As an award-winning chef, Günter Hager, who was born in Austria's Salzkammergut region, organised International Austrian Gourmet Weeks in faraway Asia in the 1980s. In 1998, he crossed the Himalayas out of a sheer sense of adventure. What he did not know at the time was that he was laying the foundations for a deep friendship with the Tibetan people. Today, the passionate restaurateur successfully runs a traditional inn in the Upper Austrian capital of Linz. Yet for more than a quarter of a century, Günter has always found time to visit and explore the Tibetan side of northern India.