Pradeshani Chaudhary sits inside her mud plastered thatch house and looks out at the half-raised brick wall of her new home some distance away, dreaming about the day she and her family will move into the structure.&nbsp; The front yard is piled with bricks, iron rods, and other construction material and tell the story of how Chaudhary’s life has changed since she was a slave bonded to a landlord under western Nepal’s Kamaiya system. Chaudhary is now chair of the Bijayasal Community Homestay in the village of Bani in this district in the plains of Nepal’s southwestern corner.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240715120752_dc775a81a623c85978125eb55125ae2a1f697ef7938e6e236ae63d3134ebdb00.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240715120752_dc775a81a623c85978125eb55125ae2a1f697ef7938e6e236ae63d3134ebdb00" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1363" loading="lazy" alt="homestays by former bonded labourers"> <figcaption>Entry gate of the Bijayasal Community Homestay.</figcaption> </figure>  Pradeshani was born into a Kamaiya family and grew up working alongside her family in the farm of her landlord, planting paddy, tending to the crop and harvesting it in return for rice that was never enough to sustain the household. So the family looked for other ways to earn money to buy food.&nbsp; “We went to the forest to pick sal flowers to sell, and with that we bought rice, but we still did not have enough,” recalls Pradeshani, now 50. &nbsp; In 1996, Pradeshani married Bhagiram Chaudhary who was also from a Kamaiya family which lived on undocumented ancestral land on the banks of the Mohana River which was ravaged by floods every year. &nbsp; Bhagiram’s family then had to borrow money from their landlord, and unable to pay interest or capital he and two brothers went to India to find work to pay back the loan. Pradeshani and her father-in-law continued working as bonded labourers back home. This was when Nepal’s Maoist conflict spread to Kanchanpur, and Kamaiya families in Kanchanpur decvided to also fight their own non-violent struggle for liberation from landlords with support from the non-profit Backward Society Education (BASE), established by young activists from the Tharu community.&nbsp; Many more bonded labourers, who had been conditioned into believing that it was their fate to be enslaved, joined the movement after they became aware of their circumstances.&nbsp; Pradeshani’s father-in-law was among those who joined the movement.&nbsp; On 17 July 2000, Nepal officially eliminated the Kamaiya system, liberating over 18,000 bonded labourers. Those emancipated now needed a place to live, but they had received neither reparations nor rehabilitation. Like many others, Pradeshani’s family did not have a paisa to their name, and saw no alternative but to protest. This time, Pradeshani joined the demonstrations herself and after a year-long struggle the family got a plot of land in Bani village. “It was a time of war, and the army threatened protesters accusing us of being Maoists,” Pradeshani remembers, “So we had to be satisfied with what we were given.” A total of 558 former bonded labourers including Pradeshani and her family were resettled at the Mukta Kamaiya Basti in Bani. &nbsp;This was where Pradeshani and her husband Bhagiram arrived with their two children, with just a blanket and the clothes on their backs. They built their first mud house.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240715120748_e6a7e1cf7ebded06c834188469992b4469513b0c54f1aa3be9024a8b9d920afc.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240715120748_e6a7e1cf7ebded06c834188469992b4469513b0c54f1aa3be9024a8b9d920afc" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1363" loading="lazy" alt="homestays by former bonded labourers"> <figcaption>Bani village in Kanchanpur.</figcaption> </figure>  They now had a roof over their head, but no income. Bhagiram returned to India to work as a labourer and when he returned four years later was trained to install hand-pumps. Pradeshani trained in cultivating watermelons, cucumbers and vegetables by the river. &nbsp; But the 2007 flood washed away the farm. “It took everything from us, and the sand made the land unsuitable for cultivation, we were back to where we started,” Pradeshani recalls. In 2011, the Janahit Mahakali Community Forest launched a homestay program and &nbsp;Pradeshani together with five other former bonded labourers enrolled. They were ineligible for a bank loan because they did not have land titles for collateral, but managed to borrow money from a microfinance.&nbsp; Initially unaware of how to run such a business, they had to navigate operational and bureaucratic hurdles. Processes and the interest on the loan was adding up. But today, the homestay is doing well, and the partners have paid off their loan. They make a net profit of Rs700,000 a year.&nbsp; "I have never been happier,” says Pradeshani. “In the peak season, I earn more than my husband does.” Pradeshani says the work required to operate their homestay is the skill they know best, and it has also allowed mothers to look after their children as they work. “I have not once regretted opening the homestay,” adds Pradeshani. “It has brought many positive changes to my life.”

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Opening their home to others

Nepal had just welcomed an all time high 1.2 million visitors in 2019 and was aiming to bring 2 million tourists the following year. Come March 2020 and everything ground to a halt. Thousands of Nepalis lost incomes, and faced an uncertain future. While foreign tourists have returned to Nepal after three years, tourism entrepreneurs now must consider how best to safeguard the sector from future crises. Covid-19 wasn’t the last of the pandemics, and now there are more conflicts and disasters. One solution is a shift to a sustainable and inclusive model through community-based homestay tourism, which is already spreading across Nepal.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230701050728_22ed6aac00eae7f5a4d4084ee827df1ce74afc6ce7be68c8305a6069cd6c77ad.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20230701050728_22ed6aac00eae7f5a4d4084ee827df1ce74afc6ce7be68c8305a6069cd6c77ad" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="Homestays in Butwal Nepal"> <figcaption>The city of Butwal seen from a hillside, a short hike from a new homestay.</figcaption> </figure>  Homestays in Nepal allow visitors to pay for living in family homes rather than in guest houses or hotels, and to eat whatever the family eats, rather than ordering off a standardised menu. But there is significant diversity in the types of homestays available, ranging from simple rooms in traditional village homes to multi-room outbuildings with attached bathrooms and wifi. Homestays can be privately run by individual families or belong to a community homestay program, in which neighbours form a governing committee and agree to rotate hosting duties between households and contribute a share of profits to local development funds. Community homestays started to proliferate just a decade ago with support from government bodies and travel enterprises such as the <a href="https://www.communityhomestay.com/">Community Homestay Network</a>. According to Krishna Chaudhary of the Homestay Federation of Nepal, as of summer 2022 there were around 6,500 registered homestays across 1,500 villages in the country. Saroj Tamang opened his homestay in Gre village of Rasuwa district shortly before the first Covid lockdown, and believes many tourists prefer staying in village homes over large guest houses so that they can experience local culture. “It’s more fun for them to stay with families, here the tourists can live how our grandfathers lived,” says Tamang who had no guests at all during the pandemic but is optimistic for the future of homestays and the benefits to his village. “Development will come with the tourists. The town will be clean, we will share the benefits, and income would stay here in Gre.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230701050720_896404d078b748c24ea30a57f74fd8a51b50ce7005317ae9879e2a2fbb0bf100.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20230701050720_896404d078b748c24ea30a57f74fd8a51b50ce7005317ae9879e2a2fbb0bf100" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="Homestays in Rasuwa Nepal"> <figcaption>The view from a homestay in Gre, overlooking the Trishuli valley with Langtang Himal in the distance.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230701050720_e7f24c567dfdaa8339fc72d2b87fb98e045f9ea726ab53575a9773992a4cec12.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20230701050720_e7f24c567dfdaa8339fc72d2b87fb98e045f9ea726ab53575a9773992a4cec12" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="Homestays in Rasuwa Nepal"> <figcaption>The dining area of Pema Homestay in Gre village, Rasuwa, featuring prayer flags and traditional Tamang window carvings.</figcaption> </figure>  Profit-sharing and collective investment by homestay operators now allow development of local tourism infrastructure such as community halls for cultural performances, signposts, and footpaths. The homestay business is by definition integrated into home and family life, so homestays have lower operating costs than hotels and are thus more resilient to economic shocks. The economic impact of the lockdown may therefore not have been felt as harshly for village homestays as they were for hotels. “In the homestay sector, we own our houses and land, and it’s a family business, 99% of homestay job holders are family members,” says Krishna Chaudhary, the Homestay Federation official who is also the chair of Gabhar Valley Community Homestay in Banke district. “But many hotels must pay rent for their land and buildings, and they have to hire staff and pay them.” Chaudhary is expanding his homestay and sees some silver linings in the tourism shutdown: “Here we can grow our own vegetables, we have land and jungle. During the lockdown we could rest with our families and do renovations to create more opportunity going forward.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230701050720_c508f1fd792e470700b3d340ef037c2772a5edffe6cd8a904c0708589141493a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20230701050720_c508f1fd792e470700b3d340ef037c2772a5edffe6cd8a904c0708589141493a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="Homestay in Bardia Nepal"> <figcaption>A sign marks the entrance to a homestay in Dalla village in Bardia.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230701050720_a41ffe77923e2be769b43de459e95fc2d63dd8e44c175b69eb753ebab01600ea.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20230701050720_a41ffe77923e2be769b43de459e95fc2d63dd8e44c175b69eb753ebab01600ea" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="Homestay in Bardia Nepal"> <figcaption>A courtyard at Gabhar Valley homestay, showcasing the traditional art and architecture of the Tharu culture.</figcaption> </figure>  Additionally, homestay tourism can provide positive spillover effects to the broader community beyond homestay operators. Salik Ram Chaudhary, who has operated a homestay in Dalla village in Bardia district for 11 years, says, “Other households in Dalla sell chicken and eggs to the homestays, and vegetable farmers sell food to us too. So other local people also benefit.” The homestay program in Dalla has also attracted outside funding to build a community hall, and tourism proceeds are used to finance conservation efforts in the village’s community forest, which is part of an important wildlife corridor on the Bardia National Park.&nbsp; “There’s a good relationship between tourism and the environment,” he says. “Conservation has improved with homestays." Husband and wife Dhanishwar and Janaki Bashyal have run their homestay in Tansen of Palpa district for 12 years. Their homestay was initially a private family business, but five years ago the Bashyals and a few other homestay operators in Tansen joined hands to form a community homestay group with government support. In addition, the homestay committee in Tansen collaborates in knowledge sharing and in hosting joint cultural programs for tourists which is educational even to the locals. Says Bashyal: “Young people in Tansen also see the traditional culture and dress… because of the homestays, our culture is preserved.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230701050728_eb90f96870bc6f48f123254fc544baee25efc9c793bbe354b768ccc8963338f2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20230701050728_eb90f96870bc6f48f123254fc544baee25efc9c793bbe354b768ccc8963338f2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1230" loading="lazy" alt="Homestay in Palpa Nepal"> <figcaption>The view from a homestay in Tansen, Palpa.</figcaption> </figure>  There are challenges. Many foreign tourists are unaware of community homestays unless they hire a homestay-focused travel agency while domestic tourists view homestays as a downgrade to hotels. Additionally, inequality within communities can cause tension, as some homestay operators are able to afford larger investments in guest rooms and facilities, and thus end up with a greater share of revenue than others. Promotion and advertising, which many homestay operators see as a priority for post-pandemic growth, can be costly and difficult, especially for locations not on traditional tourism circuits. In established tourism hubs such as Ghandruk in Kaski district in the Annapurna Conservation Area, homestays can struggle to find a foothold in a highly competitive tourism environment. “Tourists see the big hotels and stay there, they ignore the homestays,” says one operator.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230701050716_cdc8fbd772e7bdc7d5dd62bf5c6acac86eb0334ff997fca2fd88c215dc4e7b1c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20230701050716_cdc8fbd772e7bdc7d5dd62bf5c6acac86eb0334ff997fca2fd88c215dc4e7b1c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="Homestay in Ghandruk Nepal"> <figcaption>A view of the old town of Ghandrukin Kaski district. The town’s distinctive Gurung architecture is being replaced by concrete hotels in much of the village.</figcaption> </figure>  In contrast to the collaborative spirit often seen in smaller village homestay groups, the homestay operator in Ghandruk felt that the members of the homestay committee there did not support each other because they were competing among themselves for a limited customer base, especially in the aftermath of the lockdown. Juma, a homestay operator in Thini village near Jomsom in Lower Mustang, also noted a rise in competition. “The guest houses compete with the homestays here. The guest houses have attached bathrooms and more facilities. Here we have simple, local food. But homestays offer cultural programs and are cheaper.” The post-pandemic boom in domestic travel filled Thini’s homestays to capacity in peak tourism months, and Juma was planning to recruit neighbours into the program. “In the high season we have to turn back tourists because all the homestays are full,” she adds. “We need more houses to join.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230701050728_a1600accf79ec74442a3a6b0be356c42a79e2e624373427e20152b731124f0ee.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20230701050728_a1600accf79ec74442a3a6b0be356c42a79e2e624373427e20152b731124f0ee" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="Homestay in Mustang Nepal"> <figcaption>A view of Thini village in lower Mustang, with agricultural fields and the Jomsom airport below.</figcaption> </figure>  Seeing the success of homestays in other parts of Nepal, tourism entrepreneur Rabin Karki is seeking to create a community-based homestay tourism program in his hometown of Butwal. “Right now this neighbourhood is only a residential area, it’s not a source of income for anyone,” says Karki. “But homestays could make it a business area as well.” Karki has seen enthusiasm from his fellow young people in Butwal for developing a community-centric tourism industry in the city, which is a transit hub in southern Nepal with highway links to popular tourist sites like Lumbini, Chitwan and Pokhara. Homestay operators, especially in rural areas, still must contend with the economic realities that posed difficulties even before the pandemic. In Narchyang village in Myagdi, some residents who had supplemented their income by operating homestays have moved away for better opportunities. “Before the pandemic, 20 people were on the homestay committee here,” says Hukum Pun, a homestay owner in Narchyang. “But now there are only four or five homestays. It was destroyed by corona. Some people moved abroad for work, some left the village for the city, some have gotten too old.” Narchyang is close to Tatopani, an established stop along the Annapurna Circuit and the site of many large hotels. This meant that the lockdown’s effects were less severe in Narchyang than in Tatopani. “There were no tourists here, but we are not reliant on tourism. So here it wasn’t hard. We grew vegetables…there is a lot of agriculture here. In Tatopani there is only tourism,” he explains.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230701050728_f3606186efd2dcd7870c18b17ba4a376db85011c10da2c376fc7617bd2d9cc8a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20230701050728_f3606186efd2dcd7870c18b17ba4a376db85011c10da2c376fc7617bd2d9cc8a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="2000" loading="lazy" alt="Homestays in Nepal"> <figcaption>A waterfall above terraced fields, seen from a homestay in Narchyang village.</figcaption> </figure>  Nepal recorded 600,000 arrivals in 2022 and Nepal Tourism Board has a goal of 1 million in 2023. The tourism landscape has changed drastically post-pandemic and in the age of the climate crisis. Now is the time to build a more resilient tourism industry that shares benefits at the community level. Promoting and supporting homestay tourism may provide one path forward.&nbsp; Jack Shangraw is a Fulbright scholar documenting the impacts of the pandemic lockdown on community-level tourism in Nepal.

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Home away from home in Nepal

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

Turkish Basketball

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

The Last Days of the Khampa

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

Turkish to Seville

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

homestay-tourism

Opening their home to others

Home away from home in Nepal

Turkish Basketball

The Last Days of the Khampa

Turkish to Seville

Digital protection for Nepal’s art