ASIAN ALPINE E-NEWS
Issue No. 39 November 2018

(Photo: Kunio Iwasaki)Contents
A special submission of Hidekazu Matsunaga“Blue Poppies in the Rain Kingdom”

1

Page 2 ～ 55

Hidekazzu Matsun
naga

Blu
ues Poppies in the Raiin King
gdom
Flow
wers of Eaast Nepall
Last year I visitted Tibet annd central N
Nepal to waatch blue pooppies, and this year I went
trekkking to the rainr
kingdoom, East Neepal to look
k for another poppy. Eaast Nepal iss only
abouut 200 km across Sik
kkim from the world's heaviest rainfall areea - MeghhalayaProvvince of Inddia, and it rainsr
12,0000 mm (12 meters) an
nnually. Theere is a burrst of
rainffalls when thet moisturee of the moonsoon, whiich is cominng up fromm the Bengal Bay
alongg the Prasm
mapura Riveer, hits the mountain clumpcof Kaanchanjungga (8,586 m),m thethirdd highest peeak in the world.
w
And it causes cliffccollapsses, floods and destrucctions
everyywhere.
Meannwhile, I have taken
n two trekkkings of Topke Go
ola - Jarggare Himall andKancchanjunga Circuit
C
baseed on Tapleejung in Northeast
N
Neepal from tthe latter haalf ofJune to the endd of July. The
T latter rroute is thee path that a Japanesee botanist Nakao
N
Sasuuke walked abouta
60 yeears ago.
Heree I introducce the flow
wers that aree bloomingg in the sm
moking rainn and someetimes
shiniing in the morningmsun in a dark rhhododendro
on forest.

1Mecoonopsis graandis
As nnamed "big"" (grand) thiis flower is one of reprresentative among neararly 80 species ofblue poppy (Meeconopsis). As
A its namee suggests, thet flower has
h a diameeter of 25 cm
m anda lenngth of 1660 cm, whiich is one of the larrgest in th
he Meconoppsis genus.. The
charaacteristic off this floweer is that leeaves separrated into three from the place wherew
floweer buds emerge, the leaves under it are mutu
ually replicaating. Also, the flower color
channges from skky blue to redr purple. (Some say
ys that like hydrangea,hit becomess blue
whenn the soil is acidic, and red if it is aalkaline, bu
ut it’s not esttablished ass solid theorry.)M. ggrandis has some varieties, such aas M. Gakydiana (form
merly M. Grrandis orien
ntalis)in thee eastern paart of Bhutaan and in thee west of ArunachalA
Prradesh of Inndia. The sp
peciescolleected in Sikkkim was firstfintroduuced to Eu
urope, which was rathher small withwadiam
meter of 10 cm
c and a lenngth of 60 ccm.
This flower wass blooming in the openn of dark rh
hododendro
on forest whhere the sunnlightwas eentering. Buut we also saw
s this typpe beside thee meadow anda the sidee of the mou
untainstreaam etc.
(Norrth of Topkee Gola alt. 3850 m)

2

Three days after I left, my father who had been bedridden passed away as if he wasgoing to see his son who took the flowers in the sky. He lived the era of Taisho, Showa,
Heisei which were turbulent time, and quietly closed his 95 years old life. Since I wasout of wired/wireless area it was after the funeral that I got in touch with the news.
While I met him before departure and said good-bye, it became a regretful parting. So I
send his this flower as my sincere condolence.
ITINERARY(1) Topke Gola - Jaljale Himal Trek
DATE

FROM

TO

6/26~30

TaplejungTopke Gola (Explore)

7/1~2

Topke Gola

Thudam South (Rest)

7/3

Thudam South

Topke Gola

7/4

Topke Gola

Doupi Kharka

7/6

Doupi Kharka

Jamle Pokhari

7/7~8

Jamle Pokhari

Tin Pokhari (Rest)

7/9

Tin Pokhari

Giddhe Danda

7/10~11

Giddhe Danda

Gufu Pokhari (Rest)

7/12

Gufu Pokhari

Taplejung(2) Kangchenjunga Circuit (Tseram – Ghunsa) Trek
DATE

FROM

TO

7/14

TaplejungKande Bhanjyang

7/15

Kande Bhanjyang

Mamankhe

7/16

Mamankhe

Yamphudin

7/17

Yamphudin

Tortong

7/18

Tortong

Tseram7/19~20

TseramOktang (Explore)

7/21~22

Oktang

Tseram (Rest)

7/23

TseramSelele La

7/24~25

Selele La

Ghunsa (Rest)

7/26~27

GhunsaKharka (Explore)

7/28

KharkaGyabla7/29

Gyabla

Lalep

7/30

Lalep (Japan Tar)

Taplejung3(3) G
Gosainkunda (for Acclaamation)
D
DATE

FROM

TO
T

6
6/16

Kathmanndu

DhuncheD

6
6/17

Dhunche
e

Sing
S
Gompa
a

6
6/18

Sing Gom
mpa

Gosainkund
G
a

6
6/19

Gosainku
unda

Sing
S
Gompa
a

6
6/20

Sing Gom
mpa

Dhunche/D
KathmanduK

Flowwers in Toopke Golaa = Jaljal e Himal TrekT
We pplanned to go
g to Papung
g with 4 WD
D, but we didd not find a rent-a-jeeep due tomonssoon seasonn, so we hadd to walk aloong the riveer (Mewa Khola).
K
The altitude theere is
650 m and subtrropical sun shines are gglitering. Frrom the Papung leachess are emerging
fromm the dark annd wet foresst. We spentt 4 days to reachrTopkee Gola insteead of plann
ned 2
days.
Asclepias curassavicca
This floweer native to South Ameerica bloomss from lateautumn to early winteer in Japan, but in Nepaal it bloomss
in summerr. If the flow
wering factoor is not sun
nshine ortemperaturre, what is thet cause off flowering?? Did it losee
the sense ofo season duue to cominng to the norrthernhemispherre?
The back is
i a local hoouse in tin rooofing. (aalt. 700 m)

4

In Neepal, rice pllanting seasson starts froom the end of June. Wh
hen the seeddlings groww, andthe riice fields arre filled withh water, ric e planting startssin a week.
w
All fam
mily membeers
are ccoming to thhe field and planting. Inn Japan we were doingg the same w
way 60 yearrs ago.
The rrice field boorders are mademby heaaping up a lo
ot of stones, which hass been built for
hunddreds of yeaars.
I cam
mped the daay before in front of thee blue roof househvisiblle in the uppper central ofo thepictuure.
(altt. 800 m)
Carddamom (Eleettaria cardaamomum)
A ginnger compan
ny, take spicces from theeseeds for curry materials.
m
It isindisppensable forr seasoning Nepal 's
nationnal meal dālbhāt. Villaggers arecultivvating cardaamom alongg the a streamm,
and makingm
it a sourcesof caash income.

Whitee flower forresight woul
uld beAmarryllis familyy.

5(Caardamom fieeld)(Harvvesting andd Shipping)

To keeep quality better it is harvestedhinn a bunch annd shipped raw.
Afterr going past Papung, we
w finally eentered the forest zone. Under dimm forest, flo
owers
whicch like moissture shined mysterioussly.

Callanthe familly

Melaastome famiily

6Pleioone hookeriana

Primu
ula geranifollina

Cardioccrinam gigaanteum

Maiantheemum purpuureum

Accoording to thhe itinerary prepared byy the travell agency, th
he travel bettween Tuplejung
and Papung waas supposedd to arrive in one day
y by taking
g a jeep, annd that bettween
Papuung and Toppke Gola waas a day's w
walk. Howev
ver, when wew arrived, ththere was noo jeepdue tto monsoonn, so we hadd to walk forr 2 days on the river baank under thhe scorchinng sun.
Also distance beetween Papu
ung to Topkkögola is 16
6 km and alltitude differ
erence is 190
00 m,
whicch a porter who
w is supp
posed to havve fast legs cannot wallk in a day. We were forcedf
to caamp in roadsside where leeches werre attacking
g us badly.
This sloppy plann caused serrious probleems even laater, but thatt story camee later.
And it took 4 daays to arrivee at Topke G
Gola (altitud
de 3,700 m). But, theree was a rewaard.

7

8

Mecoonopsis waalliichii
Therre is a smalll khalka (pasture landd) about 3 km
k to Topokkegola. Theere were flo
owerswith wine colorr, or reddish
h-purple andd little blue color. It was Meconoppsis (blue poppypcomppanion). Too see this flo
ower was oone of my purposespof this trekkinng this timee. The
lengtth is about 160
1 cm and the diameteer of flowerr is about 15
5 cm to 20 ccm.
This flower waas named afteraNathanniel Wallichh (1786 –1
1854) who was the seecond
direcctor of the Kolkata
K
Botanic Gardenn. He colleccted blue pooppies in Neepal and sen
nt thespeciimen to Eurrope, introducing the bllue poppy forf the first timetto the academic world.
w
You can see palle yellow fllowers in thhe picture on
o the above. It looks like Mecon
nopsispanicculata, but it
i is also M.
M walliichii.. The way tot distinguissh is whethher the leaf slices
reachh to the maiin vein of th
he leaf. Thee picture beelow is M. paniculatapthhat grew neearby.
Try tto compare the shapes ofo the leavees.

9(expanded)

ke Gola, A Village
Vof Flowers
F
Topk
Therre are 13 hoouseholds ata the same height as Mt.
M Fuji, whhere they aare living byy yak
graziing. Also thhey are engaaged in transsportation businessbwitth yak as a mmain vehiclle.
We pproceeded too the north passingpundder the left sides of the escarpmenteto Thudam. Thisroutee is only ussed only by local residdents. On th
he map the route is draawn in ultraa finebrokeen lines.
(At thhe entrancee of village ini full bloom
m of yellow
w flowers su
uch as butterrcup and violet)
10The aarea aroundd Topke Golla is the cappital of M. Grandis whiich blooms w ith variou
uscolorrs.
(Around Sado PokhariP– altt. 3800 m)

11

(At thhe kharka on the way to Pansang P
Pass – alt. 4200 m)

12

(In thhe rhododenndron forestt – alt. 38500 m)

13

Com
mparing M. Grandis inn grassland and that ofo forest, th
he latter hass a large flowerfl(diam
meter 25 cmm) and a lenngth of aboout 2 m, an
nd the leavees have lesss bristles annd aresmoooth. I do not know if th
he reason iss coming fro
om simply nutritionnor variation. If
I it isclasssified as a vaariant speciies in the fut
uture, I prepaare a variatiion name foor that time as
Mecoonopsis graandis var. top
pkegorensiss since it grows in Topk
ke Gola.

14

Two boys who lived
lnext too our campiing site leadd me to thiss place. Theey were retu
urninghomee from theeir elementtary schooll (boardingg system) in
i Papung during sum
mmer
holiddays. The ellder brother was able too answer in English pro
operly thouggh not fluen
ntly.

(Leftt – Sundai age
a 11, rightt – Kaji agee 7)
Sincee our scheddule was tighht, we shorttened our tw
wo days plaan for searchhing flowerrs andrestinng in Topkee Gola in one
o day andd crossed 5012
5
m highh pass to hhead for Thudam
with dragged heeavy legs.

um nobile
Rheu
15

Annuual grasses of Rhubarb genus off Polygonacce family. It is also caalled Tall Heavy
H
Rhubbarb. I likes humidity, and growss on the soouth side off the pass w
where the fog
f ofmonssoon hits diirectly here,, so you cannnot see themm on the noorthern side as the windd getsmoisst off past thhe pass.
Therre are some ruins that havehbeen e aten and sccattered heree and there,, local people areeatinng flower buuds which are packed bby the bract.. It tastes soour, just likee sorrel.
(On tthe south slope of Panssang Banyanng, atl 5012
2m)

Panssang Banyaang Pass (alt. 5012 m)
A sim
mple pass withw merelyy one cairnn (Cholten) where only
y local peoople are croossingover.. The white road with granite stonne that a glaacier has grrinded downn for a longg timeconjuures
bonee road.
Banyyang means “under the top”, so immplies pass. Local people call it as Deurali sim
mply.
Beyoond the passs we went down to thhe bottom of the glacial valley aand on the steep
slopee. There were pale yelloow flowers on a wall ofo the end morainem(a trrace of glaciier).

16

Mecoonopsis disscigera
This flower bellongs to DiscogineDsuubgenusis whichw
is sp
pecial evenn in Mecon
nopsisgenuus. The heigght is about 40 cm in llength and thet head off the fruit iss disc shapee (seebeloww). There area M. bhuutanica in B
Bhutan, M. tibetica an
nd M. torquuata in the samegroupp.

17

Fruitt shape

Habbitat (end-m
moraine Nortth slope of PPangsang Pass)P

I hadd intended tot go to Um
mbak La to see these flowersfin moremthree ddays marchh overthe 55000 m highh pass.
When going dow
wn to the glaciergvalleey deeper, th
here were also
a blue pooppies here – M.
granddis.

You can see Um
mba ꞏ Rumbba Mountainn Glaciers ono the upperr right beyoond the U-sh
hapedvalleey. The whitte flower in the lower ccenter is Primula Obliqqua.
(alt. 4600 m)
When we arriveed at the riv
verside cam
mp and reconsidered the process fr
from now onn, werealizzed that it was imposssible to goo on schedu
ule becausee the plan was too looose I
decidded not to go
g further because I miissed the reeturn flight anda the flow
wers in bloo
om in
18

otherr places if wentw
on. I toook a rest fo
for a day theere, crossedd the pass aggain, and arrrived
at to Topke Gorra then took
k the way too Jaljale Hiimal. We marched fromm Topke Go
ora tothe wwest along the river anda stayed at Doupi Khalka
Kfor 2 nights, w
where I exp
ploredfloweers along thhe Saju Khoola. M. panicculata and M.
M grandis welcomedwmme.

Mecoonopsis panniculata
Variaation speciees with verm
million colorr. We came up along th
he river on th
the right.
(alt. 44250 m)

19

Mecoonopsis graandis
Three slender siisters. Everyy Grandis off this valley
y is pink collor.
(alt. 44000 m)
Unfoortunately I could not find Blue''s Meconop
psis walliich
hii which I looked fo
or butinsteead...

20

Mecoonopsis sin
nuate
The sstem was eaaten. The crriminal was a sheep.

21

Mecoonopsis sim
mplicifolia
The llength of thhe stem withh flower is aabout 20 cm
m, but whenn the flower becomes too fruitit exttends more than doublee.
Otheer than Mecoonopsis…..

22

Aren
naria sp.

itillaria cirrrhosa
Frit

23

Trekkking coursee of Jaljalee Himal goees around rockyr
mounntains and ponds (pokkhari)
with repeating ascentaand descent beetween 4000
0 m to 450
00 m. In thee morning (until
arounnd 10 o'clocck) weatherr is nice andd pleasant, but it is alw
ways rainy iin the afternoon.
Porteers hate rainn so that th
hey hurry too the next campcsite, whichw
makkes me left alone
behinnd of them.

Cam
mp site at Jam
mle pokharii (alt. 4200 m
m)

Going
G
on thee ridge routte. Raining underu
the cllouds.
Therre are less flowersfoth
her than prim
mula, rhododendron, lagotisland saxflaga ono thetrekkking course..

24

Rhod
dodendronn nivale at Doupi
D
Khalkka (alt. 4500
0 m)

Priimula storm
mosa at Dou
upi Khalka (alt. 4000 m)
m

25

The day before the final day of the trekking we headed to the village Sang at the footfrom Giddhe Danda. As usual the slowest porter departed first, followed by me, a guide,a porter carrying my loads, then followed by young healthy porters who put away ourtent. When arriving at the destination this order was reversed, and young porters weresetting tents there. However, on this day, as the guide hurried the way back, he had notlose his way. We noticed his mistake and returned to the original road after 1 hour. For
this reason, the caravan was divided. The sun had already sunk and the forest was
wrapped with dense darkness. My GPS was the sole reliance and it worked, so we could
reach the lodge at around 10 pm. Three porters were left behind in the forest and theyspent the night in the dark forest. Disaster in Mt. Tomuraushi crossed my head.
Fortunately, on the next day three of them arrived safely, but if it happened the worst mytrekking might have ended there.

Flowers around Kangchenjunga Trek
The eastern end of Nepal, where borders to Sikkim, is the frontier of Nepal and is quite
related to Japan. In 1912, Buddhist Bunkyo Aoki had entered this area from Sikkim towho smuggle himself in Tibet. And the Kyoto University mountaineering club (AACK)
was founded in 1931 with the aim of climbing Mt. Kabru (7338m), south ofKanchenjunga. (Although the plan was not realized due to the WWII, the team had firstclimbed Mt. Yalun Kang (8, 505 m) in May 1973) Then, in 1962 Sasuke Nakao whoheaded the Osaka Prefecture Univ. mountaineering club for climbing Mt Nuptu (6044m), stood on Nango La (4776 m) in the south, and marked that blue poppies(Meconopsis Grandis) were in full bloom and left pictures. ("Himalaya's Flower"(Mainichi Shimbun))
It is almost sixty years since my predecessors and seniors walked. I tried walking along
the path of their dreams.
When heading for Kangchenjunga, Nepali people were in the boiling water at the
football world cup games. They decorated the national flag of their supporting team andraised a banner to expressing their wishes. Football fever of Nepalese people isconsiderable.

26

A banner to su
upport Japaanese team

A jeeep driver paatronizes Freench teamThis route is a partp of Greaat Himalayaa trekking coourse across Nepal froom the east tot thewest, but the staart point is ata the small stream withh altitude off 1,500 m, aand goes thrroughthe fafarmhouse's garden, alo
ong the padddy field, an
nd inside thee corn field.. And that is also
in thee kingdom ofo LEECHE
ES.

Leeech on a tow
wel
The movement for search of its prey for blood withw shakinng its head looks someewhat
yackky-pretty. Buut if it comes to its sizze becomingg 5 ~ 10 cm
m, it is trulyy amazing! Oncesuckeed on, it woon’t leave forf a long ttime. If you
u try to forccibly get aw
way, the cheewing
moutth remains ono your skiin and makee it tickled later.
lWhenn it finishes to suck blo
ood, itfalls falling witthout any itching, butt blood willl not stop for about 2 hours, annd thesurrooundings wiill be dyed red.
r In this ttrekking I havehdonatedd a lot of bllood.
The measure is an Air Salonpas, painn relief air sole.
sBlownn away. It ffalls off insttantly
and tthere remainns no bites.
The roads wheere leeches appear arre wet andd the floweers that likke humidity
y areadvaantageous.
27

BegoniaB
picta

ChiritaC
spp.

Impaatiens familyy

Imppatiens falciifer

28

Chirita bifolia

D
Delphynium
m drepanoceentrum
Asceending to thhe Lasiya Paass at 33000 m high, we
w descended to the botttom of the river
flowiing out of thet Yalun GlacierGand w
went upstreeam of this river. Whenn exceeded 3300
m redd-wine coloored Mecon
nopsis begann to appear.

29Mecoonopsis waalliichii var.. fusco-purrpurea
This is a variantt of Mecono
opsis wallii chii seen inn Topke Golla. It is highher in length andmoree flowers than that of M.
M walliichiii in Topke Gola.
G
The ddiameter off the flower is 10 cm, thhe length is 140 - 160 cm
c (some clloses to 2 m)m
(Betw
ween Tortonng and Tserram alt. 405 0 m ~ 4100
0 m)
30

Tseraam is a smaall village withw only 4, 5 farmers grazinggyakks. The centtral square ofo thevillagge is the pllace where the yaks reest from thee pasture, and also useed for camp
p site.
For tthis reason,, there are a lot of duunks aroundd the tents. You shouldd be carefu
ul andwatch your step when you go
g to toilet at night.

We w
went upwarrd along thee side moraaine of the Yalun Glaccier. On thee way, I fou
und acolonny of M. grandis and M.
M paniculatta, which reemained afteer bloomingg on the side of a
streaam along mooraine. A co
ouple of weeeks earlier you wouldd have watchhed superb color
paterrn of yellow
w and blue.

31

Sincee side moraaine of Yalu
un Glacier iis about 20 m in height, you cannnot see the insideiof glaciers withoout climbing the moraiine. At Oxtaang, when lo
ooked downn the inside…

Is a gglacier whitte ? Certain
nly glaciers iin Switzerlaand and Alaaska are whhite, but herre it isdark due to scrraping dow
wn the mouuntains and rolling up the soil aand sand. Itt is adesollate world likel after the flood. Thee glacier flo
ows from leeft to right, bbut it is tooo slow
to seee it is flow
wing. Neverttheless, theere are roariing sound ofo the rock falls somettimes.
(The black peakk is the frontt peak of Rootong (6682
2 m), a part of Kotang (6148 m) canc beseen across the suspendedsglaciergon thhe right)
I didd not expect to find a blue poppy hhere. But I
foundd young leaaves with sm
mall bristless on sidemoraaine.
It maay be Meconnopsis, my expectationn increases.

The nnext day, I exploredethee end moraiine of a smaall glacier ono the west sside of the Yalun
Y
Glacier. I traverrsed the mid
ddle of the end morain
ne from leftt to right. O
On the top of
o the
end m
moraine theere is a smalll glacial lakke in which
h upper glaciers are flow
wing down.

32

Flow
wers duringg the Exploration
Genttian familyLookk like Gentiaana jamesii in Hokkaiddo.
Whenn rain is coming it hiddes the stammenwith cilia. (Staamen appeaars under the
sun)

33

Codoonopsis thaalictrifoliaPeddicularis klarkei

Leontopo
odium monoocephalumm

Bistortta sherei

34

Prim
mula capitaata subsp. crispata
Blue bonbon canndies are staanding arouund the sidee moraine. TheyT
are thee main charaactersof this valley aloong with Biistorta and A
Anafalis.
Cow
w and yak (and(its mixx) come frrom this hilll foot (Rammche) to thhis pasture on a
day-tto-day basiss. They nev
ver eat this flower because it has poison. Thherefore, theey areprosppering.
(Souuth of Oxtanng alt. 4650 m, Yalun G
Glacier is vissible in the back)It waas hard to findfi the bluee poppy thaat I expected
d. It started
d rain as weell. I gave up
p andtried to get backk to the tent.. When I weent down th
he end moraaine and turnn at a rock…
…..

35

Mecoonopsis horrridula
The leaves are biggerbthan M. horriduula in Tibet and Qinghaai Province,, and the brristles
are sparse. It maay be less necessarynprrotect itself from drying
g due to groowing in the rain
kingddom. I could not find anythingaelsse other thann this one.
The guide triedd to cheat me sayingg "There iss no water here, so tthat camping is
impoossible". Buut I refuted him by findding a smalll stream neearby and fforced him to set
up m
my tent. It was
w worth.
(Souuth of Oxtanng alt. 4770 m)

36

It beecame fine in the morrning whenn we left Oxtang.
O
I saaid good-byye to Kabruu andRotaang that I saw
w their who
ole features for the firstt time, and returnedr
to Tseram.

(Uppeer)
Mt. Kabru
K
is the gentle mouuntain on th
he left(the protrusion peak is Kabrru Ⅲ (7338
8 m)).
Its rig
ght is Rotonng (6682 mm). Black peeak isthe froont peak of Rotong.
Beyon
nd the rid
dgeline is India (Siikkim
provinnce).
(Left) Rotong andd its front ppeak

Afterr taking a oneo day resst in Tseramm, we crossed Sinion PassP
(4645 m), Milginn Pass(4648 m) then headedhfor Ghunsa.
G
Fromm Tseram tot Ghunsa

37

Mecoonopsis waalliichii var.. fusco-purrpurea
M. w
walliichii haad appearedd one after aanother in thet mountain road fromm Tseram tot thepass.. The cloudds buried TseramT
valleey but afterr waiting forf a while the clouds flew
awayy and rockyy peaks on the other s ide had app
peared. Flowers startedd shining ono themornning sun. Itt is a good shutter oppportunity whichw
never got in the valley bottom. I
returrned back tot the spot where thiss flower was
w bloomin
ng and presssed the caamera
shuttter.
(Norrth of Tseramm, alt. 4000
0 m)
38

Prim
mula soldan
nelloidesPrimmula sapphirina

Bothh are small flowersfwithh the diameeter less thann 1 cm. It is due to adaapting to the lowtempperature andd the strong wind blowiing throughh the pass.
(Betw
ween Sinionn Pass and Milgin
M
Passs, alt. 4600 m)mkegolensis
Sausssurea topk
This plant is likke an extratterrestrial crreature but a species ofo Asteraceaae, and it also
a iscalled fluffy sprruce. It wrap
ps its sproutt with fluff and protects it from thee cold.
As thhe name of topkegolenstsis shows, iit is a plant uniqueuto EastE Nepal.
(Wesst of Selele Pass, alt. 44
400 m)

39

Ghunnsa is the political, economic,ecultural annd religiouss center off this regio
on. Inaddittion, trekkeer lodges arre standingg like forestt trees as it is the staarting pointt (endpointt) of Kanchenjunga sightseeingg. This day I was the only guestt staying in
n thisvillagge, but the village would be full of guests ini the trekk
king season from autum
mn tosprinng.

Blue
B roof bu
uildings are lodge.
Loccal houses.
Budddhist flagss (tarcho) on therooff are flowinng with the wind.
w
Whhen the flag flows to themouuntain, it coomes fine.

Opium
m poppy planted at thee house garddenNow
w I am enterring into thee final chaptter of the trrekking. I caame here is to see whaat wasseen by Sasuke Nakao wh
ho visited N
Nango La nearly 60 yeears ago. Foor this purp
pose I
foughht leeches anda also thee guide. Reeceiving thee morning sunshines
onn my back, I left
for K
Kalka, base of Nango La.
L We oncee descended
d along Ghu
unsa Khola ddown to 320
00 m,then climbed againaalong
g the valleey. The firrst appearinng flowerss were lily
y andcamppanula whicch are usually growing in low altittude mountaains.
40

Notholirrion macrop
phylumCamp
panula palllida(Altitudde 3200 to 3400
3m)

Impatient fa
amily(Altitudee 3300 to 34400 m)

Thalictrum
m virgatum
m

41

Clim
mbing up to the rock sllide area (aalt. 3800 m ~ 4000 m)) you can l ook a sea of M.
walliiichii var. fuusco-puruprrea.

(Souuth of Kharkka alt. 4000 m)

42

When coming up
u to alt. 42
200 m, M. walliichii wasw getting fewer and gave way tot M.
panicculata. The pale-yellow
w flower is yellow forrm of M. walliichii (if names, it wouldw
be M
M. walliichiii var. lutea) and that of behind the stream is M.
M paniculatta. The direcct leftof M
M. paniculata is M. graandis (whichh extends itts stem to skys and hadd one fruit on
o itstip). A
Also M. panniculata aree standing toogether on thet upper slope.

(Souuth of Nangoo La alt. 420
00 m, Nanggo La is the right edge ofo the top leeft mountainn.)43

A bitt more upwaard ... M. walliichiiw
is a sole red onne, all otherrs are M. paaniculata.

In the forest of M.
M paniculaata there weere many M. grandis alrready finishhed with flowers.

Prof.. Nakao vissited here onn June 22, 1962. I cam
me on July 28
2 th, a monnth later, so there
was no choice evenethoughh I did not see M. graandis. But why
w did Nakakao not meention
abouut M. panicuulata and/oor M. walliiichii were blooming
b
here.
h
I guesss some reaasons.
One is that onnly M. graandis was blooming when he visitedv
heree and no other
Mecoonopsis waas not. Certtainly M. w
walliichii blooms late,, so it posssible that non M.
walliiichii was here
h when hee came. Butt what abou
ut M. panicu
ulata? Whenn I visited Topke
T
Golaa a month ago
a there blooms both M. grandiss and M. paaniculata neearby. Theree wasactuaally no M. paniculata (M. walliicchii also) here when heh visited 660 years agoo andtranssplanted lateer? Or did heh merely fforget to deescribe abou
ut M. panicculata which
h was
44

existting everyw
where becau
use he was too attracted by the charmcof bblue to see otherfloweers. My queestion is gettting deeperr.
Anyw
way here is a large communitycof three pooppies. In early July, there wou
uld beoppoortunity to see these thrree flowers aat the same time.
I climmbed 500 m up on a stteep gravel trail of thee slope to atttain Nangoo La pass. NakaoN
had ccrossed oveer the pass and headedd for Mt. Nuptu
N
to climmb to its suummit, but I had
turneed back heree.

Nango Laa (South sidee)(N
Northward))

45

Therre is a stone incense burner on the pass and paassers-by giives a pray hhere. There were
floweers under it.

Rhoddiola cretinniiThis flower is a dioecious plant.
p
Do yoou know whhich is whicch?

(Alt. 44776 m)

As thhe descendiing route is more difficcult than asscending, I had a lot off troubles ono my
way to Taplejunng such as laandslide, rooad collapsee due to floood and evenn guide’s neglect.
But fflowers hadd never betraayed me.

Spathogllottis ixioiddes

46

Cyanottis cristata

Didymoccarpus obloongus

Delpphinium sp.. (D. scabriiflorum?)47

Deccentra macrrocapnos

Unknoown (Deutziia sp.?)

48

Flow
wers in Gosainkun
Gnda
Gosaainkunda treekking is th
he best and eeasiest way
y for acclimatization. Y
You can go tot thepondd (kunda meansmpond) in 3 dayys from Kaathmandu. Trekkers
TI met there werelight-worn, so I worried that "When thhe weather changes, what
w will theey do?" (Inn suchcase there are mountainmhuts every 1 kkm, so that they may escape in). I intended too findtwo kkinds of bluue poppies in this areaa, but I had
d to return ini one day--stay at the ponddue tto my heavyy high-altitu
ude diseasee, which oncce happened
d there is noot twice. Th
hanks
to thaat, I had beeen able to su
uccessfully cross over the 5000 m pass afterw
wards.

paulensis
Mecoonopsis nap
49

This flower wass the first bllue poppy inntroduced too Europe inn 1820 by N
Nathaniel Wallich
Wof K
Kolkata Botanical Garrden. He ccollected thhis flower in Gosainnkunda withh his
emplloyee, so napaulensisnmeans Neepal. At thaat time, as the Meconnopsis cam
mbrica(Wellsh poppy) was
w known in Europe tthis flower was also classified as M
Meconopsiss as it
was tthe same yeellow floweer. If (there were no IF in history) a blue coloor poppy su
uch asM. ssimplicifoliaa were intrroduced forr the first time, it miight have nnot classified as
Mecoonopsisi and would haave other neew genus naame. Cambrrica is now out of the genusgMecoonopsis andd M. napau
ulensis becam
ame a sourcce of confussion in the nomenclatu
ure ofMecoonopsis. It has
h a strang
ge fate.
(West of GosainkundGda, alt. 4350
0 m)

M. w
walliichii waas previously seen to bbe belonged
d in M. nap
paulensis beecause the leaves
are ssimilarly deep cut. How
wever, the ffruit attachiing style and the lengthh are completely
differrent. I searcched for ano
other kind oof Meikonop
psis, M. dhw
woji, but I ccould not fin
nd it.

50

Otheer Flowers in Gosaink
kunda Trekk

Lloydiaa tibetica(East of Cholang Paati
alt. 36000 m)

Euphhorbia luteeoviridis(Eastt of Shing Gonpa
G
alt. 33500 m)

Primulaa concinna?
?
(Both: West
W of Gosaainkunda altt. 4350 m)
Primmula rotund
difolia51

Apongio
ocarpella
Purpureea
There is a purple foorm.
(East off Lauri Bannyang alt. 4100
m)

Oxyggraphis En
ndlicheri(Eastt of Lauri Banyang
B
altt.
41000 m)Gosaainkunda is the holy pllace of Hindduism. There is a big festival in JJuly, and a lot of
pilgrrims are gathhering not onlyofrom N
Nepal but allso India. Of
O course, acccommodation is
not eenough, so theytsleep withw a tent. For this reeason, theree are many fflat places along
the trrek road soo that a tentt can be sett up. Some of the pilgrrims are asccending witth theTrideent Spear whichw
is the symbol of G
God Shiva. Pilgrims are piling stonnes at the siide ofGosaainkunda onn the summiit and prayinng health annd happinesss for familyy and own.

52

I wass also prayiing for my father that "His death is peacefull and calm”” when I haad notreceiived the nottice of his death yet.
Therre are a lot of various sized pondds among th
he rocky mountains inn Gosainkun
nda. I
have heard the creationcmyth of this poond from mym guide.
A lonng time agoo, Gosainku
unda was thee huge mou
untain in Himalaya as hhigh as 10,0000
meteers. And thee Shiva god lived at thee summit. One
O day, Shiiva got smooked marijuaana
and slept comfoortably, butt when he w
woke up heh felt thirstty. He searrched waterr todrinkk around, butb he couldd not find it. His throoat dried more and moore. Shiva got
angryy and thrussted a Trident spear inn his hands on the to
op of the mmountain, thhencrashhed into pieces. There was
w no trac e on the top
p, it becamee flat. And tthere remain
neddentss in the spoot where thee spear strucck. When itt began to rainr the pitss turned outt to
be poonds. Gosaiinkunda is one
o of the poonds and th
he biggest.
Therre are mounntains exceeding 70000 m such as Langtang
g Himal andd Ganesh Himal
H
arounnd Gosainkkunda. As GosainkundaG
a is a single peak, we have fairlyy beautiful viewsvof these mountaains.

Ganeesh Himal. Last
L year I searchedsfoor flowers att the foot off this mounttain.
53

Su
ummit of Laangtang Lirrun incloudd.
And far beyond the Tibet border

Shishapanggma (alt. 8027 m) Thhe lowest am
mong the 80
000 m classs mountains.
Mt. S

54