We are back to 'civilisation' after 19 days walking in the Himilayas. Over this time I've managed just over 3 1/2 hours of filming time and around 1000 photos. I filmed less than I hoped, but believe that we have captured some quality material. From 2 months travelling and talking to local people we now have about 20 hours of film, about half of this from Thailand. It is already clear to me that there are some special people and special things happening in Thailand. Back to Nepal. Here are some reflections from the last 19 days.
We've had an amazing journey. Our experiences up to and including the crossing of Thurong La Pass is already documented here. Despite our challenges with illness we managed to experience and appreciate some stunning landscapes as we followed the Marsyangdi river towards its source. Early on in the journey there was clear evidence of deforestation. The building of the road also became a part of the thinking and reflections on present and future changes. As we moved into higher altitudes we came to people who are originally of Tibetan origin. My impression is that these are very strong people who possess a strong connection with their local environment, with rivers, forest, mountains. Not all are as aware as others, but it seemed to me that there is strong local leadership in places such as Chame and Manang. These people who are providing leadership need to be supported as much as possible. Our high point was Thurong La Pass, but the night before at Thurong Phedi was something special. Michung Gurung had a clarity, directness, and practical wisdom that I believe can only come from living with the power of high mountains and appreciating the true power of nature.
Beyond Thorong La our experiences were quite different. We no longer had this huge high altitude challenge ahead of us. We also struck a level of development that surprised me. The building of a road is far more advanced on this side. The more I walked, the more I listened and saw, the more I became very upset by this development. It is, and will continue to, impact on local communities, local economies and on the environment. Nature will prevail in a region that is already prone to erosion, landslides, flooding. They are building the road, by hand, through some very unstable terrain. It can't and won't survive in my view... certainly not without a huge and ever increasing input of resources. If I put climate change into the mix then I see very big challenges, with communities and environments that are becoming less self sufficient and resilient. Where is the hope? Beyond Jomson we came to the beautiful village of Marpha, now by-passed by the road. There we spoke to a local community leader. The road predominated in our discussions but he also talked about the strength and positive actions of their community to protect the local environment. After Marpha we had a long walk down through the Kali Gandaki valley to the village of Ghasa. For most of this walk we managed to avoid the road. From Ghasa to Tatopani the stupidity of the road became too much for me... so out came the camera as I filmed some of what I was seeing and shared my thoughts. This road was becoming a powerful metaphor for all the bad decision making in the world that ignores the obvious power of nature and benefits of working in harmony with local environments and wisdom of local people. From Tatopani we climbed to Goropani, watched the sunrise over Poon Hill and then literally ran through the rhododendron forest to the small village of Tadopani. It wasn't until we came to Ghandruk, a village of Gurung (Ghurkha) people, that I managed another interview. This is a large village, around 6000 people, with many challenges but very good community organisation. With early support from the Annapurna Conservation Area Programme they have a strong community forestry programme and other positive initiatives. After talking with Kisam Gurung, a local leader, we walked around the village with his eldest daughter. Alisha Gurung is only 10 years old but clearly very bright, very socially aware and very strong minded. A future leader. A young tree that has potential to grow tall and strong. It was a pleasure to meet this family. This was the end of our trekking. After 19 days we were ready to finish and yesterday walked from Ghandruk out to the road end at Birethanti, then to Pokhara. End of one journey...ready to begin another!!
So much that we've seen, heard and learnt over the last couple of months. Here is a story worth telling, worth hearing, worth doing something about if enough people begin to care enough.
