My first steps in Tibet
Trip Start
Aug 10, 2008
1
30
59
Trip End
Ongoing
Tongren,
Qinghai,
China
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Instead I made a last minute decision to go to Tongren (Repkong in Tibetan), and leaving Joel and Zsuzsanna in Xining I hopped on an early bus on my own. It was only one night away but it was incredible. There were no tourists at all and very few people that spoke English - from the moment I got on the bus I felt I was in a different land surrounded by long haired Tibetans and monks
Pee stop on the bus journey there...
. Everyone seemed to be either scared or amused by me. The journey took 4-5 hours and went past some amazing landscapes. I was one of only 2 women on the full vehicle and they laughed a little when I jumped off to take a photo of a lake while the men went for a pee break at the side of the road.When I arrived I quickly found a cheap hotel called Huangnan Binguan for 15 CNY (about £1.30). You get what you paid for - the bed was ok - one of 4 in an otherwise empty room, but the toilet was just a stinking hole where the lights went out after 30 seconds. There was no hot water and no showers but it was fine for one night. Once I'd booked in, I caught a shared taxi to the Wutun Si monastery, about 6km from the centre. I wandered around the lower (mango) monastery among the monks and then walked down the road a bit to the higher (yango) monastery. On the way I got speaking to an local man, Dorjeja, who offered me a lift on his motorbike and although he only spoke about 5 words in English he managed to communicate that he was a teacher and that he'd love me to meet his family and to stay with them. I turned down the lift because I explained that I still wanted to see the higher monastery but he insisted that I took his phone number and call when I got back to the hotel.
I continued to the higher monastery which was a beautiful place just to sit, relax and take in the atmosphere
Construction gang at Wutun Si
. There was a square inside the complex were a ritual was taking place - monks in ceremonial robes were praying and chanting while offerings were made and incense was burnt. Elsewhere in the complex, a huge workforce of women were working on a new construction and older monks taught young boys how to read the scriptures.From here I started to walk down the road back to town. I was offered a lift in a shared taxi but turned it down because I was happy to wander along a bit more. Not long after, a couple of monks stopped and offered me a free lift in their car, and feeling rude to refuse, I accepted and headed back to the centre. I strolled around a local market, picking up some spicy bread and home made potato chips (yum yum) and then headed back to the hotel.
After a bit of a rest, I plucked up the courage to call a local girl I had met earlier when I was trying to find the hotel - she had spoken English and said to call if I wanted to meet later. She wasn't available to meet until later that night so I decided to take up the other Dorjeja's offer to meet his family. It took quite an effort with the language barrier over the phone but after his English speaking friend helped we met up. I was a little nervous but knew that if I really wanted to get a feel for a place, it was the best way to do it
Me and e-mao-you
. (Mum- when you're reading this don't worry - it's not like home and I was very careful!).
We walked across town to a hutong-type area, it was narrow and unlit but I had my torch which helped! After walking through small winding alleyways, we opened the door to a lovely courtyard and garden and a beautiful home. I met his wife, son, the mother and a young brother. They spoke no English and were a little shy to begin with but quickly warmed to me. The house was in a L-shape with a living room/kitchen which held a stove like those used in the Mongolian gers. The home had a few other bedrooms and a Buddhist shrine.
I was given tea and food - some home baked bread and a bowl of paste (which I think is sampa) which was made from barley flour(?) sugar and butter mixed together. It was very buttery and sweet and I struggled to finish it but they kept encouraging me to eat more! Then I had some potatoes and pepper, more tea and some Pepsi. I didn't have much to offer - I should have been better prepared - but I gave them my bananas and cookies which seemed to be enjoyed. With the help of my notebook I explained my trip in China so far, and showed them my London postcards and some photos on my ipod. They had been to Lhasa the
previous year and brought out their photos to show me too. The Dorjeja and
wife, e-mao-you, were both teachers and also had photos of their schools, pupils and colleagues. They asked me to stay and I accepted- I felt very comfortable and welcomed. With the only heat in the
living room, I thought I'd be freezing but with lots of blankets and an early night I actually got the best nights sleep in a while
The family I stayed with
. Before I went to bed e-mao-you came to talk to me. (talk=sign language and pictures but it worked!). She gave me her address at the school and and asked if I'd write to her when I returned to England. She would get a teacher friend to translate. She also asked if we could have a photo together which was lovely. She showed me the place outside for the toilet (which was still better than the hotel!) and explained that they would be leaving early the next day for school but that I should get up later and the mother would give me some breakfast.The next morning e-mao-you woke me to say goodbye and I was delighted to see it was snowing - I went to the loo with snowflakes falling on my bum!! I had some milky/buttery tea and some leftover potato and pepper for breakfast and set off back to town.
I had been recommended to go to the Regong Art Gallery - the area was famous for its Thanka paintings (religious scroll paintings) and there were some good examples here as well as other Buddhist objects and paintings. When I arrived there was no one around so I just started wondering around but all the doors were locked. I had to go and find someone and then they guided me around on my own, turning on the electricity and unlocking and locking the doors in each of the rooms we visited. The girl didn't speak English of course but she still demonstrated how the mandalas (round detailed sand pictures) were made and let me try writing some traditional calligraphy with a brush and ink.
After the gallery I returned briefly to the house in which I'd stayed to say goodbye to the mother, and then grabbed some lunch before heading back on the bus in the afternoon. It wasn't just people on the bus this time, a guy got on holding a sack which turned out to be a dog he was smuggling on - he let it out the sack for the journey but the poor thing had to be wrapped up again to get past the driver on the way off!
