From Chungdu to Kangding

Sat July 14 and Sun July 15
After most of our group arrived in Chengdu around midnight Saturday night, we spent Sunday with the Lhasa group (mostly from Australia with a US doctor and student) visiting the Giant Panda Park and sharing a Tibetan meal talking about our upcoming adventures into different regions of Tibet. The food was fantastic - for some the highlight was tasting yak meat and for others the wide variety of veggy dishes. We met a couple of Tibetans who are running nonprofits and Tamdin discussed opportunities for partnering.

It was interesting to witness the different modes of transportation in Chengdu: cars, rickshaws, bicycles, and many flatbeds carrying huge amounts of coal used for heating and for cooking.

Monday July 16
The heat and humidity in Chengdu was overwhelming. Add to that the pollution, and we were more than happy to head to our first stop - Kangding. The trip was to take 6 hours but instead took 12! One of our vehicles required attention and then there were a couple of traffic stops due to construction. As we headed up into the mountains our excitement grew as we knew we were heading for the traditional Tibetan boarder. The air was cooler, cleaner and the clouds that drifted about just added to the mystery of our journey. For all of us --execpt for our on-the-ground trip organizer -- Kham is a new region. We will be doing assessments for future work while carrying out our planned volunteer work. Much of our ride was next to a river, and we passed through many small villages where card games and pool tables mixed with easy going commerce.

Tuesday July 17
The altitude in Kanding is around 9,000 ft. We will be climbing from here on out. The city is bustling with commerce, sounds of many cars and music blasting from loudspeakers. We visited a monastery this morning Tuesday where the monks chanted and blessed Tibetan Village Project. Each volunteer received a special "book" of prayers and blank pages for special people we meet to sign. We were served yak butter tea...and a monk repeatedly filled our cups. It definitely requires a special liking.

After the ceremony, our chiropractors introduced body work to the monks and to anyone who wandered into the area outside the monastery. It was truly delightful to see faces looking concerned to relief and utter enjoyment after being adjusted. Many kudos for our volunteers, Lou and Brent! They worked with about 100 people and their heartfelt caring was wonderful to watch.

A wonderful lunch and shopping was enjoyed by all. We had another great Tibetan meal for dinner and met up with project manager for the Bridge Project which conducts educational, health and micro-enterprise work. Again, there are opportunities for TVP to partner with this group working mostly in Kham.

Stay tuned and thank you all for your prayers and well wishes.

Elizabeth a.k.a. lamu
and Carol la