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Well guys.I'm currently writing to you from a Tibetan town.I'm in a very basic youth hostel (think camp beds and no showers).It's amazing here.There is a mixture of Tibetans,Muslims and Han Chinese but the majority of the population is Tibetan (its only officially that this town is not actually in Tibet).How can I describe them so u understand?For the many monks think Dali Lama and for the normal people think peruvian/Bolivian mountain people.Its so colourful here.There is a massive network of monastries here and loads of Tibetans come here on pilgrimage.There are about 2,000 Tibetan monks residing here.Beacause of the nature of the place and people's purpose in being here not many people wanted us to take photos but there were some people that were more accomodating.The children are so cute.All of them have really rosey cheeks and they're so cheeky.We played with a lot of local children this afternoon.Today I was mainly with Ant (big Australian hyperactive and super confident guy whos a big kid at heart), Di (a laid back Australian 50 something year old with a daughter my age), Lynne (originally from Iowa but residing in Scotland, a director at a managenment consultancy.Really nice but quite shy and unused to roughing it) and Bob (an older Austalian guy who is quite well travelled and into photography). A road was being dug in the centre of one street and Ant jumped in top help them attracting a lot of local attention.It was a photo oppurtunity of course but he did his bit with the pick and shuovel.After exploring the town and monastries we had some lovely dumplings in a Tibetan restaurant that we were taken to by a Tibetan guy working at the hostel who happened to recognise us in the street!They made veggie dumplings especially for me : ) Made a nice change from greasy noodles! The tibetan guy who took us there was really interesting.His English was great.He went to study (mainly Buddhism)in India for 13 years.He says he was sent there by his parents because he was naughty.He went to a special school there set up by the Dali Lama and was sponsored by a Belgian Buddhist.Tibetan Buddhism is exactly the same as Indian Buddhism.There is also another religion called the Born religion that is followed here by a significant minority.They worship deities and protectors rather than Buddhas.After dinner we walked up to the square and found the locals doing their dancing exercises.Me and Ant joined in much to the amusement of the locals who find Ant (6ft 2,size 14 feet)particularly fascinating.The drive here was great.We saw some breathtaking mountainous scenery.Again a lot of the communities we passed through were mainly Muslim and I saw lots of interesting mosques on the way.They were a mix of traditional Chinese and traditional Islamic architecture.The further we drove the bluer the skies got.Where we are now is about 3,000 metres above sea level but thankfully I havent experienced any altitude sickness.I know its hard to believe that me, bearer of all illnessess did not acquire this particualr one.
Yesterday was great too.We were in Liejaixaing (I think thats how its spelt) and visted the Bing Ling Si caves there (the caves of the thousand Buddhas).We drove up to the local hydro-electric dam and got a speed boat from there (very cramped).Again the scenery on from the boat was amazing.We were sailing the resevoir which turned into the Yellow River.The mountains were all around us and there were pastures at the bottom of some of them where livestock grazed.People obviously make full use of it.It wasnt crowded but there were other slow boats and canoes on the water and we saw people washing,fishing and swimming.As we got further on the landscape became like the Grand Canyon.It reminded one American member of the group of her home (Arizona).We walked along footbridges to see the caves which contained wonderful paintings and sculptures of Buddhas.There was also a 27 metre clay Buddha carved into the mountain.Myself,Deidra (an Irish girl from Galway who lives in London and is an accountant by proffesion and who has done about 3 overland trips already),Lynn, Alyson (an operations manager at the Royal Military acadamy back in England), John, (our Chinese guide) and Bob decided to walk along the dried river bed to the Buddhist monastry rather than take the easy option of paying to go up there by jeep (aren't I good?) The walk only took us about half an hour but it was hard going.A gradual ascent all the way and on sandy ground.It was well worth the sweat though.When we got there the temples were beautiful and there was a really friendly monk who served us tea and gave us his telephone number.lol.He kept telling me I aws beautiful the cheeky little man.The monastry was so peaceful.Set across different levels of the mountain it was so cool and serene.On our way back we stopped by some museums to llok at more Buddhist art.The caves and monastry had been a working progress since about 420 AD (Quing Dynasty) but a lot of the stuff we saw was later(Ming and Tang dynasties).You could see the transformation of the Buddha from more Indian looking to more Chinese looking.At the museum I think the guard tried to make a pass at me!!!I was so shocked.You dont usually get perved on here.People just tend to stare at you in fascination,regarding you as freaks of nature rather than objects of desire.After the temple and caves we had a group meal back in the town (I just had tea and egg fried rice) and then myself,Lynn and Di went in search of internet cafes.We found two but were rejected by both because as foreigners we werent allowed acces! (Go figure).Anyway we have two more days here.I plan to visit the mosque tomorrow.And Zainey my love what is this new place you plan to store the Terracotta Army in?lol.Glad u approved of my headscarf tying techniques.Ph and by the way people I'm going to Iran after all Insallah.Wooohoooo!Good night.x
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