Rongbuk & Mt. Everest

Location: Tibet, Rongbuk Monastery at Mt. Everest
Image size: 3" x 4"

It is a full day's drive from Tingri to the Monastery at Rongbuk. During my first visit in 1985, the main hall was a heap of surviving manuscripts with a make-shift altar. Since then, the monastery complex has been gradually rebuilt, so it now supports a small population of monks and a guesthouse for foreigners, arriving to view the tallest peak in the world. On that same first trip, we continued hours by jeep towards the mountain to the mountaineering basecamp. From here, we backpacked with yak support towards a more advanced camp, nearly reaching 19,000 feet, the highest elevation I ever achieved.

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