“People get sick and die because
they cannot get treatment in time,
and the road can change this”
From the 15th to the 17th centuries, Mustang
remained well hidden – and well protected – among the
highest mountains in the world, flanked by Annapurna
and the Dhaulagiri range. This strategic location gave
the kingdom control over trade between the Himalayas
and India. Caravans of yaks and horses travelling along
the salt road made their way through the depths of the
Kali Gandaki gorge during the dry season.
In the 18th century, Mustang fell under the rule of
the neighbouring kingdom of Jumla; with this shift in
power came the kingdom’s economic decline. India
began to proffer cheaper salt to traders, and Mustang
was left isolated, and all but lost in time.
The New Road
However, a new project poses a significant change to
this secluded way of life: A proposal to build a new
road between Lhasa and Kathmandu – which will
connect Lo Manthang with Nepal and China – has
raised concerns that the development will have a
negative impact on this bastion of traditional
Tibetan Buddhist culture.
For China, Mustang has renewed strategic
importance, presenting an opportunity to reopen
the ancient trade routes, and also control the
movement of Tibetans. When the Dalai Lama went
into exile in 1959, many Tibetans used the old route
to escape Chinese rule.
In 2008, Mustang lost its status as a kingdom,
dovetailing with the dissolution of the Nepalese
monarchy. The last king of Mustang, Jigme Dorje
Parbal Bista (1933–2016), whose lineage could
be traced back to the warrior founder, Ame Pal,
retired from the faded palace in Lo Manthang to
Kathmandu, where he lived until his death last year.
He was the last in a line of Mustang kings going back
to the 12th century.bottom In Chossar, where
some Loba people still live in
caves, modernity has come in
the form of the tractor replacing
horses and yaks