![on top of the world](https://cdn.magzter.com/1450523306/1719899957/articles/aX-J4E8M61722423850786/ON-TOP-OF-THE-WORLD.jpg)
a fierce diurnal wind is gusting up the Kali Gandaki valley in Mustang, an isolated region in central Nepal, suffusing the austere terrain with drama and motion. It whips the thousands of prayer flags into a frenzy and relieves unsuspecting visitors of their hats. The powerful wind is the breath of this land; its heart is the Kali Gandaki, the river that originates in the north, near the Tibetan border, and empties into the Ganges. Over centuries the wind and the river have carved this gorge out of the Annapurna range, part of a 500-mile band that contains some of the Himalayas' proudest peaks. But all are dwarfed by a single form looming 23,000 feet above, somehow both near and far: the triple-peaked, snowcapped Nilgiri Himal, which keeps watch over its dominion below.
I am struggling to make headway down a slope amid the feral gale. Abhishek Thakali, my guide and butler from Shinta Mani Mustang, a newly reimagined resort in the Nepali highlands, laughs at me. "Welcome to the windy valley, Ong Chandrahas," he says.
This is the gateway to the ancient "forbidden kingdom" of Mustang (pronounced "moos-taang"). It is a barren, stony, gray landscape of secrets and specificities, a consequence of its place in the rain shadow of two colossal massifs, the Annapurna and the Dhaulagiri, and its natural isolation from the rest of the world.
Denne historien er fra July - August 2024-utgaven av Condé Nast Traveler US.
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Denne historien er fra July - August 2024-utgaven av Condé Nast Traveler US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
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The Slow Road - Rather than rush from Tokyo to Kyoto by train, as most visitors to Japan do, Tom Vanderbilt chose to bike - coasting down country roads, spying snow monkeys, and refueling with hearty bowls of soba
Rather than rush from Tokyo to Kyoto by train, as most visitors to Japan do, Tom Vanderbilt chose to bike - coasting down country roads, spying snow monkeys, and refueling with hearty bowls of soba. At the peak of the day's heat, I pulled into the tiny hamlet of Hirase, in Japan's Gifu Prefecture. I'd just climbed a twisting, waterfall-lined road several thousand feet through Hakusan National Park before descending into the shimmering fantasy landscape of Shirakawa-go, an almost Tolkien-esque village (and UNESCO World Heritage Site) comprising centuries-old farmhouses with peaked thatch roofs.
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SHAILENE WOODLEY on FIJI
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easy does it
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