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A Look Across Time In Mustang
Updates from the remote region of Mustang in Nepal are on their way in! Here is another dispatch from MM Guide Deana Zabaldo as the team got ready to begin their Mustang Trek this month.
“Our journey began in Pokhara, a lakeside town with sweeping views of the Annapurna range, where we had the rare opportunity to speak with Ngawang, an old Tibetan Khampa warrior.
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Our local guide Oangdi and his father Ngawang, a Tibetan guerilla fighter based in Mustang in the 1960s. Deana Zabaldo photo
In the 1960’s, Mustang was the base for Tibetan fighters resisting the Chinese invasion. We heard stories of life as a monk-turned-guerrilla fighter, receiving American CIA training, and excursions over the border to attack Chinese police. A decade later, the resistance ended, and the Tibetans who have lived in exile since then have taken wives from Mustang and settled in Nepal.
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F15404790061_0f59fdca95_k.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=1d2478d5b315a3aba0512adbc98cc290 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F15404790061_0f59fdca95_k.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=e72acd66f32574f7cd32151f4471e42d 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F15404790061_0f59fdca95_k.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=91e0b3e50ff2b6f276ff0e87b3e2bd1e 700w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F15404790061_0f59fdca95_k.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=0e3fce568802e81294f5ecf82f69151a 800w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F15404790061_0f59fdca95_k.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=39b74ee2d607e670ede1a828820d3b6e 1000w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F15404790061_0f59fdca95_k.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=9c3d96273afe22096d7f645b6af075e2 1024w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F15404790061_0f59fdca95_k.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=ca82eba6326b7822414c9a572d60e93c 1024w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F15404790061_0f59fdca95_k.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=fd65b1451580bb224bd3c3f19b8d8434 1024w)
Our group with Ngawang and Oangdi. Deana Zabaldo photo
Our local guide for the trip is the son of this old Tibetan warrior, and we’ve gotten a great preview of the Mustang culture and history to come.
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F15221378408_8cba073023_k.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=604a91bb051418d9be841de1486389d3 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F15221378408_8cba073023_k.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=323c3a36f564979da657af16b1b1e3e9 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F15221378408_8cba073023_k.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=818bade9cefbad43ccb81f11b6e3aae4 700w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F15221378408_8cba073023_k.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=4bed3c22fd106bb44257b63889d73d7d 800w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F15221378408_8cba073023_k.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=66cb54b4fe9e8c80127745b12422f941 1000w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F15221378408_8cba073023_k.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=990f52ebc8a2d24990bef731f0e08cdc 1024w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F15221378408_8cba073023_k.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=e420e10b7fcab225545b0cf7ce7cc789 1024w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F15221378408_8cba073023_k.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=34520a3bf2675249e9cb34b4e192584b 1024w)
International Mountain Museum in Pokhara. Deana Zabaldo photo
“A visit to the International Mountain Museum in Pokhara, a delicious dinner, and an early morning flight to Jomson to begin our trek…”
~ MM Guide Deana Zabaldo
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Taking off to the mountains. Deana Zabaldo photo