PRESS RELEASE:

High in the Himalaya, in the most remote kingdom in the world, explorers have found thousands of mysterious caves. Their dark portals beckon with the promise of a glimpse into a lost world. Now, in two new riveting National Geographic Television specials, produced exclusively for PBS and airing back-to-back Wednesday, November 18, beginning at 7 p.m. on KUED-Channel 7, a team of climbers and scholars sets out to reach them and give viewers a glimpse into a forbidden kingdom and the unseen treasures contained in these lost caves.

Secrets of Shangri-La airs at 7 p.m., followed by Lost Cave Temples of the Himalaya at 8 p.m. Richard Gere narrates. The kingdom of Mustang lies on a windswept plateau between Nepal and Tibet. Isolated both by geography and politics, Mustang is culturally and ethnically Tibetan, but politically part of Nepal.

The area was completely off limits to westerners for 50 years. In an attempt to unravel a mystery, seven-time Everest summiter Pete Athans and a team of internationally renowned climbers and explorers journeyed to Mustang, joining forces with archaeologists, anthropologists and art historians. Secrets of Shangri-La follows them as they enter long-hidden caves and rescue rare Tibetan texts from before looters get to them. The texts are adorned with beautiful “illuminations,” small paintings worth tens of thousands of dollars on the international art market.

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