Working and Trekking in the Himalaya
Through
the Institute of Technology in the Tropics (ITT), an institute of the
University of Applied Sciences Cologne (Technische Hochschule Köln),
our Institute of Conservation Science came in contact with Dr. Susanne
von der Heide, an anthropologist who has spent many years in Nepal,
first with studies of the Thakali, an ethnic group in the Himalaya,
then with representing UNESCO in the world heritage of the Kathmandu
Valley. Her main interest is the protection of endangered ethnic groups
in remote areas; for this end she has created the foundation of HimalAsia,
together with its present chairman Zongsar Ngari Chödje Tulku T. T.
Thingo Rinpoche (we bemoan his death in 2009). This foundation is
active in particular in the region of the highest mountains of the
world. It is here that Dr. von der Heide took us in the frame of a
project for securing the monastery of Ku-tsab-ter-nga (near Jomosom)
in Lower Mustang/Nepal in 2001 and the following year. In spring 2003
we managed to get back to Nepal and to "our" monastery, this time
together with our colleague Prof. Friedrich Wilhelm Grimme of ITT, in
order to see the results of our previous efforts in the monastery and
to visit further areas with damage from water and from termites.
Those
who have visited Nepal know about the desire for further visits to this
land of friendly people and fascinating landscape. Having Barbara with
me has always been a great pleasure, and of course there were wonderful
friends with us. We travelled several times ot the Himalaya:
Immediately after my retirement in summer 2003 I did the great tour around the Annapurna
Range in autumn 2003 together with two friends; in 2005 I went to
Sikkim near the Kanchendzonga; in 2007 it was Upper Mustang; in 2012
again the Kali Gandaki valley with Muktinath, Kagbeni, Lupra and down the valley to Beni. Visiting "my" monastery has always been one of the highlights of any trekking. Further
trips to Nepal were prevented by the pandemic. However, I still
exchange mails with former students from Ku-tsab-ter-nga in Nepal and
New York.
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