From Kathmandu, we took a plane over the Himalayas and into Lhasa. Our group boarded a bus with a police officer placed by the Chinese government who accompanied us throughout the trip. One of our guides was Melissa Arnot, the first female to summit six times, the last time without oxygen.

This was a monastery tour that included Potala Palace, the Dalai Lama’s home, his summer residency, Sera Monastery, Ganden Monastery and Drepung monastery where Buddhist practitioners often travel miles by foot, some prostrating, to circumambulate this temple.

When editing photos at home, I zoomed into Chinese surveillance officers stationed on the roofs overlooking the Tibetan circumambulation. Since 1959 when the Dalai Lama fled over the Himalayan mountains into India, Tibetan monks and citizens have immolated themselves in protest over Chinese occupation.

We spent time in both living and abandoned monasteries, witnessed the remains of a vibrant culture of monks, drove west through high desert plateaus and open skies until after several days, reached Everest before sunrise. A more elaborate telling of this trip can be found in my book, River of Offerings. Proceeds from photos of Tibet are made to the Tibetan Children’s Education Foundation.