2.  Travelling across the incredible
Tibetan Plateau is to venture into
the realm of spiritual uplifting
 This is a world where colors are
enhanced
 The landscape itself constantly
remind you that you are truly on
the “Roof of the World.”

10. The craggy lunar landscape is stunning !

13. The scenery takes your breath away ! So
isolated and far from the village of Tingri, this
lunar looking plateau landscape makes you wonder
how the monks and nuns survive at the monastery.
It is a very long five hour drive in a Toyota SUV
with a driver and a guide.

15. Pastoral nomads transporting barley and other
crops from village to village.

17. Nomads and Yaks Transporting barley
and other necessities across the Tibetan
Plateau

19. Cho Oyu Mountain Range

21. Mt. Everest
 To the Tibetans, it is known as Qomolangma;
to the Chinese, Chomolungma and to the
Nepalese, Sagarmatha
 World’s Highest Mountain at 29,028 feet
 Permit costs up to $25,000 to climb it
 As of end of 2007, 2,436 individuals have
reached the summit. 210 deaths have been
recorded.
 The dirt road from Tingri to the Base Camp is
now being paved at a cost under 20 million
dollars.

23. Everest North Face

24. Magnificent Mt. Everest , the world’s tallest
mountain, is visible just minutes before arriving
at the Rongbuk Monastery

25. World’s Highest’s Monastery at Rongbuk Glacier
At 5,100 meters ( 17,000 ft)

26. Rongbuk Monastery
Founded by a Nyingmapa Lama
in 1902 as a meditation retreat
Now some 20 nuns and 10
monks live there
 Source: Wikipedia

27. The World’s
Highest
Monastery
lies by the foot
of Rongbuk
Glacier some
5100 meters
high, 8 km
from Everest
Base Camp on
the North Side
in Tibet

29. Rongbuk Monastery
The Large, Round, Terraced Chorten
contains a reliquary.

30. History
• The Rongbuk Monastery itself was founded
in 1902 by a Nyingmapa Lama in an area of
meditation huts that had been in use by
monks and hermits for over 400 years.
Hermitage meditation caves dot the cliff
walls all around the monastery complex and
up and down the valley.
• Today, between 20 to 35 Buddhist monks and
nuns live there

31. The Rongbuk Guest House is where we stayed for one
night. We were TOO SICK to do anything !!! Not
even to sign or communicate with each other !

33. Feeling dizzy and nausea with severe
headache, stomach ache, and pounding hearts

34. At 17,000 - 18,000 ft elevation:
There are no permanent settlements
above this point anywhere on Earth
because no one can adjust year-round
to the altitude
Lungs expel more carbon dioxide,
disrupting the blood’s pH Balance

35. Kidneys discharge more water to correct
the blood’s acidity, causing dehyration
Sample Heart rate :
85 resting, 140 exercising
 Atmospheric pressure is only 50% that at
sea level – climbers take in only 50% as
many oxygen molecules
Source: The Killer Within, National Geographic, May 2003

36. We declined lunch, dinner, and
even a pony-cart side trip to
Everest Base Camp due to acute
mountain sickness ( AMS).

37. As night befell us, we were able to view Mt. Everest
from our botched window.

40. Often shrouded in clouds and mist, Mt.
Everest was described as "a preposterous
triangular lump" (by George Mallory) and "a
glittering spire of rock fluted with snow"
with "an imposing head of granite and ice,"
(by Noel Odell) and it looms large over the
Rongbuk glacier, shining white at its feet.
Source: Wikipedia

44. Potty Call
at 17,000 ft
high

46. May 19, 2007
3: 30 a.m.
Not the Actual Sky at Rongbuk
THE SHINING STARS were so close – felt like we could reach /touch them

49. We turned back the next morning
 Despite efforts to feel
better and overcome our
High Altitude Sickness
 We did not take the
planned trip by pony
cart to Everest Base
Camp, 5 miles away.
 With health concerns,
we bided farewell to the
enchanting mountain.