Nepalese villagers flow into new settlement after water dries up
Advertisement
Perched in a wind-carved valley in
Nepal 's Upper Mustang, more than 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) above sea level, the Buddhist village lived by slow, deliberate rhythms – herding yaks and sheep and harvesting barley under sheer ochre cliffs honeycombed with 'sky caves' – 2,000-year-old chambers used for ancestral burials, meditation and shelter.
Then the water dried up. Snow-capped mountains turned brown and barren as, year after year, snowfall declined. Springs and canals vanished and when it did rain, the water came all at once, flooding fields and melting away the mud homes.
Families left one by one, leaving the skeletal remains of a community transformed by climate change: crumbling mud homes, cracked terraces and unkempt shrines.
The abandoned village of Samjung, with ancient caves carved in the cliffs in the background. Photo: AP
The Hindu Kush and Himalayan mountain regions – stretching from
Afghanistan to
Myanmar – hold more ice than anywhere else outside the Arctic and Antarctic.
Advertisement
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
From China to Spain, heatwaves all around the world
Monthly temperature records have been broken across Morocco, sometimes topping seasonal norms by... Monthly temperature records have been broken across Morocco, sometimes topping seasonal norms by as much as 20... share
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Nepalese villagers flow into new settlement after water dries up
The Himalayan village of Samjung did not die in a day. Advertisement Perched in a wind-carved valley in Nepal 's Upper Mustang, more than 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) above sea level, the Buddhist village lived by slow, deliberate rhythms – herding yaks and sheep and harvesting barley under sheer ochre cliffs honeycombed with 'sky caves' – 2,000-year-old chambers used for ancestral burials, meditation and shelter. Then the water dried up. Snow-capped mountains turned brown and barren as, year after year, snowfall declined. Springs and canals vanished and when it did rain, the water came all at once, flooding fields and melting away the mud homes. Families left one by one, leaving the skeletal remains of a community transformed by climate change: crumbling mud homes, cracked terraces and unkempt shrines. The abandoned village of Samjung, with ancient caves carved in the cliffs in the background. Photo: AP The Hindu Kush and Himalayan mountain regions – stretching from Afghanistan to Myanmar – hold more ice than anywhere else outside the Arctic and Antarctic. Advertisement
The Standard
4 days ago
- The Standard
Spring pollen hit 'extreme' levels in Europe: EU monitor
A honeybee collects pollen on a blooming coneflower (echinacea purpurea) in Ludwigsburg, southwestern Germany, on July 1, 2025. An early summer heatwave spreads into parts of northern Europe less accustomed to such extremes. Withering conditions that have baked southern Europe for days crept northward, shutting some schools and daycare centres in France and the Netherlands, and sparking health warnings. (Photo by THOMAS KIENZLE / AFP)
