- Box of Beads -
Walking around the market town of Gyantse, my eye is caught by a box of colored beads resting in one of the stalls.
Gyantse - Shigatse Prefecture- Tibet
October 2015
- The First Look -
I took this picture from the car, I just arrived in a kind of rest area, of course in Tibetan style, so basically a stall on the roadside in the middle of nowhere. This is the daughter of the lady who was selling necklaces and small objects in the stall.
I was playing with this child and talking with his mother for an hour.
Somewhere in Tibet
October 2015
- Smiles -
Although they are now several years that I travel around the world, I'm never tired of the wonderful feeling you get when you receive a smile, especially by a stranger. There is something reassuring, very human in a smile, and I consider myself a very lucky person because throughout my long journeys, I've given and received lots of smiles :-)
Shigatse - Tibet
October 2015
- The Back Side -
I have seen many pictures of the Potala Palace, but all of the main facade, the one facing the old part of the city of Lhasa. So once in Lhasa, in my free time I tried new angles to photograph this architectural gem, and I found that, from the back of the promontory where rises, the building is reflected in a small pond in a garden . Overall I think it's very difficult to subject to photograph, I see the Potala Palace as a prisoner in its land, a religious icon isolated from the rest of the city. Lhasa over the past 60 years has changed a lot, from the Chinese invasion, unfortunately, bears more resemblance to the standard of the cities in the rest of China, losing more each year that aura of mystery and magic that the rest of the world gives it. But the of the Potala Palace not, apart from the Chinese flag flying on its roof, the building has not changed in recent centuries, evidence that even under the jurisdiction of China remains the icon of Tibet and the people who live and have lived here on Roof of the World.
Lhasa - Tibet October 2015
- Traditional Bangdan -
The Tibetan ethnic minority is one of the oldest ethnic minorities in China, and its clothing has variety distinctive and characteristic styles. Many Tibetan women wear colorful woolen aprons in front of their knees. Tibetan apron is a piece of cloth welted with colorful stripes, and it is called “Bangdan”. Usually the striped Tibetan aprons traditionally are only worn by married women, expecialy woven wool apron. But, nowadays, more and more unmarried young ladies also like to wear. They can serve decoration and cold proof purposes.Tibetan women like to wear dark-colored wrap dresses over a blouse, and they will tie a kind of long apron around their waist and hung from front waist to lower hem of the skirt.
Shigatse - Tibet October 2015
- The Painter -
This is a monk of Tashilhunpo Monastery intend to paint a section of the wall within the religious complex. The majority of the walls here, are built in the traditional manner, stone or brick, covered on the outside by a layer of mud and straw, and then painted in white, but not with a roller or a brush, the paint is literally thrown with bowls against the wall, impregnating the first layer. Sliding down the paint dries, and gradually solidifies.
Shigatse - Tibet October 2015
- Kora -
I'm walking with the faithful around the Tashilhunpo Monastery, during the ancient ritual of the Kora. Kora is a transliteration of a Tibetan word that means "circumambulation" or "revolution". Kora is both a type of pilgrimage and a type of meditative practice in the Tibetan Buddhist. A Kora is performed by the practitioner making a circumambulation around a sacred site or object, typically as a constituent part of a pilgrimage, ceremony, celebration or ritual.
Shigatse - Tibet
October 2015
- The Little Village -
We were already late, we were skirting the Lake Yamdrok in direction south, approaching the road that would take us up to Everest Base Camp in the coming days. There is a problem, the only road is blocked for some work in progress. Our guide goes in search of information, the matter seems serious, we accumulate more delay, but honestly with a landscape like this, I do not know if the roadblock is to define a good or bad thing.
I braced my camera and start to walk along the lake. The colors are incredibly rich, cloud shadows draw on the slopes abstract games. A small village nestled in this spectacle of nature becomes the subject of my photos.
Lake Yamdrok - Nangartse County - Tibet October 2015
- Land of Mystery -
“In the time between the two wars, a British colonial officer said that with the invention of the airplane the world has no secrets left. However, he said, there is one last mystery. There is a large country on the Roof of the World, where strange things happen. There are monks who have the ability to separate mind from body, shamans and oracles who make government decisions, and a God-King who lives in a skyscraper-like palace in the Forbidden City of Llhasa.
Lhasa - Tibet
October 2015
- Interesting Face -
I just completed the Kora around the Potala Palace in the heart of Lhasa, this old man was resting sitting on a low wall. His face immediately caught my eye, and with kindness and some smile, gave me the OK to take some shots.
Lhasa - Tibet
October 2015
- The North Face -
I'm at the Base Camp, and the one in front of me is the gian North Face of Mount Everest. It is located in the Mahalangur mountain range in Nepal and Tibet. Its peak is 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) above sea level. The international border between China (Tibet Autonomous Region) and Nepal runs across Everest's precise summit point.
The Tibetan name for Mount Everest is "Chomolungma" (ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ lit. "Holy Mother"), The official Chinese transcription is whose pinyin form is "Zhūmùlǎngmǎ Fēng" (lit. Chomolungma Peak). In 1841, Sir George Everest, Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843, first recorded the location of Everest. It was subsequently named "Peak XV". In 1865, it was renamed Mt. Everest to honor Sir George.
In 2002, the Chinese People's Daily newspaper published an article making a case against the use of "Mount Everest" in English, insisting that the mountain should be referred to as "Mount Qomolangma", based on the official form of the local Tibetan name.
The article argued that British colonialists did not "first discover" the mountain, as it had been known to the Tibetans and mapped by the Chinese as "Qomolangma" since at least 1719.
Everest Base Camp - Shigatse Province - Tibet October 2015
- The Grandaughter -
Walking through the market of Shigatse, full of colorful stalls, monks and also a granddaughter around with her grandma.
Shigatse - Tibet
October 2015
- Smile from Tibet -
“Everyone smiles in the same language.” G.C.
Somewhere in Tibet
October 2015
- The Listener -
I have just entered the Tashilhunpo Monastery, I see a group of Western tourists, I feel their tour guide speak English, I approached to see if there was something interesting to see, and I notice this woman relaxed on the steps, listens intently the spoken guide, and she probably does not even understand proper English.
Shigatse - Tibet
October 2015
Tibet
"If you can imagine a hidden place, tucked safely away from the world, concealed by walls of high, snow-capped mountains,a place rich with all the strange beauty of your nighttime dreams...then you know where I am." H.H.
- Gampa-la Pass -
I left Lhasa this morning, heading south, along the Friendship Highway, the famous 800 kilometres scenic route connecting the capital of Tibet, Lhasa, with the Chinese/Nepalese border. I took this picture from Gampa-La Pass at an altitude of 4794 meters, this is one of the many mountain passes that I went through during my adventure in this wonderful land. The sky is clear, the air is pure. Not far from the pass, I have found this tangle of prayer flags called "Lung Ta" which in Tibetan means "Wind Horse", behind which opens an incredible view, the Roof of the World in all its splendor, Yamdrok Lake, one of the three largest sacred lakes in Tibet, surrounded by many snow-capped mountains and glaciers. According to local mythology, Yamdok Yumtso lake is the transformation of a goddess.
Gampa-La Pass - Nangartse County - Tibet October 2015
- The mani wheel -
The "mani" wheel, or hand prayer wheel, has a cylindrical, generally sheet-metal body mounted on a metal shaft or pin set into a wooden or metal handle that turns on a circular bearing commonly made of Turbinella shell. The cylinder itself is affixed with a cord terminating in a metal weight allowing it to be spun by a slight rotation of the wrist. A translation of the Tibetan ‘khor-lo than is “wheel” since it is thought that the spinning cylinder emanates positive energy, allowing the practitioner to accumulate wisdom and merit. The Tibetan name of this device is mani-chos-'khor (མ་ནི་ཆོས་འཁོར་).
Shigatse - Tibet
October 2015
- The Roof of the World -
This is the Rongbuk Monastery the highest monastery in the world (4,980 meters), it was founded in 1902 by the Nyingma Lama Ngawang Tenzin Norbu. The monastery lies at the end of the Dzakar Chu valley, and behind the monastery is the huge north face of Mount Everest (8,848 meters). Only 8 km from the monastery there is the base camp, where I spent last night in a tent.
The view is magnificent, it is about 9 in the morning, it is very cold, the thin air makes it difficult to have a look around and climbing on the steep slopes of the rock surrounding the monastery. The view is breathtaking.
Dzakar Chu Valley - Shigatse Prefecture - Tibet October 2015
- Drepung Monastery -
Drepung Monastery is one of the "great three" Gelukpa university monasteries of Tibet. The other two are Ganden and Sera. Is the largest of all Tibetan monasteries and is located on the Gambo Utse mountain, five kilometers from the western suburb of Lhasa. Freddie Spencer Chapman reported, after his 1936-37 trip to Tibet, that Drepung was at that time the largest monastery in the world, and housed 7,700 monks, "but sometimes as many as 10,000 monks."
Lhasa - Tibet
October 2015
- The Sacred Lake -
I am on the banks of the beautiful Lake Yamdrok, one of the most important lakes for Tibetan Buddhism, is said to be able to help Tibetans find the reincarnated soul of the Dalai Lama. After a Dalai Lama passes away, the senior monks are responsible to find the boy in whom the reincarnated soul of the Dalai Lama has gone to abide. They come to Lake Yamdrok to chant and pray, and throw "hada", a piece of silk used as a blessing object, and other holy articles into the lake to get the reflection of the specific location of the Dalai Lama's soul.
Lake Yamdrok - Nangartse County - Tibet October 2015
- Late Afternoon -
It is late afternoon, the sun is low and has almost disappeared behind the mountains surrounding Lhasa.
People enjoy the last rays of sun.
Lhasa - Tibet
October 2015
- Night at the E.B.C. -
Are 10.30 pm, I left the cozy warmth of the tent at the base camp for a walk and try to make some night photos to the Everest. The light reflected from the moon illuminates the landscape. I'm walking at 5,200 meters, the wind is very strong and the temperature is 10 degrees below zero, I have basically left the tent with all my clothes,\ on. Take pictures using the tripod in the wind is never an easy thing, but the uniqueness of the landscape requires some effort.
Everest Base Camp - Tingri County - Shigatse - Tibet October 2015
- Around the Monastery -
I am in the great complex of Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse the second-largest city in Tibet. Today the monastery is packed with faithful pilgrims and tourists. After visiting the best parts of the monastery and the many temples, where, unfortunately, it is forbidden to take pictures, I wander in the streets and gardens that make up this little town for the monks. The light in this alley seemed perfect, filtering between two houses a ray of light cut through the scene... so I decided to lean against the wall and I wait for someone interesting to pass.
Shigatse - Tibet October 2015
- Walking in Shigatse -
The kora around Tashilhunpo Monastery takes about one hour to complete. From the main gate, follow the monastery walls in a clockwise direction. The alley curves around the western wall, past tsatsa (clay icon) makers, stone carvers and monks reciting scripture for donations, to climb into the hills above the monastery where streams of prayers flags spread over the dry slopes like giant colourful spider limbs. The views of the compound below are wonderful from here.
Shigatse - Tibet
October 2015
- Picnic -
On the banks of the sacred Lake Yamdrok some men chatting in the sun, surrounded by a landscape that seems straight out of a dream.
Lake Yamdrok - Nangartse County
Tibet
October 2015
- The Oldest Monk -
This is one of the most senior monks of the Tashilhunpo Monastery, met in one of the courtyards. Thanks to my guide who acts as interpreter, I can ask some questions. This man is 84 years old and has lived almost always in this monastery since he was 4.
Shigatse - Tibet
July 2015
- The Old Quarter -
During a cold night in late October, I got myself in place in a slightly elevated position to make some night photos to one of the icons of Tibet. The Potala Palace was the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India during the 1959 Tibetan uprising. It is now a museum and World Heritage Site. The palace is named after Mount Potalaka, the mythical abode of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara.
The 5th Dalai Lama started its construction in 1645 after one of his spiritual advisers pointed out that the site was ideal as a seat of government, situated as it is between Drepung and Sera monasteries and the old city of Lhasa.
Lhasa - Tibet October 2015
- Tibetan Kid -
I'm on the road that will take me to the Everest Base Camp. The scenery is fantastic, the sun shines high and the sky is blue. In one of the last stop I stopped not far from the village of Tingri, Some children immediately started running in my direction, obviously aware that I probably had candy and chocolate. Their faces are beautiful, dark skin, almost sun-baked, huge smiles, bright eyes, and happy to the point of being contagious. I find extraordinary children on the Roof of the World.
Tingri - Shigatse - Tibet
October 2015