In the spring of 2007 and again in August of 2008, a small team of elite climbers and explorers made some remarkable discoveries in the high, remote valleys of Nepal’s formerly forbidden kingdom of Mustang, near the Tibet border. Clambering into several of the near-countless, human-excavated cave complexes—miniature cliffside cities—they found piles of millennia-old Tibetan text folios, exquisitely-painted stupa reliquaries, and a remarkable 13th Century mural painted with 55 panels of high Tibetan lamas and their attendants. Via the wire services, the news echoed around the world.

In 2009, a team of scholars, climbers and restoration experts is planning to return to Mustang. There, they will continue the task of unraveling the pre-historic, religious and artistic legacy of this enchanted, living landscape—while undertaking an inventory and working to protect these priceless artistic and historical sites. A documentary film about this project is now being edited, to air as a National Geographic Special on PBS, covering subjects as diverse as high altitude archaeology and anthropology, gripping adventure, mountain geology and Himalayan art history, and issues of change and modernization.

For more information contact:
Didi Thunder
didi@wyoming.com

THE EXPEDITION TEAM
Depending on scheduling, support trekkers will travel or intersect with, and assist in the work being done by the following expedition team members:

Support Trek Leader Didi Thunder, of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, has led trips throughout the Himalaya for Mountain Travel/Sobek, she has been to Mustang five times, and will be in charge of daily operations.

Project Leader Broughton Coburn has lived in the Himalaya for 21 of the past 33 years, is the author of several books, including two national bestsellers,and has worked on development, conservation and snow leopard preservation projects in upper Mustang beginning in 1992.

Expedition Leader Pete Athans, 7-time Mt. Everest summiter and Team Athlete for The North Face, will direct the climbing efforts and cave rigging, a skill he developed partly while working on feature and documentary films.

Film Director Liesl Clark, Harvard summa cum laude, is a Prime Time Emmy Award winning filmmaker and director-producer of the Emmy Award-nominated NOVA, Lost Treasures of Tibet, on the restoration work on Mustang’s 15th Century Thubchen monastery.

Pre-eminent archaeologist Dr. Mark Aldenderfer recently returned from western Tibet. He specializes in remote sensing and intra-site analysis techniques as applied to archaeology, paleo-climatology and other disciplines, and will be using some of these techniques on this expedition.

Frances Howland, entertaining and informative U.S. Embassy nurse and specialist in travel medicine, is also a Buddhist scholar and has traveled widely across the Himalaya.

Tsewang Bista, member of the Mustang royal family and local leader, speaks fluent English, authored a book on Mustang, and has worked as liaison and led numerous expeditions. He is the Member-Secretary of the Lo Gyalpo Jigme Foundation, an important local NGO that operates in upper Mustang.

Sukra Sagar Shrestha, former Chief Archaeologist for Nepal’s Department of Archaeology, has studied and excavated in lower Mustang District, and directed excavation and research in places such as Buddha’s birthplace, in Lumbini.

Luigi Fieni graduated from the Institute for Restoration in Rome, Italy, and for the past 9 years has been directing restoration work in upper Mustang’s landmark 15th Century monuments, in concert with the American Himalayan Foundation, John Sanday Associates, and the Nepal Trust for Nature Conservation.

Renan Ozturk is a Team Athlete for The North Face and a premier big wall climber. He has completed numerous major climbs around the world and in the Himals, including first ascents. He is competent in Nepali, and an expert “choss” (loose rock) climber.

Dr. Charles Ramble completed his doctorate and post-doctorate work for Oxford University in upper Mustang, and now heads Oxford’s Oriental Institute. A premier Tibetologist and Buddhist scholar, he is a specialist in pre-Buddhist and Bön history, and sings folk songs in several Himalayan languages.

Ian Alsop, a 30-year veteran of Nepal and Tibet, is a premier Asian art scholar and world authority on the exquisite art of the Newars of the Kathmandu valley. Newar painters were instrumental in the painting of the walls of caves and monuments of Mustang.

OUR INVITATION
Our Invitation We are sending this flyer to selected friends, inviting you to join us as a member of the 2009 expedition’s support trek, in which you can accompany us during key periods of research, exploration, inventorying and other activities. The trek to Mustang alone is the experience of a lifetime (it can be done on horseback—Mustang is horse country), but the trek presents an additional opportunity to spend several evenings learning from the team of experts, swapping stories with them, and joining them during their pioneering exploits.

TRAVEL AND OUTFITTING
UInternational travel to Kathmandu can be arranged individually, but Himalayan Treasures and Travels is offering discounted airfare to members of the support trek (note the new, non-stop flights from several US cities to Bangkok and Delhi—from where it’s an easy hop to Kathmandu). Similarly, we have been offered group lodging discounts at the Hyatt Regency Kathmandu (visit http:// kathmandu.regency.hyatt.com/), located near the Great Stupa of Boudhanath, and at the authenticallyappointed Dwarika’s (visit http://www.dwarikas.com/index1.html). We have also made arrangements for scholarly “insider” tours of Kathmandu to be led by friends of ours—entertaining expat guides who have lived their lives there. Before departing for the mountains and Mustang, you can take your pick of activities: shopping, hiking, cultural study, project site visits, spiritual retreat, dining and night life—or perhaps all of them.

A large component of this expedition, and the associated research and development project, is of a charitable nature. This status allows us to arrange a non-stop charter flight from Kathmandu that will skirt the flanks of the Himals, navigate the world’s deepest river gorge between Annapurna and Dhaulagiri, then land in Jomsom, at 9,000 feet. From there, expedition members Tsewang Bista and Crown Prince Jigme Bista will tag team as our local co-leaders and outfitters for the support trek (providing us with the royal horses, the strongest in the kingdom). Our royal escorts will give us a behind-the-scenes, personalized tour of the villages, monasteries and monuments of Mustang, lodging us in the royal family residences en route. The food is a mix of eastern and western, served by an attentive staff; the lodging is rustic but comfortable.

The trek is perfect for kids, too, and children under 11 are not subject to the $700 government-imposed royalty for travel within upper Mustang. In fact, kids figure into this year’s activities in Mustang: one of the development efforts that expedition members are supporting is the Magic Yeti Library (www.alexlowe.€org/magic_yeti.shtml), that has been established at a school for young nuns in the village of Tsarang. We will spend 12-14 days within the restricted area of upper Mustang —16 days from Kathmandu to Kathmandu. We suggest setting aside three weeks for the entire trip from the U.S.

Soon, we will set specific dates in April, May, June or September, and be able to quote a selection of airfares and a final cost for the trek. We wanted to get this invitation out to you, but in the meantime here is an estimate of the costs, per adult:

International airfare and transfers from the U.S $1,800
Kathmandu hotel (double occupancy), tours, RT airfare to Jomsom, and 12 day Mustang trek: 2,450
Upper Mustang restricted area trek royalty: 700
Requested Charitable donation (explained below): 5,000 - 10,000
Estimated total: $9,950 - $14,950

We would like your input on dates, especially!

THE CHARITABLE PART
The people of Mustang live at the poverty level, and they are making unusual concessions for our expedition and support trek to visit these historic and sacred sites—most of which they have never seen, themselves. In return for this privilege, we are obliged to give back in the form of much needed development, security and stabilization work designed to protect these fragile, priceless sites in perpetuity. The Lobas, the local people, have the will to protect them, and we are offering them a way. Therefore, we are requesting a $5,000 - $10,000 tax-deductible donation from each support trekker, as a donation for access to this exclusive adventure. We also welcome and are actively seeking larger “sponsorship” donations for the project as a whole. Supporters will be widely acknowledged throughout the project, which is expected to extend over a minimum of five years. And, support trekkers can choose to more specifically earmark their donations to a selection of particular conservation, research or educational efforts.

Support for this project will be shared by many. Presently, organizations that are co-raising funds and working to provide technical assistance and support include—internationally—the National Geographic Society, the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, the Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation, The North Face, and several private donors. Nationally, Nepal’s Department of Archaeology, the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (Mustang is located within this protected area), the Nepal Trust for Nature Conservation, the Lo Gylapo Jigme Foundation, and the Upper Mustang Cultural Heritage Conservation Committee are also dedicating resources to this truly collaborative effort. For the Magic Yeti Library Project in Tsarang, soon to be expanded to other villages, The Asia Foundation and Room to Read have been steadfast partners.