Tuesday, May 11, 2004

Vast Mountain Beauty and the Power of Britney Spears

We had flown to Jomsom, deep in the Annapurnas and walked up the harsh stoney valley, treeless mountains rising up on either side. We arrived breathless from the altitude at Kagbeni, a small oasis of green in this vast, empty world. Set amid this high alpine desert, Kagbeni rests on the border of upper Mustang, a wild land still lost in legend, cut off to the world by its US$700 entry fee. Around this tiny medieval Tibetan hamlet, the mountains rise up so sheer that the sun sets in the mid-afternoon, and we watch goat herders bring their flocks down these 'hillsides' that you'd be forgiven for calling cliffs. We amble through the town, soaking up the vast timelessness of it all.


View into Upper Mustang

And then I see her - and a particulaly crass poster at that. Britney Spears, cheesy as ever, plastered up on a white-washed wall just inside the door of one of these ancient homes. And reality comes crashing home!



Remote and harsh this roadless land may be, but cut off from the outside world it is not. Just around the corner from Britney, we come upon a Seven Eleven (albeit a Nepalese rip-off) and a restaurant called YakDonalds, specialising in the tastiest Yak Burgers this side of Katmandu. The trek we are on - the Jomsom Trek - is perhaps the most civilised in Nepal, sometimes nicknamed the Apple Pie Trek, in tribute no doubt to the culinary delights that abound at the guesthouses all along the way.

Rather than bemoan this loss of wildness, we decide to relish it. At dinner that night, we delight in eavesdropping on one of the neighbouring tables as our fellow-hikers discuss the virtues of the French and Ukranian wines. At the other table, the young man sits quietly reading Dostoyevsky. The Yak Burger Happy Meal was delicious.

Posted by Andrew Wallace @ 8:10 AM