Nekor is the story of an unlikely pilgrimage. Four friends set out to ride the ardous track that surrounds the "Kawa Kharpo", one of the eight holy mountains in Tibet. Tens of thousands have visited the holy sites along the Pilger Route, some hike the path surrounding the peak. Even fewer bring a bike.
One of the most fascinating trekking regions in China lies between the Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Tibet: the mountain mass Kawa Karpo. This mountain range with its 6740m high peak is considered holy by Buddhists. The main summit is still unclimbed. A pilgrimage path leads around the mountain. This path around Kawa Karpo is surely one of the most interesting and impressive nature paths on earth. It leads through untouched forests, across more than 15000 ft / 4500m high mountain passes and through a deep valley with ferocious mountain rivers.
No one was able to tell us whether you could bike the path. We went off on a pilgrimage to the foot of the mountain, an internationally cast team of four. We spent six days on the path, often in complete solitude. We were able to experience one of our most fascinating bike trips, completely cut off from any communication with the outside world.
The friendly, open way in which we were greeted by the Tibetans despite our unusual mode of transportation for the region, impressed us. Living minimally left us feeling calm and happy and we hope that feeling will stay with us for a long time.
Tibetans use the term nékor for pilgrimage. The né is a sacred or holy site/object and is credited with the ability to transform those that circumambulate it.
Riders: Gerhard Czerner, Kevin Tews, You Terryn, Arsenal Zeng
Photographs: Martin Bissig
Film: Sebastian Doerk
37 Comments
That quote really stood out to me - sort of summed up mountain biking (and outdoor adventure) for me.
Great filming & editing; I didn't even shake the mouse once to see how much time was left! Looked like quite the awesome adventure, and thank you for sharing
Printed on them are buddhist mantras, sutras and prayers, traditionally by woodblock printing. These prayers are carried into the world by the wind and rain, bringing benefits and happiness to those touched by them.
Prayer flags come in five colours: Yellow, green red, white and blue, always in exactly this order and always in sets of multiples of 5. The colours represent the elements from which everything is made:
Blue – Space
White – Air
Red – Fire
Green – Water
Yellow – Earth
(in another interpretation the meanings of white and green are swapped)
By putting up prayer flags one can gain merits for the next life. The motivation why they are put up influences the strength of prayers and the virtue generated: putting them up merely to gain merits will, as an egocentric motivation, not generate much virtue. Putting them up for the benefit and happiness of all beings will give them a greater strength.
The origin of prayer flags dates back thousands of years, to the ancient Bön in Tibet, who used coloured pieces of cloth in healing ceremonies." (Himalayan Footsteps)
For some reason it seems like the locals and place aren't being respected. Terrific terrain but theres a weird tension in the video that I can't put my finger on.
Hope I'm just seeing things. Have at the downvotes.
The other side is all we see are bikes and amazing vistas but there was some person wielding the cameras and composing and pre-hiking everything? Tons of work and thinking on your feet in difficult circumstances. Hats off to them.
The thing I'm bothered buy looks like it was intentional composition, like a deliberate ugly American style tourist director. A southern American racist visiting African villages. I remember reading an article about "things not to do" if you want to be accepted when travelling and just like "using left hand" is bad in some cultures, "pointing" is really crass in others (or most). The scene where the bowl is passed over the stove, the healthy young receiving dude isn't reaching far enough, looks disrespectful to that wizened cook.
Definite lack of humility projected in this video, at least its what I see. I keep watching it and cringing, and it looks like it was edited this way intentionally which makes me sad.
Great and emotionally awesome edit! Thanks for making it.
I had a friend that was a painter. He was working really hard on a picture. Another friend comes in and says: Whoa! Nice Duck! Duck? What duck? The painter had inadvertently put a perfect contrasted duck into his picture. Once seen you couldn't unsee it, he had to fix the picture, disappear that damned duck.
I lived and helped with some remote projects in the region. Paid for some kids to go through school and college. Something in a few of the sequences that rubbed me the wrong way here. Not often I think of leninist propaganda when I watch a video. Could have been accidents, unlucky shots, ducks. I don't normally respond this way to pinkbike vids. Example rememeber "The Trail To Kazbegi" which is sorta similar trip and more commercial but came away kinder and more humble.
Probably I'm over-bombarded with media and lashing out. And I am an ugly american so its sort of my job to wear loud shirts and holler about stuff.