Alta Paz literally translates into English as “high peace”.
It is the name of a particularly beautiful piece by Argentinian guitarist Quique Sinesi.
Geographically, today’s musical selection is “inappropriate”.
As your ears will surely tell you, Sinesi’s piece was inspired by the Andes, and by its indigenous inhabitants’ musical traditions.
Otherwise, Alta Paz is a perfect match for today’s photo, and for its particular circumstance, at 9.38 am on 15 October 2019.
That snowy autumn morning we were in a forested valley of the Kanda Shan – a mountain range in the far southwest of Qinghai, China.
We were just off the Tibetan Plateau-proper, but definitely in Tibet, culturally/ethnically/historically (arguably, this particular area is now more Tibetan than is Lhasa)
The members of our little party were privileged to be the only humans present for most of the morning that we walked beside the road through this glorious place.
This happy circumstance was due to the road’s temporary closure, behind us; our vehicles, pre-dawn, had driven up into the Kanda Shan, just in time.
By mid-morning the snow had stopped, and the sun came out.
By the time we wished to drive back down (relatively, of course… Nangqian – the town in which were sleeping, “down on the flat”, was still far higher than the highest Australian peak) the road had re-opened, and trucks were loudly grinding their way through the pass.