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Published: April 27th 2006
The road to Litang
View from the bus on the way from Kangding to LitangOne of the biggest problems with carrying around a big camera is that at some point you become paranoid. It's just such a lucrative target. And so you tend to hide it and take it out only for brief shots and then quickly hide it back in your pack. Of course, you end up missing many photo ops because the camera's in your bag most of the time.
While walking around Litang this morning, I decided to keep the camera on me and not in the bag, given that I felt safe enough walking around in a small town and not a big city. I saw a Tibetan monastery on an outlying hill and on a whim decided to walk up there. What I did not count on was what having the camera out in the open would do. Around the monastery was a neighborhood inhabited mostly by monks. Immediatly they approached me and wanted to look at the camera. Instead of what would normally have happened, just saying "Hello!" and moving on, I started talking to them.
One of the things I tend to kick myself about (metaphorically) is that my pictures end up being composed of landscapes
The road to Litang
Crossing one of the passes. Photo taken at an altitude of approx. 4600m. and not of people. There's a problem here. If I ask to take their picture, they tend to pose, and I tend to feel like a stupid tourist. Then again, taking their candid photo without their permission is not exactly the most polite thing and can generate some anger if I'm caught (and let's not forget, people notice the camera).
This time when the monks (some of them kids) approached me, I simply let them play around with the camera and take pictures of each other. This way, no need to ask permission, and I don't feel like an idiot. The result was some great pictures. I also got much more than I bargained for.
I ended up getting invited into their home, being served a snack and some water (boiling - very thoughtful of them). I ended up sitting in their house for the better part of an hour talking to them. Of course, noone there speaks English and so I had to rely on my Putonghua (Mandarin). And so I can say that I had my first long conversation in Chinese today. Of course it was a bit one sided. I said some sentences and they
The streets of Litang
The back streets of litang, with open sewers and an amazing view of the surrounding mountains. replied. Of the sentences they said, I managed to pick up a word or two after the second (or third) repetition and so I managed to understand the general drift. Other conversation pieces (besides the camera) included my sunglasses, which seemed to fascinate them, and a family photo which I happened to have stuck as a bookmark in my guidebook.
It ended up being a most incredible day!
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oren sanie
non-member comment
family photo
So....your camera and family photo did the work, eh ? it helped you to break the ce. We'll that's good. Besides Yizhar Cohen, the Galler's are well known for being icons in the chinese culture. You should have thought about the picture to begin with.