Many months have passed since my last entry. I’m in the US now and I guess I only think about updating my travel blog while I’m overseas and technically, traveling. And here at home, there’s not much to report except for life in the good ol’ US of A as most of you already know it. These days that means a little cold, a little grey and a little too much holiday food. My Lama, Traktung Rinpoche, invited me home in October along with Lama Yonten, his wife Osel Drolma and our friend Gangri. (All of them have been written about [View Full Entry]

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A day in transit I had a bit of a sleep in this morning which was great, I think I need to catch up on some sleep after all those late nights drinking in Beijing. So I headed out got some breakfast and packed up and headed towards the long distance bus station for my bus to Xining. To refresh your memory I was heading to Xining to maximise my chances of getting a permit to Tibet (and as I said yesterday, I know that many travellers have made it to Lhasa and back without one, and that it is a [View Full Entry]

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Please visit the extensive photo gallery that goes with this entry. See it here. Shortly after four of the pilgrims left for their homelands (see last entry), Chuck, Carin and I returned to Ngawa and to the home of Lama Yonten and Osel Drolma. There, we spent ten days so that Chuck and Carin could assist with work at Lama Yonten's monastery, Kashi Gompa. Their primary role was to teach Engilsh to the young monks that Lama Yonten has taken in. The gompa does not have funds or facilties to care for the boys, s [View Full Entry]

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videos from a friend and a great helpful person hope you don't mind Sunny, to put them on my blog [View Full Entry]

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The Beginnings of Adventure It was a chilly evening. The music was slightly muted, soft and relaxing, the Migratory Bird Cafe was almost empty. I noted that unlike what normally passed for music in Deqin (constantly playing "Message in a Bottle" was ok at first but fast grew to be annoying) the strains of a passable 60's Jazz number were to be heard. After the pretty sunset I had moved into the cafe to escape the cold, as being from northern Australia has not prepared me for the weather here, and I was awaiting my overpriced and most likely barely-palatable dinner. [View Full Entry]

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On our last day in Tibet we visited the family of our guide in their small village between Lhasa and Shigatse. The village was shielded from the road by a high embankment and consisted of about thirty families. The small traditional houses were without running water or indoor plumbing. Our guide showed us the (very public) place outdoors designated for bathing. Though there was a small manmade channel running in back of the houses for irrigation, we were told for drinking, bathing, and other purposes water was carried up from the river in buckets. The river ran far be [View Full Entry]

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die zeit rennt nur so dahin und wir haben inzwischen die xinjiang provinz verlassen. das war aber mal wieder alles nicht so einfach. wir fuhren (nach dem wir ordentlich das chinesische neujahr eingeleutet hatten und alle boesen geister weggeboellerten) mit einem jeep in die totale mondlandschaft. es ging durch gefrohrene flussbetten, schluchten, flammende berge, vorbei an einem riesen see und das alles mitten im nichts. leider hatte ein reifen schon beim losfahren ein loch und so war manuelles aufpumpen angesagt und schlussendlich reifenwechsel. wer faehrt mit einem platten reifen zum mond? es [View Full Entry]

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