himalayan peaks of the Ganesh and Sringi ranges, it is cut off from the lowlands of Nepal of the south by deep, forested gorges and swift rivers, and from Tibet in the north by high, snow-covered passes and a closely watched political boundary. The people who farm the thin, rocky soils below the snowline are of Tibetan origin and speak a Tibetan dialect. Their religion and culture are rooted in Mahayana Buddhism, which they brought with them from their homeland. Most of Tsum's educated people are monks.
The monks tell many legends of Tsum's discovery by their ancestors. But in the shrinking world of the twentieth century it is questionable whether such remote communities can continue to remain isolated fro moutside influences. Similar Himalayan regions, such as the Solu-Khumbu valleys around Everest, have changed greatly with the influx of tourism.
Fewer than a thousand people inhabit the valley, and religion has a profound influence over their lives. Their spiritual leader bears the title of Drukpa Rinpoche, which means "precious teacher from Bhutan." In fact, it was the rinpoche's previous incarnation who was Bhutanese; the present incarnation was born in Nepal, but the title continues. Buddhists believe not only in reincarnation but in the pervasive force of karma whereby all actions inevitably bring appropriate results in future live. They therefore carefully refrain from harmful actions such as killing, which would blight their future lives with suffering and untimely death. The devout observance of these tenets by the people of Tsum has made the valley a sanctuary for many species of wildlife. It even provides a home of the elusive snow leopard, which is close to extinction in many other parts of the Himalayas.
But peaceful havens for wildlife have their own problems. Phunsok Chogyal, the adarshe (mayor) of Ra-chen village, speaks for the farming community. "The forests are full of langurs, which come out into our barley fields - whole families come together and they eat the crop before our eyes! Then there are the bears, which dig up and eat the potato crop, and the snow leopards, which prey on the baby yaks."
The farms can no longer sustain the whole community. Many of the men travel on foot over the passes to Tibet to buy wool to sell in Kathmandu. With the profits they can make good the shortfall left by the farms. Tibetan wool from the cold, high-altitude plateau sells at a premium in Kathmandu because of tourist demand for traditional Tibetan rugs. Even so, profit margins are slim; Phunsok and his companions are competing with the truck-loads of wool that reach Kathmandu via the Friendship
...
Read Full Article
|
|
