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Recovered (for the most part) from a nasty flu that delayed my departure for two weeks, I finally set out for Golok. With a lingering cough and low energy, I decide to take it slow and make the trip in short stages. First stop is Chabcha where I stayed with an old friend, who is a teacher there, and his family. Next I head to Tongde where SRJ's brother is waiting for me on motorcycle. No time to think. Just jump on side saddle, backpack and all. Off we go to the outer edge of town where I hand out with his family for a few hours while they arrange a car for me to go to Raja Gompa, approximately 3 hours to the south.
The trip, of course, took the rest of the day with stops at the driver's nomad tent for tea and then dinner in a small town along the way. We didn't arrive at a hotel in Raja town until almost midnight. Sweetly, the driver offered to be my tour guide the next day and we had a long stroll through the monastery, around the korra (circumambulatio route), and back to town.
Raja Gompa on the Road to Tawu
Raja Gompa is dramatically set in a placid river valley below a steep wall of red rocks. A short two kilometers from town, it can be reached by taxi or on foot. It takes just an hour to see the various lhakhang and circle the monastery and makes a wonderful break from the long drive between Xining and Tawu. From Raja, it is only a two hour ride to Tawu, which by shared taxi costs only 20 RMB. In the end, my driver from Tongde sent me off to Tawu well-fed for two days and refusing any money for the ride or meals. There are always friends to be made on the road! And I am glad that I chose the slow road to Tawu.
Payul Monastery in Jigdril From Tawu, I set off to far away Jigdril with friend SJ, where there is a famous branch monastery of Payul in Kham, once home to Tarthang Tulku. We stay with her classmate for the night and tour Payul Monastery, only catching a glimpse of the main lama there presiding over the monastic assembly in a ceremony. There is a
stunning Zangdok Palri temple on the site, depicting the pure abode of Padmasambhava, known to Tibetans simply as 'Guru Rinpoche' or the precious guru. According to the monk giving us a tour, for those who establish a stong connection to Padmasambhava through prayers and faith, it is possible to be reborn in his pure abode. Each floor of the Zangdok Palri temple has stunning images, leading gradually into more ethereal layers of embodiment (physical, symbolic, and abstract) related to the three 'buddha bodies'. At the base of the temple is an impressive array of murals depicting scenes from the Padma Kathang, a text that containing legends about Buddhism's arrival in Tibet during the seventh to ninth centuries.
The Loneliest Road in Golok We make it to SJ's nomadic area from Payul in no time, passing the stunning peaks of Nyenpo Yutse along the way. The next day we are off to the Azod Gompa to meet the lama there with a carload of monks who coincidentally also want to visit the remote monastery for the day. It seems like a lucky coincidence, so off we go! Little did we know their car was like the "little
engine that could" huffing and puffing up every hill.
I had told SJ that I am an avid hiker, and this trip I had plenty of opportunity. Each time we reach a hill, the car can only make it to the top without passengers. Out we get and up the hill on foot. Good to get fresh air! There are fabulous views and not even a yak in sight.
Whereever we go, SJ has family and friends. At Azod Gompa, when we arrive, two of her cousins invite us for tea. First we greet the lama who is busy presiding over a ceremony. We are able to enter and hastily offer khatas and explain ourselves. We are invited to meet with him later. Off with the cousins to their residences with neatly carved wood painted colorfully. The hospitality is sweet, but I begin to feel a bit quesy after eating a bowl of tsampa (roasted barley) mixed with milk tea, crunchy bits of cheese and butter on the verge of being rancid.
We have an hour with the lama before the monks are honking and we have to leave. The car is worse on the trip back and even after stopping at the mechanics in the small town of Azur, we break down on what must be the loneliest road in Golok. It's dark by now, and there is only a small tent by the roadside. No cars come and go, only the occasional motorcycle. To pass the time, SJ and I huddle under a blanket to stave off the cold and joke around about various doom and rescue scenarios. Several hours later, after much fiddling, draining and refilling the gas tank, miraculously we are off again. Now the monk drives fast on the bumpy road to make up for time. We are forced to stop every few minutes so that the other monk in the front seat can puke. I feel the same way but try to hold things down. SJ and the little monk in the back sleep the whole way. And we finally make it home at 2am.
Catepillar Fungus Season After rushing back, SJ and I spend the next day alone in her family home half-zombies. Her mother and sister have gone to the grasslands and her father has not yet returned from trading in a nearby county. Her brother leaves early in the morning to search for Yartsa Gunbu (catepillar fungus), a medicinal plant that is one of the main sources of disposible income for nomads these days, many of whom are being resettled in concrete row houses in small towns around Golok. Catepillar fungus in Tibetan means "springtime grass, wintertime insect." It is an unique type of catepillar that lives in the winter and then its corpse grows into a plant during the spring. Tibetans with excellent eye sight and lots of experience can dig anywhere from 20-50 catepillar fungus in a day. The going rate varies according to grade, but the average yields 8-12 RMB each. A good day's profit in this area!
After another day of rest and lots of reading, it feels like time to go. Off to Tawu to meet my roomate and friend the next morning on the back of SJ's brother's motorcycle. A stunning ride to the main road where I flag down the Jigdril to Tawu bus.
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