The greying sheets of snow, slumped across the steep edge of the Himalayas, broke away, as if recoiling from the soft crimson light of the winter sun, and beyond lay the haven.
A deep valley, scooped from the frozen earth as if by a playful giant, spilling over with waves of lush pine forest, so close I could taste the tang of sap and pine cones. A serpent of rippling blue twisted its way through the center, coiling into a crystal lagoon which danced and sparkled, reaching out to flocks of fluttering songbirds which dipped and soared,...