Records & People

The Himalayan Salt Trade That Inspired an Oscar-Nominated Film — and Nearly Vanished

For over a century, Dolpo's yak caravans crossed 5,500-metre passes to trade grain for Tibetan salt. A 1959 border closure — and a film crew —…

By Laxman Rawal · Jul 20, 2026

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In 1999, a French-Nepali film crew spent nine months at altitudes most film productions would refuse to insure, filming real village chiefs, lamas and herders instead of actors, to document something that was already disappearing: a yak caravan crossing…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

What this means for trekkers

What this means for you The commercial caravan trade is effectively gone, but the villages, passes and valleys it ran through haven't changed as much as the economics have. Upper Dolpo, Lower Dolpo and the Limi Valley — reached by our multi-week treks into…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

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