Blogs from Kham, Tibet, China, Asia

Enough of tarmac, the bank of China and "Hotels for Foreigners". Enough of stir-fried pork with green pepper (Duncan’s staple diet) and the Han Chinese. We had seen the Ying, Bristol2Bombay went to Tibet to find the Yang.... The Sitting Room of Degei Gompa It's 8 'o' clock in the evening; all is dark but for candlelight and some glowing coals. We sit on cushions around the room, each next to a monk. They wear their traditional red robes and sip yak butter tea whilst reading Tibetan scripture. We do the same but instead of prayers we are reading "Bleak house", "The Odyssey", "The Japanese Buddhist Organization Writings of the Dharma" and... err..."Harry Potter". The fifth one mind (it's well thick). We have befriended two wise monks; they live on the vast plateau of Ganzi. ... read more

hey well, i am in the final stages of preperation for my 5th trip to the kham region of eastern tibet. i will be leaving this sunday, april 16, flying directly to hong kong, then taking the ferry to shenzhen to catch a flight to kunming that same day. it will be a very long and taxing journey, but will get me to where i want to be as quickly and as seamlessly as i can manage. "n" will meet me in kunming (hopefully when i arrive) and will travel with me for up to 4 weeks through kham and possibly south amdo. it will be good to see him again. we will immediately head to derong via zhongdian to visit the tibetan schoolgirl i sponsor. that should be very interesting! from derong we head north ... read more