ABSTRACT
On the wall of a rebuilt shepherd’s shelter at the end of a remote Himalayan valley there is a trilingual signboard reading ‘Karnali Gramin Trade Concern’. The signboard in English, Chinese, and Nepali belongs to a little shop that sells Chinese goods – batteries, beer, shoes, jackets, cigarettes, rice, flour, pots, etc. The shop is located at about 4,000 meters above sea level at the upper tip of the Limi valley in the district of Humla, Western Nepal. The place is called Tugling. The nearest airfield is several days’ walk away. From November to May, the area is cut off from the rest of Humla. However, the Chinese border is close and a new road connects Tugling to Tibet.
