Читать книгу Abode of the Gods - Kev Reynolds - Страница 5

THE EARTH MOVED

At around midday on Saturday 25 April 2015 Nepal was shaken by an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale. Just over two weeks later, a second major quake rocked the country, adding to the devastation wrought by the first.

In the Kathmandu Valley ancient buildings classified as Unesco World Heritage Sites – some that had fallen victim to an earlier earthquake in 1934 but had been painstakingly rebuilt – crumbled into heaps of rubble. Houses, hotels, restaurants and shops collapsed, trapping many people inside.

North and west of the capital the epicentre of the first quake sent out waves of destruction, releasing avalanches of snow, ice and rock onto unsuspecting villages. Communities that for decades had captivated newcomers to Nepal with their groups of thatched cottages strung along foothill ridges like those of Helambu, fell into ruin, while others were carried away by landslide.

The village of Langtang was overwhelmed by an avalanche released from Langtang Lirung, burying its houses, trekkers’ lodges and their occupants – locals and visiting trekkers alike. A similar fate happened to Thame in the Bhote Kosi Valley, childhood home of Sherpa Norgay Tenzing, first man on Everest’s summit in 1953 along with Ed Hillary. Everest Base Camp was flattened by avalanche debris swept from the headwall of the Khumbu Valley, causing many deaths among climbers and Sherpas.

A number of remote villages described in this book will have changed for ever; some have disappeared completely. And who knows how many of the Sherpas, porters and lodge keepers who add the human touch to stories in the following pages have fallen victim to the day the earth moved?

In the 1934 earthquake, some 17,000 Nepalis lost their lives. It will be months (maybe years) before the full human cost of these latest tragedies are known. But long after the horrors of 25 April and 12 May 2015 have been forgotten by the world’s media, Nepal will still be coming to terms with their aftermath.

Fortunately, the Nepali people are nothing if not resilient. They will rebuild their homes and their lives, and their smiles will once again greet visiting trekkers and mountaineers with the same genuine warmth that has become their trademark. Please support them by trekking their trails, climbing their mountains to provide employment and feed the local economy.

Earnings from sales of this book will go towards supporting the work of Community Action Nepal, which has spent more than 20 years improving the living conditions of remote mountain communities of this beautiful country. So thank you for buying a copy and thereby adding to that support. Dhanyabaad.

Visit www.canepal.org.uk or contact Community Action Nepal, Stewart Hill Cottage, Hesket Newmarket, Wigton, Cumbria CA7 8HX