Cosmos Global: Nanuk

Producer: Proll, Eric

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Catalogue Number: CDG-DVD-101

UPC: 883629300986

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Nanuk is the leader of a dog team who, along with a group of four men, will travel through the remarkable, though demanding, terrain that is the Himalayas.

The first leg of the potentially hazardous expedition travels more than 3,500 meters above sea level to the high plains of Zanskar, in the regions of both Jammu and Kashmir.

Some of the supplies that had been carried on the sledges have to be transported by sherpas, who are surprisingly ill-equipped for the weather. Heavy snowfall and avalanches also hinder the journey, and the expedition begins to slow down. The risks are now becoming too much for the sherpas, and an interpreter informs the expedition team that they are unwilling to continue the journey, as the snow is too deep and it looks as though even more is on its way.

The team decides to split up into two groups. Erich Proell, Volker Raus and the sherpas return to Kargil with most of the equipment. For Horst Maas and Eric Coraros, the journey continues towards Zanskar, but their food is in short supply.

The Thikse Monastery is part of the Gelugpa Order to which the Dalai Lama belongs. Unlike in Tibet, which is occupied by the People's Republic Of China, Tibetan Buddhism is still undertaken here in its original form.

Leh, a town with a population of 20,000, is located in the Indu Valley and is the centre of Ladakh's tourist industry. In the winter months, it is peaceful and relaxed except when there's a game of polo. Unlike most other countries in the world, polo in northern India is not reserved for an elite upper class but is instead a national sport. Indeed, each large village boasts its own polo field.

Suddenly all the tension of the past few weeks has disappeared, as after several days of worry and uncertainty, both teams are reunited in what has turned out to a highly successful expedition.