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IF ONE THING SETS FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS APART FROM ALL OTHER HIGH ALTITUDE CLIMBING COMPANIES, IT IS THE TIME WE SPEND AMONGST NOMADIC PEOPLE, RIGHT ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN RANGES OF TIBET, XINJIANG AND THE GOBI. ON OUR TRIPS, ENGAGING WITH PEOPLE WHO LIVE NOMADIC LIFESTYLES OF FOLLOWING THEIR HERDS IS A REGULAR THING, AS WE PASS THROUGH AREAS WHERE THIS IS THE HISTORY.

WE SEE THIS AS A CENTRAL PART OF WHAT WE DO, WHERE ENCOUNTERING NOMADS IS PART OF HEALTHY WILDERNESS, THAT SYMBIOTICLY INCLUDES PEOPLE WHOSE TRADITIONS ARE PART OF THE LANDSCAPE. THIS IS NOT AN EMPTY METAPHOR IN ANYWAY, AS THE MILLENIA OF HERDERS MOVING THROUGH PLACES LIKE TIBET AND TURKESTAN LITERALLY HAS SHAPED THE VALLEYS AND APPROACHES WE GO THROUGH.

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THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF SMALL GROUPS TAKING HERDS OF CAMELS, HORSES, SHEEP, GOATS AND YAKS BETWEEN HIGH PASTURES, MOUNTAIN PASSES AND RIVER VALLEYS CARVED THE TRAILS THAT BECAME THE ROADS MODERN CHINA IS MADE OF. WATERCOURSES OBVIOUSLY ARE CENTRAL TO THE NOMADIC LIFE AND THE LIFE ALONG THEM IS USUALLY OUR APPROACHES, A FAMOUS CASE BEING SUGHET JANGAL AT THE NORTH SIDE OF K2, WHICH HAS BEEN A NOMADIC CAMP FOR CENTURIES BEFORE YOUNGHUSBAND LET ALONE GERLINDE KALTENBUNNER SHOWED UP.

THE PLACES WE CLIMB IN ARE POPULATED, AND WHEN WE REFER TO THEM AS ‘WILDERNESS’ THAT HAS NO CONNOTATIONS OF BEING EMPTY. EVEN THE MOST INHOSPITABLE PLACES – SUCH AS AKSAI CHIN WHERE THE RIVERS ARE SODA – NOMADIC PEOPLE TRAVEL THROUGH AND INCLUDE THEM IN THEIR WORLD VIEW. IT’S NOT UNCOMMON FOR US TO INTERACT WITH THE NOMADS OF SOME REGIONS TO WORK OUT IF AND HOW WE CAN TRAVEL THROUGH IT – ALWAYS AN INTERESTING EXERCISE JUGGLING MULTIPLE LANGUAGES.

AT TIMES WE EMPLOY NOMADIC PEOPLE, WHO OFTEN HAVE TRADITIONS OF PORTERING AND WHICH IS ONE OF THE FEW WAYS ALIEN OUTSIDERS FIT INTO THEIR WORLD. WE SEE THIS AS HEALTHY INTERACTION THAT SETS A GOOD DISCOURSE BETWEEN OUR UNIMAGINABLY DIFFERENT CULTURES, AND FAR FROM EXPLOITING LOCALS. A FEW DAYS WITH NOMADIC PEOPLE IS AN EXPONENTIAL LEARNING CURVE ON MOUNTAIN LIVING, AND QUICKLY DISPELS ANY STEREOTYPES AND PREJUDICES. IN SOME AREAS LIKE NORTH EASTERN TIBET AND FAR WESTERN XINJIANG NOMADS HAVE BEEN PART OF THE TRADE ROUTES FOR TWO THOUSAND YEARS, AND KNOW WHAT THEY HAVE AND HOW TO DO IT.

THERE IS NO STEREOTYPE OF ‘NOMAD’, WITH A DIVERSE ARRAY OF ETHNICITIES AND LIFESTYLES THAT COME UNDER THE TERM. MODERN HISTORY HAS BEEN COMPLEX FOR THESE PEOPLE, AT TIMES BEING SUBJUGATED AND AT OTHERS IMMENSELY POWERFUL, RESULTING IN LARGE SOCIETIES THAT HAVE COLOURFUL BACKGROUNDS. NOMADS IN CHINA ARE PART OF SOCIETY’S FABRIC, BEING A FUNDAMENTAL OF 3000 YEARS OF HISTORY. HEAVY HANDED GOVERNMENTS HAVE ALWAYS TRIED WAYS TO INTERACT, RANGING FROM FORCED COLLECTIVIZATION AND RELIGIOUS COERCION TO ENLISTING THEM AS MERCENARIES, IGNORING THEM AND PUTTING INTO OFFICE.

NOMADS ARE CERTAINLY NOT ‘PRIMITIVE’ PEOPLE, WITH MOST CHOOSING THEIR LIFESTYLE. MANY GO AWAY TO SCHOOL AND WORK THEN RETURN TO THE WAY OF LIFE FULLY AWARE OF WHAT GOES IN THE BIG CITIES, SOME HAVE URBAN LIVES THAT THEY SUSPEND PART OF THE YEAR TO LIVE WITH THE HERDS, AND MOST THESE DAYS PLAY A PART IN THE INDUSTRIES PROVIDING ANIMAL PRODUCTS AND WILD HERBS TO ALL CHINA – SOMETHING SO LUCRATIVE IS CAUSE PROBLEMS WITH EDUCATION AND BANKING.

TODAY, NOMADS ARE SEEN AS A SOCIAL STRATUM, WHO OCCUPY AND MAINTAIN MARGINAL REGIONS WITH A FORM OF INDUSTRY, BUT WHO ALSO NEED INTERVENTION WITH THINGS LIKE EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE AND ECONOMICS. SURPRISINGLY SOME NOMADIC GROUPS HAVE AMASSED SUBSTANTIAL WEALTH WITH THROUGH INTERMARRIAGE, HERDING, MEDICINE GATHERING AND TOURISM – THINGS REQUIRING MODERNITY TO HELP MANAGE.

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ON OUR TRIPS WE USUALLY ENCOUNTER NOMADIC FAMILIES AND LONE HERDERS WHO ARE MOVING THROUGH THE VALLEYS THAT LINK THE SEASONAL PASTURES TO SEASONAL HOMES. VERY FEW NOMADS ARE TRULY WANDERING, MOST HAVE SEASONAL HOMES, AND IN SOME AREAS POPULATIONS BALLOON AT TIMES OF YEAR WHEN THE NOMADS ARRIVE FOR PROLONGED STAYS. WITH THIS GOES FESTIVALS AND STREET LIFE, AND THE MASSIVE MARKETS THAT EXCHANGE ANIMALS, HERBS AND STAPLES. SOMETIMES THE NOMADS WE MEET ARE RUSHING DOWN TO THEIR SEASON PASTURES ALONG RIVER VALLEYS TO MEET FAMILY, AS THIS IS WHEN WEDDINGS TAKE PLACE.

WE TAKE A VERY CLEAR STANCE IN ENGAGING WITH NOMADIC PEOPLE, FULLY AWARE WHAT WE CALL WILDERNESS THEY CALL HOME AND WE ARE STANDING IN THEIR YARD. HOW THIS FITS INTO THEIR CULTURES IS EVER CHANGING AND COMPLICATED, AND VARIES MASSIVELY BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT TRIBES. BETWEEN THE SUPER-TRIBES LIKE THE KHAMPA TIBETANS AND THE PAMIRI KYRGYZ THERE ARE DOZENS OF SMALLER ETHNIC GROUPS, EACH WITH THEIR OWN RELIGION, LANGUAGE, RESOURCES AND RANGE, AND DECADES IN THESE AREAS HAS GIVEN US GLIMPSES INTO INTELLIGENT INTERACTION.

IT IS NOT FOR US TO IMPOSE ALIEN DEMANDS ON ANY NOMADIC PEOPLE, WHICH INCLUDES TREATING THEM AS A ZOO. THEY HAVE NO NEED FOR THE CRAP FROM OUR WORLD IN THEIRS, AND NEVER ASK FOR IT, AND WE CONSIDER IT IGNORANCE TO ASSOCIATE THE NOMADIC LIFESTYLE AS POVERTY NEEDING OUR SAVING. WHILST IT IS NOT AN EASY WAY OF LIFE BY ANY STANDARD, ESPECIALLY THAT OF FOREIGN CLIMBERS, MOST NOMADS IN CHINA FIGHT TO RETAIN THIS LIFE AS IT IS THEIR IDENTITY.

WE ARE VERY JUDICIOUS WITH HOW AND WHY WE ENGAGE, DIFFERENT ETHNIC GROUPS RESPONDING TO OUTSIDERS IN DIFFERENT WAYS. WHILST IT IS TRUE THAT EXTREME HOSPITALITY IS COMMON TO ALL THOSE WE MEET, THIS IS A COMPLEX THING THAT CAN BE DIFFICULT TO SQUARE WITH THE FOREIGN MINDSET. THE STEREOTYPE OF THE NOMAD SHARING THEIR LAST BIT OF BREAD IS REAL, AND HAS A SUBTLE WAY OF REFUSING THAT SETS THE BAR BETWEEN THOSE WHO KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING AND THOSE WHO DON’T. MORE COMPLEX ARE THE SOCIAL MECHANISMS WITH HAVING STRANGERS IN A LAND THE INHABITANTS ARE DEEPLY INTIMATE WITH, THAT BLEND RESPONSIBILITY, PARANOIA AND CURIOSITY WITH A HEAVY DOSE OF INCREDULITY TOWARDS WHAT THEY SEE AS WOEFULLY UNPREPARED NOVELTIES.

WITHIN CHINA’S MONOLITHIC MODERN CULTURE, NOMADS OFTEN WORRY WE WILL BE THEIR RESPONSIBILITY IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG, AND FOR PEOPLE WHO LIVE AT THE FRINGE OF SUBSISTENCE THIS ADDED PROBLEM IS VERY REAL. MOST FAMOUSLY THIS WAS ILLUSTRATED AFTER CHARLIE FOWLER DISAPPEARED, WHERE LOCALS INCLUDING THE NOMADS IN THEIR SUMMER PASTURES WERE TREATED AS SUSPICIOUS BY INVESTIGATING AUTHORITIES THAT INCLUDED LOCAL POLICE. WE WERE IN THE AREA AT THE TIME, AND AS THINGS PLAYED OUT LEARNED A MULTITUDE OF LESSONS, ABOUT HOW TO CONDUCT OURSELVES IN PLACES WHERE THINGS ARE CULTURALLY SENSITIVE.

TO STUMBLE INTO THE HOMELANDS OF NOMADIC PEOPLE WITHOUT A PERSPECTIVE WE CONSIDER IGNORANCE, AND PLACE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF INTERACTING WITH WHO LIVES OUT THERE FIRMLY WITH OURSELVES. OF COURSE THE SPECTRUM OF PLACES WE CLIMB MEANS WE CANNOT BE EXPERTS IN ALL THE TRIBAL GROUPS, LANGUAGES AND CULTURES WE ENCOUNTER – BUT WE CAN ARRIVE WITH A FUNCTIONAL ABILITY TO NOT BE COMPLETELY UNKNOWING, OR WORSE, DISMISSIVE.

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WE ARE PROUD THAT WE GET TO INTERACT IN HEALTHY WAYS WITH SOME OF THE LAST NOMADIC PEOPLE, AND TAKE IT AS A RESPONSIBILITY AS WELL AS A CONNECTION ALMOST NO OTHER COMPANY DOING THIS HAS. THE HERDERS THAT WE EMPLOY TO PORTAGE SUPPLIES INTO TIBET AND THE NORTH SIDES OF K2 AND ELSEWHERE ARE NOT TOURISM, BUT REAL WORKING LOCALS WHO KEEP ALIVE TRADITIONS THAT DIED OUT LONG AGO ELSEWHERE. THESE NOMAD GROUPS ONCE CONNECTED RIGHT ACROSS FROM ANATOLIA TO THE YELLOW RIVER AND NORTH INTO SIBERIA AS A VAST MEGACULTURE OF HUMANITY, AND THAT WE CAN WORK IN WITH THEM IS A UNIQUE WAY TO GOOD WITH OUR EXPEDITIONS.

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