Kibber is one of the highest villages on earth – close to 15,000 feet up in the Himalayas of Indian Tibet. The town is nestled in a shallow valley amidst snow-capped peaks and yawning chasms, and its inhabitants are friendly (mostly) Buddhists. Kibber’s ancient monastery occupies a high perch above the town.

After arriving by bus, me and my travel companion stayed for a few nights at a guest house run by two brothers…luckily, they had HEAVY down comforters because, although we went in July, it was freezing cold at night. I recall that we had a balcony at the front of our second story room, but it had no guardrails/barriers to protect from falling!

I will never forget standing on that veranda at night. Lamps illuminated the windows of homes without electricity, giving the impression of a medieval European village. And the stars did truly shine.

While in Kibber, we took a fantastic hike above town, which offered great panoramas of the entire village and its surrounding peaks. While hiking, we passed Tibetan women working in little fields that must have been extremely difficult to develop for agriculture, and Buddhist monks cooking lunch around a small pond on the hillside. They invited us to a meal. And, of course, the village children sought candy…a lot. : )