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8000m Mountains
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Travel - Nepal and Tibet
Travel
Updated: May 2009. Click on an image to see the FULL size with a caption.
My name is Jerome Ryan and I am an amateur photographer who loves to trek in the mountains; or as I like to say, "I climb to the bottom of the mountains". I also like to travel around the world.
For the first 17 years of my life, I only traveled less than 100km from my hometown. I started dreaming of what was over the next hill, and that fascination is still with me today. Give me a hill, and I have to climb to the top to see what's on the other side.
My wife Charlotte Ryan and my son Peter Ryan travel with me a lot of the time, but usually not on the treks. They did trek over the Dolma La (5636m) on the Mount Kailash kora in 2006.
Although I had traveled in the mountains over the years, my keen interest started in 1996 when I read the September 1996 Outside magazine "The Story On Everest" article by Jon Krakauer. Over a few months period, I kept going back to the article, especially admiring the beautiful colour photographs, like the Balcony and the Hillary Step and summit ridge. I was hooked.
Trekking in the Nepal mountains and Tibet over the years has led me to an appreciation of their local culture, especially Tibetan Buddhism.
From my travels through Europe, I've grown to love art and sculpture.
Photos may be used freely for personal non-commercial use.
Have fun travelling on my web pages.
My Plans for 2009 are starting to take shape. I plan to trek to Makalu Base Camp in October, over the Sherpani and West Col, and then climb Mera Peak. Once again, Gyan Tamang will be my guide, and Palden will be my climbing Sherpa.
I am back from my October 2008 Four Passes trek in the Khumbu area of Nepal. The trek started in the relatively tourist-free Rolwaling Valley and the difficult but spectacular Tashi Lapcha Pass (5755m). Then it was over the Renjo La (5345m) to Gokyo, over the Cho La (5420m) to Gorak Shep and Everest, and over the Kongma La (5535m) and back to Lukla. Photo galleries to come soon.
May 2009 - Added Cho Oyu. Major update to Everest.
Photos of Thame, Renjo La, Khumkung to Gokyo, Gokyo, Gokyo Ri, Nameless Fangs, Scoundrel's View,
and Knobby View. The sunset photos from Gokyo Ri of Cho Oyu, Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, Makalu, Cholatse, Taweche are sensational if I do say so myself.
March 2009 - Major update to Kathmandu - new photos of Kathmandu, Boudhanath, Swayambhunath, and Pashupatinath.
Added photos for Budhanikantha, Kirtipur, Chobar Gorge, and Kathmandu Mountain Flight photos of Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, and Cho Oyu.
January 2009 - Rolwaling Valley in Nepal - Dolakha to Beding, along the Trakarding Glacier and over the Tashi (Tesi) Lapacha pass (5755m).
September 2008 - Cuba - Havana, Vinales, Cienfuegos, Trinidad de Cuba, and Varadero and Matanzas.
August 2008 - Upper Mustang - Kagbeni to Lo Manthang, the Tiji Festival, and the return to Muktinath.
I have used the same Nepalese guide Gyan Tamang for my treks in Nepal and travel in Tibet. You can reach Gyan Tamang at gptamang@hotmail.com.
This site is best viewed at 1280 x 1024 pixels, or else you will have to scroll to see the photos.
I use Lightbox JS freeware to popup images within a page.
I use
freeware to create the photo albums.
I have also made the web pages compliant to
1. Click on an entry on the two navigation bars at the left. This will bring you to the main menu of each area.
2. The main menu gives a brief overview of the area, my favourite memories of the area, and another navigation bar on the left.
3. Click on that navigation bar to see the photos. If there are lots of photos, I've grouped them into chapters. I've also included references I used for my treks and trips, such as guide books, books, website extwernal links and DVDs and videos.
by Dieter Glogowski. Published in English in 2007. This mainly photographic coffee-table book starts with Dieter Glogowski trekking in the cold of winter in February 2003 to visit Sonam Yospel, a 95-year old monk, at Lingshed monastery in Ladakh. When Sonam and his student Pasang decided to escape Tibet in 1966, their abbot gave them a small golden Tara statue to place at the inner mandala of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet. But, Pasang had the statue when Sonam got arrested, and now Sonam wants Dieter to find Pasang and ensure that the statue made its way to Kailash.
Dieter's search for Pasang takes him to Bangalore and Dharamsala in India, Kathmandu and Gosainkund Lake in Nepal, Wangdi Dzong and Phunaka Dzong in Bhutan, and Darjeeling and Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim. Dieter learned that Pasang Lama died in Sikkim.
In 2004 Dieter Glogowski traveled to Tibet, visiting Lhasa, Ganden, Samye, Gyantse, Shigatse, before finally reaching Lake Manasarovar and Mount Kailash in July 2004. He completed Sonam's mission by trekking the Kailash inner kora to reach the south face of Mount Kailash and discovering the golden Tara statue is there. "Never have I experienced Mount Kailash as powerful as here. The throne of the Gods, the center of Tibetan cosmology, a place of absoloute silence - powerful and awe-inspiring."
Dieter Glogowski is my favourite contemporary Tibet and Nepal photographer. His photos are excellent. Dieter's text is fairly basic and easy to read. The special features are well written and contain interesting information.
by Dieter Glogowski. and Franz Binder. Published in English in 2008. This coffee-table book filled with Dieter Glogowski's photos is really two books in one. In the first half, Franz Binder tells the story of Tibet, and the current refugee problem. In the second half, Dieter Glogowski tells the story in text and photographs of helping Tibetan Refugees trek across the Nangpa La pass from Tibet to Nepal. "To a foreign country, / for refugee I had to go./ I crossed the Himalaya mountains / in hunger and cold. / To meet the protector, the wish-fulfilling jewel, / I thought I have to go." - Traknjon Yamaraza, Refugee poem.
Binder provides a brief history of Tibet, including their relationship with the Mongols, the Dalai lama incarnations, and the interaction with China, including after China liberated Tibet. "The tragedy of Tibet's refugees began in 1959 when the Dalai Lama went into exile in India. ... Until today, each year more than 30,000 Tibetans have been escaping at great risk of life and limb; almost half of them monks or nuns, almost one third children and youths. ... Most refugees take the path across the almost 5,800-meter high (19,028 ft) Nangpa-la pass, leading from Tingri in South Tibet to the Khumbu area in Nepal. ... For China the refugee issue means a serious loss of face in the eye of the public world, because it is evidence to the fact that the Tibetans are not at all happy with the 'socialistic paradise,' which had been established in Tibet by the force of arms."
"Have compassion and work for peace. / And I say it once again: never give up. / No matter what happens, do not give up." - The 14th Dalai Lama.
Dieter Glogowski starts his story on July 24, 2006 in Beijing, and then travels by the new train to Lhasa. He then visits Ganden, Shigatse, and Everest and Rongbuk Monastery. On November 24, 2006 he picks up the story in Kathmandu and then treks to the Nangpa La, where he meets two 10 and 14-year old boys who had just crossed the pass into Nepal. They trek back to Thame, Namche Bazaar, and on to a monastery near Junbesi. One boy stayed at the monastery while the other went to Dharamsala.
Dieter Glogowski is my favourite contemporary Tibet and Nepal photographer. His photos are excellent. I especially liked the photos of the Chinese influence on Lhasa, and the trek to and from the Nangpa La - it makes me want to do that trek someday. The text from Franz Binder is fairly straightforward and easy to read. It is balanced and to the point, but surprisingly provides a lot of information and insight for such a brief story. I especially liked the history of Tibet's relationship with China. Dieter's story is very brief and straightforward.
by Dieter Glogowski. Published in English 2008. Dieter Glogowski alternates his photos with Buddhist-type quotes from the 14th Dalai Lama, the Dhammapada, Mahatma Gandhi, Thich Nhah Hanh, and Mother Teresa, among others, to illustrate Buddhist techings on wisdom, consciousness, compassion, equanimity, love, impermanence, mindfulness, and meditation. The photos feature Tibet (Lhasa, Mount Kailash, Gyantse and Shigatse), Kathmandu (Pashupatinath, Boudhanath, Swayambhunath), Nepal (the Terai, Lower and Upper Mustang, Khumbu), India (Ladakh, Dharamsala, South India), Bhutan, and Sikkim. Some of the photos have already been shown in his other books.
My favourite quotes from the book are: Wisdom - 14th Dalai Lama: It is important to know that there are three kinds of wisdom: / Wisdom resulting from listening, / wisdom resulting from reflection and / wisdom resulting from meditation.
Consciousness - the Dhammapada: We are what we think / All we are arises from our thoughts / With our thoughts we create the world.
Compassion - Mother Teresa: Always try to act in a way that people are happy to have met you.
Equanimity - the Suttanipada: We exchange the breath of air with the rain forests. We drink the very water that flows into the ocean. Water and air are integral parts of our lives. And we are part of the whole world. We realize that we depend on each other, that we are related to each other. Then we will deal with all of nature carefully, we are part of it.
Love - Phil Bosmans: A flower needs sun to become a flower. / A human being needs love to become a human being.
Impermanence - 14th Dalai Lama: It is my firm conviction that the power of the gun barrel is of limited time. / But the power of truth will increase more and more with time.
Mindfulness - Thich Nhat Hanh: Real life is experienced here and now. The past has already gone; the future has not yet come. Only in the present moment can we truly live life.
Meditation - Sogyal Rinpoche: The gift of learning to meditate is the greatest gift you can give yourself in this life. For it is only through meditation that you can undertake the journey to discover your true nature, and so find the stability and confidence you will need to live, and die, well; Meditation is the road to enlightenment.
Dieter Glogowski is my favourite contemporary Tibet and Nepal photographer. His photos are excellent. The quotes are short and thought-provoking.
by Pico Iyer. Published 2008. Pico Iyer has known the Dalai Lama, a friend of his father’s, for over 35 years. Weaving together conversations with the Dalai Lama, the Dalai Lama's brother Ngari Rinpoche, Tibetan leaders, and monks, and following the Dalai Lama on some of his globe-trotting to Nara, Vancouver and Dharamsala, Iyer reveals a man who is a simple monk who meditates for hours each day, the head of the Tibetan Government in Exile, a scholar of Tibetan Buddhism, a reincarnation of Avalokiteshvara, the winner of the 1989 Nobel Peace prize, a prolific author and teacher, a dedicated man of science who is constantly learning, and a global celebrity image.
Pico Iyer’s vivid travel writing, which started with his 1988 debut Video Night in Kathmandu, is strongly in evidence with his colourful descriptions of the scenery, monks, Tibetans, backpackers, foreigners, and Indians of the wild global village of Dharamsala, the home of Tibet's government in exile. Although they revere the Dalai Lama, many younger exiled Tibetans wish for a stronger stance against the Chinese. Even the Dalia Lama admits, "In spite of my open approach, with maximum concessions, Chinese position becomes even harder and harder." I laughed at the meditation centre whose typed schedule lists "Breakfast/Impermanence and Death/Suffering/Selflessness/Dinner/Equanimity".
Iyer contrasts the Dalai Lama’s caring, humanist teachings, "Serving others, best way get one's deep satisfaction ... I treat every human being, whether high officials or beggars - no differences, no distinctions", with the more mystical esoteric aspects of Tibetan Buddhism, "that belongs to the realm of dreams and premonitions and everything that exists outside the conscious mind." The book ends with what I think is a simple yet powerful image, "Then, as we were walking out of the room, [the Dalai Lama] went back and turned off the light. It's such a small thing, he said, it hardly make a difference at all. And yet, nothing is lost in the doing of it, and maybe a little good can come of it, if more and more people remember this small gesture in more and more rooms."
Pico Iyer’s writing is easy to read, but yet deep and insightful at the same time. Iyer weaves history, politics, religion and biography into an excellent, illuminating, insightful and engaging portrait of the Dalai Lama. His description of Dharamsala and its people is an excellent piece of travel writing.
by Simone Moro. Published 2008. In Italian and English. This coffee-table size book features excellent photos from all 14 8000m peaks. Each 8000m peak has a brief history, a photo of each face showing the climbing routes, and lots of excellent photos.
The photos and route diagrams are excellent.
Produced and directed by Emma Hindley for the BBC. Presented by Dan Cruickshank. Released 2007. 89 minutes. This documentary shows life in Lhasa prior to the Chinese occupation of 1950. The film mixes current scenes in Dharamsala, the home of the Tibetan Government in Exile, recently restored colour video footage from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, and recent interviews with the Dalai Lama and other Tibetans who lived through those times. The old video footage shows Lhasa, including the Potala Palace, the Barkhor and Linkhor, and Norbulingka, the people of Lhasa and their dress and traditional costumes, Buddhist practices like prostration, festivals like Losar New Year, masked dances, horseback riding, picnics, folk dancing at Norbulingka, military performances, wrestling, weight lifting, and foot races.
The Dalai Lama is almost like a giddy schoolboy watching the old footage of his parents and family, and watching himself over those early years. The Dalai Lama is carried in a large procession through the streets of Lhasa between his Winter Potala Palace and his summer Norbulingka Palace. We see the Dalai Lama arriving at Drepung monastery to begin the start of the debates for his doctor of Buddhism exams in front of 8000 monks. He continued his test at Sera monastery, and the final exam went smoothly.
There is black and white video footage of the Chinese invasion of Tibet and on the streets of Lhasa in 1951. We see the Dalai Lama crossing the river in a boat as he departs Lhasa in 1954 to visit China and meet with Mao Tsetung. The situation in Lhasa in 1959 became very tense and the Dalai Lama decided to leave Tibet, filled with "anxiety, fear, a little doubt, hesitation, and sadness all mixed".
DVD extras: Worldwide TV version (59 minutes). Contemporary life in Dharamsala (23 minutes): monks and nuns praying, chanting, eating, and debating, making butter sculptures; the Tibetans, Indians and foreigners on the streets of Dharamsala; a colourful Cham masked dance. There is also some extra old film footage (6 minutes) of a massive butter sculpture being raised on a scaffold, Tibetan wild flowers, Gyantse, and crossing the Tsangpo River in a large barge and a coracle.
The old footage of the Dalai Lama and the people and ceremonies of Lhasa is excellent. The modern interviews give this old footage a freshness as they remember the old times.