Tibet
You got to love the Tibetan people; peaceful, colorful, deeply budhist. Now if only the Chinese would leave them alone.
Picture Highlights
Doing the tourist thing - getting my picture taken while sitting on a yak
Oxen pulling a cart in front of Songzanlin Ghompa near Zhongdian
Buddha inside Songzanlin Monastery
Milk River Resthouse - my Tibetan owned accomodation in Zhongdian
New monastery being built in Xiangcheng
Dinner with other travelers at a Tibetan guesthouse in Xiangcheng
View overlooking town from top of newly constructed monastery in Xiangcheng, Sichuan
Now I know why that bus wasn't running - this was a road. Had to hike around this one and luckily
I was able to find a ride on the other side...somewhere in Western Sichuan.
4 day horse trek up Ice Mountain in Sichuan
Nearing the summint (alt. 5588m). Had to turn back due to some nasty weather coming in. The guide was
smart enough to stay behind.
Hiking companions from Prague.
Cooking up a goat we bought along the way...dinner for 8 - $10.
Tibetan homes in N. Sichuan
Two Tibetans that showed me around town while I waited the 3 days for the busses to start running
again.
Clearing a land slide so our bus could get through. See the journal on this one...a truly amazing day!
Grounds near Ganzi(Kandze) Monastery
Dorji, a Tibetan English teacher, had invited me to stay here at his home in Rhongpasta...beautiful
hot springs near by!
Tibetans in Rhongpasta. Dorji, to the left.
Land surrounding Kandze
Kandze Gompa (monastery) in N. Western Sichuan, houses 1500 monks
Start of weeklong trip from Kandze to Lhasa. 1st 3 days in back of truck with 23 monks and nuns carrying a load of yak butter to Chamdo
Crowded, but, comfortable - we were sitting on a load of Yak butter.
Introducing frisbee to monks during one of the many flat tire pit stops
For the second half of the six day trip to Lhasa I hired a Jeep (Chinese immatation) along with Ryan
(from Colorado) and a group of Japanese I had met along the way.
The Potala Palace, Lhasa, now more of a museum than the palace meant for the Dalai Lama
View from mountain side at Sakya Gompa, built 1073, 1 of the 4 schools of Tibetan Budhism
Tibetan child hand printing Buddhist text.
3 children at Sakya
Norwegian doctor working on a Tibetan photo book that I had traveled with for a few days. Got a free
ride in exchange for helping to get the photo equipment up some of those peaks.
Nuns that had invited us in for some butter tea.
Farmers near Shelkar.
Woman farming near Shelkar
The gate keeper and his wife at the entrance to Mt. Everest Reserve. They were nice enough to put me
up for the night while I worked out a ride in...one of those unexpected joys of hitching.
Mt. Makalu (alt. 8463) and the himalaya's looking just East of Everest on the road to base camp.
Rongbuk monastery near Mt. Everest (tibetan:Mt. Qomolangma) base camp, elev. 5,200m. The monastery is the highest on earth at an elevation of 5,100m (16,728ft)
Yak in front of Mt. Everest
Tibetan highway worker.
Walk around the Dalai Lama's home in Dharmasala.
Monks debating in Dharamsala