Travel: Mustang, Nepal / Pt.1

I usually share our business trips on the blog here but I've decided to get a little more intimate on the blog and share my recent (February 2010) 14-day hike from Jomsom to the forbidden kingdom of Lo Manthang.

A little background information, Lo Manthang is a walled kingdom located in Mustang region in northwest Nepal. Similar to Bhutan, Mustang only allows 2000 tourists a year to protect local traditions and the environment, prior to 1992 it was off limits to tourists. Mustang borders the kingdom of Tibet. During the Chinese annexation and genocide of Tibet the kingdom of Lo Manthang was responsible for granting asylum to many Tibetans. The queen of Lo Manthang at the time was Tibetan. The main facets of life I witnessed on my travels were related to farming, herding, tourism, or religion; a great juxtaposition to everyday life that most of us experience on a day to day basis.

The elevations experienced while hiking the region ranged from 5,000 to 13,000 ft above sea level resulting in a variety of breathing conditions. The climate experienced on an average day (early spring) ranged from relatively warm and dry in the day to near freezing at night.


The following items were my tools in visually documenting my journey.

1) Horizon Perfekt, A 35mm xpan swing lens
2) Kodak Elite Chrome 100
3) Fuji Velvia 50
4) Agfa CT Precisa 100
5) Sekonic Studio Deluxe III




To accompany the materials above (besides standard hiking gear and clothes) I had a notebook and several books for reading. The only digital item I had taken on this trip was a cellphone for emergency situations, otherwise the phone remained off for the duration of the trip. It was imperative that the time I was spending on this trip was focused purely on human interaction as well as my dialogue with the earth around me. The question I sought out is where do we stand as an individual organism in relation to the biosphere we inhabit? It's easy to lose the connection we can have with our earth as we're so engrossed with the thousands of things that make up our day to day lives. This trip was about reviving the dialogue and seeing where I stand in all the emptiness that surrounds me.





























Part Two : Click Here!