There is a saying in when traveling in Tibet: “Eyes in heaven, body in hell.” Its meaning is —- we see the beauty of Tibet with the naked eye; but the body is in torment. Tibetan has so many majestic snow-capped mountains, the tallest peak on the planet is, after all, can be viewed from Tibet. Turquoise lakes, endless grasslands, and one is in luck, one can experience some miraculous lighting. But at the other end of the spectrum, are the harsh and extreme conditions. We must withstand the harsh living conditions and the worrying altitude sickness.

I first visited Tibet in 2008, and in the years that followed, I entered Tibet at least once a year.

Each time I went to Tibet, it gave me different experiences and challenges. Here is an account of one of those experiences.

A few of my tour mates and I went up to a hill to wait for sunset. The idea was to use the pagoda as the foreground with Mt. Everest as the main subject, obviously.

We went early, way too early, sunset would take place at 9.30pm, but we were already up on the hill around 4pm. The weather was fine in the beginning, but the wind was getting stronger as minutes passed by. So strong that we can’t setup the tripod at normal height, we have to lower it while sitting on the ground.

We waited patiently, the weather was getting colder, and the wind cut like a knife. We had finished our snacks and water; finally the moment arrived. But alas, the colorful clouds were at the opposite Mt. Everest, how we wished we could direct the clouds to the top of Mt. Everest, and there were no golden rays shining on the mountain either. The mountain looked pale and nothing was like what we had anticipated.

A few of my tour mates had given up and wanted to retreat; however, after some persuasion, they decided to hang on for a while and I am glad they did. Suddenly, we saw there was a ray of light appearing at the bottom part of Mt. Everest. It appeared as though someone had switched on the spotlight, and been beaming it at Mt. Everest. What was even more magnificent was that, the light was moving up gradually.

I was absolutely thrilled; I had never seen or experienced something like this in my life. Worried I might miss out a moment. I just kept shooting greedily. I could hear my tour mates shouting gleefully. When the light finally faded, we hugged each other and tears began to fall on my face. I felt I was blessed, to be able to witness such a rare phenomenon.