写真

Another shot from the Annapurna Circuit. This was not one of my favorite photos, but after some cropping and some adjustments, I kind of like it, showing here, that some do in fact get to ride. Certainly the pack mules far outnumber the horses in this area, but the horse culture is alive and well here, and it seems to me that those that do ride, do so with zeal. The riding style seems slightly different then in the west, and the horses are small, perhaps similar to in Mongolia?

The road here is in fact part of the treking trail, and you can see the trekers in the distance. Some days the trekers had to make do with hiking on such a road......not a desirable situation for the purest treker. They are slowly trying to push a road in, although it perhaps may never go completely around. They are working on it in isolated sections, a lot of it by manual labor, providing some employment for the locals, albeit very difficult. Then through blasting the very hard and sometimes overhanging sections, I guess they can eventually be all connected. Obviously this will have some positive and negative affects as the area becomes accessible by trucks etc. It will be easier to bring in supplies, but it could ultimately change the way of life up here. And there are some fears among the local guest house owners for example, that the many trekers of today, will go elsewhere, although there is talk of an alternate trail route, perhaps on opposite sides of the canyon.

Techniquely this is not one of my best. The light was seldom good for us, due to a 6 month drought that brought systemic haze to India and Nepal. This one was shot at 400 iso