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Those who stay

As Kathmandu becomes more congested and polluted, and with remote online work becoming the norm, many professional Nepalis are planning to retire in Pokhara, or move there.&nbsp; With its stunning mountain panorama, balmy winters and proximity to a profusion of wilderness areas, builders are responding to this demand with new townhouses, housing development and apartments. One such block of flats is the 10-storey <a href="https://sungavaapartment.com/">Sungava Apartment</a> located at Phulbari above the Seti River, near the point where it flows into and under Pokhara. The imposing structure near Manipal Hospital is almost complete, and on a recent visit the site was strewn with huge boulders unearthed while digging the foundation.&nbsp; The Seti brought down these boulders during a gigantic flood that geologists estimate happened 800 years ago when a chunk of Annapurna IV broke off and ploughed into the glacier below. Today, Sungava (means ‘orchid’) sits safely on a high terrace, 100m above the blue-green Seti and commands a view of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna South, Machapuchre, Annapurna III and IV.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024102411104_5f8fc736c86ea3c08d7bef43bb727081d3cc1a2caa55ae2b441717e6044de7e9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024102411104_5f8fc736c86ea3c08d7bef43bb727081d3cc1a2caa55ae2b441717e6044de7e9" data-rendition-name="original" width="2016" height="1512" loading="lazy" alt="High living below the Himalaya NT"> </figure>  The soil here is conglomerate that has solidified like concrete, and the boulders were extracted by heavy earthmovers. It is intriguing to think that these metamorphic rocks as big as cars, rounded by glacial grinding, were once a part of a much higher Annapurna IV. Even for those with little interest in geology, Sungava is an ideal place to contemplate the tectonic forces that pushed these peaks into the sky to be sculpted into delicate shapes by wind, snow, earthquake and avalanche over millions of years. The view of the Himalayan panorama from Sungava’s many balconies are breathtaking when not obscured by clouds, or the haze that drifts in from across the southern border. On most days, just watching the towering pyramid of Machapuchre (Tamu name: कतासुँ क्लिको) play hide and seek with the clouds is mesmerising. There are rocks aplenty at Phulbari, and it is probably the flowers that grew along the flat terraces e that gave the place its flowery name. The boulders will hopefully be turned into a rock garden while landscaping. An nearby restaurant complex is making the best use of the stones in its design, using flat rocks as outdoor benches and tables. Sungava was designed by the husband-wife architect team of Deepak Sherchan and Jyoti Joshi of <a href="https://thedarkmermaidamarbshrestha.blogspot.com/2013/12/creative-builders-collaborative-cbc.html">Creative Builders Collaborative (CBC)</a>, which also built Heritage Plaza, Indreni Apartment and numerous other projects in Nepal. Sadbhavana retains CBC’s trademark Newari-style masonry and here it borrows from the orange brickwork of the old town of Pokhara, integrating it with modern design elements. A few of those heritage houses are still standing in Ganesh Tole and Ram Krishna Tole in Pokhara’s old quarter.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024102411108_5eb64a4885961b6d30781cefeb1e8a313da313ac5227c7a66b60f0c7d48d6fab.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2024102411108_5eb64a4885961b6d30781cefeb1e8a313da313ac5227c7a66b60f0c7d48d6fab" data-rendition-name="original" width="1362" height="595" loading="lazy" alt="High living below the Himalaya NT"> </figure>  About 400m from the apartment past a bend on the river, and down below three tiers of terraces in the canyon is a suspension bridge. Below it, the Seti is still swollen with post-monsoon flow as it tumbles away in a hurry to head down south.&nbsp; Back at the apartment, it is quiet, far away from the hubbub of Lakeside a 15 minute drive away, and in the lap of greenery. There are 52 units at Sungava and it already has a close-knit prospective community of professionals, including doctors, publishers, engineers, and businesspeople from the renewable energy and IT sectors.&nbsp; Some residents say they opted for a second home in Pokhara to make it a ‘base camp’ to explore the Annapurnas with its many hiking trails made newly accessible with new roads. With the NRN citizenship law, overseas Nepalis can now also buy the flats. &nbsp; The floor plans include options for north and south-facing 3-bedroom apartments with verandas, and the facility has underground parking has EV charging, heated pool, sauna and gym. There are still some unsold apartments with panoramic views of the mountains and one can imagine oneself at the kitchen with its huge window, humming a ditty while preparing breakfast: “खाना पकाउँ हिमाल हेरेर...”

High living below the Himalaya

Dasain is here, the festival of family and travel. The spirit is dampened this year because of the flood disaster, and many highways are still blocked.&nbsp; But Nepali Times takes the occasion of this ten-day festival to present Top Ten Peaks that are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/women-on-the-move">off the beaten trek</a>, and offer stunning views. They are not too demanding but take you far from the madding crowd. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-journey-is-more-interesting-than-the-destination">Escape</a>. 1. Kori Peak Most visitors to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/letter-from-sikles">Sikles </a>are en route to Kapuche, the l<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kah-phu-che">owest glacial lake in Nepal</a> (2,450m). But for better views hire a local guide, and cross the Madi Khola to climb to Kori (3,800m), a ridge-top summer pasture. There will be no trekkers on this little known jewel of the Himalaya. Lamjung Himal is dead ahead, and the adventurous may want to continue on to Namun La, the old trading route to Manang. 2. Panchase Hill&nbsp; This long ridge walk can be stretched as long as you want. Start at the Peace Stupa above Pokhara, and hike the forested ridge overlooking Phewa Lake with spectacular 120 degree panoramas of Dhaulagiri to Himalchuli. Along the way are villages untouched by the trekking industry. The highest point at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/economic-benefits-of-saving-the-ecology">Panchase</a> Hill is ‘only’ 2,500m. Binoculars are a must for bird-watching.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241004041056_a62462e446decb0356b35138abd277ca122af0e8baa404087c8ae980c12fc114.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20241004041056_a62462e446decb0356b35138abd277ca122af0e8baa404087c8ae980c12fc114" data-rendition-name="original" width="1363" height="669" loading="lazy" alt="Trekking map NT"> </figure>  3. Khumai Peak Directly north of Pokhara is this 3,245m peak that is becoming popular since a road to Hemja now cuts short the trek for a two-day-up-one-day-down hike. At the top you look up to the imposing south face of Machapuchre. The trail is not well trodden yet (that is why you are there) but lodges have sprung up. Hike further up to Korchan Danda (3,710m) for the magic of a Himalayan sunrise. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 4. Mulde Peak If you have been there and done that on Poon Hill, then<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/mulde-peak,1759"> Mulde (3,637) is higher, wilder and quieter</a>. The trail branches off at Tadapani from the Ghandruk-Ghorepani route and climbs steeply through thick forests draped with lichen and orchids. There is a lodge at the base for overnight stay. Next morning ascend for one hour to the top for a breathtaking sunrise over the Annapurna ramparts, Machapuchre and Dhaulagiri. For more, trek on to Khopra Ridge and Hidden Lake.&nbsp; 5. Pikey Peak  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241004051028_2d1071364abec8b2a37fa620c1a641c7e4c8449b8bc4384a36ffc58f34c67c7f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20241004051028_2d1071364abec8b2a37fa620c1a641c7e4c8449b8bc4384a36ffc58f34c67c7f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1001" loading="lazy" alt="Pikey peak "> <figcaption>Photo: MANISH PAUDEL / NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE</figcaption> </figure>  The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/lifetime-experience-on-pikey-peak">must-climb in Solukhumbu is Pikey</a> (4,065m) that none other than Edmund Hillary described as one of the best lookouts in the Himalaya. On a clear day you see eight eight-thousander peaks all in a row: (east-west) Kangchenjunga, Makalu, Lhotse, Everest, Cho Oyu, Shishapangma, Manaslu and Annapurna. If the highway to Phaplu is not repaired by Dasain, fly to Phaplu from where it can be three days and two nights up and down. 6. Pathibhara Peak Combine pilgrimage with a hike to climb up to Pathibhara (3,794) after either driving or flying to Taplejung. Nepal’s most scenic peaks all have temples on top. The view from Pathibhara of Kangchenjunga, Jannu, Makalu and Lhotse-Everest feels sacred even if you are not religiously minded. It is one day up, and half-day down. Good idea to strike Pathibhara off your bucket list before the cable car gets there.&nbsp; 7. Gokyo Ri  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241004051028_83417ded1111fd19aaa2b321625681fedd3a1c7aa47f28c44444a343d691e3d2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20241004051028_83417ded1111fd19aaa2b321625681fedd3a1c7aa47f28c44444a343d691e3d2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="View from Gokyo"> <figcaption>The last light of the day highlighting Mt Everest, Nuptse and Lhotse 20km away, captured from the Gokyo Ri. Photo: AÏSHA MACDOUGALL / NPALI TIMES </figcaption> </figure>  Everest Base Camp is crowded and desolate, with no view of the highest mountain in the world. Head off, instead, from Khumjung to the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/go-gokyo">Gokyo Valley and along the Ngozumba</a> (Nepal's longest glacier) to a village by the lake that is the highest all-year human settlement in the world. Charge your head torch, and head off on a 2-3 hour climb up to Gokyo Ri (5,357m) to watch the sun set with all its glory on Mt Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, Kangchenjunga, and Cho Oyu. The trek can be extended up Renjo La to Thame, or Cho La to Everest Base Camp. &nbsp; 8. Sailung Peak&nbsp; Take a right turn on the Jiri Highway at Mude along a rough road till Lamche Ahal and then hike the next morning to Thulo Sailung Peak (3,146m). This is one of the highest points in southern Dolakha district and the view is spectacular with everything from Manaslu to Numbur, a 200km sweep of the horizon. Dominating the scene is Gauri Shankar (Chomo Tseringma). Nepali hikers have started going to Sailung to shoot YouTube videos. 9. Panch Pokhari This is one of the nearest and most accessible treks from Kathmandu, starting after a five hour drive to Okhareni via Chautara to five sacred lakes dominated by a ridge (4,250m) with full frontal views of Dorje Lakpa and Phurbi Ghyachu of the Jugal Himal Range. You have the trail mostly to yourself. The path climbs through forests of dwarf rhododendron teeming with birdlife.&nbsp; 10. Kyanjin Peak  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241004051036_4eab1082528a9bc8ce5ee6429bdb6f6edbb2caf15460dd6a7c10056146930fd7.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20241004051036_4eab1082528a9bc8ce5ee6429bdb6f6edbb2caf15460dd6a7c10056146930fd7" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="Kyanjin NT"> <figcaption>Kyanjin is the highest settlement in the Langtang Valley. Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption> </figure>  Langtang National Park is the closest real wilderness area near Kathmandu that also offers culture and adventure. Start walking from Dhunche, one night stop and we are in Langtang Valley passing the village that was buried in the avalanche after the 2015 earthquake. Kyanjin Gompa (3,835m) is now called ‘Thamel on the Hill’, and that is not a complimentary description. But it is a good base camp to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-story-of-langtang-cheese">explore the Valley</a>, including climbing Kyanjin Ri (4,773) for a grandstand view of Langtang Lirung (7,234m).

Peak Season

This late monsoon storm was not a surprise. Weather forecasts had warned of heavy precipitation a week before, the Met Office predicted heavy rain on 27-28 September, SMS warned people to take precaution, radio stations issued bulletins, and night buses were banned in 56 districts.&nbsp; The tragedy was compounded because we knew what was coming, and did not do enough to prepare. The accurate weather forecast made no real difference on the ground. When it started raining on Thursday morning and did not stop till Saturday, there was no sense of the scale of this emergency. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/60-dead-64-missing-in-nepal-floods">More than 200 people lost their lives, dozens are still missing.</a> Thousands of homes were swept away, Nepal lost nearly half its electricity generation capacity because of damage to power plants, Kathmandu has been nearly cut off with bridges and sections of highways swept away. Yes, this was primarily a natural disaster. Kathmandu Valley and its surroundings got half the average annual precipitation in just 40 hours, the heaviest rainfall measured since records started being kept in 1972. But the high death toll was totally manmade.&nbsp; Three buses were buried by a mudslide in Dhading, killing at least 35 people. This was an eerie reminder of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/100-101-102-hh5uvzf9">Simaltal accident on 12 July </a>when two intercity buses were swept by a mudflow into the Trisuli River at night, killing 62. The buses have still not been found.&nbsp; In both cases, heavy rainfall on a poorly engineered local road up the mountains triggered the initial landslide that swept debris to the highway below. This was manslaughter, not an ‘accident’.&nbsp; We said it then, and we are saying it now: most mountain roads follow no reason or science. It is a corruption-fed activity in which local governments and their cronies plan roads ad hoc and rent their own bulldozers. Debris accumulated during construction is dumped over the edge, where monsoon rains wash them to settlements, farms and highways below. Last weekend’s disaster is a warning that accurate weather early warning is just the first step – it is not enough to prevent a huge loss of life. After the warnings, there should have been door-to-door miking along hazardous river banks urging people to move to higher ground, shelters should have been in place, rescue equipment and rafts pre-positioned, live monitoring of precipitation in the catchments. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) was just posting situationers on social media. The Home Ministry became a Ministry of Condolences and Empty Promises.&nbsp; This disaster is a reminder of the 1993 Central Nepal cloudburst that hit the Lothar Khola in Chitwan, the Kulekhani areas, and highways blocked highways marooning Kathmandu for weeks. More than 1,300 people were killed.&nbsp; The death toll in Kathmandu this time was compounded by the fact that the city has spread into the floodplains of the Vishnumati, Manohara and other tributaries of the Bagmati. Natural waterways have been hemmed in by streets. The rivers were just reclaiming what was theirs.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240930150944_1221b4fb442a21e8d2dbf1aeeca61b7a8d791c117d6a93401f15ba2a95d49a69.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240930150944_1221b4fb442a21e8d2dbf1aeeca61b7a8d791c117d6a93401f15ba2a95d49a69" data-rendition-name="original" width="1949" height="1299" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal floods"> <figcaption>Kathmandu Valley, especially its southern fringes looks like an epicentre of a major quake following the rains. Photo: SUMAN NEPALI</figcaption> </figure>  Urban pressure has also forced settlements to move up the Valley’s rim, below steep hillsides with topsoil already saturated in the late monsoon. The torrential downpours caused the slopes to fail. The damage to Upper Tamakosi and dozens of other hydropower plants also is a warning not to put all our eggs in one basket. The Sikkim disaster exactly this time last year was proof that these are at high risk from glacial lake floods and landslide dammed rivers suddenly bursting. More logical would be to build smaller, better designed, plants on many rivers. The Himalaya is also the youngest and most fragile mountain range on earth, Nepal has always had either too much or too little water, and climate breakdown is making this contrast more extreme. Combined, this means we in Nepal live in a multi-disaster prone country with seismic, hydrological and climate risks.&nbsp; After multiple floods in early 1990s, a Japanese grant helped set up the Disaster Prevention Technical Centre (DPTC) in Pulchowk, which was later renamed the Department of Water Induced Disaster Management. We have not heard much from them lately. With the government AWOL, it is ordinary Nepalis who have shown extraordinary courage in saving those being swept by flood water, rescuing babies on canoes (pictured), or digging for passengers trapped in buses buried by landslides. The Nepal Army and the Police rescued thousands, but there was an absence of coordination.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240930150944_cb55edb93eb3aad169b22bc4dec06b5478746fbe75417c628bf671ec698f7912.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240930150944_cb55edb93eb3aad169b22bc4dec06b5478746fbe75417c628bf671ec698f7912" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="720" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal floods"> <figcaption>Photo: SOCIAL MEDIA</figcaption> </figure>  Now, the attention must focus on urgent relief and rehabilitation. But that might be a tall ask just before everything shuts down for Dasain, and when governance fails, lack of accountability and transparency is the norm even without holidays.&nbsp; Sonia Awale

When it rains it pours

There was controlled chaos at the Chhaya Centre on 8 September before the premiere of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2EXOwDgrIg&amp;t=25s">Shambhala</a>, which has made history as the first South Asian film to be selected for the 2023 Berlinale in-competition lineup in three decades. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5336883/">Director Min Bahadur Bham</a> ran around, dreadlocks flailing, to test the DCP in the projection room and welcome an all-star lineup of guests. Even so, he found time to sit down with us for an interview in a quiet corner in the lobby. Despite visible signs of stress, Bham’s passion for his craft shines through. The premiere was the culmination of years of work, but as Bham tells it, the true essence of filmmaking is the journey itself.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240912100956_fe4bb576edb2f6ca22d460c425a8b9fdf8d3855dd4e9cac9e13fb56a69094cdd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240912100956_fe4bb576edb2f6ca22d460c425a8b9fdf8d3855dd4e9cac9e13fb56a69094cdd" data-rendition-name="original" width="616" height="585" loading="lazy" alt="Min Bham NT 3 "> </figure>  Min Bahadur Bham, 40, was born in isolated Mugu. As a boy he already knew he wanted to be a film director after his photographer and journalist father bought a cinema hall in his hometown.&nbsp; While watching Bollywood movies there, his friends all wanted to be actors and would imitate the mannerisms of their favourite stars. But Bham craved something more.&nbsp; “Even back then, I wondered who tells the actors what to do. There must be someone guiding and coordinating their performance,” he says. “I didn’t know at the time that it was done by a director, but I instinctively felt that was the person I wanted to be.”&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/a-director-from-kathmandu">A director from Kathmandu</a>, Sewa Bhattarai This early fascination set Bham on a journey that would take him far, far away from Mugu. In Grade 8 he was already saving money for film school, and by Grade 10 he had run away from home. He started in theatre in Kathmandu, learning acting, lighting, set design, and costume. This theatre background proved to be formative and influenced his later approach to cinema. “If I had to choose, I’d still give more points to theatre,” he tells us. “It’s a pure art form, it has a poetic and an artistic sense to it, requiring discipline and hard work, unlike the finances and glamour of cinema.” Beyond filmmaking, Bham developed a deep interest in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/medication-to-meditation-in-the-mountains">spirituality</a>. “Creating art is a form of meditation,” Bham says, his eyes shimmering with intensity. “Filmmaking, like meditation, requires pouring all of yourself into it.” His debut feature,<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/must-see/Kalo-pothi-review,3101"> Kalo Pothi (The Black Hen)</a> premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2015, earning critical acclaim for its nuanced portrayal of two boys caught in the crossfire of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/all-is-fair-in-war-and-peace">Nepal’s Maoist insurgency</a>. The film’s success, however, left Bham ambivalent.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240912110924_b4333fc1aeefc7adc6160a183f0dfc8ca5ee8cd66df6eab085f47436d83c8c4b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20240912110924_b4333fc1aeefc7adc6160a183f0dfc8ca5ee8cd66df6eab085f47436d83c8c4b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1442" height="1008" loading="lazy" alt="Movie posters NT"> </figure>  “I felt burdened by the success," he confides. “Looking back, I’m critical about its lack of cinematic language: it felt more like a film essay.”&nbsp; Read more: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Narrating-stories-of-nepal,3082">Narrating Nepal</a>, Smriti Basnet Kalo Pothi was a personal story of Bham’s own memories when his friends in school were joining the Maoists, and he heard of the disappearances. A recurring theme in both Kalo Pothi and Shambhala is childhood. “All the characters in my films are reflections of myself,” Bham confesses. “Of course, they’re manipulated for the sake of the narrative, but their essence is drawn from my own childhood when I was very fragile and introverted.” As a boy, instead of playing with children his age, Bham preferred hanging out with older people, listening to their stories: “I missed out on a normal childhood, but had a wonderful one nonetheless.” These early experiences, the memories and nostalgia, became invaluable storytelling tools for cinema, and his PhD in anthropology was an asset as well. “As a filmmaker, it’s essential to grasp the nuances of human behaviour, culture, and politics,” he explains.&nbsp; Before Kalo Pothi, Bham wanted to study political science to get a &nbsp;deeper, holistic understanding of what was happening in Nepali society at the time.&nbsp; But it is with Shambhala that Bham truly comes into his own as a director. "Kalo Pothi was my love letter to my society, and Shambhala is a love letter to my existence,” he says.&nbsp; Shambhala benefits from Bham’s own spiritual journey. He started meditating at age 12, becoming a more serious practitioner by 15. “Through meditation, I began having vivid recurring dreams of a past life as a lama in a monastery in Dolpo,” he says.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/daughter-of-chomolungma">Daughter of Chomolungma</a>, Pinki Sris Rana He travelled to Dolpo, where the terrain and people matched the dreamscape of the places from his meditation. “It was a surreal moment,” he says. “That’s when I realised I had to make Shambhala, to explore the subconscious and discover what I didn’t know.” When the film was selected for the Berlinale, Bham admits he was not very excited, perhaps because he was confident it was going to go places. In Berlin he did not attend any parties, cancelling all interviews and official meetings.&nbsp; “I wanted to be at peace and simply observe. I didn’t want to get caught up in the networking or the festivities,” he recalls. Though polyandry is a central element of Shambhala, Bham says it only serves as a backdrop to an inner quest into the meaning of existence, femininity and reincarnation. “Dolpo offers such incredible landscape that you can point the camera at anything and it will be stunning,” he says. “But it was not a love story, so I used the mountains as characters themselves.” Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/streaming-the-himalaya-on-film">Streaming the Himalaya on film</a>, Pinki Sris Rana The film’s protagonist is Pema (played by<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-star-shines-in-locarno"> Thinley Lhamo</a> for which she won the<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iCvN6jHVMQ&amp;t=973s"> Boccalino d’Oro Prize for Best Acting Performance at Locarno</a> last month) whose power and freedom challenge patriarchal norms.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240912110944_491763c06fc1827cd131157b9b3750c9831ee8252fb1d378769dc800170c7f67.jpg" data-media-id="editor_13" data-image-id="20240912110944_491763c06fc1827cd131157b9b3750c9831ee8252fb1d378769dc800170c7f67" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="719" loading="lazy" alt="Berlin film festival NT"> </figure>  “Pema’s character is a reflection of inner strength and independence, transcending gender,” Bham explains. “As a male director, I also wanted to explore my feminine side to understand it more deeply.”&nbsp; Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/feminity-to-masculinity,1952">From femininity to masculinity</a>, Bernardo Michael and George Varughese He adds that, in Shambhala the male characters reflect aspects of himself, while Pema represents his feminine side: “Developing the characters, I made sure the male side did not overshadow the feminine side in me.” Bham is researching ideas for his next film which might, for a change, be set in Kathmandu or Angkor Wat to discover his artistic sensibility, irrespective of locale.&nbsp; More than a geographical journey, Min Bahadur Bham is on an artistic voyage deep into his inner being to find the meaning of existence itself. &nbsp; Shambhala is set to release on 13 September in cinemas with Nepali and English subtitles.

Min Bahadur Bham’s cinematic quest

The Himalayas can be seen as a heap of rocks covered in ice and snow, aloof and permanent. But what of the intangible, non-physical Himalayas — the heritage, culture, songs, languages, festivals, lives and livelihoods? The mountains are in flux, and some of the changes to the climate and weather are global in nature while others are local — outmigration and influences of the outside world. Wang Lama is deeply affected by the changes he sees around him, and using his art tries to peer into the future. Will the Himalayas as we know it survive in the coming decades? He shares these worries in his solo exhibition, In Search of Vanishing Identities at the Takpa Gallery.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240603140644_cd82723e54e2445a1faa9ecd2a67716de3d09b0173f000a14bbb153a48cb4a88.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240603140644_cd82723e54e2445a1faa9ecd2a67716de3d09b0173f000a14bbb153a48cb4a88" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Wang Lama"></figure>  Will the yaks, the monasteries, monks and prayer flags be just a memory? Taking the reference of villages of three trans-Himalayan districts (Humla, Mustang and Manang) Lama mostly uses pen and ink with watercolour to bring us minutely detailed Himalayan landscapes. Lama takes refuge in Himalayan architecture and art, his works primarily focusing on the remnants of the past and sites of the present.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240603140644_6eaa5442c9fccb2abd191d5cf38fc3962d1cf05f1ffc45848026652b7078d96e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240603140644_6eaa5442c9fccb2abd191d5cf38fc3962d1cf05f1ffc45848026652b7078d96e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1056" loading="lazy" alt="Wang Lama"><figcaption>Artist Wang Lama</figcaption></figure>  “We have always associated identity with people and our cultural dress. But what about the knowledge, architecture, and art of these places?” asks the 35-year-old artist rhetorically. “Villages are emptying out, and city dwellers are migrating abroad, there is no one left to recognise the knowledge, to witness the pace of change and associate our space with their vanishing identity.” A traveller artist, Lama draws as he goes from place to place. Born in the Nyin Valley of remote Humla, Lama is nostalgic about the places of his childhood among the arid mountains of northwest Nepal. Those places are no longer what they were, he worries. In some of his exhibits, he takes a broader temporal perspective taking us back in time when yak caravans carried rock salt through the mountain trails whose existence is slowly vanishing. Simultaneously, he yanks us back to the present with the works showcasing abandoned alleys, houses and monasteries.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240603140644_d976cfd07d92c6ed46a02f78810c3240cc6e674c57dc3bdea322f874380de855.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240603140644_d976cfd07d92c6ed46a02f78810c3240cc6e674c57dc3bdea322f874380de855" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="2133" loading="lazy" alt="Wang Lama"></figure>  Lama has also captured Manang and its changing landscape in Golden Hour which is a mix media on canvas depicting traditional mud houses, each with a waving vertical prayer flag. There is a wisp of smoke rising from the houses, and in the middle is an incongruous concrete house. A dilapidated traditional stupa stands amidst the mud houses and a concrete stupa lies next to the concrete. “I wanted to show how modernity can kill the essence of a place,” Lama explains. “Today, everyone is opting for concrete structures and the traditional stupa which was made from stones brought from each household in the locality is being replaced with cement. The idea of everyone coming together to build something is gone.” Then there are prayer wheels embedded in walls, paintings and carvings on windows and doors, and alcoves embedded in the stone walls of traditional houses. The colours red, blue, white, green and yellow represent the five elements of nature in Buddhist philosophy — and serve as a motif in most of Lama’s art.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240603140640_b75f9b7477a8ba00c149bcd81ee7e94056f3027c85c06ce85a43a53afcea2b52.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240603140640_b75f9b7477a8ba00c149bcd81ee7e94056f3027c85c06ce85a43a53afcea2b52" data-rendition-name="original" width="1742" height="2501" loading="lazy" alt="Wang Lama"></figure>  There is a rustic tone in every piece, and Lama says, “In the past, our ancestors built houses that were a part of nature. The holes in the mud houses were deliberately made as nesting areas for birds, they were a refuge to birds as much as for humans.” Birds help pollination and insect control in the shrinking arable land of the Himalayas. In the piece Eternal Silence, a monk is meditating inside a sky cave facing the stupa.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240603140644_2e8a9c181a0d2af74c01cdaa45f5b8a37e2b5057b61b3efe2ed6356078ed5517.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240603140644_2e8a9c181a0d2af74c01cdaa45f5b8a37e2b5057b61b3efe2ed6356078ed5517" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1048" loading="lazy" alt="Wang Lama"></figure>  “The stone stupa, the sky caves of Mustang and even the monkhood are all on the verge of extinction, and this painting documents their memory,” says Lama. Though the exhibition’s dominant theme is the changing Himalayan landscapes and its fragile ecosystem, each of Lama’s works also raises the global changes that are affecting us all as we grapple with figuring out the type of world we want to live in. Is it the world centred solely on human ‘progress’ we want to be part of, or a tradition that believed in co-existing with nature? In Search of Vanishing Identities 11AM- 6PM (Tuesday to Thursdays) 11AM- 7PM (Fridays to Sundays) Till 9 June Takpa Gallery, Lazimpat

Pinki Sris Rana

Between losing and loss

Animal tracking is an art that has been practiced by traditional peoples for thousands of years for hunting and survival. Gathering evidence about an animal with tracks, scat, and other signs, they locate, trail, and interpret its behaviour in the wild.&nbsp; In Nepal, although indigenous people like the Raute, sikari hunters and a few naturalists use tracking, the knowledge is diminishing. Between 1993-1995, I lived in what was then the remote village of Khandbari of Sankwasabha district to help establish the 2,300 km2 Makalu-Barun National Park. I started making and collecting plaster casts of the mammal tracks encountered along the forest trails, riverbanks, fields, and alpine areas.&nbsp; My friend and co-manager was Narayan Poudel who was tragically killed in the 2006 helicopter crash in the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area. He was enthusiastic about the collection and encouraged me to make plaster casts of as many tracks as possible that could be used in a natural history book about the Makalu-Barun National Park someday. Natural History of the Wild Side of Everest by Frances Klatzel was eventually published. My main teachers were the Rai sikari hunters whom accompanied me on treks through the park. They had grown up learning about the forests, animal tracks, and hunting and trapping (paso) techniques. They were also experts at identifying edible, utilitarian, and medicinal plants, and could live quite comfortably for months if given nothing more than a kukuri and a little salt. Hunting was prohibited in the national park and buffer zone but there were local people with a hunting background who were among the best naturalists that I had ever encountered. They were fluent in the flora and fauna of the forests in which they lived. They could mimic dozens of bird and animal calls, follow a trail over solid rock, and often knew the names of the birds, mammals, and reptiles in three languages. I observed my guide Bhakta Ram Rai examine a set of fresh tracks made the night before just outside of our camp near Walung. Just on the basis of that track he could infer that the tracks were rounded, wider than long, with three-lobed footpads and four, somewhat rounded toes. &nbsp;No claw marks, except occasionally at steep and muddy trail inclines. &nbsp; The animal was large, walking, unhurried, with a body length of about 1.5m, shoulder height of 40cm, and weight of approximately 50kg, most likely male. &nbsp;The tracks were made between 4 to 6 hours previously, just after the misty rain. It was the leopard which had dined on a barking deer recently.&nbsp; Fast forward to 2019. I had been to Nepal many times in the interim period and dozens of plaster casts I had made 25 years before remained stored in cardboard boxes in my basement wrapped in Rising Nepal newspapers from 1994.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240603040640_2e6b41d0d5a1eea47460289caa4a16ecf3ae0297e1abe76120ce2b3f659309aa.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240603040640_2e6b41d0d5a1eea47460289caa4a16ecf3ae0297e1abe76120ce2b3f659309aa" data-rendition-name="original" width="640" height="480" loading="lazy" alt="Mammal tracking in Nepal"> <figcaption>Rubber molds of various Himalayan mammals presented to the Natural History Museum in May of 2022.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240603040640_d8e9fa64038b6bc232a12744f103cb5fd97d674671bea4bea5d163fe7ae43195.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240603040640_d8e9fa64038b6bc232a12744f103cb5fd97d674671bea4bea5d163fe7ae43195" data-rendition-name="original" width="2448" height="3264" loading="lazy" alt="mammal tracking in Nepal"> <figcaption>Silicone rubber track molds (left) and the plaster casts from which they are made (right) for (top to bottom) sambar, Himalayan black bear, and tiger.</figcaption> </figure>  &nbsp;I was able to make 30 or more plaster casts of bear, leopard, barking deer, tiger, chital, sloth bear, snow leopard, wild buffalo, blue sheep, and pika tracks, and turn them into a silicone rubber moulds to make them durable, so they could be used as a teaching tool for students of natural history. The Natural History Museum in Kathmandu has a collection of over 50,000 plant, animal, and fungi. Its head Ganesh Bahadur Thapa was enthusiastic about using the track casts as an educaitonal tool and they are currently on display there together with later collections of snow leopard, blue sheep, Tibetan wolf casts, as well as Tarai species.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240603040644_9746d8deb0a89c60a53bfa4097ecef1c43e258bad56842d971c2795935880ab8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240603040644_9746d8deb0a89c60a53bfa4097ecef1c43e258bad56842d971c2795935880ab8" data-rendition-name="original" width="2976" height="1984" loading="lazy" alt="mammal tracking in Nepal"> <figcaption>Students at the Basha Valley Shgar in Balistan, Pakistan examine a plaster cast they made from a silicone rubber mold of a snow leopard track during “Snow Leopard Day.” Photo: Baltistan Wildlife Conservation and Development Organization</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240603040644_ad8be607af056524db03bc56487150f29018a03d226cd88a41f7d3a8374ca61f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240603040644_ad8be607af056524db03bc56487150f29018a03d226cd88a41f7d3a8374ca61f" data-rendition-name="original" width="4032" height="3024" loading="lazy" alt="mammal tracking in Nepal"> <figcaption>Several of the silicone rubber mammal track molds are displayed at the Natural History Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  Ideally, the next step will be to develop mammal tracking and natural history educational programs for students throughout Nepal as they ahve in Baltistan in Pakistan. “Making school children aware of snow leopard behaviour and its habitat, and teaching them about tracks and tracking from a young age will significantly contribute to survival of the species,” says Ghana Gurung, director of the WWF Nepal.&nbsp; Wildlife educational programs are particularly important at a time when Nepal becomes more and more urbanised, with children spending less and less time in the natural world. Tracking opportunities abound even on the outskirts of towns. Common leopard, wild boar, and barking deer tracks, for example, can be found along the sides of the roads on the Kathmandu Valley rim.&nbsp; A basic knowledge of tracks and tracking would also be of immense value to Nepal’s growing numbers of natural history and trekking guides, most of whom seem to be fluent in birds and mammals, but lack the interpretational skills of their forebears. Natural History Museum staff will also be trained in mould making techniques so that its tack collection can continue to grow. Says Ganesh Bahadur Thapa of the Natural History Museum: “The first mammalian silicone rubber moulds amassed over three decades of work in Nepal is now a valuable asset of the museum. It can enhance awareness of wildlife in Nepal, and contribute to conservation efforts.”&nbsp; Alton C Byers, PhD is Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), University of Colorado at Boulder in the United States.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240603040644_5d8acfd4a58cc5659fbd96f10e5d7bd287d48760a38150480abab5137d93276c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240603040644_5d8acfd4a58cc5659fbd96f10e5d7bd287d48760a38150480abab5137d93276c" data-rendition-name="original" width="4000" height="3000" loading="lazy" alt="mammal tracking in Nepal"> <figcaption>Ganesh Bahadur Thapa (fourth from left) and Alton C Byers (third from left) at the Natural History Museum in Kathmandu in May 2023.</figcaption> </figure>  Natural history of the planet ‘Animal tracks are the transient reminders of who has passed and what they were doing – in short, a paragraph in the maker's life history book. Normally tracks are gone for eternity but casts retain the story of sentient beings for others to read, comprehend and contemplate through a thoughtful naturalist's mind. Learn to read the story. &nbsp;Preserve a track, save the natural history of planet earth.’ -Dr Jim Halfpenny, President, A Naturalist's World, Gardner, Montana, USA

Tracking Himalayan wildlife

The rugged mountains of Rukum East are all covered in late snow. After a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/first-drought-then-downpour">prolonged drought</a>, it has finally snowed, but it is too late for the high altitude meadows to grow again. They have all dried up. &nbsp; At 3,720m, visitors rarely make it to the high pasture at Ma Kharka. But even until 20 years ago, every family in the village of Lugum brought its sheep and mountain goats for grazing up here. Shepherds with their flocks spent half a year in what used to be cool, green patches of grasslands. Very few do so now. Rassa Gurung, 60, is one the last few shepherds carrying on their <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/village-of-the-climbers">ancestral occupation</a>. “I started coming here as a baby, slung over my mother’s back. We didn’t read and write back then, we all helped our parents tend the sheep,” he says. Gurung knows every corner of this pasture like the back of his hand. His sheep used to graze freely, but now he has to watch out that they do not wander into someone’s farm or enter the nearby community forest.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024021517020_1112590731e0e52430463cd0bbf6e400e24f846d284b2fc42b8010da24b7da70.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2024021517020_1112590731e0e52430463cd0bbf6e400e24f846d284b2fc42b8010da24b7da70" data-rendition-name="original" width="1750" height="995" loading="lazy" alt="Climate crisis ruins Himalayan pastoralists NT"> <figcaption>Rassa Gurung is one the last few shepherds carrying on their ancestral occupation.</figcaption> </figure>  Mt Dhaulagiri looms in the distance, and even that high up there is little snow this year. It looks like a giant dark rock. The sheep are also dying from mysterious causes. “Some 40-50 sheep die every year now, I myself have only 150 sheep now, down from 300 four years ago,” says Gurung. “Most of them die because they eat poisonous grass, as the edible grass does not grow in time. Some are eaten by leopards and bears.” He adds: “It rains when it is not supposed to and it does not snow when it is supposed to. Sometimes it does not snow till March, and other times it does not rain until June, so there is no grass to graze on.” High mountain communities are<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/climate-change-is-a-disaster-in-the-nepal-himalaya"> disproportionately affected by the climate crisis</a>. This year was one of the hottest ones Nepal has experienced. “Farmers are affected directly by the increase in the average temperature. Unpredictable seasonal changes can lead to the growth of new species, and native indigenous plants disappear,” explains climate scientist Ngamindra Dahal. He adds: “Rainfall patterns have also changed. At times we have unseasonal cloudbursts, other times there is no winter rain and we get droughts. The absence of snow has affected sheep herders.”&nbsp; Indeed, new kinds of grasses have started growing and for shepherds like Gurung, there is no way to know if they are edible.&nbsp; Botanist Bhakta Bahadur Raskoti agrees that climate change has affected the growth of edible grass for sheep and goats in high mountain areas. “Because of climate change, grass species from the Tarai are now found in the mountains, while mountain grasses have moved up,” he adds. Shepherd Jore Pun, 43, used to have 350 sheep a few years ago, but now has only 250.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024021517020_6dd609e1837506d6a623b9c6217cae8b7da0909ee445a1d0d1fe13cf277fef87.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2024021517020_6dd609e1837506d6a623b9c6217cae8b7da0909ee445a1d0d1fe13cf277fef87" data-rendition-name="original" width="1250" height="751" loading="lazy" alt="Climate crisis ruins Himalayan pastoralists. NT"> <figcaption>Jore Pun</figcaption> </figure>  Lugum used to be a large sheep farming village in Rukum East. Half of the 400 households here used to herd sheep and goats. Today, there are 500 households but only 35 are pastoralists.&nbsp; The Magar people make up the majority of the Rukum East population. To them, sheep rearing used to be a way of life here. The sheep are sacrificed during their festivals and women make clothing from their wool. With the sheep gone, these traditions are now in decline. “Our grasslands are depleting and sheep rearing has become unfeasible,” says ward chair Mankaji Pun. “Moreover, young men are moving out for jobs in the cities or overseas. They are abandoning their ancestral occupation.” <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/no-country-for-young-men-c89lgrrl">Many men from here have left for the Gulf</a>, Malaysia or India. Youth here are also increasingly taking the backdoor to America. Only the women, the elderly and children are left.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240215190216_a8e5bf8de837acaf13c1c9d966a3316bb7098b3d6c12da9d65323d920445c19b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20240215190216_a8e5bf8de837acaf13c1c9d966a3316bb7098b3d6c12da9d65323d920445c19b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1700" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Temperature map NT"> </figure>  Every household here has <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepalis-take-backdoor-to-the-american-dream">at least one member in the USA</a>. These families spend as high as Rs6 million to make their way there, borrowed from local lenders at high interest. The ones who remain are averse to hard work. Dilchan Pun Magar of Lugum was rearing sheep until three years ago. He had 200 of them. Unable to make a living, he also kept side jobs. He has now completely given up on sheep rearing and operates a hotel. “We couldn’t modernise sheep farming. It was a lot of work and we barely made any money, so I ended up leaving it altogether,” says Pun Magar. Rassa Gurung is still supporting his family by selling sheep. He says he makes Rs400,000 a year, and the income goes to paying for his children’s education. “But my children are not interested in taking after me, they think it is too much work,” he adds.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024021517020_8a63eabfb7287bf84d8a5a9753b343eec25c4607ed67b8610316d40af46b16ab.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="2024021517020_8a63eabfb7287bf84d8a5a9753b343eec25c4607ed67b8610316d40af46b16ab" data-rendition-name="original" width="1523" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate crisis ruins Himalayan pastoralists NT"> </figure>  Jore Pun also cites the new generation’s lack of interest as a reason for the decline of sheep farming. He says, “People started going to school. Now everyone is migrating. Sheep farming is a lot of work, after all.” There are still about 22,000 sheep in Rukum East, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. Two years ago, there were nearly 800,000 sheep across the country. It is now down to 770,000. This decrease in sheep numbers has similarly affected the production of meat, down from 2,964 metric tons last year to 2,880 this year. Wool production has also decreased, from 584,000kg two years ago to 567,412 this year.&nbsp; Translated for the Nepali original published on himalkhabar.com

Climate crisis ruins Himalayan pastoralists

Yartsa gunbu, commonly dubbed the caterpillar fungus or ‘Nature’s Viagra’, is rightly famous across the Himalayas and beyond.&nbsp; And with a market value of between $20,000-40,000 per kg thanks to its huge medicinal properties, it’s small wonder people across the region are on their hands and knees across these mountains to track the stuff down. But it’s not just for its extraordinary economic value that it’s worth admiring this wonder fungus. In fact, what’s far more remarkable is the sheer uniqueness of its genesis.&nbsp; Because yartsa gunbu (Ophiocordyceps sinensis, yarsagumba in Nepali) is the sort of lifeform that is so extraordinary that the only place it could exist—outside the pages of a sci-fi novel or some extravagant Studio Ghibli anime—is in nature.&nbsp; Every single one of these tiny marvels is a product of metamorphosis: formed when the larva of a moth is implanted between 3,000 to 5,000m during the rainy season, then attacked by a parasitic fungus that gradually envelops it, to eventually create this sprout of phenomenal medicinal power.&nbsp; And scientists are still only just beginning to understand the yartsa gunbu’s properties. As well as the feted increase in libido it is believed to cause, it is also prized for its anti-inflammatory properties, and is used as a general tonic to improve stamina and reduce fatigue. Yartsa gunbu is just one of the almost infinite varieties of natural life that surround us in a dizzying abundance across the Hindu Kush Himalaya.&nbsp; Because, while many of us are aware of the link between the sweeping expanse of these mountains, and the vast ice mass they contain, and the 10 great Asian rivers that rise here to water our crops, slake our thirsts and power our lives, these great ranges in altitude serve another purpose: their rapid shifts in contours creating world-famous havens for biodiversity, including many species found only here.&nbsp; And while the steep gradients have created many completely unique and wildly distinct lifeforms, in close proximity to each other, the sheer inaccessibility of the region’s terrain has meant that many of these lifeforms have been sheltered from human activities. Until now.&nbsp; This region holds an astonishing four of the world’s 36 global biodiversity hotspots; 12 of the global 200 eco regions, 575 Protected Areas, and 335 important bird and biodiversity areas. These are breathtaking figures – and ones we should be proud of, an abundance we should fight to protect, and be funded to maintain.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240214100252_5ad679a6909aa45951e70af5b9fdd8fd3674e8574a79f1f24f1331686fd1c25f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240214100252_5ad679a6909aa45951e70af5b9fdd8fd3674e8574a79f1f24f1331686fd1c25f" data-rendition-name="original" width="2490" height="1860" loading="lazy" alt="Biodiversity hotspots"> <figcaption>A map showing the four global biodiversity hotspots of the Hindu Kush Himalaya: Mountains of Central Asia, Himalaya, Indo-Burma and Mountains of South-West China. Map Source: Hi-Wise Report by ICIMOD</figcaption> </figure>  Instead, it’s the opposite that’s happening. With carbon pollution driving temperature rise and black carbon deposits on ice accelerating glacier loss and creating more erratic patterns of rainfall, and land-use change, this vast resource is declining at unprecedented speed.&nbsp; The situation is so bad that ecosystem researchers describe the Hindu Kush Himalaya as a “biosphere on the brink”. Or as the New York Times pithily put it in a headline last year, Animals Are Running Out of Places to Live.&nbsp; The HKH cryosphere is warming two times faster than the global average. Glaciers melted faster in the 2010s than the previous 10 years, and we will reach peak water demand by 2050. This will have enormous impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services. That is only 26 years away. We are also the most polluted region in the world now. Some of this is because of the industries that were exported from the west to this region, and the lack of access to cleaner technologies. But whatever the causes, whoever is to blame, the fact is that pollution has huge implications for not just human health, but also for biodiversity, crop production, and so on. And already we’ve seen massive biodiversity decline. 70% of original biodiversity has been lost over the last century. And yet, to go back to the improbably arising caterpillar fungus, and other famous products of “nature’s medicine cabinet”, 85% of mountain communities remain dependent on this biodiversity and highland ecosystem services. With grim predictability, yartsa gunbu availability is reported to be declining. And we already have many examples of large-scale ecosystem disruptions across the HKH. Rangeland quality is deteriorating, with a host of problems that accompanies that. We have various invasive and other species moving up.&nbsp; Tigers have been seen at 4000m above sea level – at unprecedented elevations. And we’ve got aggressive upslope movement of certain species at high altitudes, such as rhododendron shrubberies, impacting the growth of high value medicinal products and pastures in these areas.&nbsp; And the flipside is that we have the unintended consequences of conservation successes, with the rebounding of certain species sparking human wildlife conflict. Striking the right balance between human and animal life is extremely challenging, and another area that ICIMOD is working hard to address. But having dedicated the largest part of my entire career to working to advance biodiversity protection and how it is valued in global fora, it pains me deeply that multiple commitments to protect nature that have been made over decades are still not being realised. What is clear too is that this situation is far more acute in the poorer and marginalised regions of the world – such as the Hindu Kush Himalaya. It does not have to be this way, we also have good stories amidst all the news of habitat loss and degradation and species extinctions. 75% of Bhutan is forested, and 40% of Nepal – so two countries in this region are defying wider global trends in terms of deforestation. Pakistan, despite challenges, has committed to plant 10 billion trees.&nbsp; These shoots are coming from unexpected corners too, including, perhaps least likely of all allies, from the finance sector.&nbsp; Just this week, Brazil received $150M in foreign finance for Amazon rainforest protection. We’re starting to see capital markets shift finance flows into what really matters – a regenerative Earth. While there is much to be done – currently, less than one per cent of the <a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/">$460 billion</a> per year needed to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030 has been delivered – there is a growing recognition of the fact that human survival depends on halting and reversing declines in nature.&nbsp; This week, ICIMOD has been honoured to host the third lead authors meeting of the IPBES nexus assessment. As the world’s foremost experts in nature stand in this, one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, the evidence of nature’s value is categorical. Nature must be built into all investment and action. We need to accelerate policy, institutional and market reforms to make this happen – and push for a rapid increase in innovative global finance, especially to high-value and vulnerable regions like the Hindu Kush Himalaya.&nbsp; Global science processes such as IPBES and IPCC must continue to highlight the enormity of the challenge, deliver evidence on viable solutions, and communicate widely and persuasively. ICIMOD is proud to link arms with these key platforms to advance this crucial work, and at this crucial moment for the planet and our collective future. Izabella Koziell is the Deputy Director General at International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu.

Biosphere on the brink

The first-ever Mt Everest sightseeing flight was undertaken in 1933 by a British pilot duo flying from northern Bihar over Nepal in a flimsy Westland Wallace biplane with an open cockpit (below). We have come a long way since then.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023101912104_f31597aad6da4dc9a926e38faf8296a39ff44698fe708ec252c4ff80d648e55a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2023101912104_f31597aad6da4dc9a926e38faf8296a39ff44698fe708ec252c4ff80d648e55a" data-rendition-name="original" width="972" height="669" loading="lazy" alt="Mountain flight 2"> </figure>  The next celebrity was UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld when he visited Nepal in 1961. King Mahendra had just staged his coup and jailed elected Prime Minister B P Koirala, and was cultivating the international community. The king loaned his private DC-3 for the secretary general to get up close and personal with the world’s highest mountain. Hammarskjöld went back to New York and contributed an article for National Geographic (below) in its January 1961 edition with his black and white photographs of the trip, and possibly launched the first promotion of Everest sightseeing flights.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023102205100_ad8eb504b5b6cef65748665d615d738a84901e865274aab0b69be2cca923bc19.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2023102205100_ad8eb504b5b6cef65748665d615d738a84901e865274aab0b69be2cca923bc19" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Mountain flights in Nepal"> </figure>  In 2013, the grandson of Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, the Marquis of Clydesdale, Charles Douglas-Hamilton commemorated the 80th anniversary of the 1933 overflight of Everest by going on a sightseeing flight himself from Kathmandu.&nbsp; Today, there are dozens of hour-long Everest-view flights every morning from Kathmandu that fly at 24,000ft along the central Himalayan mountains, make a U-turn over Lukla and return. Before Covid, there used to be 30 Everest flights a day from Kathmandu airport. Buddha Air has the most flights, and leaves aisle seats empty so all passengers have a window seat. This also makes the flight expensive, but most passengers say it is well worth the experience. It is one of the few flights in the world that takes off and lands from the same airport, and the fare is $220 for overseas passengers and Rs14,000 for Nepalis and Indians. Unlike other flights, where cabin attendants are busy serving food and drinks, on Everest flights they go up and down the aisle pointing out prominent peaks and escorting passengers one by one to the cockpit for better views. That is the other difference: in these flights, passengers are actually allowed into the cockpit. Opinion is divided about which side of the plane offers superior views, but there is a general feeling that the right side is better because the plane is closer to the mountains on the return leg. But this does mean that passengers do not have much of a view during the first half of the flight – unless there are some empty seats on the left side. The other debate is about whether it is better to sit in front or at the back. The turboprop engines of Buddha's ATR-72s are mounted below the plane’s high wings and are relatively small (compared to the Q400, for instance) so it does not obstruct the horizontal view much. Still, a seat at the back of the plane (#13-16) are best because there is nothing to block the view. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023101912108_8ee24a5f858db84bfb090e6067395c1eda33befd697a1e2c9ad2f9daf224447c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2023101912108_8ee24a5f858db84bfb090e6067395c1eda33befd697a1e2c9ad2f9daf224447c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1559" height="527" loading="lazy" alt="mountain 4"> </figure>  Right after takeoff, the Buddha Air ATR-72-500 makes a wide climbing turn over Kathmandu Valley, and the western Himalaya with Annapurna, Himalchuli, Manaslu heave into view. As the plane sets a northeast heading, out of the left window there is a parade of the central Himalaya peaks: Langtang, Shishapangma, Dorje Lakpa, Phurbi Ghyachu, Gauri Shankar. The plane gains height, and the pastel plateau of Tibet can be seen behind the mountains. The rivers that flow down from there have carved deep gorges through the mighty mountains. At this point, passengers get 2-3 minutes each in the cockpit, and a clear view of Mt Everest, Lhotse and Makalu silhouetted by the rising sun, and only 30km away to the north.&nbsp; Far below, in the shadow of surrounding peaks, one can make out Lukla, Namche Bazar and on the horizon, the imposing massif of Cho Oyu and Nepal’s longest glacier, Ngozumba. As the plane turns back, the aircraft is usually abreast of the summit of Numbur which is the same height as the cruising altitude of the plane.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023101912100_4ddeaffd221fa35f223a7215170b2a2854ba1f1833d27d090cbb92d2e2026b9f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2023101912100_4ddeaffd221fa35f223a7215170b2a2854ba1f1833d27d090cbb92d2e2026b9f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1015" height="763" loading="lazy" alt="Mountain flight 1"> </figure>  On return, the plane starts descending after Gauri Shankar, but the mountains are usually visible right up to the point where the gears come down and the plane prepares to land back in Kathmandu. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Without having to scale the actual peaks, mountain flights are a fantastic way to take in the breathtaking views of the Himalaya, and one of the most popular activities tourists undertake while in Nepal.&nbsp; Most flights in Nepal are actually also mountain flights. A Kathmandu to Tumlingtar or Bhadrapur flight on Buddha Air, for example, offers almost the same views. Similarly, flights to Pokhara, Bhairawa, Nepalganj or Dhangadi have a spectacular panorama of the western Himalaya. &nbsp;&nbsp; Since it began operations 26 years ago this month, Buddha Air has been the domestic airline conducting the most Everest flights. These days, besides its Everest Experience, it also offers the Annapurna Experience and the Kora Experience (see box, below).&nbsp; Passengers also get a ‘Himalayan Peaks’ map to identify the mountains on this once-in-a-lifetime experience. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023101912108_4a409f74bd235ea371701b857064ee8dfef9d775f013b43171d066744e95be34.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2023101912108_4a409f74bd235ea371701b857064ee8dfef9d775f013b43171d066744e95be34" data-rendition-name="original" width="1402" height="564" loading="lazy" alt="mountain flight 6"> <figcaption>PHOTO: Guðmundur Páll Ólafsson </figcaption> </figure>  The Annapurna Experience&nbsp; Although Mt Everest gets all the attention because it is the highest, the mountains of Central Nepal are equally if not more spectacular, and the sightseeing flights actually fly closer to the massifs of Annapurna, Himalchuli, Manaslu, Machapuchre and Dhaulagiri. This is a 30-minute flight from Kathmandu and lands in Pokhara, and Buddha Air offers charter flights.&nbsp; The Kora Experience (Everest + Annapurna)&nbsp; Buddha Air is now also offering a mountain flight combo that combines the Everest and Annapurna experiences, and the name is derived from the Tibetan word ‘Kora’ which is a pilgrimage circumambulation. The charter flights take off from Kathmandu towards Everest, circle back west to Annapurna overflying the Valley, and land back in Kathmandu in a flight lasting 1.5 hours.&nbsp; <a href="https://www.buddhaair.com/">www.buddhaair.com &nbsp;&nbsp;</a>

Getting up close and personal with the mountains

Many of us former Nepal Peace Corps volunteers (PCVs) would agree that our time in Nepal changed in significant but very different ways our perspectives on life if not the future paths we chose to follow. Of no one was this truer than Dorothy Mierow. Dorothy was born in 1920, in Colorado Springs. Her father Charles C Mierow was a classics scholar and Latin professor, who served for ten years as president of Colorado College.&nbsp; Dorothy developed an interest in animals as a child, graduated with a BA degree in natural history from Carlton College in 1942, a Master’s in biology from the University of Pittsburgh, and another Master’s in geography from the University of Minnesota.&nbsp; As a young woman, Dorothy traveled with her father throughout Europe, including a visit to ancient Greek ruins, and took a Magellan Tour by cruise ship around the world in 1958.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_0bad133ab22aada319e74bbad95d563e191371db291c08f373839fbd15440262.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025071901074_0bad133ab22aada319e74bbad95d563e191371db291c08f373839fbd15440262" data-rendition-name="original" width="903" height="1178" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>HOME AWAY FROM HOME: Dorothy Mierow as a college student in her native Colorado.</figcaption> </figure>  She was a college teacher during much of the 1940s, also teaching at a girls’ school in Hawaii. Then back to her native Colorado in 1953, where she became a curator and later director of the Colorado College Natural History Museum. She taught geography classes, and in her free time, Dorothy climbed 22 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks. Traveling in India in 1960, Dorothy decided to spend two weeks in Nepal. In late 1961, she filled out an application to join the Peace Corps and specified that she wanted to go to Nepal, ‘because I admired the people so much when my father and I were there on our trip’.&nbsp; Dorothy reached Kathmandu in September 1962 as the first group of American Peace Corps volunteers in Nepal. She stood out from the others: one of the few women in that group, surely the oldest at age 41, a world traveler, and a woman who already had established a professional career.&nbsp; One doubts if Dorothy had had a husband and children whether she would ever have gone to work and spend much of the rest of her life in Nepal.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901078_68e84ade1ffb0f6c83c7f8fa5c1e7315b5f6c543217f96cde012e4d86f171515.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025071901078_68e84ade1ffb0f6c83c7f8fa5c1e7315b5f6c543217f96cde012e4d86f171515" data-rendition-name="original" width="1259" height="910" loading="lazy" alt="How th Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life NT"> <figcaption>Pokhara Bazar in 1962.</figcaption> </figure>  The Peace Corps assigned Dorothy to teach geography at Tri-Chandra College. After the school closed in the winter due to lack of heating, USAID and the College of Education asked Dorothy to help train general science teachers.&nbsp; She taught for two months and became involved in a textbook-writing project, commenting: ‘I would like the children to know something about public health, conservation (the trees are going fast and so is the soil), and learn the names of some of their common birds, trees, and flowers. They are more impressed with electricity, airplanes, and cell structure.’ When a new college opened in Pokhara in 1963, Dorothy was transferred there and lived with a Nepali family. The college boasted 30 students and no permanent buildings.&nbsp; In October 1963, Dorothy wrote: ‘Pokhara is a town of almost 5,000 people … We are in a fertile valley surrounded by foothills … There is a small Mission Hospital … a Leper Hospital and Tibetan Refugee Camp started by the Red Cross and now run by the Swiss. With winter approaching, more Tibetans are appearing in town, often with pack horses or donkeys. Some have been carrying large boxes of powdered milk,donated (by USAID) to the camp from the airport … There is no electricity, and the transportation problems make many items scarce and expensive. I am really a sort of a museum. The landlord brings all kinds of people in to see how I live and count my shoes and dresses. They express amazement at my books, pictures, tin oven, Nepali dolls from Kathmandu, screened food shelves and curtained closet.’ The standard term for Peace Corps volunteers was two years, but Dorothy extended her term and was still at Prithvi Narayan College at the end of 1965, when she wrote that she had 20 Geography students in the first-year class and 6 in the second year preparing for the IA Examination. The college enrollment was 125 students, and the foundation for a new science building was being excavated.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_c6a80e5e0db0c705b2f8733c6d30dc0386fe3abbd2238ea9d947b7d746f94a29.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2025071901074_c6a80e5e0db0c705b2f8733c6d30dc0386fe3abbd2238ea9d947b7d746f94a29" data-rendition-name="original" width="902" height="605" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>Mierow and friends at Phewa Lake.</figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy noted that she ate one meal a day at the (Shining Mission) Hospital but otherwise lived on dal-bhat, momo, and potato curry at local shops. However, she had developed a new passion: to build what she initially called the Pokhara Museum of the Himalaya. In commendable Peace Corps fashion, Dorothy always worked with Nepalis and respected the culture. ‘The greatest joy and satisfaction I have had has been from the building of a Museum-Library in memory of my parents … It has been possible to feel like a wealthy benefactor with the money saved by father for the family’s education and now available for the education of others… (Father) would have loved to be in on the founding of a new college and be able to plan a library. Several hundred of the books to be in the museum-library came from his collection and were carefully selected to be of use for students in Nepal…’&nbsp; ‘The museum part is to satisfy my own inclinations and was thought of when I found how little diversion there was for the people of Pokhara… It is part of the University requirements for the college that it should have a geography and biology museum. The museum building is small but adequate.&nbsp; I have tried to design it in harmony with Nepalese architecture and decorate it with some of the art of the best artists or woodcarvers… Posts holding up the porch roof are carved by Cottage Industries to represent different peoples of Nepal in typical costumes. The door was carved by a local wood carver and has typical birds of Nepal around it. Inside are 10 roof-support carvings designed by the retired Director of the National Museum in Kathmandu, Mr. C.M. Maskey.&nbsp; They were carved by the best wood carvers in Patan very skilfully. The building has three rooms: the library, the exhibition room, and a smaller workroom which can be used by our newly formed Woman’s Club as well as other groups or classes.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_03d3359c65389d30a0134e9a4862778994121e7e833b7d28b18e06e36fc76ff8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2025071901074_03d3359c65389d30a0134e9a4862778994121e7e833b7d28b18e06e36fc76ff8" data-rendition-name="original" width="629" height="599" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>Mierow with local women in Pokhara in 1969.</figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy promoted her project to influential Nepalis connected with organisations whose support she solicited: The Department of Archaeology, the Department of Agriculture, the Godavari Botanical Gardens; Tribhuvan University’s Science and Education Department, Nature Conservation Society.&nbsp; The museum was opened officially in early 1967. The Annapurna Natural History Museum, the building Dorothy designed and had constructed, is still open and features some exhibits which she created many years ago.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_54326a8a0685e980e782378076de2f5cd02d2426e9b0d94eed972d3dbe83af26.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025071901074_54326a8a0685e980e782378076de2f5cd02d2426e9b0d94eed972d3dbe83af26" data-rendition-name="original" width="1333" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>The Annapurna Natural History Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy returned to America in 1967, but she longed for Nepal. In the spring of 1969, she again tried to enroll as a Peace Corps volunteer but was told that as she had spent more than four years, she would not be eligible for another assignment. Undeterred, she persuaded the college in Pokhara to invite her to return as a teacher.&nbsp; UNICEF and the Forestry Department sponsored Dorothy to prepare charts on trees, birds, animals and flowers in colour for distribution to the schools of Nepal. Dorothy, back in the Peace Corps, returned to Pokhara and the Museum in 1972. She formed a friendship with her former geography student from Sikles, Chandra Prasad Gurung, and in 1974, she brought Chandra to America, where he enrolled in Colorado College and studied cultural anthropology.&nbsp; Chandra subsequently earned his PhD in geography from the University of Hawaii and returned to Pokhara to become director of the Annapurna Conservation Area Project. Gurung actively promoted ecotourism, landscape conservation, and biodiversity conservation in Nepal. His life was cut short along with those of 23 other Nepalis and foreigners who perished in a helicopter crash near Taplejung in September 2006.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_322d3c3ac6f1b08ffa07c44a19998b937a7db9eb43527f7539cf6481e1546314.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2025071901074_322d3c3ac6f1b08ffa07c44a19998b937a7db9eb43527f7539cf6481e1546314" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>Mierow's four books on Nepal and its biodiversity. </figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy worked with several well-known Nepalis to publish her paintings and photos in beautifully illustrated books. She and Hemanta Mishra of the National Parks and Wildlife Service wrote Wild Animals of Nepal (Ratna Pustak Bhandar, 1976). More than 400 photos Dorothy took on treks to the Everest region, Gosaikunda, Muktinath, Jumla and Rara Lake, as well as travels in the Tarai, appeared in Himalayan Flowers and Trees (Sahayogi Prakashan, 1978).&nbsp; The botanist Tirtha Bahadur Shrestha identified the species. Dorothy and Kesar Lall published This Beautiful Nepal (Sahayogi Press, 1981). Birds of the Central Himalayas (1988) contained Dorothy’s paintings of 250 species of birds found along the areas of the Kali Gandaki River, Pokhara, Chitwan and the central Tarai. Dorothy summed up her life and work in Nepal in Thirty Years in Pokhara (Pilgrims Book House, 1997). Dorothy returned to Pokhara and her adopted Gurung family several times during the 1980s and 1990s to celebrate festivals and meet old friends. Her final years were spent at her mountain cottage in Green Mountain Falls north of Colorado Springs. She died at the age of 79 in August, 2000. Nepal gave new meaning and purpose to Dorothy Mierow’s life. Daniel W Edwards was a Peace Corps volunteer in 1966 and is the author of several books on Nepal. The author thanks Special Collections, Tutt Library, Colorado College.

How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer’s life

Does anyone know that 2023-33 was declared the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/visit-nepal-again">Visit Nepal</a> Decade? Or that Pokhara announced that 2025 is a Special Tourism Year? The fuselage of Nepal Airlines jets still carry the Visit Nepal Year 2020 logos. Such ad hoc and unnoticed promotion is emblematic of the way Nepal has tried to increase visitor arrivals <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-hopes-for-tourism-rebound-in-2021-rk4dlo9t">post-Covid</a> — and of the country’s wider political disarray. Deepak Raj Joshi of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has his work cut out to coordinate various agencies of the government to boost arrivals.&nbsp; He says, “We have been working on marketing strategies to revive the tourism sector, and are hopeful that this year will mark a 8-10% increase in arrivals compared to the pre-pandemic times.” On paper, tourist numbers have rebounded to pre-Covid numbers with over 1 million last year, but official figures do not give a true picture of duration of stay, average spending, and the fact every visitor is counted as a ‘tourist’, even repeat visitors who come on business. The few bright spots are largely a result of private sector promotion of niche tourism products, individual social media posts of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/top-10-treks">adventurous treks in Nepal</a>, or the fact that Indians are allowed to enter China again to visit Lake Mansarovar and Mt Kailash via Nepal. Indeed, Simkot airport has up to 15 flights a day from Nepalganj bringing in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds">Indian pilgrims</a> who are then ferried by helicopter to the border in Hilsa, or Lapcha Pass from where the holy sites in Tibet are visible. The rudimentary hotels and rest houses along the route in Humla have been bursting at the seams for the past month, to the point that some establishments are no longer able to provide patrons basic amenities.&nbsp; Last year, 1.14 million tourists visited Nepal, and the government has projected up to 10% increase in tourist arrivals this year. International tourist arrivals to Nepal have been steadily increasing, especially from the US, Europe, and India. Domestic and regional travel has also increased after the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/lockdown-5-utlzqtvs">Covid lockdowns</a>.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250717120756_e1c8f08e7e26496d2b2394e0be776e147fb46c415347b781ed9e5c64d9c9e505.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20250717120756_e1c8f08e7e26496d2b2394e0be776e147fb46c415347b781ed9e5c64d9c9e505" data-rendition-name="original" width="1145" height="668" loading="lazy" alt="Tourist numbers"> </figure>  The tourism industry employs at least 1 million people, trekking injects money directly into the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/not-rising-nepal">rural economy </a>and sustains ancillary sectors like handicrafts and domestic aviation. In the last fiscal year, tourism brought in Rs82.33 billion, according to Nepal Rastra Bank. But the industry has been affected by negative publicity about poor infrastructure, air pollution in Kathmandu, travel safety and news of disasters like the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/rasuwa-flood-likely-a-glof">China-Nepal flood last week</a> that made international headlines. Growing worries about the climate crisis is also affecting youth travel, especially from Europe. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/missing-out-on-nepal-s-tourism-potential">Missing out on Nepal’s tourism potential</a> “The limitations of airport and road infrastructure has hindered the development of the tourism sector,” admits Joshi. “And many are put off by the appalling state of our road network, especially during <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/managing-the-monsoon">the monsoon season</a>.” Nepal is home to 20 protected areas, 10 heritage sites, and eight out of the world’s 10 highest mountains, and despite all the obstacles it is still the perfect destination for the modern social media savvy traveller, who are experience-driven and inclined to look for itineraries that emphasise wellness and cultural immersion.&nbsp; Some hotels around Kathmandu, Pokhara, Jomsom and the Khumbu have strived to adapt to this new tourism landscape, expanding facilities with significant international investment. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/business/a-thamel-within-thamel">Luxury hotels like Aloft Kathmandu</a> in Thamel were inaugurated just before the pandemic lockdowns, survived the crisis and thrived as it. Says General Manager Vikram Singh (pictured, below): “Our prime location in Thamel enhances the guest experience, especially for those seeking convenience and immersion in the local scene and travellers who want to be in the centre of it all.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071805070_8d29803e8b52bcd4439422e7b7a0bc25aa68ef3d227b9130bd0e079af626677d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="2025071805070_8d29803e8b52bcd4439422e7b7a0bc25aa68ef3d227b9130bd0e079af626677d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1066" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Aloft GM"> </figure>  <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-sustainable-tourism-means-in-practice">Sustainability </a>and environmental consciousness has also become an integral part of the hospitality industry. ISO certifications as well as sustainability initiatives like the Travelife sustainability certification for eco-friendly resorts validate credibility of hotels. Aloft is the first five-star hotel in Nepal to have earned the Waste Smart Certificate, and it has also been awarded the ISO 14001:2015 certification, which is the internationally recognised standard for environmental management systems (EMS). But such investments will not amount to much unless Nepal makes serious efforts to promote itself as a<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/peak-tourism-in-2023-9ukoi8iz?utm="> tourism destination</a>, especially to its two giant neighbours. More importantly, the country needs to increase activities in which tourists can spend the money they want to. “While <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-pushes-mountain-bike-tourism?fbclid=IwAR1MNH0iFGv1vRz5G9uZ4AzUlKxB6nY7JKq0qT6je_FV4_SuxPZqviwKGn0">mountaineering and adventure tourism</a> are extensively promoted, we have fallen short of marketing other elements such as wildlife, pilgrimage and cultural heritage,” says Joshi. “There is a need to diversify promotion to increase income from the tourism sector.” Meanwhile, making Nepal more accessible to international and domestic visitors, must also be a priority. Kathmandu remains the sole aerial gateway despite new airports in Pokhara and Bhairawa. “International airlines have shown interest, and if access and flights are increased these airports can be fully functional,” says Joshi. But Sichuan Airlines has stopped flying to Pokhara, and there does not seem to be much interest from Thai, Vietnamese and Cambodian carriers to fly directly to Lumbini. Says Singh: “There’s tremendous opportunity to strengthen Nepal’s destination marketing by telling richer, more compelling stories that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/culture-cannot-be-an-afterthought">connect travellers with our culture</a>, nature, and people.”

Tourism needs a new push

This week at the National Population Policy launch Prime Minister K P Oli exhorted Nepalis to get married by age 20 and have three babies by the time they are 30. This was the first indication that the highest office in the land has understood the need to address Nepal’s dramatically <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepals-demographic-window-is-closing">falling birth rate</a>, but Oli’s statement was greeted with ridicule on<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/avoiding-the-quicksand-of-social-media"> social media</a> — especially by women. Most urban young are already grappling with economic pressures and shifting life priorities. Even with a university degree,<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/workers-return-to-jobless-nepal?%2F"> many cannot find jobs</a>, and are taking the first flight out for overseas employment. Having a child is now a fraught decision shaped by income, individual autonomy, and family pressure. The <a href="https://www.unfpa.org/swp2025">UNFPA’s State of the World Population report </a>released last month, highlighted a significant <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/migrating-males-and-population-decline">decline in fertility rates </a>around the world. The global average fertility rate is 2.25 children per woman, and 18% of the reproductive adults said they will not be able to have the number of children they desire. The total fertility rate in Nepal has plummeted to 2.1 births per woman — down from 5 just 30 years ago. This is considered replacement level, meaning the newborns will replace their parents.&nbsp; However, birth rates are not declining as rapidly everywhere. The Tarai in has a total fertility rate of 2.20, and northwestern mountains is still 2.24.&nbsp; There are multiple factors in play, and the report broadly divides them into four categories: health issues, economic concerns, fears about the future, and lack of a supportive partner or their absence. More than half of the respondents said finance, which includes unemployment and increased cost of housing, as well as parenthood, was a barrier to having children. “More and more people prefer one or two children at maximum. Many women also decide to have children at a much later age,” says Kamala Devi Lamichhane of Tribhuvan University. “The opportunity cost is far higher for women.” But there is also a cost for the country, as the National Population Policy notes. At the rate the total fertility rate is falling it will soon be below replacement level — meaning that in the next three decades Nepal will be confronted with an <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-future-is-older">ageing population</a>.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250714140740_bac3e5a284b69a77d97b3b99daf2e7fd3019bc48f1a399fb2771381c751d8291.png" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250714140740_bac3e5a284b69a77d97b3b99daf2e7fd3019bc48f1a399fb2771381c751d8291" data-rendition-name="original" width="1302" height="501" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis having fewer babies. Why?"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250714140740_251115b0a88d4e82be70245c43cb74477f3be18042ef1aa3b904c597d815f13b.png" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250714140740_251115b0a88d4e82be70245c43cb74477f3be18042ef1aa3b904c597d815f13b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1125" height="500" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis having fewer babies. Why?"> </figure>  Besides income, there are also cultural factors at play in women having fewer babies — they are expected to do all the childcare duties, even putting their careers on hold. In general, there is little help from spouses, and with more nuclear families there is less support from relatives. “Women today are well educated, career-oriented, and economically independent, allowing them to delay marriage as well as being conscious about their body and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/nepal-far-from-hitting-contraceptive-target?%2F">reproductive rights</a>,” says Laxmi Tamang of the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM). Also present at the policy launch was demographer Yagya Bahadur Karki, who said that women are more educated and hence, empowered to take their own informed decisions regarding having children.&nbsp; He adds, “But the fertility rates have reached replacement rate, and that stands as a warning for the future.”&nbsp; Fertility rates have fallen in inverse proportion to the rise in female literacy. The regions of Nepal where couples have more babies is where women are less educated. Couples in Madhes and Sudur Paschim provinces, where child marriage, gender-based discrimination, menstrual huts and dowry are still widespread are where the fertility rate is still high.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250717120740_ababfd31ed5ff79ded427e1f1adfff02e6af2384bd541e51dfe05e52fbbccb39.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20250717120740_ababfd31ed5ff79ded427e1f1adfff02e6af2384bd541e51dfe05e52fbbccb39" data-rendition-name="original" width="994" height="682" loading="lazy" alt="TFR Map"> </figure>  And because female literacy also has a direct correlation with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/fatal-discrimination">infant and child mortality</a>, couples in those regions tend to have more babies so some of them survive.&nbsp; But it is Nepal’s urban centres among the educated where the increased choices in reproductive health, including alternative methods of conception like IVF and treatment for infertility, as well as <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/implant-service-providers-take-contraception-to-nepals-poor">contraceptives</a> offer more options for family planning. “There are more choices regarding reproductive health, and there is more awareness as well, which is why people decide carefully on whether or not to bear a child,” says population expert Yogendra Gurung. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/migrants-returning-from-the-gulf-with-infertility">Migration is another factor</a> adding to the decline in fertility rates. Many young Nepalis of reproductive age leave every day in pursuit of better jobs overseas. Spousal separation means fewer children.&nbsp; “Once away, even if not educated, they realise that child-rearing costs are high, and try to have fewer and even no children in some cases,” Gurung adds. Recent studies have also shown that men returning after their stint in the Gulf and Malaysia, where they are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/gulf-workers-need-protection-from-heat">exposed to extreme heat </a>for extended periods as well as various chemicals and toxins in their work environment &nbsp;have a range of health problems, including infertility. To increase the birth rate, Nepal will have to reverse its family planning strategy of the past 40 years. Complicating this is that some regions of Nepal will need measures to control the birth rate, while urban areas will need a strategy to help parents have more babies. One way to help families have more children is to develop more <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/future-proofing-nepal-s-population-strategy?s=04&amp;fbclid=IwY2xjawFQf-NleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHRxSwwGPfm7_2cBhDVAowPxEmFXP0Os-KRs1DXqIW_84wDhciExtZuNi1g_aem_jzRqN2cEVAppfwr5qedxRg">family-friendly policies</a> that favour women and youth as the Nordic countries, which also have falling birth rates, have done. They have introduced flexible parental leaves for both parents, including financial and health incentives. China, also concerned about its declining birth rate and an ageing population, now has a three-child policy as well as tax deductions, expanded childcare services, and leave policies to encourage couples to have more children. “We must work towards childbirth and childcare policies and plans that are suitable for Nepal, so that couples planning for children do not have to think twice about it because of finances or other reasons,” adds Gurung. Tamang of the International Confederation of Midwives says a gender transformative approach is needed to address the issues of the gender gap which is adding to the decline in childbirth. Husbands need to play a more important role in child-rearing. Instead of increasing fertility for the sake of it, the objective should be to assist young people to start the families they desire, at a point and time of their choice. Respect for everyone’s rights and dignity lays a foundation for a more balanced demographic trend. Lamichhane sums it up: “If fertility rates are to be sustained, it requires changes in the gender roles and behaviour, keeping the youth’s aspirations in mind.”

Nepalis are having fewer babies. Why?

Local residents of Mustang, including a sitting MP and several politicians, submitted a petition to Prime Minister KP Oli in Kathmandu this week urging the government to lift the region’s ‘restricted’ status. This is not the first time such a demand has been raised, and as infrastructure the region’s accessibility improved over the years, calls to remove the long-standing restriction have grown louder.&nbsp; Upper Mustang is no longer weeks away <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/postcards-from-kathmandu">from Kathmandu.</a> Nearly 85% of the road from Beni to Kagbeni has been blacktopped, and one can drive from Kathmandu to Lo Manthang with an overnight stop in Pokhara. Between April 2024 and April 2025, Lower Mustang received 144,745 international tourists, a near 50% increase compared to the previous year. Most of these were <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds">Indian pilgrims </a>travelling to Muktinath. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/comings-and-goings-in-mustang">Mustang</a> is also gaining popularity among Nepali visitors, with 700,000 visiting the region in 2024. A hotel operator in Kagbeni estimated that about 20% of Nepali visitors to Muktinath also travel to Korala, the trade and transit checkpoint on the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/north-of-the-border">China border</a>. That would mean that nearly 100,000 domestic tourists visit Upper Mustang annually. In stark contrast, international tourist numbers to Upper Mustang (north of Kagbeni) have remained stagnant, hovering around 4,000 visitors per year. The primary reason is the continued enforcement of the region’s restricted status. Foreign visitors must pay a steep permit fee: a minimum of $500 for 10 days, with an additional $50 per day thereafter. Tourism some entrepreneurs, politicians, and residents want these fees to be abolished so Upper Mustang can attract a broader range of international travellers. The success of Lower Mustang, where relaxed restrictions have led to a<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/boom-time-in-central-tarai"> tourism boom</a>, is often cited as proof of what lifting restrictions could achieve. Upper Mustang is not the only region in Nepal with a restricted status. Several northern areas prefixed with ‘Upper’ (Upper Manaslu, Upper Dolpo, Upper Kanchenjunga, and Upper Arun) also need similar permits and fees. Although no clear official explanation exists, these areas were primarily restricted due to historical inaccessibility, ecological and cultural fragility and security concerns. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/upper-mustang-opposes-prohibited-areas">Call to scrap Upper Mustang tourist fee</a> In the 1960s and 1970s, these remote regions served as shelters for Khampa guerrilla fighters who launched cross border ambushes on the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-last-days-of-the-khampa">Chinese military </a>across the border.&nbsp; Though the Khampa have long gone, security concerns rooted in that era seem to persist. The government in Kathmandu is seemingly unaware of the changed political and security landscape. If concerns do remain, they are not made public. One of the main reasons for maintaining the restricted designation is to limit visitor numbers. But with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-road-out-of-nepal">improved road access and services</a>, as Upper Mustang has seen, this justification no longer holds. When Upper Mustang first opened to international tourists in 1992, it had no formal lodges or hotels, and it took four to five days of trekking from Jomsom to Lo Manthang.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250716120744_4e4405cf10e6f127f90a1cd40feda0b9d8d69efd13093a2563530ca31489ba9f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250716120744_4e4405cf10e6f127f90a1cd40feda0b9d8d69efd13093a2563530ca31489ba9f" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="509" loading="lazy" alt="Lift restrictions on Upper Mustang"> <figcaption>Photo: DINESH SHRESTHA</figcaption> </figure>  Without a nechyang (a household with traditional friendship), it was difficult to find a place to stay or get a proper meal. Only a few elite households offered accommodation. Today, there are now more than 80 lodges and hotels above Kagbeni, spread across nearly every village. Several upmarket hotels now struggle to stay afloat during the off-season, relying on low-spending domestic visitors to survive. Lo Manthang, once a remote destination, is now just a few hours’ drive from Jomsom, easily reachable by lunchtime for early starters. Once the remaining road sections are blacktopped, travel time will be further reduced. Yet, the government still charges a flat $500 fee for a 10-day permit based on outdated &nbsp;assumptions from a bygone era. There has been no serious review of the permit structure to align with current realities, nor any response to local aspirations to attract more international tourists and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/peak-tourism-in-2023-9ukoi8iz">harness tourism for economic development</a>. Concerns about over tourism are valid. There is a risk that increasing visitor numbers could erode Upper Mustang’s <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/a-million-mantras-in-mustang">cultural heritage</a>, social fabric, and fragile natural environment, precisely the features that make it special. However, the region’s 33 years of tourism experience have been largely positive.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250716120744_5c7e5e05097cd0e5a1027b51c7e3db3be0bd67e0f7cbaea6d2c447b1dacafc8a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20250716120744_5c7e5e05097cd0e5a1027b51c7e3db3be0bd67e0f7cbaea6d2c447b1dacafc8a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1400" height="1050" loading="lazy" alt="Lift restrictions on Upper Mustang"> <figcaption>Photo: MUKESH POKHREL / NT ARCHIVE</figcaption> </figure>  Tourism has contributed significantly to the restoration and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-history-of-heritage?%2F">preservation of religious and historical sites</a> like the Thubchen and Jampa monasteries in Lo Manthang, the ongoing conversion of the old palace in Ghami into a premium hotel, and the rehabilitation of many monasteries and chortens.&nbsp; These efforts, supported by international donors and heritage experts, demonstrate that tourism—when well managed—can be a powerful driver of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/shrinking-tourism-s-ecological-footprint">conservation</a>. The high permit fees have been somewhat effective in limiting international visitors, but they have no influence on the growing number of domestic tourists, particularly during the Dasain and Tihar holidays. The most pressing need now is for all levels of government—federal, provincial, and local—to<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/why-invest-in-nepal"> invest in </a>managing tourist flows and maintaining tourist sites. These efforts are essential not only to enhance visitor experience but also to build long-term resilience and sustainability for the destination. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/greening-nepal-s-tourism">Greening Nepal’s tourism</a>, Hanna Wells Visitor numbers are central to any tourism development strategy that aims to balance economic, social, and environmental goals. Clinging to obsolete policies and concerns to justify Upper Mustang’s restricted status is not only unfair, it also suggests an undemocratic and discriminatory attitude toward a remote district.&nbsp; Shailendra Thakali, PhD, is from Jomsom and is a freelance consultant on protected areas, tourism, conservation, and sustainable livelihoods.