The Rongbuk Monastery, located half-way up the mile-wide, 20-mile long valley at 16,500 feet, is accessible today by vehicle over rugged road. Rongbuk used to the largest monastic center in the region. Now it is the power place through which all seeking the highest peak via the North Face must pass. Rongbuk is the sacred threshold to Mount Everest, with the most dramatic views in the world. Rongbuk Monastery was founded in 1902 in an area of meditation huts that had been in use by nuns and hermits for over 400 years. Hermitage meditation caves dot the cliff walls all around the monastery complex and up and down the valley. Mani walls and stones, carved with sacred syllables and prayers, line the paths.
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