DAY01_01_001 Date: 08/04/2002 "The Friendship Highway" is a 920km 4WD track connecting Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. The road is easily one of the highest in the world, passing directly over the Himalaya range, otherwise known as "The Roof of the World." Sky, earth, water, mountains - the four elements greeted us at every bend in the road. The further we got from Lhasa, the closer we found ourselves to the raw materials of the world we live in.
DAY01_02 Date: 08/04/2002 My friend Andrew and I pose in front of a tibetan pass marker. Mountain passes are sacred spots in Tibet, and every one is festooned with flags flapping in the wind.
DAY01_03 Date: 08/04/2002 The first hotel on the way. It was a quaint little thing. The rooms were not much more than wooden frames and dirt floors, but they had an indoor bathroom.
DAY01_04 Date: 08/04/2002 Two kids hang out to watch the tourists.
DAY02_01 Date: 08/04/2002 Kayin got friendly with the staff. They were really nice, as were most of the people we met on our trip.
DAY02_03 Date: 08/05/2002 The next day we arrived in Dingri, the supposed staging point for our trek to the Everest Base Camp. Our guide took us to meet his mother-in-law. She was a sweet, if slightly near-sighted lady who mistook Alison for her daughter. It was here where we also were introduced to the Yak Butter Tea etiquette. The host shows his or her hospitality by refilling your cup after every sip. Good thing Yak Butter Tea grows on you.
DAY02_04 Date: 08/05/2002 This picture was taken right outside the house. The view from here was unbelievable. The peak you can sort-of make out through the clouds is Cho Oyu, the 6th tallest mountain in the world, at 8200m.
DAY02_05 Date: 08/05/2002 Andrew and I pose in the Dingri Valley. The Tibetan side of the Himalayan range is very dry, with most of the rainfall dumping on the Nepal side. The fact that the people of Tibet have been able to make a living on the high plateau is a testament to their tenacity.
DAY03_01 Date: 08/05/2002 These kids came to the door of the car to ask for candy. Somehow the only english words these children know are candy and money. It breaks the heart to see them, but it also breaks the heart to know that giving them anything only exacerbates the situation.
DAY03_02 Date: 08/05/2002 Alison and I sit on the gate of the Himalaya. The Pang-la pass was supposedly the last one before entering the true himalayan range. Even though it was August, it was cool and crisp at 5000m. Some of the nearby peaks still had snow.
DAY03_03 Date: 08/06/2002 The Rhongbuk Monastary, the highest in the world. This community apparently has been here for over one hundred years. How they managed to eake a living out of this valley I will never know. The holy site is placed at the gate of the northern approach to Everest, we ended up camping right on the lawn.
DAY03_04 Date: 08/06/2002 Across from the monastary, a guesthouse was being built. This kid seems to be missing his mom.
DAY03_05 Date: 08/06/2002 Good morning. As a consequence of living in someone's front yard, we picked up a few local friends. Most tourists stay in the guesthouse, or camp further up the valley in preparation for ascent. They local children found us approachable I guess, and seemed fascinated in everything we did.
DAY03_06 Date: 08/06/2002 The mountain was shy, and didn't show her face. the first 2 days we stayed there.
DAY04_01 Date: 08/06/2002 This is a shot of the north valley. Everest is hiding behind the clouds there. The velley was filled with ruins of previous iterations of the monastary. It seems that quite a few people lived here at one time.
DAY04_02 Date: 08/06/2002 A closeup of the ruins. It seemed like they were very old, but I don't think they were terribly ancient. The climate and the forces of nature tend to give things a wheathered look.
DAY04_03 Date: 08/06/2002 An outpost of the Rhongbuk monastary sat over a cave where a revered Tibetan Buddhist master made his hermitage in a cave here. When we pulled out our cameras, the ladies got really excited.
DAY04_04 Date: 08/06/2002 The proprietor took us down to the cave and showed us the alleged handprints of the revered master. The experience was quite interesting, as a steady stream of herders and farmers arrived here from all over Tibet.
DAY04_05 Date: 08/07/2002 Places like this really give you the sense that you are not very important in this world. This outcropping behind me was just an insignificant bump compared to the peaks surrounding the valley.
DAY04_06_001 Date: 08/07/2002 Finally we spent 4 nights at Rongbuk/Everest Base Camp. We didn't have a lot to do, so we made friends. Alison got friendly with this girl, who was 3 at the time. Her name was Samye.
DAY04_07 Date: 08/07/2002 Wow... Finally, the third evening, right before sunset, the clouds clear. Everest shows herself. Fantastic.
DAY05_01_001 Date: 08/07/2002 This is Ganden, Kayin's little friend. He was 3 also, and tended to hurt himself.
DAY05_02 Date: 08/08/2002 This is the marker at the actual Chinese Base Camp. The mountain is known as Chomalama in Tibetian. This is transliterated into Chinese as well. 5200m = 17060ft.
DAY05_03 Date: 08/08/2002 The four of us pose in front of the famous mountain. We got lucky on our last night and the mountain was clear again.
DAY05_04 Date: 08/08/2002 The next morning it stayed clear.
DAY05_05 Date: 08/08/2002 This little guy lives here, a place of imagination for the world. I wonder if he knows how famous his hometown is.
DAY05_06 Date: 08/08/2002 Heading back to Lhasa, we pass through the Pang-La pass again. This view, behind our guide, includes 5 of the 8 tallest mountains in the world.
DAY05_07 Date: 08/08/2002 The mountains are powerful. Up here, you really can't help but to find yourself connecting with something deep inside, something that speaks directly to the earth. OK, maybe that's just me...
DAY05_8 Date: 08/09/2002 We passed through several small vilages on the way out. This is a typical tibetan village, with whitewashed houses and haphazard lanes. The yak dung and sticks are stored on the wall for use as cooking fuel.
DAY06_01 Date: 08/10/2002 This valley was so pretty. You sould watch the storms as they formed in the clouds, rolling across the sky.
DAY06_02 Date: 08/10/2002 Although it was illegal, Alison and I decided to hitch a ride back to the guesthouse. Most Tibetans travel on the back of trucks, but for tourists is is not allowed. We were only going about 1km, so we figured we'd be OK.
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