Himalaya 1999

High in the Dolpa region of the Nepalese Himalayas, Himalaya follows a caravan of yaks carrying rock salt from the high plateau down to the lowlands, a lifeline that sustains the village through the cold, unforgiving winter. The journey is not just a trade route but a reaffirmation of tradition, tested by the brutal beauty of the mountains and the quiet tension that grows between generations as they interpret duty, honor, and survival.

At the start, Lhakpa, the heir to the chieftainship, is revealed to have died in a botched attempt to navigate a shortcut, a tragedy that unsettles the tribe’s sense of order and foreshadows the perilous choices to come.

An annual caravan provides the grain the villagers depend on, and the narrative centers on a rivalry born from misunderstanding and distrust between the aging chief, Tinle, Thilen Lhondup, and the young, bold herdsman Karma, Gurgon Kyap, who is both a friend and a rival to the chief’s family as they vie for leadership of the caravan.

Karma, eager to prove himself, departs a few days before the scheduled departure, leaving behind only the youngest and oldest members of the tribe. The elders gather to decide who should lead, and Tinle chooses to mobilize the remainder of the community in a caravan with the leftover salt, recruiting his monastic son, Norbou, Karma Tensing, to join on the original departure day.

Tinle soon catches up with Karma’s caravan, despite Karma having taken a shortcut and arriving days earlier. Tinle asserts his leadership, and Karma becomes a model for Tinle’s grandson, Tserin, even as the two men confront the storm to come.

When a snowstorm hits, Tinle grows weary and exhausted but remains determined to keep the caravan intact. Karma arrives, having realized his mistake, and carries Tinle to the front of the caravan. The journey survives the blizzard and reaches a landmark, but Tinle collapses there, asking to be left to die. The leaders of the caravan decide that Tinle, master of the mountains, should be allowed to die peacefully in the mountains rather than in the flatlands.

The film closes with Tinle’s monastic son, Norbou, honoring his father’s legacy by painting a monastery wall with scenes from the caravan’s adventures.