Journey into the Tibetan Plateau!

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Into the Depths of the Tibetan Plateau

May 2007

The snow began to dust our bus windows soon after we began our accent up the mountains past Zhongdian, aka “Shangri-La” (the city of James Hilton’s mysterious monastery in his novel ‘Lost Horizon’). The bus floor was completely coated with a thick layer of hawked loogies by the time we reached 14,000 feet ~ a winter wonderland where only the tips of roadside tents protruded from the snow.
After a horrific night in a sketchy hotel in Deqin, our vomit record so far was a 7 out of 15 students. And so began our competition, “who would be the last to vomit!” Proceeding a short delay for a hospital run (bruised ribs), we arrived at the village of Yangze. And so… the adventure began!!
I took my first step of the pilgrimage across the Mekong River on a colorful suspension bridge adorned with prayer flags and already I was in a state of bliss. At this moment, I finally realized that my travels were not about finding myself as I previously endeavored, but rather that everyday is part of the lifelong journey creating myself. So with a smile, a blessing of rain falling from the sky, and a skip in my step, the pilgrimage around Kawagebo/Kawakarpo/Meli Mountain began.
Just beyond the bridge, past a small village dodging the usual yaks, pigs, goats, chickens, and children, we visited a monastery to receive the Lama’s blessing just as other Tibetan Buddhists completing the annual pilgrimage would do. Unfortunately, the Lama was on a business trip, so the nuns motioned us to leave an offering/donation and then light a candle, so when he sees our lit candles on his return, he will send us his blessing. Mentally?
Absolutely the most incredible beautiful day! My heart was still filled with joy even though the pouring rain deterred us from our 1st campsite. We were lead into a Tibetan man’s huge rammed earth house in my favorite village in Asia, Yongzhi. The next morning we started off clockwise around the temple, spun the humungous prayer wheel (about 15+ feet, really huge!) three times, bid our farewells to the cute grandmas with their babies who were always hanging out spinning their mini prayer wheels… then we were off!
Along a RAGING river, past gorgeous waterfalls, and small pasture homes we hiked. I finally realized the immensity of our expedition as it took about 15 minutes for the horses and porters to pass around us on the trail. 15 students, our teacher Chris and his Sichuanese wife Tingting, our expedition coordinator (who could forget XiaJiaoTao!), 12 Tibetan horsemen/guides (two women- our excellent chef and my new nainai/ grandma) and 26 horses/mules! As soon as all 55 of us arrived at camp, once again soaking wet, the sounds of falling trees surrounded us. Fire wood (huge trees) piled quickly before our eyes! First hand experience of forest conservation - different perspective of deforestation when you are freezing and wet in the middle of nowhere!
After four days stuck at the campsite because of the storm, we became well acquainted with our new Tibetan counterparts. Quite the comical and rowdy bunch! Our new daily routine: wake up to dry our clothes/sleeping bags/ shoes by the fire while holding plastic sheets over our heads from the pouring rain. ‘Waterproof is such an understatement! It didn’t take long until our fashionable rain gear began to melt at the heat of the fire, or in my case, my shoes caught on fire!! (Saved by ABBA - our in house comedian!) Thank you Kaua’i rain for preparing me to keep a positive attitude during nine days straight of camping in the rain!
As the day continued, bai jiu (homemade rice whiskey/wine) always put a smile on our faces, even at 2 in the afternoon in the rain, and especially after one sip at 13,000 feet elevation! “Tashi dalek!!!” we bellowed as we passed the bowl full of bai jiu, never complete without some sticks and dirt in the mixture! And by the way, the Tibetans loved to instigate that they share their alcohol (yes in a bowl) as opposed to their fellow comrades. For hours we would continue dancing and singing in Tibetan, Chinese, and English around the fire until late in the evening. I love school 😉
A few of us decided to hike to check out the snow conditions of our next campsite. We hiked through a retreated glacial valley until we reached a landscape where for the first time in my life, I found it comparable to the beauty of Kaua’i. The moment we reached our destination, the rain ceased for the first time in nine days! Whoohoo! An incredible pastureland of yaddles (yak and cow mixed breed) lay before our eyes, where three herdsman’s summer shelters rest along the stretch of a beautiful stream, surrounded by steep jagged snow capped mountains, and a waterfall streaming from the melting snow.
We followed ABBA to this brother’s pasture house, gave him a huge jug of bai jiu, ate some yak cheese, and helped pump the fire with a hollowed out goat (all body parts still there minus the head!) After we successfully ran from a mini avalanche in our attempt to touch snow, we headed back to the camp to rally the expedition to pack up and head on forward!
Our new campsite was just beyond a very auspicious spot, an unbelievably beautiful area by a glacial brook endowed with streams of prayer flags of every color! We situated our tents on grassland at the base of the mountain pass that led into Tibet. The guides who trekked up the pass to check the conditions brought us unfortunate news that the pass had over 10 feet of snow and the horses would never make it. It was tough to keep smiling after traveling halfway around the world for this pilgrimage and have to turn back.
Our gloomy faces quickly became confused when all of a sudden, our manly Tibetans started to chop down more trees and then began to carve out shovels from the trunks with their machetes/axes! Wearing the girl’s fashionable glasses for glare protection, the Tibetans once again hiked up the vertical pass (literally 90 degrees up!) to dig a trail for our expedition!
After the two women (one our 54 year old nainai “Baimu”) chopped an ample amount of wood, (amazing woman - all Tibetan women can open a beer with their teeth too!) they sent a few of us up the mountain (grueling!) to bring the diggers some lunch and water. Once again, we were disappointed when we were notified that the pass really was impassable. On the other hand, the day escalated into a huge snowball fight! Sheesh those guys play rough!! One of the best days of my life!
So as you may have guessed, we never finished the pilgrimage around Kawakarpo. We didn’t gain merit and it felt really awkward to retrace our steps. The only option we had left was to have a good time and remember the value of the journey, not the destination! Actually, it turned out for the better as we heard news that beyond the pass we would have been stranded! The storm was so powerful; it washed out huge portions of the trail and even broke down homes and bridges along the way!
We ended up wondering through the backcountry following small trails used by some of our guides to take their yaddles to graze in the summertime. The environment was absolutely incredible, surrounded by snow capped mountains, gushing rivers, and lush green pastures, but it was really the people, our teachers, the students, and the Tibetans that made the trip so phenomenal - such a blast!
Our daily routine (post rain):
After packing up our tents at the crack of dawn and munching on wok-fired pancakes, we trekked! After arriving at camp, we would relax to the sound of the Tibetans chopping down huge trees (hopefully already dead!) Class usually began at five, then was followed by an incredible bonfire wok fried dinner of meats and veggies (fresh picked ferns yum!) cooked by our amazing guide Xiong Yi - fantastic woman, as strong as any man, owns a restaurant on the road to Lhasa, has two husbands, and used to work at the minority theme park we went to in Kunming!
After dinner, the usual, we sang, danced, and drank bai jiu around the fire, and yes, all the fully grown men loved to sing and dance and always had an endless supply of games: solos, duets, Americans vs. Tibetan song and dance competition, all sing while one dances, and of course, I couldn’t leave out the “middle school” pass the stick around sitting boy girl boy girl, when whoever it lands on must sing and dance together! No shame! All grown men with children although they deny it! Monogamy supposedly isn’t a big deal. Very useful to have two husbands so one can stay home and work the agricultural fields while the other goes to the pasture to graze the yaddles.
One night by the bonfire we were told about “visiting marriages.” A man will take a huge pole to the house of the girl he likes, climb on top the roof, remove the slats, and stick the pole in the house to climb in and have a “visit”! If the girl has no interest, she simply pushes his pole off the roof! (Tibetan houses are really tall!) When the story was over (all in Chinese - they spoke no English expect for “I love you” and “sexy”), they warned a friend and I to watch out for his pole while we were sleeping! When we told them we would duct tape our zipper shut, one whipped out his machete and smiled… that’s some Tibetan character for you 😉
Tibetans always carry a machete. Maybe this is why the Chinese are so fearful of them? This brings me to the essentials of a typical Tibetan:
One must wear army green communist shoes, if you are older - a communist army cap (blue of green) is a must, one side of the hip there must be an axe while the other side a machete, one must be able to chop and carry huge trees, drink unlimited amounts of bai jiu and/or beer at 13,000 feet, and smoke cigarettes while doing any activity such as climbing up a mountain face, and of course they must have a few yaks!
Tibetans are also definitely the manliest men on earth no matter how weathered from the extreme sun they may appear! Yixi, our main guide, extraordinarily huge in stature and always wearing his full suit of army camouflage, was the manliest of them all. A typical Yixi action: at quite a rocky campsite he hacked down a huge branch, striped the leaves to make a hoe, and cleaned out all the rocks. He then proceeded to strip a mossy layer off a gigantic rock to lay a bed of moss under our tent! He even cooked! He even had a feminine side: he carved a little bunny and friends with his huge knife out of vegetables to top the cake for one of the student’s birthdays! A 3 x 3 tiered bread, raisin, peanut cake made on the bonfire!
Great birthday at Black Lake! No yelling allowed (sacred site), but we did have a crazy birthday party that once again, unfortunately ended as a huge puking fest! (Unfortunately, not alcohol related.) Me, barefoot in the rain in my rainbow striped long undies watching out for land leeches (so disgusting!), rubbing friends backs, and keeping the fire burning while five more people puked themselves out of the competition... I WON! (P.s. Although I was the soul survivor, the last day back in Kunming I lost ?) Thanks mom for the immunity pills! Somehow they worked!
Our last night before we trekked back to the villages we jumped rope for hours and learned Tibetan tug of war. A rope is tied into a circle, two peoples backs face each other, rope around the back of their necks and pulled through the legs, on all fours and RUN! Tibetans are crazy!
Back to the village, my favorite village Yongzhi, and one night sleeping on the roof of our guides’ home means it’s PARTY TIME! We all were dressed up in showy Tibetan costumes! Fake furs and bright colors - outrageous costumes! The night began when we were offered a Bai jiu chicken soup mixture (bones and meat and all) a drink only served to close friends on special occasions. Interesting to say the least. Dancing singing, moms, dad, kids, babies, and grandparents, everyone in the village seemed to be there! Fantastic and hilarious party! Tibetans are out of control, but I love ‘em! What a way to end the most incredible adventure of my life! Every day was truly amazing. As I looked back on my journal, I couldn’t help but to laugh as in every entry I wrote, “ This is the best day of my life!”
It is so true that the environment, the people around you, and especially your own attitude determine the richness of life. No matter where you are in the world, if you live every day to the fullest, well, you simply enjoy life! And that’s where I am now. In the big, bad city of 19+ million in Shanghai, China! I never thought I would survive living in a city… but I thought wrong! I love it here! Such a blast! Oh yeah, and school is lovely.

Although I am having a great time, I deeply miss all of you at home! Homeward bound on December the 23! Blog for June - October coming out soon I promise!

Here is my new address. I'd love to hear from you! How's life?
(Please send me your address as well!) Or come visit me! There's still have time!

57 Wudong lu
Shanghai, China 200433
Room 504, Foreign Students Dormitory of Fudan University
Tiana Kamen

My cell phone: [phone]

I hope I find everyone happy and in good health!
Love and Aloha,

Tiana

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Photos

Wheel of life
Wheel of life

Yongze Bridge
Let's begin! Yonze bridge crossing the Mekong!

Prayer flags and Wheel
Where we were "blessed" by the Lama away on a business trip!

yongzhi
my fav town!

aunti in yongzhi
well hello!

Baimu and the waterfall
My nainai ~ Baimu

the spot
The spot... river, glacial waterfall, snow capped mtns, pasture homes, and yaddles!

new home
Dad - real estate ;)

our buff ladies
las mujeres

yixi moss
Yixi and our moss bed!

moss and tent
Camping in luxury!