Our sleeper train took us to Lanzhou. We stumbled off the train with our bags and all and clambered into a min bus. An 5hour journey awaited us. We tried to get some sleep in-between the hourly loo breaks. The loos or rather squats became worse at every stage, worse ever was the one one just at the 'gate' which marks the edge of the Tibetan plateau. But who cared we had made it ;) We were so excited we ended up taking photos of that disgusting but welcoming squat!!!!
We finally got to Xiahe. At 2900m above sea level, this tiny town tucked away just outside of Tibet. The were exhilarated and at really feeling 'hi' when we got at our welcoming guest-hotel. It was the first time we saw and met real Tibetans dressed up in their traditional costumes. The main street was busy with market stalls, shops, bikes, and pony carts passing by. If it weren't for the hotel stuff we would have never managed to carry our own bags up the flights of stairs to our rooms. We were breathless by the 3rd floor just by carrying ourselves!!! But we were in heaven or space or something of the sort as that's how it felt.
Sharon (our team leader) took us for lunch to a local restaurant just round the corner. There we tasted Tibetan bread (yummy), I dared the local porridge or tsampa which is wheat barley with yuk's butter, cheese and lots of sugar (yuck!) and yak meat dumplings or momos (mmm..so so. We also got to meet Kalsang, our local guide for the next few days; a hyper-energetic comical 32 year old daddy who speaks good English and is very patriotic, of course, like the rest of the comrades.
We were exhausted. Back at the hotel, Catherine, my room-mate and I tried to rest but we were too excited. We tool pictures of the mountains outside our hotel window, the colourful decorated internal yard and the the ceiling of our room !!!
Later in the afternoon we joined the others and Kalsang took us to the famous Labrang Monastery. Or well, that evening he made us do the kora, which is a 2hr walk around the Monastery turning the large prayer wheels as we went along. Now that felt like proper Tibetan life! I was as happy as a kid, joyfully spinning those wheels. As we walked the back of the monastery we also got to see Gelupka (yellow hat) monks gather for their prayers in the open yard. It was great - just like the movies :) The evening air grew colder so we sped our heavy pace back to the hotel and had dinner on the top floor of a new restaurant - another typical Chinese banquet (as Sharon likes to call it). I also got to taste the bo boa cha (or 8 treasures tea) which I didn't quite give a thumbs up despite the cheers!!!
Next morning...
The highly-spirited Kalsang quickly got us to our feet and let the way to the Monastery again. A monk toured us around the various sections of the huge Monastery; from the Medicine College (which essentially looks like at part of the Monastery) to the multi-coloured yuk-butter sculptures of the deities museum to another old Buddhism relics museum to the actual worship and monks' teaching halls. The latter are adorned with colourful frescos, gold-coloured Buddha statues and photos of past lamas on either side, hanging tie-shaped katas, storey-high selves with the old Sanskrit Buddhist documents and and rows of red cushions for the monks to pray, study and meditate on. As part of our responsible tourism we did not take any pictures inside. The monk then led us to the Monastery's most important area - the souvenir shop!!! After that he disappeared leaving us at the door of the largest courtyard which was also the entrance to the 'church' as you may term it, the place where the locals where allowed in to pray and prostate themselves as well as give offerings of white katas.
What impressed me most was a very old woman who could barely walk with her stick and a monk who arm-held her at the other end. She limped slowly towards the entrance mumbling soundless prayers. At times dropping her stick in an attempt to perform the worship act. The consists of folding 2 hands at the head, then at the mouth, then at the chest and lastly lie flat, face down on the ground. Tibetans repeat this act for 108 times, in an attempt to redeem themselves or rather their bodies from earthly temptations. Sharon who tried to help the old woman reach her destination, and I were pretty impressed by the devotion and adoration of this tiny hunched earthly being. Sharon even told me that such people come from afar just like the destination of a long pilgrimage.
It felt surreal being at such altitude, our heads spun with the thin air and all that was new our Westerners' eyes.
Having the afternoon to ourselves, Catherine and I climbed a short but steep hill to get a best shot of the Monastery. Happy as ever, we bought a few snacks and fruit for our next long drive. We finally joined the others and started our next 5hour drive to Langmusi.
all for now folks.......
nicky
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