Tetang by Jean-Marie Hullot
Via Flickr:
Tetang is the butt of a revealing joke that is current in Manang, the district immediately to the east of Mustang: the Tepas are mildly saddened by the death of a close relative, but are grieved to tears by the collapse of a wall. One of the most striking features about Tetang is the degree to which it is constructed. Quite apart from the complex and unusual architecture of the habitations themselves, the effort that has gone into the building and maintenance of field terraces, irrigation canals, threshing yards, and retaining walls is simply staggering. A feature of the irrigation system that is, I believe, unique in Mustang is the connection of certain areas of fields to arterial canals by subterranean aqueducts that pass beneath intervening fields. One of the most arduous tasks in the agricultural cycle of the village is the transportation of tons of river silt to the cultivated land. The silt is collected in specially dug distributaries on the Narshing Khola, then mixed with household manure before being carried in baskets up to the fields. Thus while there is a constant, gradual erosion of the cultivated land, there is a complementary process of replenishment on the surface, and this constant addition of topsoil accounts for the considerable depth at which some of the stone aqueducts lie. The advantage of this system of irrigation is that the cultivable area of the fields through which the aqueducts pass is not reduced, as would be the case in an exposed canal. - The Navel of the Demoness, Charles Ramble
