Tibet is the Soul of its People

I tell people that I am all about photography but in truth as I look back at my trips over the last 10 years my trips have really been about the culture of the place I am visiting; the pulse, its inner being, its soul.  This could not be a more true a statement than here in Tibet. 53 years of severe repression, loss and destruction starting with Chairman Mao that is still being carried out today in different forms. 

Books like Skytrain and Daughters of Tibet have offered me a look back in time to complement what we are reading in the press today. Then I get to fill in the truth, my truth by seeing in person what is happening on the ground plus open 1:1 discussions with, Lum Bum  http://tibetanshamantour.com/ my wonderful Tibetan guide who not only has guided other photographers but also Bradley Mayhew, Author of the Lonley Planet Guide, Tibet.  I did not know this when I signed on.

Yesterday, our 1^st stop was the Chachang (sp) Monastery which sits way above the mighty Yellow River. 

While it is small in physical size it is full of soul.  Layers upon layers of Buddhism and tradition. Today it is being re-built with a few artifacts that were hidden by the locals and mostly newer replicas.  My biggest take away was with a discussion with a monk who told us  that he had escaped to Darmasala, India the home of Tibet in Exile for 20+ years yet decided to return to Tibet because he feels that Tibet is his true home, This is the sentiment of many.

The absolute highlight of the day was the Achunzon (sp) nunnery. Another 1^st experience for Lorrie and just wonderful !  Blue skies, green grass, clean air, 3 resident donkeys, a few dozen goats and true peacefulness. We were hosted by 2 nuns who we shared meals with, slept in their humble homes, wandered the grounds and got to sit in on morning  prayer.

I bedded down in a small 1 room house with a novice nun, Tenzen Dun Kar about 16 years of age.  Since I only know 2 words in Tibetan so far and Tenzen speaks no English there were lots of laughs as the 4 of us (me, Tashi the Driver, Lum Bum and Tenzen fumbled through blowing up the air mattress.  Topped off with my Target sleeping bag Tenzen insisted that I still needed another blanket and she proceed to tuck me in with her extra blanket on top of my sleeping bag.  How sweet. 

The little one room house that Tenzen sleeps in. 

Tenzens bed and prayer platforn on the left.  My blow up mattress on the right.

Sitting in on morning prayer was another 1^st for me.  The prostration, the chanting in the temple all so moving.

I feel like I have been here for a week but it’s only been 2 days.  Wow.  Tibetan culture, language, Buddhism, politics.  Now to build on my 2 words Tibetan vocabulary of Hello (Dem) and Goodbye (Denshe)-I have a long way to go. ;-).  Stay tuned.

Carpe Diem,
Lorrie
www.LorrieDallekPhotography.com

­Smile Twice, Smile Often

Atlanta-Detroit-Beijing is how I was routed with only a 58 minute stop over in Detroit. I was a bit concerned if my luggage would transfer.  At no charge, Delta moved me to an earlier flight.  Great, time for a dinner and a leisurely walk across the terminal. 

All is super until I receive an email on my cell that there was fraud on my MasterCard and I am getting a new card mailed to my home.  What, all I charged was a $10.50 dinner in Detroit and I called & told you guys about my plans to travel abroad.

I called my .cc company but not enough time on hold to understand what’s gone wrong.  They’re boarding & I’m already late. A quick call home and as always, Garvin my husband to the rescue.  He picks it up from there.  4 hours of phone work later & he is told that a block of #’s were stolen at the credit card company, mine being one and there is nothing that I can do.  Ha, it wasn’t my dinner after all, ;-).  After traveling in Myanmar where you cannot get any $$$ from ATM’s or use charge cards, I had brought more cash & travelers checks this time and threw in another card at the last minute. Garvin will also be doing a lot of my inter-country logistics from the states, so he can charge my next flight and many of my hotel rooms. Looks like I dodged this bullet.

The flight was cool, so was my ride to my hotel in Beijing. Frank had done as promised.  We walked 1 block to a train ticked office & picked up my physical train ticket.  Next on my wish list: to go to the Peking Opera.  With the help of the Helen at Concierge I was able to secure a ticket to what turned out to be a once in a life time experience.  I sat in the front row, took many pics & loved every second of it.  Just awesome.

Three times since leaving home I was asked if I was one of the actresses on “Desperate Housewives”.  I have never watched the show so cannot personally say which character but for certain some Chinese women seem to be ardent followers.  Since you cannot secure a Chinese Visa if you are a photographer, I just assured everyone that I am a mere tourist.

After figuring out the internet at my Holiday Inn I learn from Namdon that Lhasa is being closed but no permit is needed for Amdo or Kham.  I’m OK with this since my original intention was to go to Kham.  Lumbum was traveling East on the train out of Lhasa to meet me so all systems a go. 

P.S. the Chinese government really does have Facebook and blogs blocked so any updates I make are written on my notepqad, transferred to email at an internet café and posted on my blog site by Garvin in the US.

Entering the train station in Beijing was wild.  It made Grand Central or Penn Station in NYC look like child’s play.  Felt like a billion people. We are channeled from the main entrance to waiting areas to the platform.  Lots of pushing but I manage to forge brief friendships along each step of the way and secure those tidbits of help I need.  My new friend a college kid in this mini stampede points out which train car to get on since it is written in Chinese on my ticket. 

My car on the train was assigned so I settled in for 24 hour home away from home with a very loud & overly zealous grandmother, adult daughter & baby family unit + 1.  Out come my earplugs from swimming and I spend much of the next 24 hrs. switching between reading and sleeping.  Nobody speaks the same language but lots of miming and smiling.  Grandma my new best friend makes certain that I eat & can find the toilet. Cool.

A day later, the Xining train station is a welcome site.  After negotiating many flights of steps with my 2 very heavy bags, another mini step is conquered.  Lumbum and driver Tashi are there to greet me and put a white Buddhist shawl around my neck to welcome me.  7 months of planning and I finally get to meet my new friend, Lumbum.

As it turns out, not only are foreigners not being given permits into Lhasa but non Lhasa natives have been told to leave.  Lumbum was born in Amdo, his wife Namdon is from Lhasa.  Lumbum must leave.  He takes their 2 year old baby on the train and leaves her with his parents in Labrang where she is safe.  Namdon stays in Lhasa for the time being but there is no tourism to manage so she too may be coming East.  What a great country the USA is.

In the early evening we find an internet café for email & Skype updates home to my co-pilot, Garvin, cover current events & politics. We make our 3 week plan for touring Tibet based on my preferences.  I’m really excited. Tomorrow includes a few monasteries, landscapes & sleeping at a nunnery. 

I’m psyched. 
Carpe Diem,
Lorrie 
www.LorrieDallekPhotography.com

Communications

Lorrie is having trouble posting on the blog and Face Book- access has been limited.

Lorrie was  able to go to the Chinese Opera in Beijing  and sent me this picture to post.

When she gets to Xining I hope she will be able to create an update.

Carpe Diem,
PB
www.LorrieDallekPhotography.com

Can any one figure out what "PB" stands for?

Arrived in Beijing

So far the plan is working.  Off to the Beijing Opera tonight and then the train to Xining, the real start of the trip.


Carpe Diem, 
Lorrie
www.LorrieDallekPhotography.com

Truly an Adventure

Access to parts of the Region of Kham might be restricted but Amdo remained open to foreigners. Did I still want to go? Yes, no, yes, no, YES. No matter what, it had to be more interesting photo experience than staying home in Atlanta.

Around February, calm was restored in Lhasa & most of Eastern Tibet. At this time, Lumbum, my guide & I tweaked my itinerary. Instead of spending 3 weeks in Eastern Tibet we decided to spend 2 weeks there then take the train to Lhasa (3 day ride, OMG), a few days in Lhasa and then overland south, past Everest Base Camp to Kathmandu. What a great suggestion- a little of everything.

I loved the new plans: cancelled my flights from China to Nepal as well as my Visa request for Nepal since I could easily get one in Lhasa or at the border crossing.

All is well until last week when here were are 2 more self immolations in Lhasa. Permitting changed into Lhasa- now I need 4 people of the same nationality to get into Lhasa. Maybe I can find some along the way???

Between, there was/is the train ticket sub-plot. Part of itinerary is to take the train from Beijing to Xining in Western China where I am supposed to meet Lumbum.

Oh gee, I cannot buy my ticket on-line .... Next move; find a hotel with an English speaking concierge service who can help me. A spin on Trip advisor and a few Skype calls to Beijing. Voila, enter stage left, "Frank", (not his real name but his taken name from hotel management school in China) who speaks English. Frank works for the Holiday Inn, Beijing. So now I am now staying at a Holiday Inn China so that I can have Frank act on my behalf. Who would have thought, a Holiday Inn!

Many e-mails, copies of my passport and credit card between Frank and myself. No, you cannot secure the ticket until there is a physical passport in hand. Is this really going to work or am I going to spend my 1.5 days while in Beijing in a very long queue at the train station trying to get a ticket ??? Girls' got to have a sense of humor ;-).

I think that Frank has come through for me. I have a reservation in a soft sleeper from Beijing to Xining as requested and the concierge will even pick it up for me at the station once I hand my passport over to them. Many $20 tips will be flying if this really happens.

The itinerary; I now rely on day-to-day updates from my guide's wife, Namdon who is in their Lhasa office requesting permits on my behalf & an Argentinean woman that I met along the way via e-mail who is on the ground in Xining.

I'm going for it! Here's what I know. On Monday June 4, I leave Atlanta & fly to Beijing. 2 night in Beijing, a 24 hrs train ride to Xining followed by 2 weeks in AMDO & Kham Region of Tibet, a 3 day train ride West to Lhasa, 3 days in Lhasa & then overland South to Kathmandu. If the Lhasa Permit does not materialize, then 3 weeks in Amdo /Kham, I must re-purchase an airline ticket from China to Nepal & secure a Nepalese Visa. This is going to be a true day-to-day adventure. A sense of humor is a must. Stay posted.


Carpe-Diem, 
Lorrie
www.LorrieDallekPhotography.com

Fire and Brimstone

In January 2012, resistance to Chinese occupation re-emerges.  The newspapers report that Tibetan residents are setting the shops of Chinese owned stores ablaze in Lhasa.  Monks and lay people are setting themselves on fire both in Lhasa and Eastern Tibet. The army moves in and bullets are flying in Lhasa.

How is Lumbum my guide, his wife Namdon and their baby?  Where are you?  Are you safe???  The emails flew back and forth whenever the communication lines were open.  This was when our relationship was forged.  Even though we had not yet me, we became long distance friends.

Carpe Diem,
Lorrie
www.LorrieDallekPhotography.com

So Many Choices

Having spent 3 months abroad the last time, I knew that 12 weeks was simply too long.  In 3 mos. everything started to break; my camera got gritty, my sandals & watch broke & so had my stomach.

Tibet was the most important part of this trip and I wanted to spend as much time there as I could afford.  In the remote areas that I wanted to visit, I would need not only a guide but also a 4WD and a driver.

We settled on 3 weeks and explored different itineraries.  It turned out that several of the Horse Festivals that other Travel Agencies were promoting were no longer open to foreigners.  One that was available would be inundated with tourists, the other was out of my June-July time preference.  I expected to do some trekking but not interested in anything major along these lines.

Back to Region of Kham.  Awesome.  We finalized the itinerary,  agreed to a price and I was even able to secure my airline ticket using frequent flyer points.  Hotdog, all set,
not !

Carpe Diem,
Lorrie
www.LorrieDallekPhotography.com