Mustang. A Trek to the Kingdom of Lo

My Scholarship entry - A 'place' I have visited

dentedileone — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 13:32:34 GMT

This is Christchurch, New Zealand: the place I live in, since end of July. We came here to work at the reconstruction of the city. I was surprised not at the signs of destruction, but at the creativity and ingenuity of the inhabitants.

These images belong to a reportage on of how people have been creatively reacting to the huge disaster that was the earthquake. I didn't want to go around with a big camera as a tourist among the ruins, so I used my cell phone.

********
It would be a honor for me to be chosen for the scholarship, because I am really willing to learn the craft on a field assignment. I've always been passionate about images, but never dared taking it as a profession.

Photos: My Photo scholarship 2011 entry

dentedileone — Tue, 8 Nov 2011 10:44:00 GMT

I think I should be chosen for this scholarship because I like to tell stories, possibly from an unusual angle, using words as well as images: I feel I could become so much a better photographer with a mentor, someone who could help me making the most of my intuitions, coaching me to focus better. Eventually, I'd like to become a professional story-teller, sharing beauty and uplifting images and stories. Since I was a teen I was passionate about photography- only, we had little money for a camera to go out, shoot and develop film, so with my best friend we used to spend afternoons at a great prints shop in town, just to look at the prints, posters of paintings and beautiful photographs alike. Doisneau was one of our favorites. Also Elliott Erwitt, with his witty shots. The shop eventually went out of business, we weren't good customers - but we dreamed wild, drinking beauty as if it was water. With money from my first job I bought a used reflex, 50mm lenses, and began playing with it. I spent nights developing and printing B/W rolls with friends. Made millions mistakes. These shots of Bonifacio are made with the same old Fujica on B/W film. Despite some light filtering into the camera, I love the sense of quiet they convey. I'd love to go back to that learning mood also with my digital camera: I sometimes feel that my digital shots lack of something compared to my first "good shots" on film, depth maybe. I'm also very eager to learn how to shoot better in the wilderness, at wild life in particular: for me it would be so unique to learn on the field. I would love to give back to the community of photographers transmitting my passion and excitement, sharing my learning experience with the trip journal, on blogs and video.

... and we're on the Trekking review!

dentedileone — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 20:43:00 GMT

Here's the article from Michela on the issue 243 of "Trekking and outdoor" :)))))

In Chitwan National Park

dentedileone — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 16:51:00 GMT

Here we are, moved south close to the Indian border, at the National park in Chitwan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitwan_National_Park

Today we rode elephants through the jungle, spotting a rhino breastfeeding, birds and another deer... in the afternoon, canoeing down the river where Filippo hopes to fish an alligator for dinner :)

Down along the Annapurna trek. Jagat, finally.

dentedileone — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 22:47:00 GMT

Updates, updates!

After the famous Thorong La (pass) at 5400 something, we went down along the Annapurna trek route. Landscape is very different from desertical Mustang, and also: here there's so many more people. We were not used anymore :D

Pisang peak did not let us up, unfortunately. We waited one day, some of us in the village while some went up at the base camp, just to descend the following day. Bad weather, no good conditions. So here we are, walking down! The landscape is beautiful.

We're planning to spend the 2 spare days at the National Park in Chitwan. HOT. And animals, I mean: wild animals, not us! Hopefully it'll be fun...

Lo Manthang.

dentedileone — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 20:53:00 GMT

While I struggle with a very slow connection to upload some pics into this journal, Michela has set her mind to buy one of the traditional, beautiful dresses from here. She looks beautiful in it, so let's buy it!

Lo Manthang is the capital of the Kingdom of Lo, and an important center for art and religion. There are three temples, one more ancient than the other. All have important internal decorations, that are being restored with the help of the Hymalaian foundation. The restorer is an italian from Rome, Luigi Fieni, and when we mention that we know him everyone smiles.

I missed a bumpy trip to the caves some miles north of here, as I was a bit sick I did not join. We eventually also decided that it was too long to reach the border with China, and too windy (yes here is always windy). So we skipped that part.

But we did not skip the visit to His Majesty the King of Mustang. He lives in the only 3 stories building in town, just in front of the main square. His steps were high and left us a bit breathless! We offered a ritual white scarf, that he accepted and put around our necks. And then we drank together orange juice, and talk a bit. He's a nice old man of 78, that according to his attache' starts not to remember everything.Even kings get old, apparently...

Photos: Kathmandu. Where the fun begins

dentedileone — Wed, 6 Oct 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Mustang, finally!

dentedileone — Wed, 6 Oct 2010 11:59:00 GMT

...so we're entering officially the Upper Mustang area, it was time! We are in Kaghbeni, nice little village were we arrived today, and from tomorrow when we will trek up along the Kali Gandaki river valley.

Kathmandu was hot and chaos, lots of tekkers lots of people lot of traffic. Our trip by minibus to Pokhara took some 10 hours to cover 250 km, not too bad! This morning we flew in to Jomsom, on a plane so small that we were all sitting with the pilot, almost. Super cool landing on a tiny tiny tiny strip of tarmac in the middle of the mountains, pilots must be excellent to survive :)

By the way, Kagbeny is really pretty. The houses are tiny and look lovely, and the red brick monastery is really an impressive one. It shelters masks, paintings, and a sacred book that dates back 600 years, so it is somehing. As for the team, we're doing excellent. Michela's "happiness-machine" (as I call her micro-pump for insuline) so far works wonders, and that's good. Filippo and Bjorn are playing the fools as always, while Madeleine and myself enjoy the views. So it's all under control.

Tonight we shared Mustang coffee wiht our sridar, sherpas and cooks, along with a waka-waka moment together. And it's only the first day, so I guess this can only become more funny along the way. Hands up for the cook, areal chef who is spoiling us with Nepali delicacies. For those of us who wanted to use this long trek to lose some weight: I am starting to wonder about the efficacy of this "D-plan", where D stands for Diet. It might as well stand for Delicacies... we have even found a German Bakery here that bakes real chocolate cake, so much for the diet :)

Tomorrow next lenght of the trek. Destination Chele.

Lost Treasures of Tibet, or Mustang on PBS - the trailer.

dentedileone — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 07:30:00 GMT

Here's the trailer (10 minutes) and the complete documentary (almost 1 hr).

What I like most in these images? The sky. How can it be so blue, remains a mystery to me.

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry - Beijing reloaded

dentedileone — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 19:39:00 GMT

My first trip to China dates back to 1991. I loved it at first sight - the splendor of palaces in Guangzhou (still Canton), the atmosphere in Hong-Kong, colors, people and their lives so different from mine, all those centuries of history and art I knew nothing about. So much to discover. I remember stepping out of the train, staring at an outside parking as big as two football stadiums and all covered in black bicycles, asking myself, how can anyone find theirs if they look all the same? I came back in 2007, to Beijing this time. China had changed a lot. To me it was even more beautiful, the almost tangible stretch to technology and innovation, everything transforming so fast - and at the same time so deeply rooted. Went back to Beijing one year after, couldn't find anymore places that existed just few months before. In a much debated neighborhoods upgrading, Hutongs were being destroyed to make room for new houses. There were residents' protests, and eventually the project halted. But the fact that someone could even think about, lest plan, such an operation tells a lot about the nature of this new, "modern" China: new is good, old is not interesting, preserving a waste of time. These snapshots portray a Beijing that can be so new and so old at the same time, in so many ways: where architects play with shapes and buildings are erected in record time with the most old-fashioned tools, acrobats monks perform in front of posh westerners conventions, and artists experiment all. While old men in the park fly their hikes as they've been doing for ages. Why choosing me? Because I love learning. I'm an all-curios traveler. A willing-photographer. And a fun person too :)

The Colours of Silence. A photo exhibit on upper Mustang from Luigi Fieni

dentedileone — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 18:42:00 GMT

Luigi Fieni is a photographer and art restorer who has devoted years to the restoration of cave paintings in upper Mustang.
Now his photo exhibition will be shown in Kathmandu and I can't wait to see it!

From his facebook page:
"The Colours of Silence flies to Kathmandu.

The Siddhartha Art Gallery of Kathmandu will host my photo... exhibition from 26th September until 24th October.

28 large format photos of mine will be hunging on the walls of this prestigious gallery for a month.

The exhibition will be inaugurated by The American Ambassador of Nepal at 5.30pm on 26th September.

If you are in Kathmandu, please visit Siddhartha Art Gallery at Baber Mahal Revisited, a 10 minutes drive from Thamel. If you have friends in Nepal who may be interested in the exhibition, please share this link :-)"

Readings on Mustang. A small bibliography.

dentedileone — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 18:27:00 GMT

‎
There's not much available on the remote Kingdom of Lo - it's not like, say, the Annapurna trek, with tons of material available from the internet or in specialized libraries. But this is precisely what makes this trip more intriguing, the fact that we'll be a little more o......f explorers and a little less of tourists... at least that's how we feel :)

Because I like to know where I'm going and the trip starts looooong before leaving home, I'm after everything I could find on Mustang. Filippo is thanking The Wise God of Old Publications and Out of Print Editions that left not so many information around, otherwise “books” would become the most expensive voice in our trekking budget... but hey, isn't it more and more like a treasury hunt? I love to look around for the map that's bringing you the secret treasure.

I'm actually reading, altogether and therefore in a scattered order:
1. Mustang. A lost Tibetan Kingdom, by Michel Peissel.
One of the first westerners to enter the kingdom, in 1964, was granted permission to visit the region and study its customs. The book was published in 1967. A classic. And fun reading too.
2. The Last Forbidden Kingdom: Mustang, Land of Tibetan Buddhism. Clara Marullo and Vanessa Schuurbeque Boeye.
Another classic, beautiful photos, and foreword from His Holyness the Dalai Lama. Incidentally, the foreword was written on the day of my 20th birthday :)
3. Mustang. A un passo dal cielo - One step from the sky. Photos by Giampietro Mattolin, Texts by Fiorenza Auriemma, published in Italy in 2007.
Photos are gorgeous and the trek is more or less the same as ours. Giampietro has a trekking agency and organizes trips in the area
4. Immagini nel Silenzio/Images of Silence. Mustang. Photos by Gianni Limonta. Ferrari Editrice, Clusone (BG), 1994.
This is the book that started it all. The one I heard about and that made me decide I wanted to visit Mustang too. Bravo Gianni, grazie per l'idea!

And... why Pisang Peak?

dentedileone — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 07:05:00 GMT

Good question. I guess because it's easy (so they say), but here is the story goes.

We were having dinner at The Klein Istanbul in Zurich (by the way: food is gorgeous there..) and they both kept insisting that they wanted to climb a peak, climb a peak, climb a peak.. OK FINE, I said: let's get this peak done.. just be so kind to pick an easy one.

Hence the choice.

Pisang Peak, 6091 mt., grade F – as you experts know it stands for “facile”, easy... Well, hopefully.
One of the easiest in the area, and among the trekking peaks, so no need for expensive expeditions and climbing permits, and skills. Besides, let's start with something small... we decided to leave the Cho Oyo and the K2 for our 50th birthday, you morons! :)

Route Description

Pisang Peak rises above from Pisang village and yak pastures in a uniform slope of ice and snow to the final summit pyramid.
Pisang peak is considered one of the easy climbing peaks among the trekking peaks in Nepal (see? that's the reason why we chose it!). To reach the base camp from Pisang village, the path ascends through sparse wood and pasture to a Kharka at 4,380 meters (14,366ft) which is considered the best place for setting up the base camp. High Camp is set up at 5,400 meters (17,715ft) climbing to a shoulder on the South-West Ridge. There will be snow at the high camp from the end of November to the end of March.
The well defined ridge leads to the final snow slop which is quite steep but not difficult to reach the summit. Descent is made on the same.

Although this climb is considered to be among the easier ones of the Himalayan region, a reasonably high level of physical fitness and health is still strongly recommended. ..that's why we train so hard :))

The crew. A mixture of expedition experts and BBQ lovers, with or without Mojito!

dentedileone — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 06:53:00 GMT

A bunch of friends, we said. So let's see WHO's WHO:
Madeleine & Bjorn, Swedish, they live and work in Zurich. Madeleine collects 4000 peaks, Bjorn takes it easy.
Francesca & Filippo: both Italians, also living and working around Zurich. When not traveling or busy with friends at our place, we like to spend the night with Horatio Cane from CSI Miami. And his sunglasses, of course.
Michela, Italian. She's not in the pic but has a blog http://viaggidovec.blogspot.com/, a dog called 6a and speaks with a seriously funny roman accent. Not that the rest of the crew really notices..

How it all began. Why Mustang?

dentedileone — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:47:00 GMT

Why Mustang?

Well.. why not? :)

To be honest, Mustang has been a dream of mine since I heard a photographer and friend talking about his expedition in the region, something he did way back in the seventies. The area was still close to visitors, and he was escorted for the whole trek up to Lo Mantang by police officers. It all sounded very adventurous to me. Borders between Nepal and Tibet are now much less sensitive, but the area opened officially to tourism
only in 1992.

Still, it's a quite remote and therefore less travelled zone, with special permits needed.
Landscapes are wonderful. It hosts important sanctuaries and caves that alone are worth the visit. And: it has a beautiful name.

Enough reasons to pay a visit to the Kingdom, I would say.

Photos: Training for the trekking

dentedileone — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:43:00 GMT

We are serious Alpinists, or well.. almost. So because we're going to spend some weeks above 4000 mt. and then climb a peak of 6000-something-mt, we decided to undergo some training.