Sherpa Yak Herder
Gokyo Valley, Solukhumbu, Nepal, Asia
Camera: Rolleiflex
The story: "My beautiful friend Didi (Nepali for older sister) had a warming smile starting from within and perpetuating outward. Like almost all the Tibetans I have met, her being was radiating happiness and contentment. We met outside her brother's lodge on Gokyo Lake, in the Everest Basin. It was Didi's destiny in life to shepherd the family's Yaks from one high Himalayan pasture to the next. It was not a complicated task, and she did it well. She spent her days alone, from sunrise to sunset, accompanied by 20 or so shaggy beasts in the land of soaring, snow-covered peaks.
At 17,000 feet the air is thin and I had a hard time keeping up with her brisk pace. She just looked over at me, smiled and turned back to the orchestra of sounds that only Didi and the yaks understood. What a heavenly place to pass a lifetime. What was going on inside her, how did she view the world? One thing was for sure, the ever-present smile confirmed that she was completely at peace with herself and the world around her."
