Out and About in Rural Tibet

Carly writes about the Drigung Valley. Home to monestaries, rivers, caves, hotsprings, and snowy peaks.

So, we left Lhasa 3 or 4 days ago I can't even remember. Everything has been such a whirlwind since the day we left--we have been staying at hostels and monestaries for one might then leaving at sun rise the next morining. So, thinking clearly is not my best asset right now. But, I will try to inform all of you as best I can. So, there are 8 of us students and we have 2 teachers with us along with 2 Tibetan guides. We are traveling throughout the whole of Tibet by car. So, we have 3 jeeps along with 3 drivers. I am in a car with Willie, Erin and our guide who was born and raised in Tibet. He is so sweet and knowledgeable and knows 4 languages (Tibetan, Chinese, English and Italian). Actually, most of the people I have been meeting speak at least 3-4 different languages...so it really makes me want to dig deep into my language studies and learn more languages so that I can travel and truly emerse myself into the culture. So far the language barrier hasn't been too bad, but if I spoke Chinese or Tibetan this trip would have many more dimentions and levels that would make it more experiential.

As soon as we left Lhasa we went to a Monestary that was about 14,000 ft in elevation YIKES!! We had some real authentic Tibetan food called momos and they are dumplings made with steamed bread as the covering and yak meat as the filling. I was not used to the taste so it was hard to eat but I tried to stuff at least 2-3 down. It is so crazy how a persons stomach can shrink when they are traveling. I think all of us on the trip have lost at least 5 pounds each so far. It just takes time to get used to the new food and the new surroundings of the resturants. Most resturants have a lot of trash on the ground and things arn't clean--but I think I am used to that now. What I am not used to are the mangy dogs that live on the grounds of the monestary and scrounge for food whereever they can get it. I thought that dogs living at monestaries would be treated well, but they are basically tame wild dogs that must fend for themselves. Many have hip displacia, open wounds, mange or are just plain emaciated. I thought Tijuana was sad--well, let me tell you folks this tops the cake. But, on a lighter note--I see animals everywhere here when we are driving we have to stop at least every hour to let cows, yak, sheep or pigs cross the road. I have never seen anything like it. It always makes my day to see packs of wild animals going on peacefully throughout their day.

So, I have been getting many questions about what I have been eating and what my accomodations are like....well, i must say I definitely have to roll with the punches. The first hotel we stayed at after Lhasa was pretty new, but it was in the middle of nowhere...so I thought I would get a good sleep--WRONG! I didn't realize that trucks drive long distances during the night and have to watch out for yak crossing, so in order for the drivers to scare the yak they honk like hell. They are relentless they will honk 15 to 20 times until the yak move. Then there are the Tibetan guard dogs who also bark 20-30 times...but they dont bark for a reason they just bark for the hell of it. I woke up at 4:00am that morning because the guard dog out front (a little puppy) was barking for what seemed like 3 HOURS!!!!! It was an experience thats for sure. Then the next night we stayed at a monestary named Drigung which was 15,000 ft elevation and the room was the nastiest room I have ever stayed in. There weren't any sheets on the matresses there was no trashcan, no running water and they only has outside toilets. Even though it was rough I really enjoyed it. I mean all of the monks live like that why couldn't I for a night or two. Oh, and all of the bathrooms in China are squtting toilets so you have to have a little strength in your legs before you even think of using the toilet. But, that room had the best view I could have asked for. We were facing beautiful green mountains with snow dusted on top. It was truly magical because at around 8:00pm a thunder storm began. It was so intense because we were at such a high elevation we could see the lighning so clearly it went horizontally across the sky and as we counted 1 one thousand...2 one thousand BAMB another lighning bolt. So we all got excited because it was so close and we all got into one of our friends rooms and watched the thunder storm out of the window and ended up playing dice for the next 2 hours listening to the rain and thunder.

More to come whenever I find a computer,
Carls