Tibet
Although I had trekked from the India border with Nepal to the Tibetan border in 1964 I had never officially been to Tibet.In 2007 I was fortunate to be part of a small party escorted by Tashi Tenzing, the grandson of Norguay Tenzing, the first man (with Ed Hilary) to get to the top of Everest, on a less touristy excursion to some of the not-so-visited places in Tibet.
I had been to the base of Everest three times but always on the Nepalese south side. This time we wanted to trace the birthplace of Tashi's grandfather in the remote Kharta valley and get up close to some of the famous and not so famous Buddhist monasteries and holy places.
We flew from Kathmandu to Lhasa, toured for two weeks and drove back over the Friendship Highway into Nepal.
Flying from Kathmandu to Lhasa provided incredible view of the Eastern Himalaya
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The Jokhang temple area - the oldest Buddhist area in Lhasa. I was surprised to come across a thriving Muslim population in the city.
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Jokhang Temple. Amazing!
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View of the famous Potala built in the 1400s.
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The scale of the Potala is something to behold.
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Another temple in Lhasa.
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As part of a monk's training they indulge in lengthy debates.
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Buddhist carvings and rock paintings are beautiful.
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Detail of wood supporting columns, many over 600 years old.
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The Norbalinka, in the Lhasa valley where the Dalai Lama took refuge before escaping to India.
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Another view of the old district of Lhasa. The new part is totally Chinese dominated with undistinguished modern buildings.
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The roof of the world. Traveling west from Lhasa.
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One of many Holy lakes venerated by Buddhist lamas.
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Stupa on top of a pass.
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The Chinese are big on water projects. Tibet contains water supplies which feed five major rivers downstream. Control of this resource can only be imagined.
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The Pang La, well over 5000 meters and very cold and windy but view is sublime.
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Gyantse. One of the most Holy sites in Tibet.
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Tashilunpo. Traditional home of the Panchen Lama.
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Can't get enough of this view
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The Kharta valley (route of the very early 1922 and 24 Everest expeditions.
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The river coming down the Kharta valley. We camped here for two days.
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A substantial structure; home of the Amban or Chinese provincial governor up to recent times.
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The remains of Sherpa Tenzing's ancestral home.
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Tibetan women (either side) basically unaffected culturally by the Chinese although there are now proper schools, cell phone towers and better water systems for the villages.The modern woman in the middle is our guide's wife who lives in Kathmandu.
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Old women who claimed to be Tenzing's last living realative. Tenzing would have been her uncle.
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Moving scene. My friend Dale Vrabec had visited this village in the 1980s and had taken a photo of this woman's husband. The husband had died many years ago and his wife and daughter had never ever seen a picture of the husband and father.
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A small Buddhist temple in the Kharta valley that was not affected by the Chinese decision to demolish 6000 monasteries and temples.
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The 87 year-old lama who was blind. He blessed our whole party.
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The famous Rongbuk monastery, sacked by the Chinese but more recently rebuilt. This location was used as the base camp for pre-war Everest expeditions which had to be mounted from Tibet because Nepal was closed.
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The iconic view of the north side of Everest from the Rongbuk monastery. We went another few miles closer to about 18,000 feet. .
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The road descent from Tibet to Friendship bridge on the Nepalese border is about 12,000 feet.
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A lasting memory.
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