China’s Last Wilderness

Racing against the millions of tourists who would soon be arriving in the Tibet Autonomous Region via the new Lhasa Express railway， I spent the early summer of 2006 drifting across the plateau on foot， bus and donkey.

My journey started with a 4X4 expedition across the remote tundra of eastern Tibet’s Kham region， where I spotted remote Buddhist monasteries and black tent settlements of nomadic drokpa shepherds. At Rongchu Gorge， a landslide literally tore the road from the mountain face， forcing me on an arduous four-hour hike in the dark and pouring rain. And at Mount Kailash， Asia’s most sacred mountain， my path to purity almost ended in breathless fatality atop the Drolma-La pass， had not a Ngari pilgrim woman literally carried me the remainder of the spiritual circuit.

These images capture something of the peerless beauty and character of the people I came across during my journey in Tibet: China’s final wilderness.

Buddhist worshiper shields herself from the blazing-hot votive candles at a small temple in old lhasa

Female bddhist monk spinning her \"manI\" prayer wheel at the sacred doors oF jokhang temple， the spiritual heart of lhasa

Tibetan tassel-adorned door of a temple at mount kailash

One of the many highaltitude passes in kham， east tibet

Tibetan girl in kham， east tibet， with auspiciously numbered 108 hair braids

A woman prostrates herself before the potala palace In lhasa

Well-dressed khampa men enjoy a smoke and a beer in the outpost town of markham in eastern tibet

Daughter of tibetan pilgrims wearIng a pendant of the 10th panchen lama， choekyi gyaltsen