Sunrise Prayer Flags on Wind-Cut Thimphu Ridge

Golden morning light strikes the tattered edges of colorful prayer flags strung across a wind-sculpted ridge below Thimphu. Early summer greenery rests on the steep slopes, against the gray stone of the mountain pass. Dramatic clouds roll over the peaks, their white undersides catching the first rays of the sun. The flags flutter in the high-altitude breeze, their blue, white, red, green, and yellow hues vivid against the misty backdrop. Leading lines of the ridge path guide toward the distant horizon where the sky meets the earth. One shadow stretches long across the rough gravel, marking the low angle of the rising sun.