A yak grazing on the shores of high-altitude Yamdrok Lake, one of Tibet’s most sacred bodies of water
Lamu at morning milking.
WITHOUT THE YAK, LIFE IN Tibet would seem impossible. Since time immemorial Tibetans have relied on this one animal for food, shelter and transport. They feast on its meat, set fires with its dung, knit tents with its hair, and cherish the precious milk of the dri (female). Yak butter is churned with salt, soda, tea leaves and water to make the beloved local beverage, butter tea. This pungent concoction is consumed in copious quantities, as many as 40 cups a day, to provide hydration and energy at punishing altitudes. Tibet is home to some of the highest mountain peaks on Earth, and the average altitude on the Tibetan Plateau is 4,500m.