I think it's way too easy to get carried away by the exoticism of a place, culture/ people and time.
check another review on the film on this site: http://worldfilm.about.com/library/weekly/aa022001a.htm
copy paste from the review:
International cinema lets you glimpse other worlds stranger than any science fiction movie can imagine and look at societies completely alien to our own. But films from elsewhere also often tell strange stories in surprising ways because film-making and storytelling follow different conventions. Himalaya shows the proud and beautiful people of Nepal in their natural habitat - but it doesn't let its heroes tell their own stories. The result is as pretty to look at, as instructive, and as emotionally uninvolving as a coffee table book.
check another review on the film on this site: http://worldfilm.about.com/library/weekly/aa022001a.htm
copy paste from the review:
International cinema lets you glimpse other worlds stranger than any science fiction movie can imagine and look at societies completely alien to our own. But films from elsewhere also often tell strange stories in surprising ways because film-making and storytelling follow different conventions. Himalaya shows the proud and beautiful people of Nepal in their natural habitat - but it doesn't let its heroes tell their own stories. The result is as pretty to look at, as instructive, and as emotionally uninvolving as a coffee table book.