A little loop in Tibet

After we leave Lijian, the next stop is Kanding. Here we have the definite impression of entering Tibet. More; the altitude of 3000+ gives us a shortbreathness which add the "Tibetan Plateau" feeling of it all! 

Our first tibetan "Gompa"...we stand in awe when we got the first glimpse of it around the corner...

Breakdown with a view, on the road from Kanding to Litang...a few 4000+passes...and a near empty road. Luckily, when we broke down, another bus stopped to help us and wait to make sure we could start again...I didn't want to spend a freezing night up here!!! 

One of the home stay on the road...just like sleeping inside a temple!

Flowers, animals, mythical scenes...golden and colorful painting for beautiful dreams!!!

LITANG

Litang is a little town on a green plateau, surrounded by rolling hills and dotted by black tents and yack herds...only the hills here are 4600m high and the people who live in the tents are Khampa (tibetan) nomads, from the old Kham Kindom.

We are now deep into the real Tibet...

Some of you who have a map will say that we are not; we are actually in Sichuan Province, China...let me give you a bit of historical background...

For a very long time, this whole area was populated by nomadic people, coming from mongolia or central asia. At one point a kindom organised itself around the Dalai Lama, and this kingdom included, along with the 3 regions which are now part of "Tibet" as we call it or "Autonomous Region of Tibet" as the chinese call it, the 2 areas now know as Province of Kham (in Sichuan Province, China) and Province of Amdo (in Qinqai province, China).

So these 2 area are actually part of Tibet, and, interestingly enough, the chinese have put less efforts is restraining the tibetan culture in those areas, where it seems to be still blooming.

Moreover the relationships between the chinese minority who live in the towns of the area and the tibetan majority seem to be quite peacful, a part from a few "hick ups" due to the chinese governement wanting to mine or deforest some sacred area...

But enough talking...I know you are eager to see beautiful pictures....

In the streets of Litang...

The locals are reknowed for their horse riding skills...but nowadays they prefer their motorbike!

I can understand tem...I'm not sure any horse will accept a loud stereo playing techno on their saddle!!!!

They still ornament beatifully their bikes; ribbons, flowers, colorful saddle cover...

Even the monks have their motorbikes!

Here a member of the Yellow Hats sect...I wonder why this name?

Around the temple...

An important person (a rinpoche was in town at the time) a the yellow hat sect.

I was actually taking a polaroid-instant picture of him and the other monk, when Rom took this pic.

THe monks where so avid of getting their pictures taken...there was even fights between them!

I couldn't believe so much materialism in a religion that is supposed to be detached from the terrestrial belongings.

Once again, I have only a partial understanding of this type of Buddhism, which is really different from the one we saw in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos!

A pilgrim and her (gran?) daughter, who sports the beatiful hairdo of the tibetan girls; many braids and beads! 

I find it fascinating to roll the prayer wheels...I'm still a big kid, you know?!

In the prairie

Nomads tent and yacks being milked...beautiful and timeless sights... 

Nomad Yacks herdess...happy to meet us and show us their skill at the throwing of stones with hand held catapluts

A little nomad girl, trying my glasses...big laugh from all the kids around us.

They invited us in one of the tents for a yack butter tea and a bit of tsampa (barley flour)

Very poor and dirty, but so welcoming and merry!!!

At the top of our hike; 4800m high.

You know what, this is the eight of the Mont BLanc, highest summit in Europe

We feel quite proud...and breathless!!!!

Also in Litang, we were able to see a "Sky Burial", where a priest cuts the body into pieces, which are then fed to undreds of vultures coming down from the hills. It takes less than 1h for them to eat the flesh, afterward the bones are crushed, mixed with Tsampa and fed to the sacred birds.

This might sounds harsh but let's think about it; in a country were the ground is frozen 9 months a year and there is no trees for incineration...what is the best way?

Of course, we didn't come too close to the burial, and took no pictures, but just so you get the feeling for it, here's a picture a vultures eating a dead horse...

TAGONG

After a few days in Litang, we went to another village, even more remote in the plains...The town is full of pilgrim and nomads, and the streets are a never endind cat walk of tibetan outfits, long coats and braided hairs, jewellry, long knifes, hand held prayer wheels and horses!

View of the sacred Mont Yala...which is forbidden to climb due to fights between the tibetans whos protect it as a sacred pilgimage place and the chinese administration who wants to mine it...

Tagong main street

Tagong Shopping center!!!

Pilgrims having a break before there xth tour around the manastery

One of the shoppers...I love their hair style; long thick shinny black hairs, braided with red wool, wrapped around the head and pinned with silver-coral rings...for men and women alike!!!

KANDING

Our last stop before Chengdu, Kanding, is already nearly 100% chinese...but some tibetan are still seen here and there.

The surronding mountains and the river flowing right from the mountains to the city center, give it nonetheless a little charm...

CHENGDU

We are now in Chengdu, which is going to be home for the next 6 months...we've been busy registrating at university, finding a flat (which has a guest room...anybody?...) and doing the usual "settling down" cores...

In august, we will go back to Tibet for 1 month, with my dad, to enjoy more splendid scenery, smily "tachidelê" (good fortune in tibetan) and some hiking as high as we can....

05:37 - 16/07/2007 - commentaires {0} - Ajouter un commentaire

When the gnus meet the yacks...

I am more than 1 month late in this english version...things have gone so fast since we arrived in China; some friends from France visited, then we travelled thru internet-free areas, ending up in Chengdu, too busy settling down in our new life to give you updates!!!

But now is the time for me to catch up on the english blog, and spoil you with all the beautiful pictures of south and southe west China (with even a little bit of Tibet in it!!!)!

Ready? Fasten your seatbelts, close your eyes and imagine you are in Yunnan, the southernmost province of China, bordering Laos, Vietnam, Burma and Tibet...home to the most beautiful girls in the world...for those who know her, a good exemple is Weila, who was born in Kunming (and who reads this blog)!!!!

Our friends Pierre and Delphine, nicknamed "the gnus" (hence the somewhat esoteric title of my article), joined us for a 2 weeks holidays. With them we visited the historical cities of Dali and Lijian and did a wonderful hike in Tiger leaping gorge, on the Yangtse River...

The "dream team" in the doorway of a temple in Kunming...so many laughs!!!

The two historic cities of Dali and LIjian are hotspots for chinese tourists, and they love so much to take pictures of/with us, that we feel like Holliwood stars "later for the autographs!!!"

In Dali, they have a 6h walk up in the mountain, wit little pavillions and temples, waterfalls, streams, views over the lake and the village...but the "must see" was the "Nest of the Dragon"...a little balcony high on a cliff, where you can only access through a little bridge without handrail and little path that you have to walk holding the cliff tigh, with the sheer drop just behind you...a thrilling experience, rewarded by the view and the magical thought that a dragon might indeed turn up in such a beautiful and remote nest!!!!

In this area, there is a lot of different ethnic minority...a lot of them from the tebeto-bruman back ground...

They all wear different colorful clothing. Some of them are still hand made. It's fascinating to see those "stopped" in time clothing sharing the streets with mini-skirt-high eels-nike wearing chinese tourists from the big cities!!!

 

Tiger Leaping Gorge; located on the Yangtse river, upstream from the famous "3 gorges dam",

 there is talk to drawn them in a similar project.

Before they disapear for the sake of energy production, we decide to check them out.

This is a 2days hike, that was "bayettised" (any one who ever hiked with Romain knows what this means) to 8h!

The footpath is high on one side of the gorge, offering stunning views of the opposite cliff, the rapids far down below...and crossing some neat little villages nestled amongst their terrassed fields, walnut gardens and hazelneuts bushes...

One of those Naxi mountain houses, and the background...nearly as beautiful as our own "Hautes-Alpes"

 After this amazing hike, we rest for a few days in the charming (albeit touristy) town of Lijiang.

Small paved alleys, canals (clean and not smelly, which is rare enough in Asia to be noted) and little bridges...

Charm of a Unesco Classified town!

04:14 - 16/07/2007 - commentaires {0} - Ajouter un commentaire

More about Spring City...

So here we are, 10days in Kunming, also called 'spring city'...but the very name is chinese propaganda, I'm convinced; it's been looking more like July in Auckland or November in London!!!

In 1 word; rain...we got everything from tropical storm to london drizzle!

The locals keep on going about their business...

 And we go to the movies...and you know what? We found out that Orlando Blum and Johnny Depp are fluent in Chinese! And we understood the story!...Not that we would have if it had been a Woody Allen movie!!!

Actually, we had a few nice days (or part thereof), and we could visit a few temples in the surronding of Kunming...Bamboo temple, Golden Temple, Drangon Gate and so on...

 Bamboo temple...up a steep 8km slope...with an old rented chinese town bike (no gears!!!). I must admit we were happy to find the fresh park of the temple at the top!

Typical outing of a chinese family; grand-parents, parents and the one child.

About Clothing and sociology...

First, just to let you know that despite the modernity flying into China, the chinese babies are still wearing pants without bottom. They don't wear nappies (or whatever you american call those...;-))  and a parent or grand parent holding their kids over the curb is usual sight!!!

Second...I would like to formulate a pray to all of south east asian parents. From Indonesia to China, the toddlers are wearing shoes which are designed to make a quircky noise at each step. Can you imagine generations of traumatised kids who herd that quiiirck, every step they did during their childhood?

So please, dear asian parents, watch you kid instead of trying to hear him and let us, poor and innocent passer-by in peace!!! 

What I like about temples...

 The smell of encens and the mumble of praying worshipers

The round doors and dark red walls 

The gardens, flowers, bonzai and statues

Bells suspended from the roof that jinggle with the wind

The golden tiles of the roofs...

We also went for a day trip to the Stone Forest, which is a karst rock formation...our guide was a 80old guy, M. Zhouan, that was so friendly, smiling and laughing that I nicknamed him; the Dwarf of the Stone forest!

Doesn't he look like a nice little dwarf???

Plus at 80yo, he's faster going up the stairs than I am!!!

This guy really made our day!

One of the beatiful sceneries of the Stone Forest...

We send you a rainy hello and a laugh of the Stone Forest Dwarf!

05:36 - 18/06/2007 - commentaires {0} - Ajouter un commentaire

Arrival in China!

We've been talking about it for so long, setting it as the goal of our wanderings in South-East Asia...

We've been slowly getting closer of the Big Dragon, smelling its breath upon the neighbouring countries, looking from a distance at this huge and somehow scary country.

On june 4th, we finally dared to cross the border and enter what will be our 'Empire of discoveries' for the next 8months.

How do we feel about the country?

Well, for the moment, all we can see is the huge differences bewteen the countries we've travelled before, especially Laos and Cambodia, and China...

A few example?

We are in Kunming, provincial capital...with 4millions inhabitants, this is more than Laos+Cambodia!

There is shopping centers with all sorts of fastfood everywhere...whereas there wasn't even a supermarket, much less a Mcdonald in Laos and Cambodia!

We can feel everywhere the demographic pressure and the consumerism of this 'ex communist' country...

In China, for a 3 courses delicious meal, you wait for 3mn maximum...in Laos, for a cheese sandwhich, it can take up to 1/2h!!

Yes! Chinese people are fast and efficient!

But for the moment, they have been quite nice to us too!

Obviously, this is not like in Indonesia, where people would shout Hello Mister every step of the way, or even like Laos when we were getting regular "hellos" in the street...here this is impossible to say hello to everybody in the street!!!

But we do feel that they are looking at us, in curiosity, of course, as there is not so many white faces around...But we can tell they also watch out for us...try to help us, illiterates, to find our way, use the computer or order on the menu!

We actually went one step further in the communication difficulties. In Thailand, Laos Cambodia, with their colonial past and touristic present, there is always "subtitles" to important stuffs...plus people DO realise that we don't speak their langage!

But here NO, everything a part from the names of some high end hotels and companies is in Chinese caracters...and the people are convinced that if you're in China, you are fluent in Mandarin (and in their local dialect as well) so they speak to you full speed...and when you ask for another go...they go louder but no slower....

You know what? Chinese behave just like american do for that matter!! What do you think John and Sue???

Anyway, we are really glad to have registered for a 6 months mandarin course, in Chengdu. This will help us so much to understand what China and Chinese are about...

We do feel a lot of willingness from the people to communicate with us, show us some styff, explain, etc...so we are convinced that when we can understand what they are saying, we will learn a lot!!!

In the mean time, our days fill with discoveries, wonders (in the sens of we wonder what the heck is this for?), learning (can you believe even their sign langage is different from ours...how is this for communication difficulties?)...

Newspaper is hung up on satnds in the street, so that people can read!

Free propaganda for all!

There is so much I would like to tell you about...but I have 9 months to do so...just a little patience!

All the best from the "city of the eternal spring"

tell me about propaganda; it's been raining like a month of november in London!!!

05:52 - 13/06/2007 - commentaires {0} - Ajouter un commentaire

Luang Prabang

I am sooo late on the english version of our blog...actually, I'm quite lazy, even on the french version!!!

Anyway, I feel I must tell you about Luang Prabang...for those who have been there it will be a good souvenir, I'm sure...for the others, maybe an incitative to go there!

Luang Prabang is a little village, nestled on a peninsula formed by the Mekong and one of its tributaries. Classified by UNESCO, it boast tranquil paved streets, lined with beautiful wooden houses, a mix of traditional and colonial architecture and, last but not least some 66 buddhist temples.

Those temples, richly decorated and hosting hundreds of monks, give a spiritual atmosphere to the city, where life is rythmed by the drums and bells of the monasteries.

View of the old city from across the Mekong River

Street atmosphere

Coming back from school...

Wat Xieng Thoung, my favourite, and the eldest temple of the city.

Full moon ceremony

Drums and cymbals at 4am and 4pm

Full moon celebrations

Monks studying their english on their day off...

Cultural hint; for the full moon celebration, some rules have to be followed; drums of all the temples play at 4am (grrrr) and 4pm, some praying, affering and chanting are carried out in the temples. No animals should be killed, no work should be done for 3 days.

Knowing that those celebrations are carried out for every moon phase (4times a month)...I leave it up to you to calculate the number of working days in Luang Prabang...yes even the french are beaten!!!

Apsara Musicians, from a temple decoration

05:53 - 9/06/2007 - commentaires {0} - Ajouter un commentaire