Winning combination. Truc and Bulbul Jan.
Pakistanis are cricket mad, even at 10,000 feet (3050 m).
Solving the world’s problems with Imran Khan. His dog’s heard it all before.
At Rawalpindi, crossing the most famous road in the subcontinent. First laid across north India some five hundred years ago.
My first taste of the high life. Dropping off at Concordia, where great glaciers meet K2 at three miles above sea level.
Street cleaners in Rawalpindi take a photo break. In the background, Shaan Shahid, Lollywood heart-throb, dominates the billboards.
Prayers at the 330-year-old Badshahi Mosque, Lahore.
My night with the stars. Shaan Shahid (left), and other top Pakistani thesps, on set at the Bari Studios, Lahore.
Who is the fairest of them all? Last-minute checks at Bari Studios.
Unblocking the fountains. Shalimar Gardens, Lahore.
Buffalo-assisted lawnmower, Shalimar Gardens.
Wagah border crossing. A red-letter day for the local porters as the BBC leaves Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Punjabi Rangers strut their stuff at the border.
With their Indian counterparts, they prepare for competitive flag-lowering.
INDIA
Ablutions in the Amrit Sarover, the ‘pool of nectar’, at the Golden Temple, Amritsar.
With two guardians of the temple. Their robes and spears symbolize the dual nature of the Sikhs: service and defence.
Kalka, Himachal Pradesh (Himalaya Province). The public pump still has a vital role in Indian life. And the railways are the biggest single employer in the world.
First glimpse of the scale of Shimla, 7260 feet (2213 m) above sea level. Provincial capital of Himachal Pradesh.
Aboard the Himalayan Queen on the 57-mile run from Kalka to Shimla.
The Vice-Regal Lodge at Shimla.
Keeping out of the sun or keeping out of the book? Shy ladies on the Ridge at Shimla.
On the road to Dharamsala. Our well-hennaed driver, ‘Red’, and a lunch bristling with green chillies.
Country life in Himachal Pradesh. Rich land, poor farmers.
Bulrush fields hide the river south of Dharamsala.
Tibet in India. Hanging prayer flags out near the Lhagyal Ri temple at McLeodganj.
At the Tibet Medical and Astrology Centre. I learn from Phurbu Tsering that I was an elephant in my previous life.
Surely the most approachable of all world leaders, the Dalai Lama is a powerful man, totally lacking the trappings, or the presumptions, of the powerful.
Mr Gulam Butt, proprietor of Clermont Houseboats through thick and thin times, runs through a lists of previous guests, including Nelson Rockefeller and George Harrison.
The Kashmir Martyrs’ Graveyard, one of many for those Muslims who’ve died fighting, or because of fighting, for freedom from India.
The remains of the Greenway Hotel, Srinagar, destroyed by the Indian army after Islamic militants holed up there.
A selection of the famous and once much sought-after houseboats of Srinagar.
NEPAL
Hindu Nepal. In Patan’s Durbar Square stone elephants, carved 380 years ago, guard the entrance to Shiva’s temple.
Kathmandu. In the grounds of the Royal Palace, the great and good of Nepal stand in line for the royal tika.
Before it all went wrong. Adrian Griffith talks to the galla, the recruiting officer, prior to addressing the village in fluent Nepali.
Some of the 251 would-be Gurkhas start stretching the sinews. Only 44 will get to the next stage of testing.
Crossing the cable bridge at Dopali, having been forced to abandon Gurkha recruiting after Maoist guerrillas abducted Adrian and other senior officers.
The steep, stone steps out of Chomrung. They look helpful, but became slow torture.
Machhapuchhre, ‘Fish Tail Mountain’, is looking in much better shape than I am, as Wongchu (who has twice climbed Everest) hangs patiently behind me.
A mug of garlic soup as the afternoon mist comes down over Machhapuchhre, the sacred mountain they say has never been climbed.
A doorway in Patan shows the fine design and craftsmanship of the Newari people.
Durbar Square, Patan. Kunder Dixit, urbane, resourceful editor of the Nepali Times. A man does puja, a ritual offering to the gods at Krishna Mandir.
The view that makes it all worthwhile. The Annapurna Sanctuary, a 360-degree panorama with nine summits reaching 23,000 feet (7000 m).
With Pratima on a bridge over the Bagmati River at Pashupatinath, the most important Hindu temple complex in Nepal.
Male members of the family lay a deceased relative on the funeral pyre at the cremation ghats at Pashupatinath.
Sadhus, itinerants who have renounced all worldly possessions and dedicated their life to lord Shiva, at Pashupatinath.
The world’s most sociable hermits. These sadhus will do anything for you, including their Roy Wood and Wizzard impersonation.
Prayer flags flutter from the huge stupa at Boudhanath, the most important Buddhist site in Kathmandu and heart of the city’s Tibetan community.
Women are prominent in Nepali rural life. In the Himalayan foothills, a woman carries home scrub for cattle feed.
Shopkeeper in crimson sari on the road to the Tibetan border.
TIBET
Road-sweeping gang takes a breather in Nyalam.
A circle dance takes shape in a village on the way to Everest Base Camp. These folk get-togethers are an important time for matchmaking.
Man of the plateau. Sheepskin coat, earring and extended sleeves instead of gloves.
Chomolungma, ‘Goddess Mother of the Earth’. The best name westerners could come up with for the world’s highest mountain was Everest.
Everest Base Camp, just before Sunday lunch.