Cranky German

Tag: Tibet

  • Driving Down To Kathmandu

    As you descend from the Tibetan plateau to the border town of Zhangmu the vegetation turns lusher around every bend of an incredible deep canyon. Zhangmu is a one road town, only this road barely clings to a very steep hillside and has many hairpin turns. The road is clogged with Tata trucks bringing hand-made…

  • ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ

    You may ask ‘What’s the big deal?’ but reaching the Everest North Base Camp at above 5000 meters was so cathartic that Cranky had to shed some tears. As a kid Cranky had read Reinhold Messner’s account of soloing up the North Ridge and immediately decided to toughen himself for a future career as a…

  • Gyantse

    Afraid that Russia would overtake Tibet the British under Colonel Younghusband fought a battle here against the underequipped Tibetan army in 1903. Of course this was based on bad intelligence. Sound familiar? You can make out the yellow hat monastery Pelkor Choede in the background.

  • Lhasa Eye-wear Fashion Show

  • Drepung Monastery Kitchen

    These pots and stoves once fed 7000 monks and are still being used for the remaining 700.

  • Lhasa Impressions II

  • Lhasa Impressions

    Even with the Potala Palace, amazing monasteries and incredible mountains in the vicinity what remains most unforgettable are the pilgrims with their wide range of outfits, weathered faces, open gazes and life stories that we can only sense but will never know.

  • Jokhang

    Soon Da Nuo will have slapped the names and purposes of all the Buddhas into our heads just as the debating monks emphasize their questions with a clap of their hands.

  • Mountain Sonata

    Soaring across myriads of mountains nameless to us yet leaving us with an indelible impression of how remote Lhasa once was.