<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131148/6372396a9c7e80680e0c73ddjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Wind-swept Mount Everest. Photo: NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVES</figcaption></figure>Sherpa: Stories of Life and Death from the Forgotten Guardians of Everest begins in Spring 2019. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/peak-climbing-season-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s mountaineering</a> has just rebounded from the deadly avalanches on Everest in 2014 and 2015, and a year before the pandemic hits.High on Mt Everest, internationally certified mountain guide Tendi Sherpa and his 60-year-old American client leave their tent in Camp 4 and climb into the ‘death zone’.Only 800m remain, but for a guide, the worry is not so much about the summit as it is about returning to Camp 4 safely. Tendi’s story is but one among the many that are woven together in Sherpa, a new book by authors Ankit Babu Adhikari and Pradeep Bashyal.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131148/6372396d9c7e80680e0c73dejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1536"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>At the moment Tendi is among 800 climbers on Manaslu, and took the video of a massive serac collapse near Base Camp on Sunday. Another avalanche near Camp 4 on the mountains killed one Nepali and wounded 10 others, and another American skier is missing near the summit – underscoring just how dangerous mountain climbing can be.For the Sherpa, it is doubly dangerous since they have to put themselves in harm’s way (on the Khumbu Icefall, in the death zone) for longer periods than their clients.The book attempts to go behind the climbs to portray the lives, dreams and destinies of the people who have made their surname and ethnicity a word for ‘support crew’ in the English language dictionary.Even as climbing in recent years has been over-commercialised, adding to the environmental impact and danger, climate crisis is changing the very nature of climbing.The two Nepali journalist authors of the book ask at one point: “Can climbing Everest ever be ‘a picnic’ for anyone?”Every year, hundreds of Sherpa guides accompany their Patagonia-clad clients to the base of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/journey-to-the-mountain-of-the-spirit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mountains in Nepal</a>, Pakistan, India and even the Alps and North America. They fix ropes to summits, put ladders across crevasses, guide them up ice faces, pitch tents and even cook – all with a smile.It is often easy to end up exoticising and giving a sense of otherness to the Sherpa climbers, painting them as superhuman sidekicks, relegating them to the footnotes of another’s attempts. Paired with the spectacular description of landscapes, the meditative, riveting or tragic first-hand accounts of the many Sherpa climbers and their families ensure that the book avoids this pitfall.Sherpas now increasingly climb not just because it is a job but because they enjoy the adventure. And they are financing their climbs by taking clients along. Increasingly, the portering work is now increasingly done by Nepal’s other ethnic groups. The guide who died on <a href="https://explorersweb.com/manaslus-can-of-worms-did-anyone-at-all-reach-the-true-summit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Manaslu</a> on Monday was a Rai.Rather than asking the vague ‘why people climb’ questions, the authors cast their nets relatively wide over the history of mountaineering in the Himalaya, covering also a larger geographical area, from Khumbu to Darjeeling to the United States.They trace their aspiration and motivation alongside the changing attitudes towards the mountains, trade and tourism. An entire chapter is dedicated to  women climbers. Legends and superstitions mix with the tales of ambition and endurance. The Sherpa's ‘romance with the mountains and the act of climbing,’ the authors realise, ‘is attached to their love stories back home.’Sherpa: Stories of Life and Death from the Forgotten Guardians of Everestby Ankit Babu Adhikari and Pradeep BashyalCassell, 2022321 pages    Rs699<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131148/637239709c7e80680e0c73dfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="2113">

Ashish Dhakal

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Stories of Nepal’s summiteers

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114091156/637203229c7e80680e0b27f0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1944" height="1098"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>In the heart of Edinburgh near the Church of St John the Evangelist is <a href="https://www.oneworldshop.co.uk/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.oneworldshop.co.uk/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1641433168882000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2DlDyvp0funtWsI3daY8Bf">One World Shop</a>, a modest-looking store that sells goods from all over the world.Among the products are ‘<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/made-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Made in Nepal</a>’ sweaters, mufflers, felted slippers, and beanies which are flying off the shelves this winter. There are also Nepali handicraft items, lokta paper products, herbal bath soaps and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/clothed-in-cannabis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">hemp products</a> for sale.But the items are not as much for profit as they are for the international promotion of fair trade handmade goods made by women in poorer communities to improve their livelihood with added income. The store, a fair trade organisation set up in 1983, sources most of its Nepali products from the Association for Craft Producers and Get Paper Industry in Kathmandu."Our goal is to empower women and alleviate poverty through diversification of livelihood options," explains Rachel Farey, business manager of the One World Shop which also sponsors Nepali women to be trained at institutes in the UK. “We buy goods only when we confirm that they were made by women in need, or if they are somehow involved in manufacturing.”Farey comes from a family with a long-standing connection with Nepal. Her uncle was former Gurkha officer <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=9296#.YdRS8C8RqLd" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D9296%23.YdRS8C8RqLd&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1641433168882000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2zTu5ZxUmpVaWi0pbRP35h">Mike Cheney</a>, a pioneer figure in <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/trekking-in-Nepal-turns-50,2658" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s trekking</a> and mountaineering scene during the 1970s, who set up Sherpa Cooperative to ensure that porters had proper working conditions.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114091156/637203259c7e80680e0b27f1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="971"><figcaption>Mike Cheney</figcaption></figure>Cheney had served in the British Army from 1946 to 1957 in the Royal Armoured Corps and the 10th Gurkha Rifles. After retiring from active service, he became a tea-estate manager in Darjeeling, and came to Kathmandu in 1965 for the first time and continued working in a tea estate in Ilam.He then turned to Nepal’s fledgling trekking industry, and in 1966 joined forces with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/hiking-with-jimmy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jimmy Roberts</a> who had set up <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-himalayan-odyssey/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mountain Travel Nepal</a>, the first registered trekking company in the world. In his later years, Cheney concentrated his efforts on promoting the country as a household name in the climbing and mountaineering industry.“Mike Cheney showed Nepal the way ahead, connecting the country to the rest of the world at a time when it was not easy to market a new destination, while at the same time making sure that porters got a good deal,” says tourism entrepreneur Karma Sherpa Lama in Kathmandu.Cheney was vocal about <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=4747#.YdT8di2B2b8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">low-paid porters</a> carrying heavy leads during mountaineering and trekking expeditions and worked to raise living standards by setting an example with his Sherpa Cooperative. He made sure that porters were paid higher wages, had proper gear for high altitudes, and were taken care of if they fell sick.Cheney’s other major contribution was in scouting new trekking routes across Nepal, away from already <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/managing-everests-waste-problem/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">crowded Everest</a> and Annapurna areas, and improving the trails. Cheney was also a correspondent for several alpine journals and mountaineering magazines in Europe and the United States.Cheney was an active member of the Himalayan Rescue Association with its clinic in Pheriche, and the Trekking Agents’ Association of Nepal. He was the Local Hon Secretary of the Bombay-based Himalayan Club, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a member of the Alpine Club.Now, his niece Farey is following in his footsteps and is committed to helping Nepali women and children through her store One World Shop in Edinburgh which sells a wide range of handmade crafts, jewelry, textiles, interior furnishings, furniture, toys, clothing, ceramics, handmade paper products, cards, books and foods.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114091156/637203289c7e80680e0b27f2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1700" height="802"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>“Our mission is to reduce poverty by sourcing and selling fair trade goods from all around the world,” says Farey. “It is not just the individual artisans who make the goods that benefit from our work, but also their families and the communities in which they live.”Like her uncle, Farey is also a passionate trekker herself and has visited Nepal often. She says that in a way she is carrying on Mike Cheney’s mission: to uplift Nepali families by removing middlemen and guaranteeing them a just income.For Farey ‘fair trade’ is not just a concept, she is actually practicing it in her business through One World Shop which sources and sells sustainably produced products from around the world by ensuring a decent price which is ploughed back into their communities.During the pandemic, One World Shop was selling its products online even though supplies from Nepal were disrupted because of flight cancellations.

Edinburgh store comes full circle to Nepal

<figure><img width="4032" height="3024" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121116/636b8c1f9c7e80680e06b2e0jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption></figure>2020 is not our year. It isn’t anyone’s year.The spread of the novel coronavirus has brought the world to a standstill. Airlines have grounded their entire fleets. Like other countries whose economies depend in large measure on tourism, Nepal has been badly hit.Ironically, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/lets-call-off-visit-nepal-year-2020/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/lets-call-off-visit-nepal-year-2020/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1587446013535000&amp;usg=AFQjCNESbw5ZpaYmwCyQRlIQIzA7iIfoIw">2020 was supposed to be Visit Nepal Year</a>, and the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-nepal-brand/?preview_nonce=76ffe3ead4" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-nepal-brand/?preview_nonce%3D76ffe3ead4&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1587446013535000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFuZkFOKEwAPJbtiudgoWiPpaIe7Q">Nepal Tourism Board</a> had spent millions of dollars on promotion to attract <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/bringing-in-two-miilion-tourists,3551" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/bringing-in-two-miilion-tourists,3551&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1587446013535000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHrfaugQB-f0fayOLjI_XVFwo3BUw">2 million tourists this year</a>. But trekking and mountaineering expeditions were called off in mid-March at the height of the spring climbing season, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/all-nepal-flights-cancelled-22-31-march/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/all-nepal-flights-cancelled-22-31-march/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1587446013535000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE8B-x7rIS2f4xF-jE19aiYS1qLLA">domestic and international flights have been stopped</a> at least till 27 April and that is likely to be extended till end-May.“2020 is a write-off,” says <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rajtamang66" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.facebook.com/rajtamang66&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1587446013535000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH4BRRzMVw49m8JA60NLriudRl49Q">Raj Tamang</a> of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/satisfying-trekker-appetite-for-adventure/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/satisfying-trekker-appetite-for-adventure/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1587446013535000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHXrDV4fjc7Tc-h2COeFpY3nXTICg">Responsible Adventures</a> who was promoting his business in Europe when the epidemic hit Italy, got back on one of the last flights, and has been in self-quarantine since. “It will take at least one year for Nepal to recover.”Some airlines are hoping to restart flights over the summer by not selling middle seats to maintain physical distancing, but prices will be much higher than usual. Nepali travel groups expect high-end trekkers to trickle back in the autumn because they already see Nepal as an adventure destination, and they are more used to risks.“We will also have to reorient our promotion to regional markets like India and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/chinese-tourist-influx-to-nepal-in-2020/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/chinese-tourist-influx-to-nepal-in-2020/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1587446013535000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGH1Q_uh8MAcXRbv9kbBCiyVAK2Dw">China</a> as well as encourage Nepalis to travel more within Nepal,” says Tamang.As with all other countries, the government has had to find a balance between protecting public health and keeping the economy afloat. The collapse of tourism and remittances from Nepali migrant workers overseas has wrecked the economy, with the World Bank lowering Nepal’s economic growth forecast from 7.1% to 1.5-2.8% this fiscal year.There are at least 1 million Nepalis that depend on tourism, and the sector makes up nearly 8% of the GDP. The hardest hit are porters and guides who depend on seasonal income during the spring and autumn seasons, employees in the service industry, as well as Nepal’s hotels and restaurant owners who have invested with bank loans. <img width="640" height="373" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121116/636b8c229c7e80680e06b2e1jpeg.jpg" alt="">“We were just gearing up to a healthy spring season, but everything looks dim and empty now,” says a despondent Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summits, that handles expeditions to Mt Everest.The former CEO of Nepal Tourism Board, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Selling-Nepal-on-the-Net-tourism-of-Nepal,3979" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Selling-Nepal-on-the-Net-tourism-of-Nepal,3979&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1587446013536000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHCRdZ_LxsWmFks3c3nvhAU44pU6Q">Deepak Raj Joshi</a> predicts that Nepal’s civil aviation, trekking and hospitality industry could lose overall  Rs160 billion this year, of which hotels and resorts stand to lose Rs85 billion, trekking, mountaineering and adventure tourism losses will top Rs55 billion. Domestic airlines will lose Rs5 billion, restaurants and bars up to Rs5 billion.At this time of year, big hotels in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan would have occupancies of 80% or more, and it would be difficult to get seats on flights. Now, the business owners have to bear the cost of paying salaries and keeping their companies running. <img width="640" height="432" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121116/636b8c249c7e80680e06b2e2jpeg.jpg" alt="">“The entire hospitality industry is in deep depression,” says Shreejana Rana, president of the Hotel Association of Nepal and executive director of Hotel Annapurna, adding that many new hotels have huge loan exposure as well as having to pay operating costs of empty businesses.The HAN is currently working on four areas: survival and revival of the industry, helping citizens, ensuring food supply,  and looking for revenue to address employee issues. “In terms of supplies, I think the government has done a fair job so far, but we have to pay employees on humanitarian grounds at a time when there is no revenue. April is going to be problematic in terms of salary payments and we are looking for a solution,” Rana added. The HAN proposed to pay employees 50% of their monthly salary on 20 April.Domestic airlines have also been hit by the grounding of all aircraft, and they have also lost the dollar tariff on foreigners that used to partly subsidise domestic passengers. Buddha Air is set to announce a calibrated pay cut for employees depending on seniority, and Yeti Airlines is still discussing financial issues in the board.   <figure><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121116/636b8c279c7e80680e06b2e3jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Photo: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>“COVID-19 is the crisis of the century, the global tourism and aviation industries will have a hard time,” <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=14200" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D14200&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1587446013536000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH6b7KumEgr1WEo8_5wuseJytjX4A">Buddha Air’s Birendra Basnet</a> told Nepali Times. “But we have been around for 20 years and the underlying philosophy of our company is to provide a platform for employee benefits. We understand the crisis, and are trying to take it as a challenge to prepare for new opportunities into the future, and rely on increasing the volume of domestic travel.”Evoke restaurant in Jhamsikhel has a deserted look, and its Pokhara outlet is also empty. Many events at the venue have been cancelled, and owner Sushant Thapa says there is no option but to ride out the crisis, and everyone is in the same boat. Plans to open a third outlet in Lazimpat are shelved.For Deepak Raj Joshi formerly of the Nepal Tourism Board, the only option is to hunker down, consolidate, cut costs and plan for the future. The government can help ease the pain by waiving customs and income tax, and also announce a rebate on bank loans.“Sooner or later, the pandemic will be controlled, and we have to plan so that in 2020 we survive, in 2021 we revive, and in 2022 we thrive.”With additional reporting by Raju BanskotaRead also:  <a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-prepares-for-economic-fallout-of-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal prepares for economic fallout of pandemic</a>, Kaustubh Dhital

“Survive 2020, revive in 2021 and thrive in 2022”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsMi4Zs-KrEAt 7,193m <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/gurja-himal-tragedy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gurja Himal</a> is not high by Himalayan standards, and is dwarfed by the rock and ice pyramid of Mt Dhaulagiri to the east. The mountain is nonetheless impressive because of its imposing south face, rising nearly 4km vertically above the valley below. One of the last villages near the mountain is Gurja Khani, a fascinating settlement tucked away in splendid isolation in the Dhaula Valley. This area of Nepal is still untouched by roads, and much of the traditional architecture and way of life remains. Steep canyons make the valley impenetrable from below, and the only access is on foot over a 3,300m pass.  <figure><img width="2736" height="2446" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171144/636936be9c7e80680e03fdf9jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>The imposing and unclimbed South Face of Gurja Himal rises nearly 4000m vertically from the valley below. Photos: JOY STEPHENS</figcaption></figure>Near the wind-swept pass is a tea shop, and it is the last place you would expect to find a family of five, including a baby. Siddhi Man Biswakarma and his wife own the teashop, and because it is the only resting place between Lulang and Gurja Khani, they do brisk business.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/setis-gorgeous-gorges/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seti's gorgeous gorges</a>, Hermann WarthThe Biswakarmas set up shop five years ago to serve the mule trains, but as <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/gurja-himal-tragedy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trekkers </a>to Nepal try to find new and untraveled areas, there are now tourists who also stop by.“Nowadays we get foreigners as well. And during last year’s election, some politicians spent the night here while campaigning,” recalls Biswakarma, who makes about Rs500 a day and plans to add rooms. He has also invested in two horses which he will rent out to those who want to reach Gurja Khani.  <figure><img width="1500" height="2000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171148/636936c29c7e80680e03fdfajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Since it has not been exposed to commercial <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/bringing-in-two-miilion-tourists,3551" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tourism</a>, the Gurja Himal trek is a place where the Fair-Tread trekking model is being tried out over the past five years. It is based on the same principles as the fair-trade label on foodstuff, and urges trekkers to think about the impact they leave on the local people and economy.Fair-Tread takes into account who benefits from tourism expenditure, and tries to maximise its impact on poverty-reduction and social justice. More of the expenditure is designed to benefit those who need it most, without undermining their self-sufficiency and dignity.Commercial trekking mostly involves booking online with a trekking wholesaler in Europe or elsewhere, who sub-contracts to a Kathmandu company. This means that up to half the expedition expenditure never makes it to Nepal. Of the other half, much of it stays in Kathmandu and does not trickle down to places like Gurja Khani. <figure><img width="1500" height="979" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171148/636936c59c7e80680e03fdfbjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>On the popular <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/everest-garbage-caravan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Everest </a>and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/everest-garbage-caravan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Annapurna </a>areas, trekkers either camp or stay in purpose-built lodges established by companies in Kathmandu. Camping treks may be environmentally friendly, but their contribution to the rural economy is minimal, since the fees are paid to the trekking agency, and most of the food is sourced from outside. In contrast, even a poor family can invest in and profit from a homestay. In Gurja Khani, Belmoti Pariyar started her aptly-named Jivan Ko Bato (Road of Life) homestay with one tiny room and a single bed. Now she has enlarged that room and added another so that she can accommodate four paying guests. Her guest book shows visitors from Brazil, Switzerland, Canada, the UK, and Nepal. ‘The best momo ever,” one trekker, a retired British Army colonel who stayed here a month, wrote. He taught Pariyar some English words, and she is happy that her homestay provides supplementary income to pay for her daughter’s school. Lulang, on the south slope of the pass, is an unusually large village of Dalits and has three homestays. “People respect me more because they see that I have a steady income from my rooms, they even chose me to be the Chair of our Tourism Committee,” says Rati Maya Biswakarma proudly.Most visitors here are blissfully unaware of caste discrimination in Nepal, and the ignorance means that they could be indirectly supporting it. Dalits have not been able to benefit from tourism as much because they have not become guides in numbers proportionate to their population. The only tourism-related occupation easily accessible for them is low-paid portering.  <figure><img width="1936" height="2592" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171148/636936c89c7e80680e03fdfcjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Porters are usually not salaried employees of trekking agencies but hired on a daily-wage basis. They often lack accident insurance and adequate clothing for high altitudes. Lal Chhantyal, a licensed guide from Gurja Khani, says uncertainty of income is the biggest problem.The trekking season is short, and the cost of renting a room in Pokhara in the hope of getting work is exorbitant. Fair-tread trekking aims to ensure that porters and guides are recruited locally, properly equipped, and paid a fair wage. Fair-Tread also emphasises respect for the environment, local culture, and traditional skills. Tourism has often brought modern materials and architecture because trekkers demand rooms with attached bathrooms and modern plumbing. Villagers then perceive these facilities as superior to the traditional architecture, artisanal skills and artifacts they have. Jhak Bahadur is the elected chair of the Gurja Khani council, and his main emphasis is on health, especially to reduce the high maternal mortality rate. Because of its remoteness, women with childbirth complications die because they cannot reach the nearest health post in Lulang in time. Jhak Bahadur says building a road would impact on trekking, a ropeway would make transportation easier, but the cost is too high. Nobody owns the views of the Himalaya, but surely the people who live in their shadow deserve to benefit from our visit. www.offthebeatentreks.orgJoy Stephens has worked in Nepal for 20 years as a researcher in education and trafficking. She is the author of Window onto Annapurna (1988, Victor Gollancz). <h2>Gurja Himal tragedy</h2> <img width="640" height="951" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171148/636936cc9c7e80680e03fdfdjpeg.jpg" alt="">The disaster which struck the Korean expedition on 10 October brought Gurja Himal (7,193m) and this inaccessible region of Nepal to world attention. Two months after the disaster, there is still uncertainty about what caused the Base Camp at 3,500m to be blown away, killing five Korean and four Nepali climbers. Gurja Himal is one of the westernmost peaks in the Dhaulagiri massif and has an unclimbed south face that soars nearly 4,000m above the valley. The Korean expedition was led by veteran mountaineer Kim Chang-ho who is famous for being the first Korean to summit all 14 eight-thousanders without bottle oxygen. Disaster struck even before the climbing began, and since no one survived. It was probably an avalanche like the one pictured below coming down the face. Locals who helped retrieve the bodies said there was no ice or snow at Base Camp, and the bodies had been blown across the river to the opposite slope. Tall trees in the narrow valley had snapped in half, and videos taken by the rescuers show scars from what look like an air blast preceding an avalanche that roared down the face.  <figure><img width="1057" height="506" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171148/636936cf9c7e80680e03fdfejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Villagers say they told the expedition to establish Base Camp lower at 3,000m to avoid angering the mountain’s guardian deity which they say does not tolerate people defecating nearby. Over the years, they report that several locals have died near the same spot. Sita Chhantyal, sister of one of the local guides who died in the disaster, said the expedition did everything to propitiate the deity, sacrificing a chicken and a goat. She added: “But they made the mistake of locating the camp too close to the mountain. It made the god angry.”Rescuers talk of the bodies flung off the mountain, yet in the camp site, they found crates of eggs unbroken. Chhantyal said in amazement: “Not even one egg was cracked,” Joy Stephens in Gurja Khani

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