Mount Everest north side of Everest lies Rongbuk Monastery, which has been called the "sacred threshold to Mount Everest, with the most dramatic views of the world." For Sherpas living on the slopes of Everest in the Khumbu region of Nepal, Rongbuk Monastery is an important pilgrimage site, accessed in a few days of travel across the Himalayas through Nangpa La. Miyolangsangma, a Tibetan Buddhist ""Goddess of Inexhaustible Giving"", is believed to have lived at the top of Mt Everest. According to Sherpa Buddhist monks, Mt Everest is Miyolangsangma's palace and playground, and all climbers are only partially welcome guests, having arrived
Mount Everest Camp II at in 12 minutes (some sources say 11 minutes). Boivin would not repeat this feat, as he was killed two years later in 1990, base-jumping off Venezuela's Angel Falls. In 1991 four men in two balloons achieved the first hot-air balloon flight over Mount Everest. In one balloon was Andy Elson and Eric Jones (cameraman), and in the other balloon Chris Dewhirst and Leo Dickinson (cameraman). Leo went on to write a book about the adventure called "Ballooning Over Everest". The hot-air balloons were modified to function at up to 40,000 feet altitude. Reinhold Messner called one of