I just wrapped up my last trip in Nepal. This was the 8th overland trip in the last two years. Most have been atop my Royal Enfield Bullet 500, but for this fall we folded in two Land Rover Defenders. Tomorrow I head back into the most remote and undiscovered parts of the Himalayas on my Bullet. It's amazing to me that there are still parts of the world where outsiders have never been seen. Ever.
This is my friend Ramesh Rai. This was shot in far western Nepal, in a region of Nepal where I was the first western visitor to show up...ever. The men in the background are descendants of Magar warriors. They dance now to keep their culture alive. Those shields are 200 years old and made of rhino skin gathered from the lowlands near India.
This is another of our secret locations, also in a remote and unvisited part of the Dolpo region. We had to access this place on motorbikes.
This is not quite as far removed from the well-worn path as we usually travel. This was shot on the road to Tibet in the Mustang Valley. We are among a rare few with government permissions to access parts of Upper Mustang with our own vehicles.
These are Magar women in the upper region of the Karnali province. The woman in the center said she once heard of a foreigner in her village when she was a child. Meaning, I was likely the first in nearly half a century to go there. (We keep precise locations secret to protect the cultures of these villages.)
This might be the best image I have ever captured in 20 years as a photographer. This is Chancha Geda, the daughter of tribal leader Panku Geda. These people are Nepal's last jungle nomads, known as the Raute. This 900 year old culture has rarely been photographed. They're hard to find and we spent more than 3 weeks looking for them. In 1988 the BBC dispatched a photographer find them and they recorded 500 people in two tribes. In 2000 another photographer found them and recorded 250 individuals. We found just 55. I may have been the last to document the decline of these ancient people. They live in the mist, hunting monkeys and surviving on black magic and living with what they say are demons and guardians in the forest. We spent two days with them, and it was wild. Some outsiders have been violently beaten for getting too close.
Annapurna South as seen from the bathroom window at our secret lodge in the Mustang Valley. This place is extremely hard to access. We trucked in with both Defenders, then walked for nearly three hours to get this view. The lodge is incredible. We regularly spend the days there making Nepali moonshine, playing drums, and dancing to traditional Nepali chants and songs. Pretty amazing.
Nepal is a wonderland. The best way to see it is with a properly prepared overland truck or motorbike. But, with no signs, few accurate maps, and thousands of roads leading in random twists and turns, it's a tough place to explore as an outsider. Combine that with lots of military and government restrictions and it's even more challenging.
If anyone is interested in more info about Nepal, give me a shout.
Christophe Noel
This is my friend Ramesh Rai. This was shot in far western Nepal, in a region of Nepal where I was the first western visitor to show up...ever. The men in the background are descendants of Magar warriors. They dance now to keep their culture alive. Those shields are 200 years old and made of rhino skin gathered from the lowlands near India.
This is another of our secret locations, also in a remote and unvisited part of the Dolpo region. We had to access this place on motorbikes.
This is not quite as far removed from the well-worn path as we usually travel. This was shot on the road to Tibet in the Mustang Valley. We are among a rare few with government permissions to access parts of Upper Mustang with our own vehicles.
These are Magar women in the upper region of the Karnali province. The woman in the center said she once heard of a foreigner in her village when she was a child. Meaning, I was likely the first in nearly half a century to go there. (We keep precise locations secret to protect the cultures of these villages.)
This might be the best image I have ever captured in 20 years as a photographer. This is Chancha Geda, the daughter of tribal leader Panku Geda. These people are Nepal's last jungle nomads, known as the Raute. This 900 year old culture has rarely been photographed. They're hard to find and we spent more than 3 weeks looking for them. In 1988 the BBC dispatched a photographer find them and they recorded 500 people in two tribes. In 2000 another photographer found them and recorded 250 individuals. We found just 55. I may have been the last to document the decline of these ancient people. They live in the mist, hunting monkeys and surviving on black magic and living with what they say are demons and guardians in the forest. We spent two days with them, and it was wild. Some outsiders have been violently beaten for getting too close.
Annapurna South as seen from the bathroom window at our secret lodge in the Mustang Valley. This place is extremely hard to access. We trucked in with both Defenders, then walked for nearly three hours to get this view. The lodge is incredible. We regularly spend the days there making Nepali moonshine, playing drums, and dancing to traditional Nepali chants and songs. Pretty amazing.
Nepal is a wonderland. The best way to see it is with a properly prepared overland truck or motorbike. But, with no signs, few accurate maps, and thousands of roads leading in random twists and turns, it's a tough place to explore as an outsider. Combine that with lots of military and government restrictions and it's even more challenging.
If anyone is interested in more info about Nepal, give me a shout.
Christophe Noel
