<figure><img width="1500" height="1125" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121156/636ce7b69c7e80680e0967dajpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption></figure>The Nepal Himalaya has seen a spurt in expeditions this spring, largely because of the backlog of the past years, and possibly because of the global publicity generated by the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nirmal-purja-on-his-viral-everest-photo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">‘traffic jam’ photographs of 2019</a>.  Climbing on Everest, for instance, was affected in 2014 and 2015 due to the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2014/04/26/the-winter-of-our-spring/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Icefall avalanche</a> and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2015/04/25/massive-earthquake-rattles-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">earthquakes</a>,  2016 was slow because of the lingering impact of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2015/09/25/unofficial-blockade/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the blockade</a>. And 2020 was a wipeout because of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/everest-trek-closed-open-closed-open-again/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pandemic</a>.There are a record-breaking <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/mt-everest-city/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">42 expeditions with nearly 400 foreign climbers on Everest</a> this spring. But while Everest gets all the attention, there have also been 44 climbers on four expeditions on the north face of Annapurna I, and many of them are doing it in tandem with Dhaulagiri which has five expeditions with 35 members.Many of them started early in the season on <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/annapurna-base-camp,3697" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Annapurna</a> and have now moved on to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-clouds-are-lifting-below-dhaulagiri/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dhaulagiri</a> to climb it before the monsoon arrives. There has also been the same siege-style commercial climbing of the two eight-thousanders that is more reminiscent of Everest, with guides moving up first to fix ropes and taking clients up the mountain. <img width="933" height="683" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121156/636ce7b99c7e80680e0967dbjpeg.jpg" alt="">In fact, there were so many relatively inexperienced climbers this year on Annapurna that even easier sections had to be fixed, which meant that the lead team ran out of rope high on the mountain. The expedition then radioed for a helicopter that dropped rope, oxygen, food and other supplies at nearly 7,000m on the north face of Annapurna. A helicopter also lifted a Taiwanese climber suffering frost-bite from Camp III to Base Camp.This use of helicopters has led to more criticism about the over-commercialisation of Himalayan mountaineering, and some climbing bloggers have contrasted it with the pure pioneering adventure of the French expedition of 1950 on Annapurna. But it was also this that allowed 68 people to summit the 8,091m peak by 16 April without a single fatality—all the more remarkable because Annapurna has the highest ratio (32%) of deaths on any mountain in the Himalaya. Of the 68 who got to the top this season, 14 were women, and among them six were Nepali.It helps that Dhaulagiri is just across the Kali Gandaki Valley and so close to Annapurna that climbers just moved across for the second climb. Most Annapurna summiteers are also on Dhaulagiri, where fresh snow had delayed climbing till early this week.While most, including 82-year-old Carlos Soria and the six Nepali women, are on the easier north ridge route, there are some veterans attempting the never-climbed northwest spur of Dhaulagiri which at 8,167m is the world’s seventh-highest mountain. Many of the climbers on the northwest ridge have tried to get to the top on this route several times in the past.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-other-abc-trek/">The Other ABC Trek</a>, Bimal Kadel

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Annapurna Dhaulagiri double-take

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be1919c7e80680e083e57jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1530" height="972"/><figcaption>Despite the pandemic, mountaineers have flocked to Mt Ama Dablam, 6,812m in the Nepal Himalaya this autumn. Photo: Maik Psotta / Wikimedia</figcaption></figure>It has been described as the most beautiful mountain in the world, its silhouette is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invesco#/media/File:Invesco.svg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invesco%23/media/File:Invesco.svg&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605765084378000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGDtnGyanYz3MKCBR7n9_EjKi3fxQ">the logo</a> of a global insurance company, and the 6,812m peak was once described by Edmund Hillary as being “unclimbable”.Trekkers and mountaineers on their walk up to Mt Everest Base Camp have for decades marvelled at the chiselled sculpture that dominates the trail. Many have vowed to <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18972#.X7Symi8RoWo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D18972%23.X7Symi8RoWo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605765084378000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH_T9pvxloFyTaAm6lvNMkEclTRmw">return to climb it </a>one day.One of them was <a href="https://www.instagram.com/moealthani/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.instagram.com/moealthani/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605765084378000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEDAnbwlOGicbgDDBEoIix17n7ZEw">Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Thani </a>of the Qatar royal family who was among dozens who climbed the mountain last week during the peak of the pandemic in Nepal.Sheikh ‘Moe’ Al Thani said in an interview that he had been obsessed with climbing Ama Dablam ever since he was trekking in the area ten years ago, and after climbing Mt Everest in 2013.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be1949c7e80680e083e58jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1296" height="1244"><figcaption>Qatari Prince ‘Moe’ Al Thani on the summit of Ama Dablam on 11 November. Photo: @moealthani</figcaption></figure>The very next day, on 12 November, not only did eight more climbers make it to the top, but four of them were Nepali siblings who run Seven Summit Treks that handled the expedition.Mingma Sherpa, Dawa Sherpa, Tashi Lakpa Sherpa and Pasang Sherpa are experienced climbers, and Mingma and Chhang Dawa have climbed all 14 eight-thousand metre peaks in the world.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be1979c7e80680e083e59jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1482" height="1104"><figcaption>Four Sherpa brothers who were among eight climbers who summitted Ama Dablam on 12 November. Photo: Seven Summit Treks</figcaption></figure>The Sheikh was part of a multinational team led by <a href="https://madisonmountaineering.com/tag/ama-dablam/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://madisonmountaineering.com/tag/ama-dablam/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605765084378000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEV7WxawknVxwVArzaNpRarL5luPA">Madison Mountaineering</a> that put all 13 climbing members on the summit including seven Nepali, four American, and a Canadian mountaineer.Besides the sheer grandeur of the peak is its technical challenge with a knife-like ridge and a perpendicular face leading to the top. Added to that are the dangers of avalanches and rockfalls that have killed dozens of climbers.Since climbing first began in the region in the 1950s, 32 people have been killed on Ama Dablam, mostly in falls and avalanches, and one Russian died three years ago while jumping off from near the top in a wingsuit.Lead guide of the Qatari Prince’s team, Garrett Madison, first tried to climb the mountain in 2003, but had to turn back due to technical difficulties on the southwest ridge, but returned to summit twice in 2012 and 2014.Madison wrote in a <a href="https://madisonmountaineering.com/tag/ama-dablam/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://madisonmountaineering.com/tag/ama-dablam/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605765084378000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEV7WxawknVxwVArzaNpRarL5luPA">blog post</a> last week: “We had a beautiful clear, perfect day up on the summit … it has been a wonderful, successful and safe expedition here in Nepal, we are very happy we got to come and experience the wonderful people with warm hearts.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be19a9c7e80680e083e5ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1058" height="1330"><figcaption>Climbers make their way up from Camp III below the hanging serac near the summit of Ama Dablam on 11 November. Photo: Madison Mountaineering</figcaption></figure>What is surprising this year is that these climbs of Ama Dablam have happened during the middle of a pandemic, and Nepal has been closed for trekking and mountaineering since March until foreign teams were finally allowed back in mid-September.Even before that, a Bahraini military team got special permission to climb Mt Manaslu, and an all-Nepali expedition climbed Baruntse. And during the pandemic in spring, the Chinese climbed Mt Everest and Cho Oyu from the north. Besides the expeditions in Ama Dablam this autumn, the only others were a Nepali team on Gyalzen Peak and two trekking teams on Himlung.“Ama Dablam is a very attractive and challenging mountain, everyone who has been on the Everest trail dreams one day of climbing it,” says the president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association Ang Tshering Sherpa, adding that while most expeditions go for Nepal’s 8,000m peaks in spring, they prefer to climb Ama Dablam in the autumn.In fact, last November <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/kuwait-flag-on-ama-dablam-to-be-investigated/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/kuwait-flag-on-ama-dablam-to-be-investigated/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605765084378000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGF4-6roQZQaGiaUm6WDCQA-RcXyQ">a Kuwaiti expedition</a> got into trouble with the authorities for unfurling a giant flag of the country from the summit and draping over the west face of the mountain. It was visible to the naked eye from Khumjung, which is 3,000m below and 12km away. The Kuwaitis said they were just trying to break a record, and did not know a permission was required.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be19d9c7e80680e083e5bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1710" height="1028"><figcaption>Last November, a Kuwait expedition got into trouble for unfurling a huge flag of the country from the summit of Ama Dablam that was visible from Khumjung. Photo: Manjushree Thapa</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.alanarnette.com/climbs/amadablam.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.alanarnette.com/climbs/amadablam.php&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605765084378000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHUYbOs0jME88L0xoyy2VUGSuhJaw">Alan Arnette</a>, a mountaineer and blogger climbed Ama Dablam in 2000, and describes the allure: “Ama Dablam is a fantastic climb by any definition. In many ways it is more satisfying than the 8000m climbs with the rock, ice and snow sections. But it is a very dangerous climb today with the instability of the Dablam.”Ama Dablam means ‘Mother’s Pendant’ in Sherpa because its summit makes the mountain look like a mother hugging her young, and the ‘dablam’ is the massive hanging serac near the summit which looks like a holy locket.Mountaineers try to avoid climbing and camping below this serac, but despite that some have been killed by chunks breaking off. In 2006, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12870#.X7Sx-C8RoWo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D12870%23.X7Sx-C8RoWo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605765084378000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEOjeZxus4fD2qJ-tgnP9B_VwWz2w">a piece of the hanging ice fell and killed six climbers</a> in Camp III at the point where the southwest ridge meets the top of the face. Three more were killed below the serac in 2014. Nepali climber <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2016/11/29/thundu-sherpa-46/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2016/11/29/thundu-sherpa-46/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605765084378000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE98ajT4jiixxVjftRKnpYj6a4DgQ">Thundu Sherpa was killed</a> when an earthquake in 2016 triggered an avalanche on the face.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be1a09c7e80680e083e5cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1544" height="1154"><figcaption>Ang Phurba Sherpa on the spacious summit of Ama Dablam on 11 November, with Mt Everest in the background. Photo: @aang_phurba_mountaineer</figcaption></figure>This year, despite the pandemic and the dangers of climbing via the traditional southwest ridge route, mountaineers could not resist the temptation of climbing Ama Dablam. What helped was the relative ease of organising an expedition at short notice compared to the complicated logistics on big 8,000m peaks in Nepal.Those who made it were rewarded with mountains devoid of other climbers, and a spell of good weather that has lasted more than two months now.Nepal’s Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai himself helicoptered to Ama Dablam Base Camp on Monday just as another 12-member expedition arrived to climb Ama Dablam. That team is led by Himalayan Guides and British climber Kenton Cool who has sumitted Mt Everest 14 times.“We were glad to run into Kenton Cool and other mountaineers at Ama Dablam Base Camp, and also happy that Nepal’s climbing sector that has been badly hit by the pandemic, is getting back to normal,” Bhattarai said.Despite the minister’s remark, it is clear that Nepal’s trekking and mountaineering has suffered from the Covid-19 crisis. The country usually makes $20 million in royalty and other fees from climbing, and this year the count is only $3.3 million.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be1a39c7e80680e083e5djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1374" height="1030"><figcaption>Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai at Ama Dablam base camp on Monday to greet another expedition climbing the mountain. Photo: Yogesh Bhattarai Facebook</figcaption></figure>Besides this, many Nepali guides, porters, trekking companies, hotels, airlines and helicopter companies have lost business. Last autumn there were 210 climbing expeditions in the Nepal Himalaya, but this season there are only seven.Minister Bhattarai also hosted the Qatari team in Kathmandu last week after their climb, during which Prince Al Thani said: “I have always been enchanted by Ama Dablam, and I have been struck by the scenic beauty of Nepal and the hospitality of its people. I promise to return very often."

What is it about Ama Dablam?

<figure><img width="1280" height="960" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915114/636bb3bd9c7e80680e07bb5djpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>The summit of Baruntse (7,129m) in eastern Nepal. </figcaption></figure>In what climbers say is an attempt to send a positive message to the world that Nepal’s mountains are a safe destination, a seven member all-Nepali expedition is all set to become the first to climb a Himalayan peak this season.Even while 48 of Nepal’s 77 districts are under strict lockdown, and with the novel coronavirus surging in Kathmandu Valley and the country, the Nepal Tourism Recovery Expedition 2020 is attempting to climb Mt Baruntse (7,129m) this autumn season.Said expedition leader Dawa Steven Sherpa: “We felt that we Sherpas had to do something to send a positive message about Nepal to the world. The mountains are here, we are here. So why not climb, since that is what we do.”Although not an eight-thousander, Baruntse is regarded as a difficult mountain because of its steep and icy south face. It was first climbed in 1954 by two New Zealanders of an expedition led by Edmund Hillary, a year after he climbed Mt Everest with Tenzing Norgay.The expedition will be flying to Khumjung and accclimatising on Mera Peak before trekking up the Hongu River to base camp.  All trekking and mountaineering in Nepal has been closed since 24 March, and even expeditions that were already starting to climb Mt Everest and other Himalayan peaks in spring 2020 were ordered off the mountains.The Ministry of Tourism has also allowed a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-allows-royal-himalayan-expedition/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-allows-royal-himalayan-expedition/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599653898216000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHLKDOKdpBP5kp0yt_ewSM9fKWMFA">18-member Bahrain military expedition</a> from the country’s Royal Guard commanded by Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa to climb Mt Manaslu (8,163m), the world’s eighth highest mountain. The expedition includes three Britons and will arrive on a charter flight in Kathmandu on 15 September, but it has not been issued a climbing permit for Mt Manalsu or the acclimatisation peak, Mt Lobuje.Dawa Steven Sherpa is a climate activist, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/ted-atkins-killed-in-climb/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/ted-atkins-killed-in-climb/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599653898216000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFDJsLfeceRk1YBN0fj4HP9j19UFw">tourism entrepreneur</a> and a mountaineer, and has climbed <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16260#.X1d0L9IzaUk" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D16260%23.X1d0L9IzaUk&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599653898216000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHXxb6GKygniIz0BnO2ivZrOevbXQ">Mt Everest three times</a>, as well as Dhaulagiri, Manaslu, Kangchenjunga and Cho Oyu. He also runs an annual Eco <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18333" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D18333&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599653898216000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEYlV3XDHh74yv3nHrzHOTbe0aSQw">Everest cleanup expedition</a> after each spring climbing season since 2008, and has removed 21,500kg of trash from the world's highest mountain in that time. He trekked across Nepal for three months on a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-climate-smart-great-himalayan-trek/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-climate-smart-great-himalayan-trek/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599653898216000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH7ACV1shMZqoVibIre6EzkqaFPVw">Climate Smart Great Himalaya Trail expedition</a>.“This is not a commercial expedition and all of us are paying our own way, we hope to show that despite Covid-19 Nepal’s mountains are a safe and pristine destination, and we are waiting to welcome back visitors to our country,” says Sherpa. The only non-Sherpa in the expedition is photographer and conservationist Samir Jung Thapa who has also climbed Mt Everest and Manaslu with Dawa Steven, and accompanied him on the Great Himalaya Trail. <figure><img width="962" height="1280" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915114/636bb3c09c7e80680e07bb5ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Dawa Steven Sherpa on the West Col of Baruntse last year during another expedition.</figcaption></figure>The Ministry of Tourism issued the climbing permit for the expedition on 4 September, the first such after the Covid-19 lockdown that has now lasted nearly six months. On Tuesday, Nepal recorded 902 new cases, taking the total testing positive to 48,138. There were six deaths in the last 24 hours, with 306 total fatalities. <figure><img width="1280" height="782" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915114/636bb3c29c7e80680e07bb5fjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>The Nepal Tourism Recovery Expedition 2020 receiving its climbing permit at the Ministry of Tourism on 4 September.</figcaption></figure>Kathmandu Valley saw 396 cases on Tuesday, but for the past four days the number of those recovered has been higher than new infections in Nepal. Solu Khumbu district has seen 16 cases with all of those infected having recovered.    “We are still suffering from the pandemic, but we have to send the message that we have to come out of this crisis, this permit for Baruntse is the beginning of that process,” said Mira Acharya, the head of the Mountaineering Section of the Department of Tourism. The expedition has been waiting all packed up and ready to go in Kathmandu since Saturday, but there have been no flights to Lukla because of poor visibility. The climbers hope to reach the summit of Baruntse by 1 week of October. Said Dawa Steven Sherpa: “With PCR testing, quarantine and isolation trekking and mountaineering can be made safe, and this expedition is designed in such a way as to show the world that it is possible to have a safe holiday.”

Nepali expedition to climb Baruntse

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

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

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