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!
