Candle Tree
Nomad Lady, Tibet - 31/08/2012
Camera Model Name: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
Tv (Shutter Speed): 1/250
Av (Aperture Value): 5.0
Metering: Evaluative Metering
ISO Speed: 200
Focal Length: 220.0 mm
|| My Website and Blog: A Gallery of Dreams.||
Tibetan nomads known as ndrogba are synonymous with the remote high elevation grasslands. Herding cattle presents them with the very basic opportunity to survive in the harsh environment.
For centuries they have developed and devised a method to live in harmony in the inhospitable terrain by using their herds. During the summer months the herds are moved long distances for grazing, while during winters some of the animals are taken in the market for selling or bartering for other essential goods.
Traditionally nomads were entirely dependent on their herds but in modern times they have become dependent on cash.
By practicing seasonal migration the nomads not only have survived to their best ability for generations but also allowed the fragile soil of the plateau to recover from one year to the other and prevent over grazing.
The yaks and mountain sheep not only provide meat and milk, but their skins are dried and used to insulate tents in which the nomads live. Dung is also dried and used to heat the tents and provide fuel for cooking, wool and fur from the animals are used for clothing.
This unique culture of over four thousand years of the nomads are being seriously challenged and stand at the risk of being wiped away by Chinese policies adopted for economic and political reasons. An estimated two million nomads and semi nomads are being forced into settlement as government is implementing 'Comfortable Housing Project' or 'CHP'. It involves so called improvements on existing plots of land or dwellings.
Many of the nomads have been forced to adapt alternate methods of living after being forced to move from their ancestral and pastoral land. Among other things many have taken up foraging for yarsta gunbu also known as yarsagumba (meaning summer grass, winter worm in Tibetan) or Caterpillar fungus (Cordyceps sinensis) used in Chinese medicines and internationally known as the 'Himalayan Viagra'. The precious fungus (costing over USD 31 per gram) forces to tread dangerous paths - along precipitous slopes, on the brink of abysses, through mountain passes over 5, 000 meters / 16, 404 ft. high, through streams that many times turn into mighty rivers during snow melts causing lose of life every single season.
Incidentally, these half caterpillar and half fungus tells a gruesome story of formation. The Cordyceps Fungal spores enters the the larva of the Ghost Moth or Ghost Swift (Hepialus humuli) and starts to eat the host alive. The vital organs are initially spared so that the caterpillar is active. In the final phase the parasite takes control of the musculoskeletal system and steers it into the desired position before death, that is a few centimeters below ground surface with the head pointing upwards. Then, the rapidly growing fungus sprout breaches the larva's head like a horn and emerges into the daylight.
Nomad Lady, Tibet - 31/08/2012
Camera Model Name: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
Tv (Shutter Speed): 1/250
Av (Aperture Value): 5.0
Metering: Evaluative Metering
ISO Speed: 200
Focal Length: 220.0 mm
|| My Website and Blog: A Gallery of Dreams.||
Tibetan nomads known as ndrogba are synonymous with the remote high elevation grasslands. Herding cattle presents them with the very basic opportunity to survive in the harsh environment.
For centuries they have developed and devised a method to live in harmony in the inhospitable terrain by using their herds. During the summer months the herds are moved long distances for grazing, while during winters some of the animals are taken in the market for selling or bartering for other essential goods.
Traditionally nomads were entirely dependent on their herds but in modern times they have become dependent on cash.
By practicing seasonal migration the nomads not only have survived to their best ability for generations but also allowed the fragile soil of the plateau to recover from one year to the other and prevent over grazing.
The yaks and mountain sheep not only provide meat and milk, but their skins are dried and used to insulate tents in which the nomads live. Dung is also dried and used to heat the tents and provide fuel for cooking, wool and fur from the animals are used for clothing.
This unique culture of over four thousand years of the nomads are being seriously challenged and stand at the risk of being wiped away by Chinese policies adopted for economic and political reasons. An estimated two million nomads and semi nomads are being forced into settlement as government is implementing 'Comfortable Housing Project' or 'CHP'. It involves so called improvements on existing plots of land or dwellings.
Many of the nomads have been forced to adapt alternate methods of living after being forced to move from their ancestral and pastoral land. Among other things many have taken up foraging for yarsta gunbu also known as yarsagumba (meaning summer grass, winter worm in Tibetan) or Caterpillar fungus (Cordyceps sinensis) used in Chinese medicines and internationally known as the 'Himalayan Viagra'. The precious fungus (costing over USD 31 per gram) forces to tread dangerous paths - along precipitous slopes, on the brink of abysses, through mountain passes over 5, 000 meters / 16, 404 ft. high, through streams that many times turn into mighty rivers during snow melts causing lose of life every single season.
Incidentally, these half caterpillar and half fungus tells a gruesome story of formation. The Cordyceps Fungal spores enters the the larva of the Ghost Moth or Ghost Swift (Hepialus humuli) and starts to eat the host alive. The vital organs are initially spared so that the caterpillar is active. In the final phase the parasite takes control of the musculoskeletal system and steers it into the desired position before death, that is a few centimeters below ground surface with the head pointing upwards. Then, the rapidly growing fungus sprout breaches the larva's head like a horn and emerges into the daylight.