Glittering seven-thousanders tower into the sky, in the wind fluttering prayer flags, Yaks graze on green pastures: the photographer Enno Kapitza and the author Titus Arnu walked together for four weeks through the Tsum Valley in the Himalayas. The result is the illustrated book "Tsum luck, a remote valley in the Himalayas".

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Titus Arnu (Author), Enno Kapitza (Photographer):
Tsum luck

A remote valley in the Himalayas

Sieveking Verlag; 240 pages, 55 euros

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For a week, the men needed to reach their destination on foot. Surefootedness, a good condition and a head for heights is a prerequisite to get along dangerous gorges in the valley. There is no road. For a long time the region was restricted area, since 2007 tourists are allowed to visit it. But still few come, around hundred humans per season by the landscape, which is called also "valley of the luck".

The area is located in the northern Gorkha district of Nepal, in the north it borders the Tibet Autonomous Region, in the south, the valley opens into the Nepalese Mittelland, along the river Shar.

Three mountain passes allow for a border crossing, only two of them are used: the Thapla Pass at over 5,000 meters and the Monla Dachen, which leads to Tibet and allows the locals to visit Chinese markets.

In the valley live about 2500 inhabitants, the Tsumpas, who speak a Tibetan dialect. They are spread over 19 villages at heights of 2200 to 3400 meters. The green plateaus on which they live are surrounded by snow-capped mountains up to 7000 meters high.

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15 pictures

Framed by Seven-thousanders: The Tsum Valley in Nepal

Kapitza's photos show women doing hard field work, grain is harvested and threshed by hand; Men driving yaks and domestic cattle from meadow to meadow; Children with flushed cheeks on the way to school; Nuns who had to flee Tibet and can practice their faith undisturbed in the valley.

Over a hundred rare species of birds and more than 30 mammal species live in the area, all under protection. Blue sheep, pandas and jackals can live there undisturbed. They are not threatened by humans. Because hunting and fishing is forbidden here, even taking honey from bees is not welcomed. People are vegetarianized by what they find and grow - and what they get through trade.

The education level is low, people are very poor and need to work hard. Avalanches, earthquakes, floods and long, cold winters threaten them again and again. Until a few years ago, there was no medical care and no toilets.

Even if the Tsumpas are very connected with their culture and their homeland, they would not isolate, writes the director of the branch office of the South Asia Institute of the University of Heidelberg, Nadine Plachta, in the illustrated book.

They are interested in the world and want to participate in it, do not resist changes: A road through the valley is planned, children learn English at school, more and more adults own a smartphone. Even this remote part of the earth is in a state of flux.