Rongbuk monastery lies near the base of the north side of Mount
Everest at 4,980 metres (16,340 ft) above sea level, at the end of
the Dzakar Chu valley. Rongbuk is claimed to be the highest
monastery in the world. For Sherpas living on the south slopes of
Everest in the Khumbu region of Nepal, Rongbuk Monastery was an
important pilgrimage site, accessed in a few days' travel across
the Himalaya through the Nangpa La. The monastery was also
regularly visited by the early expeditions to Mount Everest in the
1920s and 1930s after a five-week journey from Darjeeling in the
Indian foothills of the Himalaya. Most past and current expeditions
attempting to summit Mount Everest from the north, Tibetan side
establish their Base Camp near the tongue of Rongbuk Glacier about
8 km (5 mi) south of the Monastery. Today, the monastery is
accessible by road after a two- to three-hour drive from the
Friendship Highway from either Shelkar (New Tingri) or Old Tingri.
From Rongbuk Monastery, there are dramatic views of the north face
of Mount Everest, and one of the first British explorers to see it,
John Noel, described it: "Some colossal architect, who built with
peaks and valleys, seemed here to have wrought a dramatic prodigy—a
hall of grandeur that led to the mountain.
