Nepal Himalayas

The Khumbu is a valley that climbs. It starts in pine forest at two and a half thousand metres and finishes on moraine at five and a half, and everything about it — the air, the vegetation, the architecture, the pace you walk at — changes as it goes.

Above the tree line the peaks are simply there all the time, absurdly close and absurdly large. Nuptse, Ama Dablam and Everest itself catch the last light long after the valley floor has gone blue, and burn for a few minutes at the end of every clear day.