I am writing this blog post from the Yak & Yeti hotel in Kathmandu. As some regular readers of this blog have commented, there has been a brief hiatus in my postings. For the last many weeks I have been trekking and mountaineering in Tibet.

At the beginning of this wonderful adventure, I had an opportunity to meet with green building clients and friends in Beijing and tomorrow I will meet with clients in Delhi before making my way back to Baltimore. China and India each are huge markets for sustainable building.

Although admittedly, I spent most of the past month climbing on the highest and largest plateau in the world (.. and not working), surrounded by the Himalayan mountains in all directions. 

In 1981 the climber and writer Galen Rowell made his first journey to Tibet and the northern side of Mount Everest (.. the first time Americans had been allowed into the Tibetan backcountry). In his magnificent book “Mountains of the Middle Kingdom” Galen described seeing hundreds of snow peaks in all directions, a vision off the scale of human experience, .. “I saw distant peaks that looked Everest-sized. They rose on the horizon behind an ocean of lesser whitecaps, .. more miles of more jagged peaks, with a greater feeling of height, than anything I knew existed on the planet.”

In the last many days I also have been awed by those same views and the opportunity to experience both the spiritual nature of the place and stunning views of the planet’s highest mountains making clear why Tibet is referred to as the roof of the world.

Regular blog posts will resume in the coming days, and ..

I will be in New Orleans attending the USGBC’s Greenbuild convention and expo next week. As a reader of this blog, if you email me, I will gladly buy you a cup of coffee and beignet at Café Du Monde.