* Winner of the first Barbara Savage Memorial Award * Stunning color photos of the journey * Look into the heart of the top of the world This is the story of two young couples who embarked on a free-form journey through Tibet, Nepal, China, India and Pakistan. Their goal: to circumnavigate the Himalayas by bike, foot, truck by any means necessary, the slope of the world's greatest mountain range their only guide. Along the way they experienced a region steeped in ancient tradition but permanently altered by its confrontation with the 20th century; they discovered all that is exotic and mundane, funny and tragic, and beautiful and brutal about this vast territory. Jeremy Schmidt's humorous, evocative narrative recounts bureaucrats, knife-wielding Khampas, lamas-in-training, and mystics of every stripe. With stunning photographs by Patrick Morrow, Himalayan Passage reveals a place imbued with meaning and reality far beyond anything in the world below: the mysterious, turbulent Himalayas, the gates to God. Also available in hardcover.