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"The
Last Forbidden Kindom" Mustang
Mustang,
located in Nepal's northwestern Himalayas, is a land
of intense and diverse vistas, a spectrum of flora and fauna,
and a variety of ethnic groups. From the lush coniferous forests
in the south to the desert wildflowers scattered across Mustang's
northernmost plains, this area is unique. Caught in the rain
shadow of Dhaulagiri Himal (8167m.) to the west and the Annapurna
massif to the east, most of Mustang's 750 square-miles are
trans-Himalayan desert.This boot-like piece of land juts north
into the Tibetan plateau. At an elevation of fifteen thousand
feet, the Mustang landscape reveals spires of ochre Earth
and dramatic rock formations, as well as sandy flats and grassy
plains surrounded by rolling hills-the hallmark of the Central
Asian plateau.
The
Kali Gandaki river runs from the northeastern rim of Mustang
down to Nepal Terai. Once a major thoroughfare for salt-grain
trade between Tibet and India, the Kali Gandaki river valley
remains an active trading route to this day. The Thak Khola,
a portion of the Kali Gandaki in southern Mustang, courses
between the Himalayas to for the deepest gorge in the world.
The people of Mustang- Thakalis from the Thak Khola and the
ethnically Tibetan (Bhotia) peoples of the north-survive primarily
by trade, animal husbandry, and agro-pastoralism.
Mustang's
cliffs are dotted with caves that were one active human settlements,
some of which are still used for meditational retreat by local
Tibetan Buddhist (primarily Nyingma and Sakya sects) and Bon-po
("pre Buddhist religious traditions of Tibet and the Himalayas)
practitioners. Ruins of centuries-old fortresses are found
throughout the Mustang panorama, reminding the visitor that
this entire region was once an independent kingdom connected
by language and culture, religion and geography to Tibet.
Annapurna
| Everest
|Langtang |
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[Are
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