The Sacred Himalayas Initiative had something like an official end today. Ostensibly we were celebrating the publication of Kevin Bubriski and Abhimanyu Pandey's Kailash Yatra (with an Afterword by yours truly) and the multi-lingual Folk Gods series (publishing tales gathered in the field in English, Nepali, Hindi, Tibetan and Chinese). Photographer Bubriski showed slides from the gorgeous book, including the one above, of pilgrims coming down from Drolma La, the highest point of the kora, and, below, of our party at Rakshas Tal, the demonic lake sharing Kailas with holy Manasarovar (186, 136), and all sorts of memories came rushing in. Was I truly in that extraordinary place?
At the mini-reunion of yatris, time came rushing in, too. On a happy note, the long-time graduate assistant to the program defended his dissertation on Tuesday. Less happily I learned that one of my fellow New School faculty yatris is leaving, and that Bubruski, too, is without a job - his college just suddenly went belly up. Ambivalent was news that several motorable roads and bridges we saw being built on the Nepali part of our trek have been completed; Humla is isolated no more. And Mount Kailas? Someone had heard that permits are no longer available for western visitors, though that may just be a rumor. Did I really...?!
