In the Shadow of the Himalayas: Tibet – Bhutan – Nepal – Sikkim (Book)

A Photographic Record by John Claude White, 1883-1908. (July 2006)

My thoughts…

White was a British-Indian civil servant who lived in Nepal from 1883–4, one of only five Westerners allowed into the country that year. His sepia photos include the usual stunning mountain shots, along with a few Kathmandu scenes I’ll get to see in real life — like Pashupati Temple on the Baghmati River — except there’ll be globs more people.

There are lots of photos of Tibetan dzongs (fortresses), those surreal structures that sprout from the tops of rock masses, like this:

As Cheryl and I glanced through the book together, we came upon an image of a precipitous mountain path. At the exact same moment, we both spoke up. I said, “I hope we’re not going on a trail like that.” She said, “That trail’s pretty typical of where we’re going.”