https://www.scmp.com/rss/515003/feed Neelima Vallangi is an independent journalist and filmmaker from India, currently based in Kathmandu, Nepal. With a keen interest in nature and mountain ecosystems, she specialises in in-depth features and unique stories from the Himalayan region and Indian subcontinent. It is safe to say she enjoys purposefully getting lost in the mountains and going to faraway corners where Google Maps fails. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com The village appears like a mirage, within reach yet vexingly distant, after a hurried, three-day trek through Dolpa, the largest, but third-most sparsely peopled of Nepal’s 77 districts. Size: 7,890 sq km. Population: roughly 43,000. Altitude: up to 7,625 metres. Across the border: China. In Dolpo, the culturally Tibetan pocket of Dolpa, atop the mud walls of the rammed-earth houses, flat roofs are stacked with firewood and hay, for winter. The 1,000-year-old Ribo Bumpa Monastery stands sentinel... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3269860/farmers-trade-fungi-motorbikes-rural-nepal-mushrooming-road-use-threatens-rural-ways?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3269860/farmers-trade-fungi-motorbikes-rural-nepal-mushrooming-road-use-threatens-rural-ways?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Jul 2024 00:15:09 +0000 The village of Phortse, in Nepal’s Khumbu Valley, is perched high on a plateau, surrounded by lush green slopes and snow-covered mountains. In a narrow lane at an elevation of 3,800 metres (12,500 feet), two unassuming young men in their early 20s are spinning yarn on their balcony. I casually ask if they have summited the venerable and very nearby Mount Everest – called Sagarmatha in Nepali – and one of them nods an indifferent yes. Later, in my guest house, I ask our host, Panuru Sherpa,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3211396/aint-no-mountain-high-enough-not-even-everest-people-nepalese-village-phortse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3211396/aint-no-mountain-high-enough-not-even-everest-people-nepalese-village-phortse?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Feb 2023 00:15:11 +0000