Life beyond the mountains is not only as blue as the sky, it is also as hard as a stone hardened by the cold. In the geography of Upper Mustang, every winter brings with it a story of inevitable migration. This cycle of ‘coming down to the valley to escape the cold and seeking the warmth of livelihood’, which has been going on for generations, is today standing in a storm of change.

In my grandfather's time, this journey was a trade in salt and rice - carrying salt brought from the village on the back of a sheep, and buying rice and corn from below with the money from selling the salt! The story of that era was the extreme struggle for livelihood. However, today's story is different. It is a story of earning cash by selling warm clothes and leading life on the path of prosperity.

In the first week of Mangsir, the morning air in the village of Chosher in Upper Mustang is as cold as a needle sticking in the ear. 50-year-old Lhamu Gurung is hanging a lock on the door of her mud house. She is carrying a sweater, hat, and muffler made of sheep's wool on her shoulders, and a bundle of jimbu and needles in her bag.

Before setting off on the road from this village across the Himalayas to Pokhara, she looked at her house once more. She thought, 'The neighbors will throw away the snow that has accumulated on the roof!' This is a tradition of faith. ‘This is a tradition from my grandfather’s time,’ she said when met in Hemja, Pokhara. ‘We can’t live there in winter. The water freezes, the road gets blocked. That’s why we go down.’

This story is not only about Lhamu, but also about the fate of thousands of upper Mustangs. Lomanthang, Choser and Chonhup – these are the three main villages in Lomanthang rural municipality. Within Choser are the villages of Sija, Bharcha, Arka, Samjung, Nayol and Dhuk. In Chonhup, there are the villages of Namdhok, Chumjhung, Kimiling, Thingar, Phuwa and Namgyal.

Below Lomanthang is Lo-Ghekar Damodarkund rural municipality. Villages such as Marang, Charang, Ghami, Dhakmar, Ghiling, Surkhang, Dhin, Yara, Ghara, Dhen, Tange are in this area. Locals from the settlements above Chhusang, Jharkot and Kagbeni in Baragung Muktikshetra Rural Municipality also descend in winter. Samjung and Dhen villages are settlements that were relocated due to lack of water.

Lomanthang – Known as the city of mud, the palace of the Mustangi king and the center of the legendary monasteries. In winter, this city is immersed in silence. ‘Since my grandfather’s time, it was a custom to descend in winter,’ Lhamu recalls the old days, ‘At that time, the trade was to exchange salt and rice. We would descend with salt on sheep and goats, sell the salt in the city and return with rice from the lower regions.’

In Upper Mustang, wheat, urad, kerau and potatoes begin to be planted in the rainy season from Baisakh. Sweet phapar is planted in the second week of Jestha and mustard and bitter phapar are planted in the first week of Asar. From Bhadra to mid-Asoj, the crops are brought in. After that, the fields have to be kept fallow. Since it gets very cold from Asoj and there is no farming, the people of Upper Mustang descend to the valley to escape the winter and do business at that time.

In the old days, this journey was an essential condition for livelihood. As time has passed, the trading style of Mustang has also changed. The tradition of salt broke and in its place, trade in goods like jimbu, needle (thread), warm clothes and herbs started. Now, Balibanga men of Upper Mustang go to Lamjung, Gorkha, Dhading, Nuwakot, Chitwan, Palpa and other districts to buy and sell warm clothes in bulk. Earlier, it was customary to go to Assam, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar in India to sell sweaters.

According to Tamting Gurung, a local and teacher of Chosher, goods were brought wholesale from Ludhiana in Punjab and sold elsewhere. Women, on the other hand, live in and around Pokhara. They are busy selling warm clothes, curios and herbs. ‘If you do business, you don’t even notice the day has passed,’ he says. On average, a person returns home with an income of Rs 300,000 in 4 months. However, even this income is becoming a challenge now. ‘Indians have started selling goods from Ludhiana in India,’ he says. ‘The traders from Jumla have come to Pokhara’s market to sell goods cheaply, which has reduced the business of Mustangs.’

Those who rent rooms start coming down from the last week of Asoj for business. Those who have already built houses in Pokhara or Kathmandu come down from the first week of Mangsir only to escape the cold. Hemja in Pokhara, Boudha in Kathmandu and Dulegonda in Tanahun are the main winter settlements of Mustangs. Mustang women like Lhamu Gurung can be found bargaining with tourists and locals every day in the villages of Pokhara.

Even though most people move to the city, the village does not completely empty out. Some elderly people stay in the village to tend to the cattle and look after the cattle. One member of the family who keeps cows at home must tend the house. Those who cannot do business or do not speak Nepali also stay upstairs. ‘When the neighbors lock themselves up and come down, they are put in charge of the house, telling them to look after ours,’ said Tamting. ‘Those who live in the village even throw away the snow piled up on the roof of their neighbors’ houses.’

Sheep, goats and cattle are kept in a collective barn and herded and paid daily wages. Towards the end of Falgun, the time comes for the sheep and goats to have their young. In the first week of Chait, the livestock owner has to reach and take charge of the young. Since there is no footpath when there is thick snow, they are fed with yam, sorghum, previously cut grass, wheat and corn brought from below. In winter, streams and rivers freeze. Both people and cattle are forced to drink water by heating snow. There are no leaves on the plants, there is no greenery anywhere.

The school itself falls into the valley

Instead of closing the school in the extreme cold of winter, it is moved down from Upper Mustang. This is called ‘Ghumti Vidyalaya’. Divya Deep Secondary School, Lomanthang Rural Municipality-2 is the only secondary school in Chhoser, where 65 students from Mustang, Myagdi, Baglung, Jajarkot, and Dhanusha study. Principal Kamlesh Kumar Tripathi explains the background of this tradition, ‘Earlier, there was a six-month vacation in winter. That led to a decline in the academic level of the students. Then, since 2061, the school started moving to Pokhara in winter at the expense of the locals.’

After Tihar, this school has moved to its own building in Bijayapur, Pokhara Metropolitan City-26. In 2071, locals collected money and purchased land, and a building was built in 2081 at a cost of Rs 40 million from the rural municipality and federal grants. Since Asoj, the school has been shifted down due to increasing cold, children getting sick, water stagnation, and shortage of drinking water.

Chhonhup's Jhinju Basic School is in Sukhet, Pokhara-25 Hemja. Lomanthang's National Basic School has been shifted to Pokhara-31 Kimbensi. Janajyoti Secondary School in Lo-Ghekar Damodarkunda is in Dulegauda, ​​Shuklagandaki Municipality, Ghiling, Tanahun. The school in Chhusang, Baragung Muktikshetra, has been downgraded for two years but is currently operating at the top because it could not meet its expenses.

Tourism, foreign employment, and the impact of the Korala border crossing

Since Upper Mustang was opened to foreigners since 1992, locals are also benefiting from the tourism business. Hotels and restaurants have been built. The income of locals has increased. Electricity, drinking water, transportation, communication, and health facilities have reached the villages of Mustang.

The economy of Mustangi society has changed a lot in the last three decades. Earlier, animal husbandry and trade were the sources of income, but now the main source of income is foreign employment. According to Tamting Gurung, 90 percent of the youth of Upper Mustang are now abroad. They have reached America, Britain, Europe, Japan, and Korea. Due to the migration of youth, the number of people engaged in business has also decreased. "Earlier, there were up to 50 Mustangi businessmen in Narayangadh alone, now there are only 7," he presented the statistics of the decrease in businessmen.

Not only in winter, but also in the winter, more and more people are migrating to Pokhara and Kathmandu. One of the strange reasons for the migration is that it has become easier for lamas to get visas in the United States. Many young people have entered the United States by becoming fake lamas or by getting a 'paper marriage', and after getting a green card, the Mustangis say that it has become a business to take women by getting a paper marriage. After entering Europe, the trend of Tibetan refugees has also increased. As young people have started earning good income abroad, their parents have stopped doing business.

When young people go abroad, there is a shortage of workers in the village. Now, in the winter, people go to Upper Mustang from Rukum and Rolpa to do construction and maintain cattle sheds and return after earning. Pema Angyal, ward chairman of Lomanthang-1 Choser, also resigned six months ago and went to France. Acting ward chairman Pema Tshiring has been managing the ward even in the winter. ‘The economic situation, where farming could not last even for six months before, has now changed,’ he said. ‘Due to the remittances sent by the youth, the people of Upper Mustang are becoming prosperous. There is no one who cannot afford to eat.’

After the customs office opened at the Korola checkpoint, employment opportunities have been created in the village. Many opportunities have been created such as driving trucks, loading and unloading goods, and working in hotels and guesthouses. They earn 4-5 thousand rupees a day. This has increased the activity for the time being, but due to the lack of youth, the nomadic life is also decreasing.

According to Lomanthang Rural Municipality Chairman Tasi Nharbu Gurung, last year at this time, the number of people who came down to the valley reached 90 percent. However, now only 50 percent have left the village. ‘The Korola checkpoint has brought life back to the village,’ he says, ‘Earlier, they had to come down out of compulsion. Now there is an option.’ However, he estimates that 90 percent of the local population will come down to the city during the extreme cold of Poush-Magh. Lomanthang has 520 households and a population of 1,899.

Since the service recipients are in the city during winter, the rural municipality operates a nomadic service in Pokhara and Kathmandu. He says, ‘There is no need to come up just to get a recommendation. We come down and provide services.’ Health workers and security personnel, however, live in the village. The Armed Police Force and Nepal Police stay at the Nechung customs post at the Korola checkpoint for 12 months. Police are also deployed at the police posts of Lomanthang, Thingar, Ghami, and Charang.

Chairman Gurung has an experience that it is less cold in Upper Mustang than before. ‘In the first month of Mangsir, there used to be 4-5 feet of snow,’ he said, ‘It has been 4-5 years since there was heavy snow. It is difficult to say whether this is good or bad. When the cold is less, it is easier to live. However, when the snow is less, it affects farming. Water sources dry up.’ When there is heavy snow, electricity poles fall. Communication and transportation are disrupted.

Mustangis who have come to the city gather in their community houses and celebrate the Sonam Lhochhar festival that falls in Magh for a week. In this way, they keep their culture and traditions alive even while living in the city. The lamas of the 8 legendary monasteries in Lomanthang and Lo-Ghekar also go to the Namgyal Monastery, Hemja, and Dulegonda monasteries in Pokhara to escape the winter. Only a few Lamas live up there to build a monastery.