The Beard Project

Since I was away for a long time, I decided to let my stubble grow out and see what happened. The climate in Tibet is very dry, so the ever-growing beard didn't get itchy like it does after only ten days in humid Japan. I was also free from the daily comments I would otherwise get from colleagues and friends if I attempted this in Japan...


Week One: A little thicker than usual.


Week Two: Doesn't look all that different, although I could feel it was longer.


Week Three: This is not an official beard commemoration pic -- taken while I was on a horse-pulled vegetable cart on its way to a monastery near Tingri -- but shows how well bushy it had become. If I'd been wearing sunglasses as well as the hat in this pic, I doubt anyone I know would have been able to recognise me.


Official pic for Week Three.


Week Four: a couple of days before going to Beijing. Couldn't be bothered to keep it going, and would be meeting people I knew in Beijing soon. Rare opportunity to see what I would look like with a mustache. Yeesh, I guess that's what I would have looked like if I were 25 years old in 1973, albeit with longer hair and a side parting.


Post-shave, looking fresh and young again!