Rongbuk Monastery, the highest inhabited place on the planet


It is at a latitude almost unimaginable to ordinary mortals. And it is not surprising, since the Rongbuk monastery It is the highest inhabited place in the world. It is in the city of Basum, in the Tibetan county of Dingri, in China, and they live there 30 Buddhist monks and 30 nuns.

The altitude at which the monastery is located is frankly enormous. It is at the foot of the Rongbuk glacier, to nothing less than 5,100 meters high, only 200 meters lower than the Everest North Base Camp (as you know, the highest mountain in the world, at 8,848 meters high).

More than four centuries of history and meditation


The Rongbuk Buddhist Monastery belongs to the branch Nyingma, and today it only welcomes 60 people (30 monks and 30 nuns). However, long ago they lived there more than 500 religious, monks and nuns. It was founded in 1902 by Lama Zatul Rinpoche in this place. Here there were cabins inhabited by monks and hermits dedicated to the meditation for more than 400 years.


Given the location of the monastery it seems almost impossible to get there, but currently it is not so difficult, since it can be accessed with prepared vehicles circulating through a country road.

A balcony to the vastness of the mountains


This place is on the path that those climbers who start the adventure of climb the north face of Everest. So if you are adventurers and you like risk sports, here you have an interesting and special destination like few others.

It is not uncommon that it has been described as one of the places with most spectacular views of the world, since from there you can see the peaks of, in addition to Everest, mountains such as the Cho Oyu, the Gyachung Kang and the Shishapangma. An almost religious experience.

Tingri Tibet Village And Views To Mount Everest and Cho Oyu (March 2024)


  • climbing, monasteries, mountains
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