Departures by plane seem to suck some of the magic out of tangible travel but they do usher in other spaces and ways of life in a rush and blast. Today departing to Peru with a similar minded crew to film and breath in portions of the network of roads and pathways that scurry through the Andes known collectively as the Qhapaq Nan, and more specifically in cases, the Inca Road.
Mountains matter….the world over, they matter. And so too the life within and upon them.
So much of the route runs a similar thread to the beloved Tea Horse Road through the Himalayas. An epic route through the sky that sought to humanize some of the most magnificent and tortured spaces, and of course the fact that both have a stimulant leaf woven in: in the Himalayas it was tea, upon the Qhapaq Nan, it is Coca. These routes were specialists in linking, binding, and accessing (and in many cases subjugating) others. Mountains provide the motivation and the inspiration
We seek too, to link the mountain tale-tellers into this narrative for, like mountains and remote landscapes throughout the world, the power and patience of the oral narrative is vital. Without the tellers and the time to take them in, things and ways are lost.
One of the treats will be serving teas to elders as a form of tribute to them with an old pot of mine from Taiwan.
Back in mid-May with updates on where and when to view the result. It is part of our project “In From the Outpost with Jeff Fuchs” focusing on story-tellers, the environment and of course why mountains matter.
About JeffFuchs
Bio
Having lived for most of the past decade in Asia, Fuchs’ work has centered on indigenous mountain cultures, oral histories with an obsessive interest in tea. His photos and stories have appeared on three continents in award-winning publications Kyoto Journal, TRVL, and Outpost Magazine, as well as The Spanish Expedition Society, The Earth, Silkroad Foundation, The China Post Newspaper, The Toronto Star, The South China Morning Post and Traveler amongst others. Various pieces of his work are part of private collections in Europe, North America and Asia and he serves as the Asian Editor at Large for Canada’s award-winning Outpost magazine.
Fuchs is the Wild China Explorer of the Year for 2011 for sustainable exploration of the Himalayan Trade Routes. He recently completed a month long expedition a previously undocumented ancient nomadic salt route at 4,000 metres becoming the first westerner to travel the Tsa’lam ‘salt road’ through Qinghai.
Fuchs has written on indigenous perspectives for UNESCO, and has having consulted for National Geographic. Fuchs is a member of the fabled Explorers Club, which supports sustainable exploration and research.
Jeff has worked with schools and universities, giving talks on both the importance of oral traditions, tea and mountain cultures. He has spoken to the prestigious Spanish Geographic Society in Madrid on culture and trade through the Himalayas and his sold out talk at the Museum of Nature in Canada focused on the enduring importance of oral narratives and the Himalayan trade routes.
His recently released book ‘The Ancient Tea Horse Road’ (Penguin-Viking Publishers) details his 8-month groundbreaking journey traveling and chronicling one of the world’s great trade routes, The Tea Horse Road. Fuchs is the first westerner to have completed the entire route stretching almost six thousand kilometers through the Himalayas a dozen cultures.
He makes his home in ‘Shangrila’, northwestern Yunnan upon the eastern extension of the Himalayan range where tea and mountains abound; and where he leads expeditions the award winning ‘Tea Horse Road Journey’ with Wild China along portions of the Ancient Tea Horse Road.
To keep fueled up for life Fuchs co-founded JalamTeas which keeps him deep in the green while high in the hills.
