the lost yeti of eryri

 

Taking in Nantmor, Nashville, Nantgwynant, Nant Ffrancon

I’m travelling on the S4 bus to the highest mountain pass in Eryri [the “S” signifying “Sherpa”]. The driver concentrates hard to negotiate the narrow bends, strewn with the parked cars of those flocking to visit, blocking the way in their eagerness. Patience and mindfulness are the order of the day, and he appreciates my comments to that effect. I strangely recognise his lookalike in a recently watched video from a jazz club in Nashville, Tennessee. The doppelgänger sits earnestly at other controls, the keyboards, leading a high quality tribute act to Donald Fagen (of Steely Dan fame) with similar precision. 
 
At risk of orientalising my adopted home, through fauna or folk, I often seek ineffable insights into the connections, whether in the spirit in the stones or just wishful thinking. Some on the bus seem oblivious to their spectacular surroundings, busy conversing with old friends. Others, boots at the ready, keenly watch the window for glimpses of their destination. For me it’s an opportunity to not drive, and to avoid being tailgated by those unfamiliar with the roads. It is also space for a meditative journey, rekindling childhood memories of not having a car in the family.

It’s all too easy to imbue the west with the sensibilities of an imagined eastern “mysticism”. But more than a few occult figures have inhabited these hills. With our “bus passes”, the bus passes the “Great Wall of China”, a filming location for the Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1957/8) in Nantmor. The village was later home to a number of Soviet spies (see links). In 1967, on the other side of the mountain, ephemeral “yeti” were filmed. Nant Ffrancon doubled as Tibet for TV episodes of Dr Who that are now mostly missing. At least Cymru respects a plurality of yeti in the word yetïod which can be found in the Cymraeg dictionary. 

In Bhutan I met people convinced of the existence of yetïod; the larger yeti and the smaller migoi who steal livestock. They are seldom seen as they make themselves invisible if approached. “Yeti” became tangible In Europe as a make of car, following a long tradition of animal names in the automotive industry: beetle, cobra, colt, fox, jaguar, mustang, robin and stag come to mind. But it’s a different level of appropriation if a people, an ethnic group, have their identity used in this way. 

Riding the bus named “Sherpa”, I remember the eponymous van produced by Leyland Motors in the 1970s. Originating at a similar time, five Sherpa’r Wyddfa services now circumnavigate the mountain, and provide reliable, friendly car-free access to residents and visitors. I’m less comfortable with the name. The word became synonymous with mountain porters/guides. But Sherpa is their family name, their stolen identity. On another level were they imbued with mystical qualities of mentorship akin to Vasudeva, Siddhartha’s ferryman? Perhaps the bus driver of Eryri too. But I'm still uneasy about the appropriation.

A blog meandering as much as the roads around The Mountain. If you’ve read this far, I may get the goodbye look.

LINKS

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness - Wikipedia
Tales of espionage in four ports: Portsmouth, Portland, Porthmadog, Portmeirion. Part 2.
Sherpa'r Wyddfa | Eryri National Park
Petition · Stop Misusing Sherpa! - United States · Change.org
What's In a Name? | by Tenzin Sherpa | Medium
Kunzang Choden - Wikipedia
BBC - Wales - Arts - Doctor Who in Wales - Nant Ffrancon Pass, Gwynedd
lost in the detail
Eyelift
Recycling
"The Goodbye Look" (Donald Fagen) (cover) live at 3rd and Lindsley 3/15/18