Achyut Tiwari tells of the trials and tribulations of doing field work in Nepal. The field work was conducted two years ago for his PhD project on climate responses in treeline dynamics and growth climate in central Himalaya and Hengduan mountain, China. Tiwari is originally from Nepal, and is affiliated with Xishungbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Achyut Tiwari

We were finally on our way up to Vedi Goth, the shepherd tent that would serve as our base camp in the mountains above Lete, in Central Nepal. Along the way we were met by the shepherds, who cleared the bushes for our passing up the mountain. It was horrible to turn towards the left and look down the dizzyingly steep side of the mountain. We barely managed to reach the temporary shepherds tent before it was completely dark.

Shepherd Chandra feeding sheep with salt (Saturday and Tuesday every week). He said the sheep already know the day and gather for salt before the day. Photograph by Achyut Tiwari

The shepherds, Chandra and Sagar, welcomed us in the tent, which was surrounded by more than 300 sheep and four huge dogs. That evening the boys cooked well, as it was our first meal out there and we had brought a lot of supplies.

Cooking at the Shepherd’s shelter (Vedi Goth) at Kokhedhara, 3,500 meters (11,500 feet) after exhausting field work. On the left is Mr. K.P. Acharya; on the right is Mr. Raju BistaImage. Image credit: Achyut Tiwari

But I was uneasy. I have a dog phobia because I was terribly attacked by a dog when I was a kid. Chandra’s and Sagar’s warnings about the dogs made me even more terrified. Later we saw that the dogs mainly worked at night, when they guarded all the sheep. That also meant the dogs were more aggressive at night, and coming out from the shelter in the dark without the shepherds was too risky.

Herbacious vegetation above treeline at Khokhedhara (Lete, Mustang 4,200 meters; 13,800 feet) Image credit: Achyut Tiwari).

As a result, we were horribly afraid to drink too much water, because we’d then need to leave the tent to pee. We’d have to wake the weary shepherds, which we did not want to do. It was the first time in my life I had to refrain from drinking water to avoid fearsome dogs.

Our field work continued for more than a week. Our routine was to have brunch in the morning. It was  usually hot chile bean soup, rice and potato with curry. Then we hiked a steep three-and-a-half hours up to the treeline where we performed exhaustive tree coring and recording of ecological data in the area. We took some dry food with us, since we did not get back to the tent before dusk.

Spectacular early morning view of Mt. Dhawalagiri (8,167 meters; 26,795 feet) from Khokhedhara, Lete, Mustang. Image credit: Achyut Tiwari

The whole day of headache and weariness drained away as we descended to the shelter, walking above the thick natural carpet of grasses, singing and enjoying the changing color of Mt. Dhaulagiri – the 8th highest peak of the world at 8,167 meters – and the amazing view of Annapurna Himal range.

Coming in Part Three: Landslides and the burden of apples for Dashain.

Part One can be found here.