From Tagong to Dege

Tashi Delek from Dege. We are getting the word from emails that the postings are actually getting up on the blog homepage. That's good news since we have difficulty getting to the homepage.

Everyone in the group is well and having a great time! The group has really come together to support each other and to interact easily with the wonderful Tibetans we are meeting in small towns and in rural areas.

Friday July 20

We are unable to read Megan's posting so we are starting with some experiences in Tagong. We were so excited to witness a ceremony uniting Carol and Tsedor (members of the Kham group who are from Taos and Lhasa). They met last year on a Tibetan Village Project trip. A monk Apo, who we connected with in Tagong and who runs a school and orphanage, gave the blessing and each of us placed a khata on Carol and Tsedor after rings were exchanged. The ceremony took place on a high hill overlooking the town and monestary and below a sacred cave. On the way up, we were purified by soaking rains that stopped miraculously for the ceremony. Prayer flags covered the hill.

After the ceremony, all of us raised our own Tibetan Village Project prayer flags with all our donors and families' names written on them. You were all there with us in spirit and love. Thank you!

Saturday July 21

This was a long driving day in the rain (12 hours) through grasslands and alpine forests. We arrived at the Menye Monestary near Luhuo where about 30 monks and students ranging in age from 7 to 85 greeted us. We went upstairs to a variety of drinks and snacks. They then served tea. The lama of this monestary lives in Boulder (near Tamdin) and has been in exile for 30 years. We were there to do a needs assessment for him. We discovered that the top priority was the school that the monks run. They want to double their enrollment from 40 to 80 and they need stipends for additional teachers.

After a visit to the school and a dinner prepared by the monks of yak momos, some of us pitched tents and others slept in the monestary.

Sunday July 22

We rose at 6:30 to join the monks in meditation. The chiropractors headed to Chengdu to fly to Lhasa on Tuesday and the rest of us headed to Dege. We finally had a clear day during the rainy season which makes everything green and brings out the wild flowers. The drive was breathtaking with views of the Himalayas and many glaciers. We lunched in Manigango -- a one street western-flared town (no horses but lots of motorcycles, even monks with sun glasses!). Our typical meals have been Chinese food as it is hard to find Tibetan restaurants.

Lucky for us we had the opportunity to go inside a nomad's tent for yak yogurt, and we gave out shoes. Our drive then took up to Tro La pass with an altitude of 15,500 feet -- the highest point of the trip. It truly was breathtaking!! We raised more prayer flags.

Before dark we arrived in Dege.

Monday July 23

Dege is a cultural center for Kham. We visited the Dege printing house which is a national treasure. It houses thousands of old wood printing blocks on topics ranging from astronomy to medicine. We watched the print makers who work in pairs and turn out 2000 pages per day!

We then visited an important medical center where a Tibetan medical doctor explained the three aspects of Tibetan medicine - spiritual, physical and mental. We had some free time in the afternoon for shopping. Later on we spoke to a local doctor who does not turn anyone away for lack of money - pure compassion.

We had a dinner with a local Tibetan family in their home.

Carol La and Elizabeth (aka Lamu La)