THE PHOTOGRAPHER’S STORY
The Photographer’s Story
SERENE CHNG
Hidden Himalaya
SERENE is a food- and music-loving wildlife conservationist.
Naturally, she loves being where the wild things are.When one mentions trekking in Nepal, most people
think of soaring peaks and impossible suspension
bridges over glacial blue rapids and prayer flags
frantically flapping in the wind. But this stunning
landscape is also home to a rich and surprising diversity
of wildlife. Keep your eyes peeled, and you’ll notice a
group of Bharal grazing on the near-vertical slopes, lock
eyes with a Himalayan Griffon sizing you up for lunch,
even marvel at a delicate butterfly fluttering by at
5,000m above sea level. The rewarding Manaslu Circuit,
the less-trodden (and therefore more exclusive)neighbour to Annapurna, was my first long-distance
trek ever. It took us from sweltering subtropical
lowlands through mysterious pine forests and magical
misty rhododendron forests in full bloom, along
cliff-edge trails cut into the mountains, past glaciers and
avalanches, in the shadow of giant snow-capped peaks.
I would do it all over again.