High and Himalaya Review: The Exhilaration of Peak Travel – WSJ

Him laya touches on the tensions between early Western climbers and local hillsmen, for whom the scaling of sacred peaks was disrespectful. Pilgrims, Mr. Keay says, usually processed round mountains, not up them. He also makes a fervent environmental plea on behalf of the Himalayas. Of our planet s major ecozones, he writes, only Himalaya combines rich cultural traditions and palaces, temples and monasteries with the oddities and natural wonders of the most eye-watering mountain scenery on earth. He calls for safeguards to protect its rivers from damming, its forests from despoliation and its mountains from garbage. In Antarctica, visitors must take every scrap of waste with them; on Everest, humans litter more freely than they do in London.

via www.wsj.com

I wonder if I should go to the Himalaya or just read about it. Reading about it seems the safer bet and I could sleep in my own bed. But going there would be a lot of exercise which would be good for me.