"A monk would never live like this." I said to Ellen."Take it easy." she calmly replied. "We only have two more nights."It was the third day of our five day journey through southern Tibet to the Nepali border. We were at the Monastery Guest House. Ellen and I were sitting in the common room, or restaurant, of the place just 8 km from Mt. Everest Base Camp. We'd arrived here fifteen minutes earlier. I'd done a quick scan of the place. The steamy, overflowi...

 Drepung Monastery, built in the early 1400's, was once the largest monastery in the world. By the 17th century, 7000 monks lived there. Weathered, but still in remarkable condition, it sits terraced at the base of a mountain. Drepung, save for us and a couple of young Chinese guys, was completely untouristed. With the dress of the monks and pilgrims, I felt as though we were back in the 17th or perhaps 15th century.  Ellen, I and our new amigo Max from Ger...

It occurred to me after boarding the 48 hour train to Lhasa, Tibet that many might not have fully understood the "point and shoot" photo that I sent from our last stop in Beijing. Ellen was even a little bit confused by the photo at first. For those who have never visited Asia or the Arab world, them porcelain gems ain't urinals. They're full-blown squat-beside-your-buddy number 2 toilets - paper not included. When I walked into the washroom on the brand...

"Ni Hao" or it's English equivalent "hello" comes at us from all sides and the words are always accompanied by smiles.Beijingers are by far the friendliest folks we've met on this journey - that being said, on the way to Tianamen Square, Ellen and I were stopped by a rickshaw tout. He offered to have us dropped off in front of the Forbidden City for three Yuan. "Three Yuan?" I said, holding up three fingers. "Yes, three" he replied in perfectly understand...