26/10/2022
RIP dear KG Bhai. The guide among guides. A true trailblazer in Himalayan guiding in his era. You will be fondly remembered and dearly missed.
A nicely written tribute for our dear man from Tsetan by Effie Fletcher
Kaljaung Bodh, Oct. 10th, 1953 – Oct. 18, 2022
(Photo Credit: Gary K. Loth)
KG initially came across as quiet and unassuming, but as anyone who has ever trekked with him can tell you, his competence was extraordinary. After joining him for a trek through Zanskar and Ladakh in Northern India I decided that he was the best guide I had ever worked with. He told me that he knew everything about running a trekking company and I believed him.
Since then his advice has never been wrong. He told me how to find groups and group leaders, and which trails would be most popular with American travelers. When my mother trekked in Nepal, KG insisted on traveling by bus for five days so he could meet her. Over the years our friendship grew very strong and although I didn’t get to his home as often as I would have liked, I treasure my memories of staying with him and his family.
You can find their house easily because not only is theirs the highest in the village, it has a large Buddhist prayer flag outside. As you approach there is a strange attacking rooster that they keep as a pet because KG, with his Buddhist ethics, can’t bring himself to kill it. All around the house are apple orchards. In the kitchen, Paulo, his wife, cooks a nonstop parade of delicacies. We wash these down with chai tea or fresh spring water. Children, family, and friends are always coming through. The traditional style house is very comfortable and offers tremendous views of the entire Kulu valley.
KG's Tibetan name is Kalsang. However, when he went to school as a small child, an Indian teacher didn't get it right. He transliterated it into English as "Kaljaung" which is what all his official papers say. I didn’t understood why his nickname was KG and not KJ but he told me that that's what his friends called him. The most likely explanation is that G sounds like “Ji” an Indian honorific similar to “sir” which shows respect. His last name Bodh means Buddhist. When he was growing up in India, Buddhists were a very small minority compared to larger groups of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. The mountain state of Himachal Pradesh where KG and his family live was carved out of what had been the much larger state of Punjab.
Traveling with KG always meant you would have very little to worry about. His horses carried the gear, he and his staff put up our tents and cooked delicious food. KG was an excellent cook, familiar with Indian, Tibetan, and continental cuisines. His hearty breakfasts are legendary with our trekkers as is his famous homemade bread (steam baked in a pressure cooker). On the trail KG kept an eye out for everyone. He always managed to be on hand when someone started to take a wrong turn or had trouble with difficult footing.
KG’s family was originally from Tibet. Traditionally they were horse traders and had no home, just familiar migration paths that they followed year after year. In the early part of the twentieth century, the border between Tibet and India was open and traders went back and forth over the passes like the Baralacha-La (elevation 16,051). It was here that Kim's Lama (in Rudyard Kipling's book Kim) came down from Tibet as did K.G's ancestors. Even today it is a true wilderness along the five-mile-long ridge of the Baralacha-La, there are many wild animals such as Ibex, marmots, and the elusive snow c**k. At one time there were bears, wolves, and snow lions too. This was a rough place to travel and KG's Tibetan family grew famous for their strong stock of horses which stood up well to the difficulties of this high mountainous desert.
As the story was told to me, one day a government group from Shimla came through needing horses to go to Leh. The Tibetans weren't interested in selling as many as they needed, but the group was desperate and said that they would give the Tibetans as much gold as they wanted in trade. One of KG's ancestors had the foresight to realize that their days of viable nomadic travel were ending. He told the men that what they really needed was land, they could settle and call their own. From this, the Tibetans were deeded the village of Sethan. Sethan is on the very rim of the Kulu valley up at about 7,000 ft. on the way toward the Hampta Pass (14,010 ft.). From the top, there are magnificent views of the western Himalayas and the high arid terrain of Lahoul. In the summer they could graze their animals in the high pastures leading up to the pass. Lower, on Sethan side the climate is more humid and the vegetation lush. Perfect for the apple orchards that cover the hillsides from village to the main road. KG grew up in this village and was married there. As is the local custom, KG rode to meet his wife Paulo on a white horse. Together they have three children, Neelam Devi, Suman, and Sanjay.
KG was the one to inherit the family horse business. His older brother continued school and obtained a degree in English. But KG stayed closer to home, traveling with his father and the horses to bring deliveries to remote villages. I had the opportunity to meet one of KG's friends from the old days when we were on a trek in a remote valley between Manali and Dharamsala in 1991. There we stopped in a small village to visit KG's "family". Because the family was Hindu, and KG's family is Buddhist, I was curious how they could possibly be related. KG explained that “Didi” had adopted him as her "brother" many years ago as a result of help he'd given her and her husband on a difficult migration journey. KG was honored by this unusual local custom, a wonderful exception to the usual prohibitions against friendship with people of a different religion, caste, or s*x.
As we sat gathered around Didi's fire, her hands stayed constantly in motion. She was making chapatis and filling our glasses over and over with chhaang (a homemade rice beer). You could sense the bond between KG and this woman's family as the children slept peacefully and the men talked. Later that night we all went to the window and watched as the villagers carried the statue of a local goddess from her summer shrine along the cobblestone streets. An experience we most certainly would have missed if we had stayed sleeping in our tents outside the village. Often it is like this when traveling with KG, all kinds of doors open. He is well known and respected in the areas we trek, for his expertise with horses and his ability to troubleshoot in any situation.
KG started working as a horseman for the Western Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in 1974. At that time he owned about twenty small horses. Although his duties were mostly to transport goods and luggage for the climbing students, KG also learned to climb. He became comfortable with ropes and carabiners and has climbed technical peaks up to around 19,000 ft. In 1978 he became involved in Western Himalayan Holidays, an English company. He worked for them as a horseman, cook, and guide for ten years until he became affiliated with us. At that point, Himalayan High Treks was little more than a crazy dream. KG helped me make it a reality, and it is because of his kindness and knowledge that we have been running trips ever since.
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I first wrote this biography of KG in the 90s. Since then KG’s children have married and had children, he built a “pukka” house near the road, returned to Nepal to trek “just for fun” and eventually retired. When I last spoke to him on the phone he was happy and well. Unfortunately, he was recently diagnosed with stomach cancer. He went to a good hospital in Chandigarh but there was nothing they could do. He died peacefully at home on October 18th, 2022. He had just turned 69 years old.
Effie Fletcher, Oct. 24, 2022
