<figure><img width="4032" height="3024" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636ceec79c7e80680e09ae4ejpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>All Photos: Jangbu Sherpa</figcaption></figure>For 39-year-old Jangbu Sherpa, 2021 was supposed to be like every other climbing season for the past two decades. He would train his clients and help them climb the highest mountain in the world. The only difference this year (apart from the fact that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/mt-everest-grows-by-86cm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Everest was 86cm taller</a>) was that there were signs of a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-braces-for-its-2nd-covid-wave/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Covid-19 second wave</a> starting in India, which meant Nepal would not be far behind. He was with the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-allows-royal-himalayan-expedition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bahrain Royal Guard expedition</a> that was the only foreign group in autumn 2020 in Nepal, climbing Lobuje and Manaslu to acclimatise for this year’s Everest ascent. As the Bahraini team arrived in late February, new coronavirus cases had started appearing in Kathmandu as well. But this did not dampen Jangbu’s enthusiasm: he was looking forward to being on top of Everest for the 17th time. The expedition flew out to Lukla after the Bahrainis quarantine on 4 April. Once there, Jangbu got busy setting things up and training his charges. Soon after, he started feeling a bit under the weather, with a persistent cold and body ache. <img width="4032" height="3024" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636ceecc9c7e80680e09ae4fjpeg.jpg" alt="">"I did not think it was corona. I thought it was just a common cold. So, I took some meds and went about my day,” Jangbu recalls. He felt fine as long as the effect of the medicines lasted, but got sick soon.Then his chest started hurting, his body hurt and mouth went dry. He still did not think it was Covid-19, and went about his base camp chores. “On the day I had to take my clients up to the Icefall, the symptoms intensified. My chest hurt, I felt lethargic, and I had an intense body ache. I couldn’t go on,” says Jangbu. That is when the usually unfluttered Sherpa started getting alarmed. He informed the team leader and hopped on the next available helicopter to Kathmandu. There was an ambulance to take him to hospital where a swab test came back positive for Covid-19.“I was shocked and a little nervous,” Jangbu says. “I didn’t know much about it and had only heard bad rumours about corona.” The doctors told him he had to be isolated for 14 days, but all he could think about was the mountain and the clients he had left at base camp. He was determined to go back as soon as he recovered.Born in Khumbu, Jangbu grew up around the world’s highest mountains, and hearing climbing stories from his mountaineer father, Pemba Tharki Sherpa. When his father came home after every season of climbing, and put up his clothes and harness to dry, Jangbu would try out the gear.His father once took him along as a helper to Camp 1 on Ama Dablam. Since he was too young to go beyond Camp 1, Jangbu stayed in his tent while his father and the team went up to Camp 2 then onto the summit.When his father was not up in the mountains, he would be meditating in the monastery. This meant that as the eldest son, it was up to Jangbu to take care of the family. <img width="640" height="853" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636ceecf9c7e80680e09ae50jpeg.jpg" alt="">“Because I started working at a young age, my studies were affected, which is why I want my own two boys to have a better chance at education,” says Jangbu, who is involved in social work, helping schools in remote districts with supplies. “I followed my father’s footsteps but I don’t want my children to do the same. This is a very difficult job with more danger than recognition.”By the time he was 16, Jangbu was joining expeditions working as a helper in the kitchen tent. He saved some money and came to Kathmandu to take climbing courses. In 2003, after finishing his training, he returned to Everest and at age 21 stood on top of Mt Everest for the first time.“It was surreal. People talk about heaven, but looking down at the world from up there I finally understood what heaven meant,” says Jangbu. “All the other peaks below looked so small, it was out of this world.” When he conquered the world’s tallest mountain, Jangbu’s father Pemba, was on Pumori, just eight kilometers west of Mt Everest. When he heard that his son had made it to the top, he was very happy and proud. Unfortunately, while there Pemba fell sick and had to be hospitalized. That was his last expedition. A few years later, he passed away. <img width="3088" height="2316" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636ceed39c7e80680e09ae51jpeg.jpg" alt="">Since 2003, Jangbu has been on Everest every year (except 2020 because of the pandemic) sometimes with his own clients through his company <a href="https://www.facebook.com/intothehimalayatreksandexpeditions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Into the Himalaya Treks and Expeditions</a>, and sometimes helping bigger groups. Over the years, he has seen many changes: modern climbing gear is lighter and easier to use.  But more importantly, Everest itself has changed. “The mountain used to be white, it was difficult to climb. But now, much of the snow has melted,” he says. The first expeditions nearly 20 years ago needed to secure nine or ten ladders along the Khumbu Icefall, these days two or three are enough. "After the 2015 earthquake, the Hillary Step near the summit collapsed, and it is easier to climb over it." What has not changed, though, is the way the world views ‘Sherpas’ who form the backbone of expeditions, and without whom most international climbers would not be able to get to the top. “Yet, Sherpas still do not get the recognition they deserve,” he says, citing all the Everest films over the years which gloss over the contribution of Sherpas to expeditions. Tired of being in the shadows and wanting to document what it is like to climb the mountain, he co-produced and starred in his own documentary, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MissionEverestFilm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mission Everest: The Legend of Sherpa Jangbu</a>, chronicling his 16th summit in 2019. Besides Everest, Jangbu has been on top of Cho Oyu, Shishapangma, Manaslu, Baruntse, Ama Dablam and Island Peak. https://youtu.be/gJPN_iMc8nUEarlier this month, after a week in hospital and another week in isolation at home, he tested negative for Covid-19. Despite his doctor’s warning not to overexert himself on Everest, he was back at base camp.He still had chest pain, but he pushed on despite feeling that he did not have his usual energy. “I felt lethargic, my chest felt heavy. I usually love taking photographs but this time I did not even have the energy to do that,” says Jangbu. His head torch malfunctioned at Camp 4 and his oxygen mask on the Balcony, but he pressed on along the familiar route to the South Summit.“I knew the Hillary Step was right ahead, and then there was no stopping,” says Jangbu. “The joy that you feel on summit no matter how many times you have been there is the same. And this time I had overcome not just the mountain, but also corona.” Read Also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/was-tenzing-a-tibetan-nepali-or-indian-it-does-not-matter/">Was Tenzing a Tibetan, Nepali, or Indian? It does not matter.</a> Lhakpa Norbu Sherpa<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/yaas-stops-everest-climbers-at-camp-2/">Yaas stops Everest climbers at Camp 2</a>, Nepali Times

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Overcoming Mt Everest and Covid-19

<figure><img width="4032" height="3024" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86bf9c7e80680e067871jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>All Photos: Jangbu Sherpa</figcaption></figure>For 39-year-old Jangbu Sherpa, 2021 was supposed to be like every other climbing season for the past two decades. He would train his clients and help them climb the highest mountain in the world. The only difference this year (apart from the fact that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/mt-everest-grows-by-86cm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Everest was 86cm taller</a>) was that there were signs of a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-braces-for-its-2nd-covid-wave/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Covid-19 second wave</a> starting in India, which meant Nepal would not be far behind. He was with the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-allows-royal-himalayan-expedition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bahrain Royal Guard expedition</a> that was the only foreign group in autumn 2020 in Nepal, climbing Lobuje and Manaslu to acclimatise for this year’s Everest ascent. As the Bahraini team arrived in late February, new coronavirus cases had started appearing in Kathmandu as well. But this did not dampen Jangbu’s enthusiasm: he was looking forward to being on top of Everest for the 17th time. The expedition flew out to Lukla after the Bahrainis quarantine on 4 April. Once there, Jangbu got busy setting things up and training his charges. Soon after, he started feeling a bit under the weather, with a persistent cold and body ache. <img width="4032" height="3024" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86c39c7e80680e067872jpeg.jpg" alt="">"I did not think it was corona. I thought it was just a common cold. So, I took some meds and went about my day,” Jangbu recalls. He felt fine as long as the effect of the medicines lasted, but got sick soon.Then his chest started hurting, his body hurt and mouth went dry. He still did not think it was Covid-19, and went about his base camp chores. “On the day I had to take my clients up to the Icefall, the symptoms intensified. My chest hurt, I felt lethargic, and I had an intense body ache. I couldn’t go on,” says Jangbu. That is when the usually unfluttered Sherpa started getting alarmed. He informed the team leader and hopped on the next available helicopter to Kathmandu. There was an ambulance to take him to hospital where a swab test came back positive for Covid-19.“I was shocked and a little nervous,” Jangbu says. “I didn’t know much about it and had only heard bad rumours about corona.” The doctors told him he had to be isolated for 14 days, but all he could think about was the mountain and the clients he had left at base camp. He was determined to go back as soon as he recovered.Born in Khumbu, Jangbu grew up around the world’s highest mountains, and hearing climbing stories from his mountaineer father, Pemba Tharki Sherpa. When his father came home after every season of climbing, and put up his clothes and harness to dry, Jangbu would try out the gear.His father once took him along as a helper to Camp 1 on Ama Dablam. Since he was too young to go beyond Camp 1, Jangbu stayed in his tent while his father and the team went up to Camp 2 then onto the summit.When his father was not up in the mountains, he would be meditating in the monastery. This meant that as the eldest son, it was up to Jangbu to take care of the family. <img width="640" height="853" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86c79c7e80680e067873jpeg.jpg" alt="">“Because I started working at a young age, my studies were affected, which is why I want my own two boys to have a better chance at education,” says Jangbu, who is involved in social work, helping schools in remote districts with supplies. “I followed my father’s footsteps but I don’t want my children to do the same. This is a very difficult job with more danger than recognition.”By the time he was 16, Jangbu was joining expeditions working as a helper in the kitchen tent. He saved some money and came to Kathmandu to take climbing courses. In 2003, after finishing his training, he returned to Everest and at age 21 stood on top of Mt Everest for the first time.“It was surreal. People talk about heaven, but looking down at the world from up there I finally understood what heaven meant,” says Jangbu. “All the other peaks below looked so small, it was out of this world.” When he conquered the world’s tallest mountain, Jangbu’s father Pemba, was on Pumori, just eight kilometers west of Mt Everest. When he heard that his son had made it to the top, he was very happy and proud. Unfortunately, while there Pemba fell sick and had to be hospitalized. That was his last expedition. A few years later, he passed away. <img width="3088" height="2316" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86cb9c7e80680e067874jpeg.jpg" alt="">Since 2003, Jangbu has been on Everest every year (except 2020 because of the pandemic) sometimes with his own clients through his company <a href="https://www.facebook.com/intothehimalayatreksandexpeditions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Into the Himalaya Treks and Expeditions</a>, and sometimes helping bigger groups. Over the years, he has seen many changes: modern climbing gear is lighter and easier to use.  But more importantly, Everest itself has changed. “The mountain used to be white, it was difficult to climb. But now, much of the snow has melted,” he says. The first expeditions nearly 20 years ago needed to secure nine or ten ladders along the Khumbu Icefall, these days two or three are enough. "After the 2015 earthquake, the Hillary Step near the summit collapsed, and it is easier to climb over it." What has not changed, though, is the way the world views ‘Sherpas’ who form the backbone of expeditions, and without whom most international climbers would not be able to get to the top. “Yet, Sherpas still do not get the recognition they deserve,” he says, citing all the Everest films over the years which gloss over the contribution of Sherpas to expeditions. Tired of being in the shadows and wanting to document what it is like to climb the mountain, he co-produced and starred in his own documentary, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MissionEverestFilm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mission Everest: The Legend of Sherpa Jangbu</a>, chronicling his 16th summit in 2019. Besides Everest, Jangbu has been on top of Cho Oyu, Shishapangma, Manaslu, Baruntse, Ama Dablam and Island Peak. https://youtu.be/gJPN_iMc8nUEarlier this month, after a week in hospital and another week in isolation at home, he tested negative for Covid-19. Despite his doctor’s warning not to overexert himself on Everest, he was back at base camp.He still had chest pain, but he pushed on despite feeling that he did not have his usual energy. “I felt lethargic, my chest felt heavy. I usually love taking photographs but this time I did not even have the energy to do that,” says Jangbu. His head torch malfunctioned at Camp 4 and his oxygen mask on the Balcony, but he pressed on along the familiar route to the South Summit.“I knew the Hillary Step was right ahead, and then there was no stopping,” says Jangbu. “The joy that you feel on summit no matter how many times you have been there is the same. And this time I had overcome not just the mountain, but also corona.” Read Also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/was-tenzing-a-tibetan-nepali-or-indian-it-does-not-matter/">Was Tenzing a Tibetan, Nepali, or Indian? It does not matter.</a> Lhakpa Norbu Sherpa<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/yaas-stops-everest-climbers-at-camp-2/">Yaas stops Everest climbers at Camp 2</a>, Nepali Times

Fenerbahçe Beko won the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague finals in Abu Dhabi, held 23-25 May, defeating Monaco 81-70 in the final. Olympiacos, who defeated Panathinaikos 97-93, finished the series in third place. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the final match, Nigel Hayes-Davis from Fenerbahçe Beko, received a prize of 1,000,000 Miles&amp;Smiles from Turkish Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer Ahmet Olmuştur. The carrier has been the title sponsor of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, a top tier tournament, since 2010.

Turkish Basketball

In the black and white photograph, General Wangdu smiles broadly in front of the dusty cactus garden in Kathmandu’s Annapurna Hotel. With an ill-fitting jacket and shaggy hair he looks benign enough, but this was the last leader of the Tibetan freedom fighters who led the resistance against the Chinese from their remote mountain hideouts in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/comings-and-goings-in-mustang">Mustang</a>. Five months later, Wangdu was dead. Snapped in March 1974, I had only recently arrived in Nepal. How did I meet this legendary fighter? Possibly with his devoted camp follower, Lynne Klapecki, and probably in the Om Restaurant near Freak Street which was the preferred <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/hippie-trail-nostalgia-in-kathmandu">hippie hang-out</a>. Om Lobsang and his brother Yeshe were <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/earthquake-brings-back-memories-of-camps-for-tibetan-refugees">refugees from East Tibet </a>whose cafe offered a friendly welcome and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/momo-loco"> the best momos</a> - they became my in-laws after I married their eldest brother Tenzin, but that was a decade later.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1583" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Photo: LISA CHOEGYAL</figcaption> </figure>  Wangdu’s English was enthusiastically rudimentary, but even riding around town with him on the back of an aging <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-new-motorbike-museum">motorbike</a>, he was a commanding presence. Always flanked by armed outriders, impressive scars marked his forearms and a pistol hung from the cord around his neck. A charismatic guerrilla leader, Wangdu was celebrated by his followers for his tough commitment and respected for his measured pragmatism. He seemed so young to have shouldered such a responsibility of command, leading hundreds of hardened <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/50-years-after-the%20raid-into-Tibet,1012#google_vignette">Khampa combatants </a>through what had been a particularly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/heavy-snowfall-over-nepal-himalaya">brutal winter in Mustang</a>, the last bastion to hold out against the Chinese invasion of their Tibetan homeland.&nbsp; The freedom fighters of Tibet, known as the Chushi-Gangdruk, had emerged to resist the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/territorialism">Chinese takeover</a> of Tibet during the 1950s. Estimated to be 80,000-strong at the time of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-or-who-after-the-dalai-lama">the Dalai Lama</a>’s final escape to India in 1959, the sheer number of Chinese deployed into Tibet eventually forced the Chushi-Gangdruk to retreat to Mustang, From this high Himalayan stronghold, they continued cross-border raids on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) throughout the 1960s.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd" data-rendition-name="original" width="1114" height="676" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Guerrillas known as the Chushi-Gangdruk emerged to resist the Chinese annexation of Tibet during the 1950s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>  Their Kathmandu base was a small discreet lodge in a back lane near Rani Pokhari. Sipping sweet tea from a blue mug with a chipped lid, I sat bemused in a corner of the Mustang Hotel room whilst Wangdu and his cohorts received a battered brown suitcase from their CIA connection, a tousle-haired American in a leather jacket. Heaved onto the dingy bedspread that covered the thin mattress, it was clicked open to reveal piles of neatly stacked dollar bills.&nbsp; I cannot think why Wangdu allowed me to witness this handover but I was clearly no threat, a newly arrived world traveller with no understanding of the stakes nor any Nepali or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/tibetan-music-in-nepals-sacred-valley">Tibetan language</a>. Despite armed guards in the corridor,Wangdu radiated confidence and bravado, and there was a practiced familiarity to the tense transaction. This deadly dance for many years had been funded by the Americans, tolerated by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-kingdom-within-a-republic">Mustang’s residents</a>, and permitted by King Mahendra and the Nepali authorities who it suited to turn a blind eye.&nbsp; But Mahendra died in 1972, and times were changing. Richard Nixon’s ping-pong diplomacy thawed the cold war and signalled a fresh entente with China. Nepal’s yet-to-be-crowned <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-birendra-was-alive-nepal-could-still-be-a-monarchy">King Birendra </a>was under pressure to curb the irritating incursions against the PLA launched from the Nepali territory of Mustang. Keen to appease his northern neighbour, on several occasions the King summoned Wangdu for peace talks but, despite increasingly overwhelming odds, Wangdu refused to surrender.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1055" height="885" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>General Wangdu flanked by two Tibetan resistance fighters in Mustang in the 1970s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31" data-rendition-name="original" width="1044" height="792" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>King Birendra with General Wangdu (right in dark glasses) taken in 1974 possibly in Mustang after one of their few attempts at negotiation. Photo courtesy: RAJRNDRA KUNWAR</figcaption> </figure>  While I naively rode pillion around Kathmandu in the spring sunshine, Wangdu was in the midst of what turned out to be his final round of negotiations with the Nepal government. Refusing to cease hostilities with the Chinese, Wangdu must have suspected the cost of his decision, making his cheerful smile in the photograph all the more poignant and brave. It was only much later that I appreciated the significance of the moment. Wangdu had been sent to replace the first resistance leader in Mustang, Baba Gen Yeshe, a much derided corrupt character who stole money meant for his troops and exploited fleeing refugees by seizing their treasures. Baba Gen Yeshe never forgave Wangdu,and sought revenge in May 1974 by betraying him and his commanders to the Nepal authorities. Renewed Chinese incursions from the north, active PLA collusion with the Nepali forces under the new King, and treachery from within the Chushi-Gangdrukranks combined to seal their fate.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1400" height="769" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>British television journalists George Patterson and Adrian Cowell embedded themselves with Khampa guerrillas and accompanied them from Tsum Valley on a cross border raid on a Chinese Army convoy in 1964. Photo: ESSAYS ON NEPAL / SAM COWAN</figcaption> </figure>  Mikel Dunham, renowned author of Buddha’s Warriors, writes: ‘It is possible that Wangdu was waiting for some cue from the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India. It is equally possible – during that last, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-human-cost-of-nepal-s-yarsa-gold-rush?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR31-Cqw8oyIwMPzf_35e4Skr0ululJvLf3_vDkzHn-AYG2h8uPw2rqqErg_aem_tGVn5coY1-jA7fze_xqhew">desolate winter </a>– that he made the decision to go out in glory rather than admit defeat. Over the last fifteen years, Wangdu had experienced Tibet’s organized resistance being squeezed and shoved around by every conceivable outside force.&nbsp; First they had been pushed out of their own country by the PLA; then they had been refused sanction while on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds?fbclid=IwAR0PpJ5zUEbwdug3g_U3ar6FUugngRY0S8Tl2v_7wqzrsHmXWcXsKjvL4t4">Indian soil</a>; then they were abandoned by the Americans because, apparently, Nixon wanted to make friends with Wangdu’s mortal enemies, the communists; then they had been betrayed by the vampiric Baba Gen Yeshe – a Tibetan and, even worse, a fellow Khampa; and now, finally Wangdu’s army was being evicted by the Nepalis. One thing was certain: Wangdu was a warrior. To imagine Wangdu simply giving up and settling down in the pacific squalor of a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp">refugee camp </a>was unthinkable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49.jpg" data-media-id="editor_20" data-image-id="2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="746" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>The much derided Baba Gen Yeshe, the first Tibetan resistance leader in Mustang, who betrayed Wangdu for personal gain. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_21" data-image-id="2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="656" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Aditya SJB Rana of the Royal Nepal Army whose team ambushed Wangdu and his cohorts at the top of Tinker Pass in Darchula, West Nepal. Photo courtesy: GAUTAM SJB RANA</figcaption> </figure>  By August 1974 the game was up. Wangdu and six of his exhausted party were killed on their horses by <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7270">the Royal Nepal Army</a> on the brink of escape. The officer in charge, Aditya SJB Rana, cleverly predicted their route into India after they failed to silence a police radio in Yari. A carefully laid ambush trapped them near the summit of the Tinker Pass in Darchula,at 5,000 meters the highest military operation of its time. Wangdu’s body was helicoptered to Kathmandu, and a big show made of the royal Nepal victory.&nbsp; The Tibetan armed insurgency against China had reached its end.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_23" data-image-id="20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> </figure>

The Last Days of the Khampa

Starting 17 September Turkish Airlines will fly daily to Seville, one of Spain’s major tourist draws. This is Turkish’s sixth destination in Spain after Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, and Bilbao. Seville is in the Andalusia region on Spain’s south coast with a rich Moor history. There are approximately 30,000 Nepalis living in Spain.&nbsp;

Turkish to Seville

The newly-formed Himalayan Art Council is set to launch Nepal’s National Art Protection Platform that seeks to preserve <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-history-of-heritage">Nepal’s unique cultural heritage </a>using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/artificial-censorship"> AI-powered tools</a>. The Council seeks to safeguard <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-art-going-places">Nepali art works</a> from neglect, theft and counterfeiting as well as preserve existing artwork and celebrate living masters by giving them a cultural space to continue the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/sacred-survival">sacred art traditions</a>. "We are introducing a new digital platform designed to preserve, verify and elevate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-new-generation-of-alternative-artists">Nepal’s art for generations to come,</a>” says a statement from the Council, adding that the digital platform will use AI told for authentication and blockchain to keep track of works of art. Artists can now be protected by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/ayo-ai?fbclid=IwAR1uwmTVq4gUB70ljfRezjzukD9ArWXPuMnUikopeQ8PoiZMjicToPSwhKE&amp;=1">AI tools</a> that detect forgeries, identify their work even when unsigned, and ensure they receive proper recognition and credit. The archives will be searchable with translated inscription and interactive guides. Says curator Meena Lama: “AI and blockchains are tools that give us the power to detect fakes and identify unsigned paintings and track every piece. With these tools we can restore trust, secure authorship and give artists the dignity they deserve.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53" data-rendition-name="original" width="1300" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum."> <figcaption>Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  The Council is also holding an exhibition of Nepali cultural masterpieces with 50 historical <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-the-art,671">thangka and paubha </a>by past masters and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">contemporary works by current artists</a>. This curated collection is a living tribute to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">Himalayan culture</a> with economic depictions of deities, mandala and sacred narratives. The exhibition at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/a-portal-into-patan-s-past-and-present">Patan Museum</a> also provides an opportunity to meet painters and custodians of art and culture. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/golden-deities">Golden deities</a>, Sewa Bhattarai ‘The exhibition is only the first step in a long journey to ensure that Nepali art is no just seen but fully understood, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Narratives-of-Faith-and-Memory-Remembering-the-Lost-Sculptures-of-Kathmandu-exhibition,987">protected and remembered</a>,’ the Council says. Artist Kailash K Shrestha of Artudio has spent decades promoting thankha and paubha traditions because of their beauty and devotional meaning. But he also says artists are underpaid, exploited and ignored. He adds, “AI and blockchain are not just buzzwords, they are powerful tools that can protect Nepal’s artists from fraud, verify authenticity and build a permanent record of provenance.” Traditional Art Exhibition Till 17 May Patan Museum

covid-in-everest

Overcoming Mt Everest and Covid-19

Overcoming Mt Everest and Covid-19

Turkish Basketball

The Last Days of the Khampa

Turkish to Seville

Digital protection for Nepal’s art