Timely cover feature in Outpost magazine as I head back up and into Nepal’s Himalayas and their tales and characters, their struggles, and stunning bits of magic. The shepherd I’m chatting with on the cover, spoke more clearly about the “changing weather” question, with less of an agenda, and more common sense than most mortals with a shirt on that I’ve encountered within the urban worlds. I’ve long wondered when it is that we will actively encourage and invite these characte

There are few other gateway spaces that lead to zones of majesty, silence and winds, that are themselves such chaotic charmers, as Kathmandu. It remains fuzzy with dust and pollution, it remains a steaming hub of humanity at every level, and it thankfully retains – for better or worse – a place that is instantly recognizable. The full spectrum of senses are engaged and sometimes forced wide open to acknowledge. That bit of wonderment – the Boudanath Stupa, in amidst so much e

Withered little holes of caves rest in a line hundreds of metres above on a sheer wall of red stone. This pattern has repeated itself again and again on this journey. On sheer walls – upon closer looks through a telephoto lens – a series of threadlike lines that once acted as pathways accessing entrance ways zig zag their way along the mountains. Long ago,those seemingly high walls weren’t so high. River ways once burbled and roared through the valleys taking glacier melt wat

The Tibetan term ‘gtum mo’, pronounced “Tummo” refers to the tantric tradition of meditation that summons or produces heat and a kind of blissful warmth within the body. It is a kind of yogic heat, which is attained through a practice that involves hyperventilation and visualization and it is one of the many practices of these mountains. One of the many gifts that they eyes can feast on in Mustang. Perception and perspective are everything. Living with elements that aren’t si

Returns can soothe and returns to mountain spaces can do so with a powerful combination of elemental force and nostalgia for me. It remains a truth as I return to Mustang, Nepal. A late in the year journey where light fades early and where the 6pm winds rip with a little extra force. A route that at times fades to mere hints of a trail it remains a vestige of sorts of a time gone by where trade and travel could be done either in the lower valleys, or in the more remote and da

Ladakh expedition plans changed last minute to Mustang. One stunning Himalayan world for another…and one historically linked to another in days of trade. We will trudge by foot north to Lo Manthang from just north of Jomson providing the flights are able to negotiate through the famed winds that can chuck a piece of metal around at will. The mountain sanctuary that awaits Our small team will still be travelling along an old trade route but a team and logistics have had to be

Departures by plane seem to suck some of the magic out of tangible travel but they do usher in other spaces and ways of life in a rush and blast. Today departing to Peru with a similar minded crew to film and breath in portions of the network of roads and pathways that scurry through the Andes known collectively as the Qhapaq Nan, and more specifically in cases, the Inca Road. Mountains matter….the world over, they matter. And so too the life within and upon them. So much of

Gongotri Glacier – Great Feeder of the River Ganges One of the great moving river bodies of the planet, the mother Ganges, is fed by the Himalayan Water Towers; glaciers that ebb slowly at greater speeds. We know the river itself but not necessarily the epic bodies that feed it. They are revered and worshiped…and they do ebb. The Gangotri is one of those feeders, lying in India’s stunning Uttarakhand State. The article in September/October, 2017’s edition is based on a month

“A land of little and a route of much” is how I often view this present journey and it is how I’ve viewed many of Himalayan trade routes I’ve travelled. Our present route here in Mustang has taken us past an abandoned stone building that acted as the equivalent of a postal office and it now just shudders in the wind with its memories. The Khampas of eastern Tibet are part of Mustang’s history, having fought continued pitched battles during the Chinese occupation. The feared a

Trade routes (still) offer up hints and teasers about how lands evolved and functioned. Everything from DNA to luxuries and tid-bits from the past travelled and each shipment and caravan needed the guardians, the traders and the willful to ensure that the world buzzed. Buddhism itself entered onto the Tibetan Plateau from one of these understated pathways. Nepal’s ancient kingdom of ‘Lo’, known today simply as Mustang, is a place where trade, migration, and pilgrimage routes

Berinder is impatient and staring in his mournful way at Saurabh and I to hurry. He wants to move and it is our day to make another incursion into the Chaturangi Glacier valley and then head south up a smaller feed valley. The three of us for much of this journey have been a party of wanderers while others wait in base camp. Berinder has had his tea and stands like a shy gunslinger with hands at the side, ready. Some of the multi-hues of Chaturangi Glacier We chug tea down in

Berinder, with pink wooly marvellously intact. Berinder is his name. Tiny, unsmiling, and topped off with a vibrant pink woolen cap I’ve locked onto him and his intense energy. These porters can take the breath with their abilities to pirouette on little more than rubber soles, while hauling crippling loads. There is a not-so-secret adoration I have for them and I’ve long been fascinated with their balance of sinuous power and clairvoyance on ‘all things mountain’. Our porter

First steps towards Gangotri Glacier involve words from an impeccable source. For six decades Swami Sunderland has climbed, wandered, and worshipped the great bodies of ice and stone from his simple home in Gangotri. He arrived here and was held by the silences, and the divine mountain gifts. Whatever the reasons for the great bodies of ice to recede, they do recede and Swami is as wise and observant as a family member. Swami Sunderanand – A man who’s soul belongs to the moun

Owing to Hector the Brave’s popularity and the debt to which our ‘Glacier’s Breath’ Expedition owes his efforts, a video in honour of our little friend in the mountains. Hector here. Hector and I share a morning moment. #TheGlaciersBreathExpedition #Asiantravel #Himalayantravel #Expedition #Himalayas #JeffFuchs #Donkey #exploration

Glacier water sluices down near the Changtang region of the Himalayas Preparing to head back into the precious Himalayas of Ladakh for a month of living atop two glaciers to see what the great bodies of ice are up to. Moraine and stone on the Bara Shigri glacier in Himachal Pradesh. It is part of an initiative not simply to ‘explore’ and discover but rather observe, document and bring back a tangible view of a glacier’s life – day and night. ‘Impact Exploration’ with a goal t

February 14 at 7:15 PM ET: Explorer Jeff Fuchs and the Route of Wind and Wool at Valentine’s Day Talk….ahem Kensington Tours 36 Toronto St #300, Toronto, ON M5C 2C5 Explorers Club members and friends across Canada are encouraged to join the Ontario Nunavut monthly dinner as award-winning explorer and Explorer Club member Jeff Fuchs traces his experiences on the oldest trade pathways through the desolate magnificence of the India Himalaya. You can join us just by turning on yo

The skin, bones, and essence of our trip: the faces and personalities behind the efforts. I thought it time to properly ‘introduce’ the team with some thoughts, some colour, and some quotes from our magnificent team. Suresh the fearless in full gallop in the winds. We begin with Suresh who at his best is an absolute bear. Proud, strong, and the perfect man to delegate, he is a great point-man with a voice that comes close to a baritone. A tale teller of fabulous analogies, he

Mornings, and particularly bad one’s can be down to simply being unable to shut off the mind the night before, or too much cold, maybe the tent location is off, or sometimes they can simply be down to an unknown. Waking below the Parang Pass I’ve got the somewhat deadly condition of an ugly mood with no apparent reason. With all of the excitement in me that is generated by mountain passes I’m confused. There is no reason for the mood…it simply is there, like the vapid grey ab

A trader once said that there was no point thinking too much about how one would spend his money when he was only half way to his destination to trade. Too much could happen, the fates could decide an alternative ending, or sometimes simply the sense of expectation could destroy a dream before it arrived. At Hong Kong’s brilliant terminal 1 with lots of colour…onwards. Thanks Edna This trader was a veteran of Himalayan travel and trade and knew well that the world of mountain

Proud to be a contributor to this spirited and very ‘now’ book on China’s potent ‘present’ tense. Book now available from Earnshaw Books. Here’s what “That’s Shanghai” Magazine had to say… http://www.thatsmags.com/shanghai/article/view/14672 My own contribution inevitably centres upon the Tea Horse Road and one of the precious elders who’s memory holds some of the precious colour of the times of tea and of trade Another elder, Another tale #TeaHorseRoad #China #Himalayantrave