Karchung, who went blind of cataracts while caring for her dying husband last season, prays and weeps alone in her home. Little did she know that in less than a week from when this photo was taken, she would have her sight fully restored. See more Forbidden Faces
A quick update while I have internet access in Kathmandu:
We made it through the Mustang, and it was awesome, in the original sense of the word. Galloping through the Kaligandaki canyon on horseback, singing Nepali pop songs with a pack of monks clinging to the top of a jeep as it hurtled along rocky cliffisides, crouching in vaulted monasteries during haunting pujas… and seeing 51 blind Mustangis have their site surgically restored in a single day… these were just a few of the highlights, and I hope to be able to share more of the stories soon.
A young monk plays hackeysack outside the monastery in Lo Manthang. Next door, our clinic will screen him along with 100 other young monks, and provide medicine and vitamins.See more Forbidden Faces
I jumped on board a medevac helicopter that was picking up one of our team with a broken bone in order to shoot aerials of the vast, extraplanetary landscape and am landed in Kathmandu, where I need to make an about-face and start working on my next expedition to the Khumbu.
A man races his horse in a traditional festival in Khargbeni. Both the rider AND his steed are fed grain alcohol, and tear roaring drunk through the streets.See more Forbidden Faces
We fly out tomorrow morning, and it promises to be an incredibly interesting trip. There are experts from something like 13 countries with us, so we’ll have a wealth of different perspectives on the glacial lakes in the region. I’ll be blogging, or facilitating blogging, every day, and you can follow it at:
Otherwise, if you’re interested in seeing the Forbidden Kingdom for yourself, I’ve just finished putting together a new album on flickr:
I’ll have a second album, focused on the eye camp, up today with luck!
Daniel Byers is an expedition photographer and filmmaker, as well as an experienced climber, mountaineer, and diver. He has worked for National Geographic, the BBC, and USAID, crossing many of the world's extreme landscapes in an effort to tell stories that need to be told.
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