Kagbeni - where the trail to the forbidden kingdom Mustang begins
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Kagbeni - where the trail to the forbidden kingdom Mustang begins
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Panoramic photo by
Arroz Marisco
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Kagbeni - where the trail to the forbidden kingdom Mustang begins |
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Without being fleeced by the Nepalese Tourism Board, the Village of Kagbeni is the closest one could have a glimpse of the rustic life that inhabitants of the former Mustang Kingdom lead. Here the view is taken at the periphery of the village near the tourist patrol of the famed Mustang Trek.
2 guys on horses pass a caravan of donkeys high on a mountain pass heading back down to Jomsom.
High on the hill on route back to Jomsom from Muktinath, looking down over the Kali Gandaki and the v...
A step ascent in very windy conditions between Kagbeni and Muktinath. Many Indian people, including t...
A donkey train meanders along the dried up Gandakhi River, between the villages of Jomsom and Kagbeni...
Last leg of the trek back to Jomsom from Muktinath.
Sunrise on the trek back from Muktinath to Jomsom. A glorious day. One of the best on the entire 2 we...
Where those wealthy enough can fly in via chopper to the temple here in Muktinath. The helicopter is ...
The 1600m descent finally finishes off at the outskirts of the village, Muktinath. My knees were not ...
At long last - here's the pass that everyone on the trek dread - despite its sitting at 5416m, the cl...
Nepal lies between India and China and it contains Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain in the world. The Himalayas here are pretty rugged terrain.
The first civilizations here date to 600 BC in the Kathmandu valley, where the capital is now located. According to Buddhist tenets, the Buddha was born here in 563 BC, incarnating as Prince Siddhartha Gautama and leading the world to enlightenment through liberation from suffering. Many small temples and shrines like this one exist for Buddhists to stop and offer prayers.
Early support of Buddhism gradually gave way to Hinduism and today Nepal is the world's only Hindu monarchy. The kingdom of Nepal was united in 1768 by King Prithvi Narayan Shah, who fled the Moghul invasions of India. Soon after that there was a period of conflict with the British East India Company leading to a treaty recognizing the independence of Nepal -- in 1923!
After WWII Nepal was ruled by monarchy but it arrived at the 1990's split by an official ban on political parties. Intense protest by the pro-democracy movement and the Maoist guerrilla Communist movement led to free elections in 1991, only to be followed by violence between the Nepalese government and Maoist guerillas.
Since the turn of the millennium there have been several important steps taken in the peace process, including a new Constitution for Nepal and a cease fire agreement with the rebels. A compromise government was achieved whereby a Maoist was elected prime minister without his taking control of the armed forces of the country.
At the time of this writing it has been one week since the compromise government has collapsed. We offer our hopes that the citizens and government of this beautiful country will come to a peaceful agreement soon.
Text by Steve Smith.
