Here is one of my many faults;right now I know we are in the country of the Yi, a shamanistic minority culture that was once a mighty kingdom and held slaves into the 1950's. I know what we did today which was interesting and great fun...but I don't know the name of this town or of the village where we visited...so I promise to fill this in but will plunge into the days doings... The Yi have characteristic embroidered tops, not unlike those I brought back for Eva from the Miao people of Yunnan province two years ago. They also have [View Full Entry]

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The sky burial images linger, leading to discussions of our own preference for disposing of the mortal remains..it seems so Buddhist to just be so matter of fact and to truely respect the cycle of life and give nourishment even to so ugly a creature as the vulture. Unanswered questions for googling research; how is the butcher chosen? The monk said there was no cleansing ritual after he did his work, but I want to know more about that because of universal taboos about touching the dead..still the Tibetans are mighty deep people... We continued out of the mountains,to head south [View Full Entry]

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THE FOLLOWING IS A DESCRIPTION OF A VIDEO OF A SKY BURIAL:with additions by Marty The video is only of fair technical quality. It begins with a monk chanting over something we cannot clearly see but is presumably a body. It is winter with a light dusting of snow. There are long shots of vultures circling the monastery. A man starts to take off his shirt and then reaches under a pile of rocks for a grey workshirt and pair of pants which he puts on. He is next seen standing by what appears to be a stone platform on the [View Full Entry]

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We spent the night at Xin Du Qiao noted only for its prison and the fact that, when looking for the internet, the same dingy stairway, if taken to the left arrived at a darkish room with four giggling girls with adjoining cots or to the right where, in the semidarkness, adolescent youths were appearing to sublimate any desire by shooting everything in sight on their screens. I believe I can claim to be familiar with the internet scene and for some reason, even if there is a lighted sign in front, the standard of accomodation is dirty and furtive... In [View Full Entry]

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Ok this will bwe my third attempt..last night I typed for 45 minutes before the power went off and I lost everything..then tried again and lost out after 10 minutes. So,I am going back to the school visit which was so extraordinary and made me think further about the world of 'tashi delek'. Of course, I realize that we were two American professionals who were being driven around in a Jeep with a driver and guide..yet..and of course, they want to get the word out about their good works..yet..they were glad to see us, the teachers were glad to be teaching [View Full Entry]

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Well, my dears, here is the situation. It is nine oclock in Litang, a wild west tibetan town and I have forty five minutes to get something written in this totally dark internet cafe where I cant see the keyboard which is temperamental. Life is going so much faster and more intensely than writing. I have the laughing monks to deal with and the big surprize of today, more destined encounters. Kham has more scenery, human habitation, human magic than anyplace I have been. If we stop by the road with no one in sight, in ten minutes ten people will [View Full Entry]

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Ah yes..I forgot to add that for one hour at Ya Qing monastery I walked around with my special bandanna, the one with the two little eraser sized microphones connected to a recorder that let me get a soundscape of the whole scene.... So..moving on...we were at Baiyu a rather damp little town in a deep valley. The next day we drove to Dege..the roadway runs along side the Yangtze river, quite brown compared to its tributaries...on one side of the river Sechuan Province, on the other Tibet.We came to a bridge. Marty wanted a closeup and was promptly confronted with [View Full Entry]

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One of my favorite devices in fairy tales is the ring, that when the owner drops a golden ball through it, transports him instantly wherever he or she wishes...how I would have liked you to have that power yesterday when two most extraordinary events took place. We were on the road from Ganzi to Baiyu, a road that crosses a pass at 15,800 ft, far above timberline, with snow flecked on the ground when we encountered a group of yak herders driving their yaks by horseback.We came upon them from behind and saw the riders and the black, massive backs of [View Full Entry]

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Ganzi...a meeting place for the prefecture..in a high valley..11,300 ft, surrounded by 20,000 ft sharp jagged mountains. The monastery overlooks the town and the confluence of two rivers. From the monastery, the town, mostly adobe looks cozy and tucked up against the ridge on which it sits. We want to learn more about this yellow hat school of Tibetan Buddhism and Lee, our guide , finds a tibetan girl who speaks Tibetan and Chinese to interpret for us. Soon we are looking at tankas (scroll paintings) depicting protectors of the monastery, protectors of the faithful and the good sensible life. [View Full Entry]

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To get to the essence of the past two days:we have been driving through the most remarkable landscape I have ever seen. We left Luhou for Sertar with Marty watching the barometer closely since our guide Lee has been worried about the threat of rain and landslides..it remained high and we had broken clouds..real Taos clouds, towering cumulus thick clouds.. As with all travel in Kham, the roads follow the rivers upstream to a pass, at which point you descend following a river downstream to the next valley system. Then to progress further West as we are doing, you have to [View Full Entry]

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