Separate Worlds

It's not so much the capital of Gansu province, nor the mass of Hui and their mosques which line the road - even the smallest village has its minaret and the larger ones have 4 which surround a central cupola, mutton are slain and their pelts taken along the side of the road too. This doesn't describe the differences which are in the snow capped peaks and the sudden arrival into a Tibetan village, full of the pious, temples and prayer wheels. Xiahe is at 3000m above sea level and you can climb the local mountains to about 3300m for views across the valley, into Qinhai province and over the labyrinth of temples and houses.

Stripping the Sheep

Getting to Xiahe was once again not so easy, 16 hours of transport, not to mention the connections, negotiating the bus price and refusing insurance (an old scam). Staying here was an experience too, the freezing nights with no heating, people responding to the biological needs wherever/whenever and the number of fervent religious Tibetan were really something to see (they pray from dawn to dusk). Walking in the mountains we had early morning frost, bright sunshine, snow and more sun. It was such a pleasure to hike around for free that we didn't even visit the famous Labrang Monastery, although walking around it was fascinating in itself. All the temples are brightly decorated and even houses have beautifully sculpted wooden awnings, monks are wandering around in the red robes or scholarly attire - what a place.

Pilgrims Way

Tibetans appear to belong to different clans and wear different clothing to demonstrate it. Women wear bright colours in many thin layers, one wanted to buy Dom's batiks and wasn't dissuades when we told her it was for the beach (we've no idea how many kilometres away the nearest one is). The men wear heavy looking long coats lined with sheeps wool, their coats appear to be XXL and during the warmer hours just hang from the waist.

We decided to come down from on high to a more reasonable height in the town of Tianshui and from here we visited some more buddhist caves. Out in Maiji Shan (1700m and incidentaly means haystack mountain) are about 190 caves with clay sculptures of this famous person and his donors. As usual they date from the Wei dynasty up to the Ming times, but these ones have not been destroyed during Chinas revolution's. Somewhat renovated now and again by the succeeding dynasties they are today resplendant in their niches, many have some paint still remaining. The only drawback here are the grills put up in front of each niche to protect the statues, but this means you have to peer into the darkness with your head against them.

Spinning the wheels

Large Prayer Wheel

Throwing Prayer Papers

Village View

Above the Village

Labrang Monastery

Temple

Temple Deity

New Stupa

Through the Doorway

Misty day end

Mountain view

Relaxing in the sky

Autumn Colours Maiji

Dom, in Autumn (Maiji)

Maiji Climbing Frame

One of Seven Niches

Slim Statues