Jumé Irmscher

My apologies, I wanted to make slideshow of all the photographs on my trip in Tibet, but I (again) underestimated the speed and agility of the Internet in China. What should have taken, maximum, 20 minutes to upload, took, instead, 1 week. The agony? Frustration? Hey, I'm just happy I can finally upload this video of the photos you guys had such great responses to. Thanks for the support and likes.  For once, I'll stop talking now and let you enjoy the highlights of my trip to Tibet. May it instantly transport you to the mysterious, adventurous, and inspirational journey that is Tibet. 

In China, no one is ever safe from the constant head-splitting symphonies of construction. If you’re out and about on the streets, you’ll have to duck and dive the physical process of construction and getting away from the ear-deafening sounds are unavoidable, but the moment you get kicked out of your own bed at 07:00 am because the deafening hammering is coming from both above and next to your home, well then those moments go on the “I really hate China” list. And that’s where I am now. As I’m sitting here, the drilling followed me from my bedroom to the bathroom, to the kitchen and now finally decided that they’re more comfortable with staying in my study. I have the drill on the left and the bone-crushing hammer on the right. My management agent is avoiding my calls and texts and every now and then my desk vibrates from the rattling going on behind the paper-thin wall.

The Legend I have this curse that I get jingles stuck in my head and I’ll walk around with that tune on repeat sometimes for months. This time is the Spiderman theme song. While traveling Tibet, we saw that some people simply stash heaps of prayer flags on top of each other like a heap of paper-mâché garbage. While seeing this, at the same time, I was also humming the Spiderman theme and came up with this little tune: Spidermonk Spidermonk Goes around Spreading gunk In a tree Up a hill We don’t care We call him “Bill” Look out Here comes the Spidermonk! I’ve been sharing this rhyme enthusiastically all trip, but my creative efforts went unappreciated. I’m hoping I get another type of crowd here or at least get a giggle. But, I know you’re not here for my artistic rhyming, you want what the title promises, you want the goods on Mount Everest. Even its name gives the impression of a stellar Titan. I’m trying to find a word to best describe what ...

Tibet. There are so many facets to this massive region. Free Tibet . Religious Tibet. Mysterious Tibet. Honestly, I just wanted to go because it’s normally closed off to tourists. It’s like a forbidden piece of candy you’re not allowed to have because the Man (China, in this case) only wants to keep it for himself. To put it mildly, I was curious. So once the borders opened (this is an on and off again occurrence) my husband and I basically tripped over ourselves to get permits and explore the verboten paradise.