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| Messages 1 - 9 of total 9 in this topic |
couchmaster
climber
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Nov 20, 2014 - 03:17pm PT
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Nice story.
Those guys are still pushing 1930's Soviet era tractors up there. Picture from somewhere in the upper plateau. Bought some horse bells, put them around me neck and was making horse noises. Attracted a crowd of kids - all of whom wanted to shake the (very loud) bells.
Newer tractor (50's?) over my shoulder.
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 20, 2014 - 03:33pm PT
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Over your shoulder? It looks at first blush like you've shouldered the hay - you actually have to look hard to realize it's on a tractor in the background.
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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Nov 20, 2014 - 05:25pm PT
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Tsampa eaters unite!
was the battle cry of the first Tibetan resistance..
(Tsampa= barley)
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Lorenzo
Trad climber
Oregon
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Nov 20, 2014 - 07:38pm PT
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The potato is making inroads in Tibet since 1492.
They are grown successfully above the level of lake Titicaca, which is at 12,500 ft.
That's higher than Barley has been grown.
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Stewart Johnson
climber
lake forest
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Nov 20, 2014 - 07:47pm PT
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They both taste awesome.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Colorado, Nepal & Okinawa
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Nov 23, 2014 - 02:14pm PT
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It was the British who introduced potatoes to the hill stations in India and later to Tibet as a deliberate policy to increase the food supply. The Sherpas observed potatoes in British gardens and carried baskets of them back to Nepal on their backs - a 10 day walk of over 200 miles. This occured around 1850. The main potato grown in the Everest region for many years was called Rigi (potato) Baletti, the Sherpa pronunciation of British.
I don't know the upper limits for potatos or barley but I have seen both growing at 13,000 feet. It helps that both Andes and Tibet are closer to the equator than Europe or North America and thus have longer growing days.
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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Nov 23, 2014 - 03:04pm PT
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I barley knew that.
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couchmaster
climber
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Quote Healyje from upthread: "Over your shoulder? It looks at first blush like you've shouldered the hay - you actually have to look hard to realize it's on a tractor in the background."
Hah hah! Yeah, the full on harvest was happening in upper Tibetian plateau here. Leaving the youngest and the oldest folks (and forigon dickwads with too much time and money like Moi) to frolic and play. The older working tractors were all out in the valleys and pressed into service. The age of the tractors was much older than the old tractors of poorer parts of Western Coloroado used in the 1960's when I lived there. But they have them running.
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| Messages 1 - 9 of total 9 in this topic |
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