Читать книгу Everest Here Continents Collided - Alex W Milne - Страница 4

This book was born on the summit of Gorak Ri in a sublime moment which comes but a few times in life. I was enjoying the wonders of the high Himalaya towering all around me. Everest and Nuptse were shimmering in the morning light, Cho Oyu was so close you could almost reach out and touch it. All around there were huge thrusting rock structures and at my feet the mighty Ngozumba Glacier was flowing in a mass of debris down and out of sight.

A young French couple savoured the moment. They asked me to explain the panorama which I did with great emotion. It was a wonderful moment as I dug deep into how the continents had collided twenty million years ago and the Himalayas had been thrust up. I finished with the suggestion that this would be a fine moment for a marriage proposal. They embraced. Bientot cherie!!!!

"Everest Here Continents Collided" is a geological photo guidebook for the Khumbu trekker. It is a companion for the traveller who wants to understand the dramatic landscape that unfolds with every twist and turn of the trek, from Lukla to Gorak Shep. It is an aid to the educationalist or armchair enthusiast who want to gain a deeper understanding of how the roof of the world formed and it's present day scenery. Finally it is current, useful advice, for the independent traveller.

I hope it inspires people to visit this most fabulous of countries.

Gorak Ri with Cho Oyu in the background.

Everest and Nuptse from Gorak Ri.

Classic himalayan panorama. Prayer flags above the Dudh Kosi.

The worlds most photographed Sadhu? Pashupatinath.

Busy street Kathmandu. Reflecting the new and the old and what hasn’t changed in the city. The human carrier of huge weight is the same now as he was 39 years ago on my first visit.

Floating high mountains. Final approach to Tribhuvan airport during the monsoon.

The Himalaya stretches in a 2400 kms (1500 mile) arc from the Hindu Kush in the west to Bhutan in the east. The Himalayan collision zone is the largest and most spectacular mountain range in the world today. A product of a mighty continental collision which is without modern precedent, continuing today. The Himalaya is the home of the World's highest peaks, with over 100 mountains exceeding a mighty 7200m (23600 ft). The Himalaya through its drainage basins is the birth place to some of the worlds great rivers, notably the Indus, Brahmaputra, Ganges, Yangtse and Mekong. These rivers are crucial to the wellbeing of some 3 billion people, a significant proportion of the worlds soon to be 7 billion population.

Small boy at entrance to a buddhist shrine. Kathmandu.