Tag Archives: Trade Route
Tea Horse Road Chronicles – There Are No Straight Lines Through the Mountains
Not heeding the warnings of Sonam Gelek; I should have known better at this stage of our journey than to plunge onwards without his counsel…but onwards I plunged. Consistently accurate and intuitive, Sonam had warned against our team traversing a … Continue reading
Mustang and its Eastern Route – Spring 2019 – Part 1 The Khampa Route
Trekking along the Khampa Route, along the eastern flank of Mustang, Nepal Continue reading
Mustang Spaces 1 – The Khampa Route
Departing along the Khampa route along the eastern flank of Mustang. Continue reading
Mustang, Leaves, and Kunga
Ladakh expedition plans changed last minute to Mustang. One stunning Himalayan world for another…and one historically linked to another in days of trade. We will trudge by foot north to Lo Manthang from just north of Jomson providing the flights … Continue reading
Himalayan Pashmina – The Journeys That Wool Took
Along with salt, resin, and of course that wonderful stimulant fuel, tea, Pashmina was another of the commodities that allowed nomads and remote communities some autonomy. Continue reading
Mustang – Part 2 – Route of Khampas
“A land of little and a route of much” is how I often view this present journey and it is how I’ve viewed many of Himalayan trade routes I’ve travelled. Our present route here in Mustang has taken us past an … Continue reading
Tea Horse Road – The Faces
Beyond simply the daunting snow passes, eccentric bandits, and disorientation and dehydration abilities of the Tea Horse Road, there is the underside which kept business, business. Yeshi worked for one of the great family run companies, the Pomda-tsang, which ushered … Continue reading
The ‘Tea’ of the Tea Horse Road
Much of the Tea Horse Road’s great appeal is the sheer expanse of geography taken in – some estimate (as we did when our team traveled it) that five thousand grand kilometres taking in rafts of culture, language, diet, altitude … Continue reading
The Fight and the Turn Right – Amne Machin
Funnelling into us, the winds arrive coming straight down from the mountains. There is snow too, mere bits of it at first, and the body instinctively draws comfort. Heat in the mountains for me is a hobgoblin that drains and saps me, creating a seething monster. The cold lights up the entire system giving the mind and body new energy and renewed hope. Amne Machin is just beyond. Continue reading