MEMOIR
Tibet: The Journey to Everest Base Camp and a Prayer for my Brother
Finding Spirituality across the Tibetan Plateau to the Roof of the World
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“This is the highest toilet on earth!” our guide trilled, waking me from my 5th nap of the day.
We had left Shigatse some 5–6 hours ago, leaving behind its humming streets to begin our climb toward the sacred peaks of Tibet. Despite the eye-popping panorama of sprawling velvet plains and glistening lakes along the way, the relentless high-altitude fight snuffed out delicious, precious oxygen, lulling me to sleep like a gurgling baby.
I opened one eye against the sun's glare, which seemed unnervingly close at these heights. He was pointing to a concrete shed, reachable by thirty steps. Next to it was a sign declaring we were at 5250 metres above sea level.
We were literally on the ‘Roof of the World’, and yet, here was a toilet — a ‘western’ one no less, in the most inhabitable place on earth!
Had I been brave enough, I may have taken the opportunity for a toilet break, but the short walk from the car to the foot of stairs left me gasping for air. With burning lungs and my head weighing a tonne on my…
