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Program 1 A FRAGILE HERITAGE It's the greatest mountain range on earth. Stretching for 1700 miles, containing the world's highest peaks, created as the Indian sub-continent ground into Asia. But it is not all snow covered peaks - there are also sub-tropical jungles, forests and hidden valleys, creating a home for a wealth of wildlife and peoples. The natives believe the Himalayas are the abode of the gods. Among these ancient and isolated peoples, religion-- primarily Buddhism and Hinduism-- is a potent and unifying force. Buddha preached a simple life of kindness, truth and brotherhood. Life in this view carries no pressure or stress because it is but one of many rebirths. Thus, time as we know it in the West is truly transformed. It is this concept of time that perhaps best defines the Himalayan cultures. |
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Program 2 THE DIFFERENT WORLDS OF THE HIMALAYAS The Himalayas' towering walls symbolize to the dwellers here their most cherished values: endurance, silent strength, quiet nobility. Nowhere is the spirit of the Himalayas more alive than in the people of the Northern plateau, in the Land of Tibet. We travel among these people wrought by earth and tested by time, in "the land of the lamas". |
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Program 3 INTO THIN AIR Hindus and Buddhists believe that the great Himalayan peaks are the abodes of the gods and climbers scale these sacred places at their peril. Reinhold Messner, the first man to climb Everest without oxygen graphically describes the effects of high altitude climbing in the "death zone". More than 1000 Himalayan peaks are higher than 20,000 feet. We will witness what can happen in The Death Zone. One can suddenly surrender to altitude sickness, fluid that rapidly surrounds the brain, causing loss of sight, balance and ability to reason. The severe lack of oxygen in this frozen wasteland can lead to pneumonia, strokes and death in a hundred other forms. |
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Program 4 MONSOON When the rain-heavy northerly winds from the Indian Ocean meet the barrier of the Himalayas, they pour their torrential rains on the farming plains of India - the yearly monsoon, both a saviour and a destroyer. But forest depletion in the Himalayas for fuel has led to the disastrous erosion of vital top soil. |
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Program 5 SPECIAL ANIMALS FOR A SPECIAL WORLD The musk deer and the Himalayas tahr flourish on the frozen slopes on the Nepalese side of Everest, the highest ecosystem in the world. How have they adapted to the harsh climate in their habitat of snow and ice? |
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Program 6 BHUTAN: KINGDOM IN THE SKY Known as Druk Yul, Land of the Thunder Dragon, this magnificent isolated Himalayan kingdom has very carefully preserved its culture and environment over the centuries. Northern Bhutan is the most undisturbed Himalayan mountain ecosystem and supports many of the animal species that are nearing extinction in other parts of the Himalayas, including the unique takin. |
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Program 7 TROPICAL VALLEYS Born of mighty geological forces some 60 million years ago, the legendary Himalayas have longed lured scientist and adventurer alike. The greater part of the Himalayas actually lies below the snow line. In the sub-tropical valleys nestled in the foothills, we will focus on the Royal Bengal tigers, the most powerful carnivores of the Himalayan tropical valleys; perfect killing machines. As adults, male tigers may lord over an area as wide as 90 square miles, which may include the home ranges of as many as seven females and their cubs. The spectre of increasing pollution silently hovers. The ancient majesty of these noble mountains will most certainly prevail, but what of its people, plants, and wildlife? |
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Program 8 MYSTERIES AND MYSTICISM Do the Yeti really exist? We will learn the opinions of Himalayan wildlife experts and the particular theory of Reinhold Messner with regard to this legendary creature. Ancient folklore and traditions dominate the spectacular New Year celebrations in remote Tibet. |
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Program 9 HORIZONTAL JOURNEY All the great rivers of the Himalayas have their source in the sacred mountain of Kalias, including the mighty Brahmaputra, starting on its 1800 mile journey to the Bay of Bengal. |
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Program 10 ICE ON THE MOVE Mystical, brooding, uninhabited, the upper Himalayas contain one of the world's greatest expanses of snow and ice. The massive snow and ice fields, laid down over millennia, provide a unique climactic record. Scientists are now working at dangerously high altitudes in their search for signs of change in the global climate. In the aftermath of the Gulf War, burning oilfields in Kuwait created worldwide concern about pollution in the atmosphere. We will see how a team of scientists took surface scrapings of virgin snow from high on the slopes of Everest. Preliminary on site analysis was unable to detect traces of oil residue in the samples collected above 16,000 feet. Such high altitude research creates a valuable control base for future studies in this ever-changing region. |
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Program 11 HIMALAYAN REALITIES This episode examines the economies of the region. Tourism, tea, wool and industry all compete for the limited resources and age-old ways of life are threatened. Only the creation of National Parks has saved many areas. |
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Program 12 LEGENDARY MOUNT EVEREST It has been called the "World's Third Pole". At 29,028 feet, it stands well above everything else on earth. The primordial landscape underscores man's insignificance and offers up a new perspective on planet earth. In Himalayan religions Everest is revered as the home of the gods. Buddha came to these rocks to reflect. His presence broods here still, as implacable and serene as this landscape. This wilderness is what climbers seek as a refuge from the comfort and predictability of our civilization. May 29th 1953 changed Everest forever when Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay stood on the summit. |
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Program 13 FUTURE OF THE HIMALAYAS According to Tibetan interpretation of the cosmic cycle, this is the age of Kaliyoga - the age of degeneration. Many conservationists would agree. This final episode examines the problems, both natural and man made, that are working against the Himalayas survival, and the possible answers. |
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www.brandoquilici.com - Copyright © 2002 Brando Quilici - All rights reserved | |
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