Tibet has been a source of deep fascination for travelers ever since foreigners started to travel there from the 16th century onwards.

Its sheer remoteness from the rest of the world has proved to be an irresistible draw for intrepid explorers hoping to make their mark on the last expanses of uncharted territory on earth.

The same attraction has been felt by travelers in more recent decades too, for whom a journey to ‘the roof of the world’ was a physical and mental challenge of endurance.

The reward of seeing some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet infused with Tibet’s rich and profound Buddhist culture made the challenge more than worthwhile to the traveler.

Tibet is a vast and thinly populated plateau roughly the size of western Europe.

It is surrounded and criss-crossed by towering mountain ranges which include many of the world’s highest and most formidable peaks.

The plateau itself largely consists of vast rolling plains speckled with lakes and rivers.

Lhasa, Tibet’s capital city at 11,800 feet (3600 meters), stands at a higher elevation than the summit of Mount Hood in the United States – 11,250 feet (3429 meters) – and at about the same elevation as the summit of the highest mountain in the Glarus Alps in Switzerland, Mount Tödi at 11,857 feet (3614 meters).

Mythology, folklore and fiction have contributed to building an image of Tibet which is deeply