This is the North Face of Mount Kailas (6,638 m/21,778 ft) in a remote region of far western Tibet inhabited only by Changpa nomads. For 22% of all people on Earth – 1.2 billion Hindus, 510 million Buddhists and many millions of others – it is the spiritual Center of the Universe, the Navel of All Creation.

Kailas and surrounding glaciers are considered the source of four of Asia’s great rivers radiating out from it: the Indus, Tsangpo-Bhramaputra, Sutlej, and Karnali-Ganges. As a sacred mountain it has never been climbed.

For thousands of years, people from all Asia have made the arduous pilgrimage to Kailas to perform the sacred act of circumambulating around the mountain – most clockwise, counterclockwise for others such as the Changpa adhering to the ancient Bön Tibetan religion.

It is not easy. Huffing over the high point of the pilgrimage route with TTPer Big John Perrot, our altimeter said we were as high as Kilimanjaro, over 19,000 feet. The highlight, however, is being among so many pilgrims from so many diverse cultures. This is one of our world’s thrilling adventures, and such a privilege to participate in. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #38 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)

Originally nomads from the Tibetan Plateau, the Nashi people settled in the fertile Himalayan foothills of Yunnan over 2,000 years ago.  From the ancient Tibetan religion of Bön, they developed a unique religion of nature-worship called Dongba.  The progenitors of humanity and nature were two half-brothers, two mothers with the same father.  Nature is controlled by a human-snake chimera called Shv – a statue of whom you see here.

The Nashi are a peaceful gentle people whose ideal is living in accordance with nature.  They dress very colorfully, women have equal respect with men, they write with the world’s only still-functioning pictographic script, and are proud of preserving their culture for millennia.  It is an enchanting experience to be among them.  (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #163 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

Reading Joel’s beautiful Keeping Your Sanity with a Sense of Awe today (10/04), with its mention of the sun reflecting off the kelp beds of Monterey Bay, I couldn’t help thinking of a similar experience I had.

I learned how to scuba dive off the California coast, particularly in the waters off Catalina Island.  Kelp plants grow to spread their leaves on the ocean surface, but it’s underwater you experience their true beauty.  They rise from the bottom rocks of the shallow ocean floor near the coast as a forest, and when the sun’s rays shine through them, it is a magical sight to see them turn the color of gold.

The first time I saw this on a dive off Catalina I was transfixed in a true moment of absolute awe, in a transport of appreciation of the Creation in which we are privileged to exist.

The photo you see is not mine as I did not have an underwater camera, I could only take a picture with my mind’s eye which I have never forgotten.  So the photo is an approximation of what I saw, yet it brings back that memorable moment of awe I had almost sixty years ago.  Thanks, Joel. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #162)

Rangdum Gompa, Zanskar, August 1993.  Ever ridden a yak?  Brandon did when was 10 at the Rangdum Tibetan Monastery or Gompa atop a small hill at 13,225 feet high in an extremely remote region of the Himalayas in India called Zanskar.  It was part of our Indian Tibet expedition which will be repeating next summer (2022) – and this time Brandon will be leading the expedition.  I’ll just be along for the ride.  (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #161 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

Ha Long Bay near Haiphong, Vietman – meaning Descending Dragon – is a World Heritage Site as one of our planet’s great scenic wonders, with thousands of limestone karst rock pinnacles, towers, and islets.  The most beautiful time is dawn, peaceful and serene, with small fishing boats of local villagers out for the morning catch.  A few days aboard a comfortable junk cruising Ha Long will do wonders for you. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #160 ©photo Jack Wheeler)

This is one of the magical places we experience on our Himalaya Helicopter Expeditions. An independent kingdom for 650 years in the remote Mustang region of Nepal, it is one of the last places of traditional Tibetan culture on earth, unchanged for centuries. There are sky-caves here – apartment complexes carved out of vertical cliffs 2,000 years ago – Drok-pa nomads in the high pastures, spectacular sacred ceremonies, all in a mysteriously beautiful setting where the Himalayas meet the Tibetan Plateau. We’ll be here again next April. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #86 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)