The Yak Caravans: Nepal's High-Altitude Trade Routes

Before the roads, before the airstrips, Nepal's economy moved on the backs of yaks. In this episode, Lucas and Luna trace the ancient salt-and-grain trade that connected the Tibetan plateau to the Kathmandu Valley. They follow the caravans through the Kali Gandaki gorge, past the walled city of Lo Manthang, and into the bazaars of Kuti and Kyerong, where Newar merchants haggled with Tibetan drovers. Along the way, they meet the Thakali, the entrepreneurial middlemen who turned a windswept valley into a trading empire, and hear how the 'salt war' of the 1850s nearly brought Nepal and Tibet to blows. With tales of yak trains, trans-Himalayan marriages, and a king who taxed every load, this episode reveals the hidden infrastructure that held the Himalayan world together for centuries.

#History #FexingoHistory #Nepal #Tibet #Himalayas #YakCaravan #KaliGandaki #LoManthang #Mustang #Thakali #Newar #SaltTrade #TransHimalayan #NepalTibetWar #1856 #KathmanduValley #SaltWar #TradeRoutes

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