The mystique of remote upper Dolpo of Nepal, a paradise of Himalayan region, closed to foreigners for decades and still culturally and economically Tibetan, has been enhanced by Matheissen's 'The Snow Leopard', David Snellgrove's 'Himalayan Pilgrimage' and George Schaller's 'Stones of Silence' among many other travel accounts. Legend has it that the ubiquitous Guru Rimpoche, who spread Tibetan Buddhism throughout the Himalayas, discovered this hidden land, a 'beyul' or refuge, over 1700 years ago, and it has been inhabited by Tibetan nomads, called drokpas, for over a thousand years.