Round the corner

We always make the mistake of not visiting or dropping by to say hellos until it becomes a tad too late. I suppose it is time to make a run to Calgary to connect with friends again. I would need to look up for apartments to rent in Calgary as it would be more convenient to staying in hotels.

It will be a trip much looked forward to as six of my friends from India are now in Canada. Apart from being my guide there will be lots of catching up too.

Will need to do a fair bit of homework here. Need to buy new sets of winter clothings as the old ones were all left in Yushu last year. And not forgetting foodstuff, gifts, toiletries, personal items etc. This will keep me busy for the next few weeks but I am not complaining. I am actually looking forward to it. Calgary here I come!

Reliving childhood in Los Angeles

Three decades have whizzed by and the experience is just but a memory.

After 3 glorious days at Waikiki Beach, we headed for Los Angeles. Before then I have only heard of Disneyland and Universal Studio. We decided to rent a car and the most economical car then was the Honda Civic. We hit the streets from morning to nightfall - from LA Chinatown to Beverly Hills, the shopping malls.

The next day we hung out at Disneyland, reliving childhood dreams. We were ready to call it a day when we were told that there is a similar set up in LA - the Knotts Berry Farm. We were leaving LA the following day and we did not want to miss out on Knotts so we decided to make a quick run for it.

We had a hurried early dinner, dashed to the car, fished out the map and we were on our way. After about a hundred meters or so we noticed that the car temperature gauge was going up so we pulled the car over to the side. Being ladies and not knowing much about cars, we were like damsels in distress. I can't remember exactly what transpired in those few moments but vaguely remembered someone saying that we have a blown head gasket. And before long we had the Los Angeles auto repair attending to the car.

We had to extend our stay in Los Angeles for another day for us to cover Knotts before journeying on to San Diego.

Festivities and travels

Golden Temple in Amritsar ( Picture taken by Lhamo La/Paldon La)

Christmas is fast approaching and then the new year will come around. Before long it will be Chinese Losar in February. From now till then it will be shopping for Christmas, for Chinese Losar and also for the Tibetan Losar in March. It adds a little colour to an otherwise mundane life.

I cant even remember when was the last time I took a holiday with my daughter. It must have been at least 5 years or even more. This Christmas we will be spending it out of town on a 3 day - 2 night holiday with a treasure hunt thrown in.

I will be heading down south for the Chinese Losar to celebrate with my siblings. It will be for about 5 to 7 days. That means I will be back in town on or about 10 February. That leaves me only 3 days to do my packing to India.

To let you into a secret ...... I am almost done with my packing to India whilst my other two trips remain at zero.

In all my travels to India I have never been to Amritsar. Will like to spend a few days in Amritsar this coming trip. And look out for the pictures of the Golden Temple. Promise you loads of pictures.

For now I have to take care of the cough that has bugged me since my return from Yushu in August.

Inner Journey Will Be In Yushu Starting 3 July

Hello friends,
I will be away in Yushu for an indefinite period and may not have updates until I return. But if I have a chance to get onto a computer, I will do some posts of pictures of Yushu after the quake.
Cheers, stay well and happy always

India Is Like Home To Me Though I Am Chinese

Time just passes us by without us even noticing it. It is again the time of the year for me to get ready. I have been packing and unpacking and re-packing for the past few days. This year's packing is a little more fun as I know exactly what I still have in India, what I need to bring and what I dont need to get. I dont need to bring my rice cooker as I will have one to use when I arrive. And my pots and pans are still waiting for me in India. Basically it's buying foodstuff like ikan bilis, dried shrimps, 'lap cheong', shrimp sambal belachan ...... a long list to go.

The past 2 to 3 weeks had been depressing with news of Wamlung Monastery needing financial assistance for repair works and with the quakes and the tsunami in various parts of the world. Sometimes I wish I can do more than what I am doing now but I suppose all of us have our limitations to everything. So let's live and let live! I give thanks to all the people who brings cheer into my life

UPDATE - Let Me Take You On A Trip On The Xining-Yushu Road

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M4Hv9KLC2o
Stretches and stretches of long and winding road. There were also a couple of hair-pin turns. The most important aspect of a car going on this stretch of road is obviously the brakes. I cannot imagine what will happen if a car breaks down especially in winter. But I suppose in winter the roads may be closed or rather impassable to vehicles as it will be heavily covered with snow. In summer the temperature can be around 10 degrees plus/minus especially at its peak of 4824 meters.

People Thrive On Excitement

It is only 3.00pm and it had been an exciting day. And this year of course is also an exciting year. I was here and there and everywhere during the early and middle part of the year and just returned from Tibet this month and in another 2 months I will be away in India and Nepal. And today I am booking my flight to Tibet again in July 2010. And and .... something has been lined up for a birthday do too. Isn't that exciting. Oh, how people thrive on excitement. What do one expect of someone in his or her twilight years? Sitting on a rocking chair with her knitting gears? Or holding an alarm clock pacing up and down watching time for the children to get back home from work to have their company (that's what my dad did when he lived well through his prime years and had no surviving friends)?

The Long Train Journey To The West

I thought the Indian trains are bad enough but the one that brought us across China almost diagonally is equally bad in terms of seat reservations. You can get on board the train as long as you are holding a ticket barring whether you have a seat for the 30 hours and some almost to 56 hours on board this train. As can be seen from the pictures, there is hardly any standing room, even spilling to the toilet area. And if you do not have a confirmed seat or sleeping berth, you are expected to stand the length of the journey.

As versus the trains in India, the food here is fabulous. You can either order a set meal which comprises of a meat dish, vegetables, soup and a big bowl of rice for RMB35 or you can order dishes. A fish, one vegetable and a meat dish with 3 bowls of rice cost around RMB90 which comes up to be cheaper than the set meal. And with free flow of hot chinese tea for both the meals. More importantly, it is clean. They actually have an open kitchen where you can see the chef at work.

Outside the toilet
The walkway is packed and so is the luggage compartment

Tenzin Dorje Rinpoche keeping himself entertained

Sleep if you can

Meals on wheels

Double Rainbow On An Auspicious Day

How often have you seen a double rainbow? This appeared in the skies of Lhasa on the day Minam Rinpoche travelled to the Retreat Center for its opening ceremony.

Opening Ceremony Of Retreat Center In Lhasa By Minam Rinpoche - 2 August 2009

Minam Rinpoche inaugurated the retreat center on 2 -3 August 2009 with a Long Life Puja. Many devotees and diciples, old and young came from far and wide to witness this event

UPDATE - Various Types Of Toilets

These are just a few toilet scenes I managed to take. Some of them were so terribly unbearable that no amount of medicated oil rubbed on the nose will take the stench away. Most of the toilets do not even have the partition that you see in this picture below. In Rome do what the Romans do ....... in Tibet do what the Tibetans do

Never look beneath ...... never look under

UPDATE - At 4824 Meters In Qinghai

Every tourist who crosses this path will stop to take a picture. This is one of the highest point. I have been pretty lucky not to experience any altitude sickness. Altitude sickness can be fatalistic if not attended to. Except for in Xining where I felt a little spaced out, but I would relate that to the tiredness from the 30 hour train journey, the rest of time I was in pretty good shape. Minam Rinpoche was of course overly concern and he made me rest for 2 days and no bathing on day of arrival. Only on the second day, in the afternoon, did he allow me to shower and wash my hair.

UPDATE - At The Yak Square, Yushu

View this video clip : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNqOAGAB0g0

Cordyceps trading

Cordyceps is a prized herb to many a Chinese. In Malaysia it can fetch from as much as RM350-RM800 for 10 gram depending on the grade. Here in Yushu at the Yak Square it is traded at the market square where every Tibetan frequents everyday. After the buyer has chosen the cordyceps, they are weighed. The price is often a secret. The seller and buyer will slip their hands into one another's sleeves and the show of fingers inside the sleeves will tell the buyer the price of his goods.

Yak Square

I caught many a Tibetan’s attention when I was there. Or rather my crystals. I was wearing the huge Star Of David pendant and 2 strings of Om Mani Padme Hung bracelets. I suppose the Om Mani Padme Hung’s bracelets were more valuable than the cordyceps to the Tibetans. They wanted to buy them off me but I politely told them they are personal belongings and are not for sale.

Wanting to buy my Star Of David pendant and braceletsTibetan Shops

Tibetans are colourful people

UPDATE - Yellow Fish In Xining, Qinghai

Yellow Fish

Authorities checking on the restaurant

Dont underestimate this plate of scrawny fishes. Its orginal priice was about CNY400 but when we voiced our views on the price, they gladly brought the price down to about CNY280 per plate. This is no ordinary fish though it tasted nothing great to me. It is called the yellow fish, well famed for its sweetness and rareness in Qinghai. It takes 12 years to grow to that size in the picture and I believe it is some kind of a protected species.

Immediately after lunch, standing at the doorway of the restaurant, I saw people running helter skelter. I enquired what was the commotion all about and one kitchen staff had just enough time to stop to tell me that the authorities are here to check if they are selling yellow fish on their menu and they are scurrying to hide all the fishes they have. At least 3 of them were running in different directions carrying with them containers of the yellow fish, taken out from the freezers.

Wild vegetables. Highly recommended

UPDATE - Princess Wencheng's Stopovers In Qinghai

The Temple Of Princess Wencheng

The Temple of Princess Wencheng is also called the Temple of Sakyamuni. It is located in Beina Valley, 20km away from Jiegu Township (the capital of Yushu prefecture). The main statue in the temple is the Jowo Sakyamuni Buddha and it is considered as sacred and venerable as the Jowo Sakyamuni Buddha statue in Jokhang Temple in Lhasa. The historically famous cultural relics date back 1300 years. It was said that when Princess Wencheng entered Tibet in 641AD, she rested here for a month and ordered her attendants to carve nine Buddha figures in the cliff. It is one of the major cultural heritages sites in Qinghai province and the rock carvings are the oldest in the province. In 710AD, upon the second marriage between members of the Tang Dynasty and Tibetan royal families, Princess Jincheng ordered her attendants to build a temple to house the nine Buddha figures. The temple was listed as one of the cultural heritage sites under provincial protection in 1957.

Watch this video clip carefully. With the wind blowing, the effect is as though Princess Wencheng is actually riding a horse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOq7KFVwaBU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENRSuRn1dX0 - Road leading to the Temple Of Princess Wencheng filled with lungthars fluttering in the wind

Princess Wencheng's stopover in Xining region

Princess Wencheng's Stopover in Yushu

UPDATE Yushu - Jigten Sumgon

Numerous little stupas lined uphill

Jigten Sumgon

It is half an hour drive out of Yushu town enroute to Thrangu Monastery. Jigten Sumgon's place was born out of Minam Rinpoche's vision and he suggested to Drikung Holiness, Chetsang Rinpoche of carving a statue of Jigten Sumgon from a huge rock which Holiness immediately commissioned someone to do it. It was completed in year 2007.

For further info on Lord Jigten Sumgon read here

An Afternoon Out With Minam Rinpoche

I timed my trip to Yushu to coincide with the Yushu Horse Racing Festival but this year the celebration was cancelled. In any case Minam Rinpoche brought us to the grounds adjacent to the festival field and we had a lazy afternoon there. When rain came we took shelter in the tent.

Minam Rinpoche

Minam Rinpoche with his diciples from China

View inside a tent


Surrounding scenery

Snoozing

Looking for a place for call of nature