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Eyecatcher
"At the stern heights of the Himalaya, between historic passes and spectacular peaks, lies the great Himalayan desert. Extending from Mustang in Nepal, it includes the Indian districts of Ladakh, Lahul, Spiti and Kinnaur. This vast area of brown hills, barren, dry and dusty, is covered in snow and sand.
This is also one of the harshest regions of the world. Temperatures dip below –50 º centigrade, icy winds howl through the valleys causing ice and rock falls, illusory sounds draw the unwary to death and water is dearer than life.
But braving these adversities are the people of this desert who preserve and enrich an ancient culture. At the crossroads of various civilisations, they are a happy mixture of Indian, Tibetan, Chinese as well as Islamic and Buddhist cultures. This book studies, most sensitively, the physical, cultural and social life in the Himalayan desert, through eloquent prose and breathtaking pictures”.
Himalayan Desert, Nina Rao, Lustre Press/Roli Books, p.127, price not stated.
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