The extraordinary Japanese explorer Tamotsu Nakamura and companions have completed another photographic expedition to the Nyainqentanglha East and Kangri Garpo regions of eastern Tibet. Starting from the town of Qamdo, the team completed a 4,800-kilometer counterclockwise loop, with several forays deep into the mountains, over five weeks in October and November, despite unusually tight controls on foreign visitors to Tibet. 

Nakamura has been exploring the mountains of eastern Tibet and southwestern China since 1990, sometimes twice a year. During this fall’s expedition, he photographed one valley that apparently had never been seen by foreigners, and two others that hadn’t been visited by foreign explorers since the early 20th century. Blessed with the blue skies that seem to follow him everywhere he goes in China and Tibet, Nakamura returned with yet more photos of spectacular unclimbed peaks. Here, we offer a small selection. 

Date of Expedition: October-November 2009 

Source: Tamotsu Nakamura