Saturday, January 31, 2009
View from high on the Kumbum
Looking off the back side, up hill. A monk and some ruins. Gyantse's monastery is one of the older monasterys in Tibet.
View from high on the Kumbum
A view over the Tibetan part of town (Gyantse) to the Gyantse Dzong, high on it's hill overlooking the valley.
Deity image inside the Kumbum
The Kumbum is a 7 story, tiered stupa. The public is allowed on all but the top 2 terraces. Each level is ringed with small chapels, each chapel housing a different deity image. It is an amazing work of art in itself, and each chapel is filled with intricate and intense iconography.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
CLICK ON ANY PHOTO
Just a reminder... if you click on any photo you can see it larger and in more detail.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
At a high pass
These great folks were living up at this high pass selling prayer flags to visitors. Fish traded this man a hand made glass bead for a roll of flags! Also a through-the-windshield glimpse of what it's like to go over a high mountain pass in Tibet. EVERY mountain pass is bedecked like this. They are considered sacred spots.
Official entrance to the Qomolongma National Nature Preserve
If the storm hadn't been approaching, this would have been our first view of Everest (Qomolongma).
Pony cart in the town of Shegar
We stopped here to sleep the night before we reached Qomolongma (Everest).
Friday, January 23, 2009
The road leads to Qomolongma
... that's Mt. Everest to you. The Friendship Hwy., the only road going up to Everest, and the road leading from Lhasa to Nepal, is a true wonder!
Himalayan high points
You could ALMOST see Everest from this point on the road. The storm was just starting to break, and though Everest itself is still obscured you can see a few of the Himalayas other highest peaks. Lotse, maybe... the names of the other peaks escape me now.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Coming down from Everest... lunch stop
Pubu, our driver, did not stop until we were well out of the snow. About 2 hours from Rongphuk we came to a little Tibetan village straddling the road. Pubu took us into a small homestyle teahouse, where we ate lunch. Thukpa(yak noodle soup) and mo mos were the order of the day. This small shrine was in the middle of the village.
Rhongpuk Monastery... in the morning
After a fit-full night we awoke to 4 inches of snow and a sky still full of huge, heavy flakes. It was a rough night for all. The extreme elevation had affected us all in different ways, making real sleep impossible. Whenever I did nod off I would wake myself up gasping for air, and I kept having nightmares that I was a fish that flipped myself out of water and could not breathe. We were there for only one night, and were told it takes at least 5 days for your body to adjust to the altitude. The storm and snow had the drivers very worried, and we ALL wanted to lose some elevation as fast as possible.
The big rigs of the Himalayas
The main method of transporting goods at this elevation seemed to be these pony carts. And the yaks are the classic Himalaya hikers. Thriving at high elevations, yaks are THE pack animals for summit attempts, and for going anywhere above BC 1.
Services of BC 1
Some of these tents are teahouses/places to sleep, some of them are stores of different kinds, and one is even an official post office. Climbers often get waylayed here, waiting for weather or permit dates, so there is a small community of Tibetans living here to cater to their needs. Basic supplies, food, hot tea, warm tent, hard wooden bench with yak wool and carpeting to sleep on, etc.. Here a lovely shopkeep shows Fish her selection of turqoise encrusted novelties.
Tallest point at BC 1
Once you hike the 5 miles from Rhongpuk to BC 1 you are greeted by all the people living up there to provide services to hikers and climbers. At the top of the valley, beyond which you must be permitted to climb the whole mountain, there is this hill... the tallest point you can hike to without a permit. At the top you are close to 19,000 ft.
Hiking to BC 1 at Everest
Behind us, actually behind the wall of storm clouds, lies Qomalongma herself .... that's Mt. Everest to us.
Rhongpuk Monastery
5 miles below Base Camp 1 the road comes to an end at Rhongpuk, the highest monastery in the world. Here we rented a room for the night, threw our gear down and hit the 5 mile trail to BC 1. We had high hopes for even a fleeting glimpse of the mountain we had come so far to see.... but an ominous storm front had other plans for us.
Back to Tibet.... On our way up to Everest
A small Tibetan village in the high plains of the Himalayas on the road to Everest.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)