Garden of Dreams, Kathmandu
Tibet: Day 15 - Everest
14 October 2007
We camp outside Ronbuk monastry, in heavy fog. A sleepless night: yak bump into the tents at all hours, and the temperature falls below the range of the thermometer. I wake about 3am, put on every item of clothing I can find, and it's still too cold to sleep.
Next morning, the fog clears, and in the clear bright light of day, the peak of Mount Everest looks close enough to reach out and touch.
Tibet: Day 12 - Lhasa
Lhasa: Beijing Road
Some of the old Tibetan style buildings that are left, prayer flags on every rooftop. Monks in maroon robes are a common sight.
Yothuk Road, Lhasa.
As close as I can get to Barkhor Square to paint, without being surrounded by tourists.
Tibet: Day 11 - Lhasa
08 October 2007
Urban sketching in Tibet.
Lhasa from the roof of the hotel, looking west along Beijing Road. In the distance, the Potala Palace dominates the city.
Tibet: Day 10 - Lake Namtso
07 October 2007
Camping at Damshung
Yak carrying hay over the river; mess tents; where we’re sleeping tonight (my tent is fourth from the left); and the latrine tents
Namtso (Heavenly Lake)
Highest saltwater lake in the world (15,479 feet). Sacred to Tibetan Buddhists, its shores are covered in prayer flags and chorten.
Prayer flags at Namtso
Blue symbolises space; white is water; red is the colour of fire. Green represents air and wind, and yellow is earth.
Tibet: Day 8 - Tsurphu
Tsurphu monastery, hidden in a long valley, like Shangri-La in “Lost Horizon”
Prayer flags near Tsurphu
Tibet: Day 6 - Lhasa
05 October 2007
Urban sketching in Tibet.
Norbulingka, Lhasa
Barkhor Square, Lhasa
Tibet: Day 5 - Lhasa
04 October 2007
Urban sketching in Tibet.
Jokhang temple
The rooftop of the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, the holiest site in Tibetan Buddhism. I’m sitting in the shade of a wall, trying to keep out of everyone’s way, but the Chinese tourists are fascinated by what I’m doing. In minutes, I’m surrounded by them, watching every brushstroke. I’ve had my photo taken hundreds of times.
Potala Palace
When I show this drawing to one of our Tibetan drivers, he puts his thumb over the Chinese flag.
Tibet: Day 4 - Samye monastery
03 October 2007
Urban sketching in Tibet.
Samye Monastery is built in the shape of a giant mandala, that is a map of the Buddhist universe. The main temple represents Mount Meru in the centre. This black chorten represents one of the four continents.
Tibet: Day 3 - Kathmandu to Yumbulagang
02 October 2007
Urban sketching in Nepal and Tibet.
Kathmandu airport, waiting for the flight across the Himalayas. A monk buys Tolberone and Pringles.
In Tibet: Yumbulagang monastery. Prayer flags cover the hills around.
Day 2: Kathmandu
01 October 2007
Urban sketching in Nepal. Second stage of the journey gets us a far as Kathmandu. Lunch at a restaurant overlooking the dome of the Boudhanath Stupa (behind the sunshades).
Looking from my hotel window, I realise that we’re in one of the highest buildings in the city. Unlike every other capital, Kathmandu has no skyscrapers cluttering up the view. But it has enough traffic to match any other city: cars, painted lorries, overcrowded minibuses, bicycles, motorbikes, rickshaws, nervous pedestrians and sleeping dogs fight for road-space. It’s also the rule that when you’re driving, and you see another car (or van or lorry or minibus or bicycle or motorbike or rickshaw or pedestrian), you must sound your horn.
Our guide tells us, "The only way you'll ever cross the road is to just step out into the traffic. They'll go round you."
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