For Tibetan Buddhist monks and laity, artistic butter designs, known as torma or tsepdro, take on a spiritual role. Traditionally made using yak butter mixed with barley flour and coloring they are modeled by hand. Since butter melts easily, monk artists making butter sculptures need to work in...
Passes in Tibetan are called La We are entering Spiti valley from Manali and Lahaul valley via the Rohtang pass. From the 4550m top of Kunzum La on a clear day you can see peaks in every direction (La is the Tibetan word for mountain pass). The views...
For millennia in Ladakh the many Buddhist Gompas that sprang up in this extarodinary landscape have nurtured and instructed the inner life for all who enter there. Just to step into the prayer hall of a Gompa is an experience that is immediately palpable. The outside is bright,...
Being inside and social isolating. In 1996 I started a long silent retreat. It was to be the most valuable gift that I have ever given to myself.It certainly was not an easy undertaking, however, I learned to go inside, to let go and be willing to face...
Gassing up ready to ride Here are some of the amazing friends and travellers that I have met over the past 14 years riding in the mountains. The freedom that is so easily felt when you are riding at altitude in the Himalayas make every meeting special. Knowing...
An early morning flight from Delhi to Leh The awe inspiring view from the airplane of the western Himalayan mountain range. We cruise effortlessly over hundreds of miles of mountains, lit by the morning sun their every fold and crease is visible as far as the eye can see....
On the road to Spiti Valley there are many bridges now crossing the might Sutlej river. This was once the route taken by the Tibet highway that was cut into the mountain side on the right bank of the Sutlej. At that time bridge building was not possible...
The name “Spiti” means “The middle land”, i.e. the land between Tibet and India. There are two ways to enter Spiti valley, from the southern end via Kinnaur valley, or from the higher northern end of the valley at Losar, via the Lahaul Valley. Here we enter the...
This is the mighty Sutlej river which begins in Tibet at Lake Mansarova. It has carved out this valley as it flows through india. Every few years massive flooding takes out many of the bridges, the result of deforestation and glaciers melting in China. We were luck enough...
