“The tea caravans would come from the north and they would come in Spring and even winter. The Khampas who accompanied the caravans could frighten and impress us. They were unpredictable and without fear. Their journeys made them indestructible”.
Words during an interview near the Bhutan-Tibet border with an elder who served our team a variation of butter tea. He was speaking of the Khampa (‘people of the east’ of the Tibetan lands) who inspired this reverence and fear throughout their long journeys.
This variation of butter tea being served while chatting in a rumbling wind was ‘enhanced’ with the addition of rancid goat milk, which was used instead of yak milk.. The resultant tea wasn’t pleasant. “Watch out for this one”, fellow journeyer Yeshi told me of the offending tea in warning. It was an impossible beverage to enjoy but the moments with this ancient gem were memorable because they reminded of the importance of people of the leaf, who ushered the stimulant green commodity to all points of the compass along the Tea Horse Road.
Another of the amazingly lucid witnesses to days when the Tea Horse Road enjoyed activity.
About JeffFuchs
Having lived for a decade in Yunnan, Fuchs’ work has centred on indigenous mountain cultures, oral histories along with an obsessive interest in tea.
Fuchs is the author of 'The Ancient Tea Horse Road' (Viking-Penguin) and he was the subject of 'The Tea Explorer' documentary based on his exploration of the Tea Horse Road.
His photos and stories have appeared on three continents in publications such as Kyoto Journal, TRVL, and Outpost Magazine, as well as The Spanish Expedition Society, The Earth, Silkroad Foundation, The China Post Newspaper, The Toronto Star, The South China Morning Post, and UNESCO amongst others. Various pieces of his work are part of private collections in Europe, North America, and Asia. Fuchs served as Asian Editor at Large for five years at award-winning Outpost magazine.
Jeff has worked with schools and universities, giving talks on both the importance of oral traditions, tea and mountain cultures.
His recently released book ‘The Ancient Tea Horse Road’ (Penguin-Viking Publishers) details his 8-month groundbreaking journey traveling and chronicling one of the world’s great trade routes, The Tea Horse Road. Fuchs is the first westerner to have completed the entire route stretching almost six thousand kilometers through the Himalayas a dozen cultures.
Fuchs partnered with Wild China to create a journey along the Tea Horse Road which National Geographic Traveler called one of the "50 Trips of a Lifetime".
He is co-founder of Akahiao Nature Institute on the island of Hawai'i along with his wife, Julie Rogers.
Now there’s a man who’s soulful eyes remember the fright of the tea caravans. Wonderful portrait . . .
Many thanks Terri…those wonderful witnesses, like so much along the Tea Horse Road, are fading.
Jef