Polish team in Pokhara after 10,600km truck journey

BY PHADINDRA ADHIKARI,Lekhnath, Oct. 25: The highways damaged by the heavy rainfall just before the Dashain festival are still not fully repaired. With difficult road travel, there has been an increase in air travelers. Amidst these difficulties, a six-member team from Poland, Central Europe, has arrived in Pokhara, travelling by truck for a month. 

The team reached Pokhara after covering 10,600 kilometres across 10 countries. The Polish team, travelling in a Zuk truck with the goal of reaching the foothills of the Himalayas, is currently in Pokhara. 

The Polish expedition team came to Nepal to commemorate the historic 1979 expedition to Annapurna South.

Photographs from this expedition, transported in the well-equipped truck, have been put on display in Pokhara starting Wednesday. 

The Jelczem Himalaya Foundation is showcasing 25 photos from that expedition at the International Mountain Museum. 

Gandaki Province Speaker Krishna Prasad Dhital inaugurated the exhibition, which will continue for a week. Two members of the original 1979 Annapurna South expedition are part of the current team.

During the 1970s and 1980s, many Polish climbers travelled to various countries to climb mountains using Zuk trucks. One of the 1979 Annapurna South climbers, Richard Wloszczowski, has said that the museum, where the Himalayas can be seen through the windows, is the most fitting place for these photographs. 

He said, “The place where Annapurna can be seen through the windows is the best place for these photographs. There was a lot of snow before, but now it has decreased. Time has passed, but everything else remains the same.”

The Zuk truck brought by the team to promote Polish culture will remain in Pokhara until December. The team recently visited Annapurna Base Camp and paid tribute to two members who lost their lives during the 1979 expedition. Team member Maciej Pietrowicz said that the team honoured the two lost members during their visit to Annapurna Base Camp.

According to the museum’s executive director, Nirmala Kumari Neupane, the photographs and truck will be featured as attractions at the Mountain Festival to be held in December at the International Mountain Museum. 

The museum, which serves as a site for understanding mountain culture and research on the Himalayas, was visited by nearly 200,000 people from 105 countries last year.

The team was the first to summit the 7,219-metre Annapurna South using the alpine method. Two members of the 15-member team reached the summit, while two others went missing. 

Climber Wloszczowski recalled seeing the two members heading toward the summit but later losing contact with them. “People at the base camp said they saw them heading up, but after that, they disappeared, possibly in an avalanche. There has been no trace of them since,” he said. 

He also shared that they first came to Nepal to find the route and then summited Annapurna on their second attempt. “We climbed during the second visit. We carried all the equipment from Pokhara,” he added.

In 1979, the Polish team travelled through Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and India before reaching Nepal. The team departed on March 3, 1979, and arrived in Nepal on April 1. After summiting on May 1, they returned to Poland on May 30.