Cultural Trip—Across the country
May 7th to May 20th 2008Tashi Delek Travel's Cultural Trip is designed for those who want to explore Tibetan culture and interact with local Tibetans with relatively less physical exertion than our other trips.
Trip highlights include:
• Explore the Tibetan culture across the country
• Camp at Mt. Amnye Machen, one of the most famous and sacred mountains in the Tibetan Plateau
• Spend two days with nomads in a deep nomadic area and experience their centuries old unchanged culture and lifestyle
• Cross the Tibetan Plateau on the new train and witness the “no man’s land” and its spectacular wilderness and dramatic landscapes
• Visit historical and sacred sites in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, and explore the culture in the western region of Tibet
• Visit and interact with local people
DAY 1
(May 7).
Xining. This is where our trip begins.
Xining (in Chinese), or Siling (in Tibetan), is the capital of today’s Qinghai province. 90 percent of Qinghai is Tibet’s Amdo province. Today, however, the city of Xining has a very small Tibetan population, the majority there are Han and Hu (Muslim) Chinese. But one of the biggest monasteries in Tibet, the Kumbum Monastery, is located just outside the city. It is the birthplace of the Tsongkapa, the founder of Tibet’s largest Buddhist sect, the Gelugpa. It still remains one of the main pilgrimage sites and is also a tourist attraction in Amdo province of Tibet.
This is a historical and an interesting region. Tibet is traditionally comprised of three main provinces, Amdo, Kham and U-tsang. Today, the Chinese government considers Tibet only the “Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR).” All the areas outside the Tibetan Autonomous Region are diplomatically called “Tibetan Areas”. However, culturally, some areas in Qinghai province today could be said to be more Tibetan than the TAR. Politically there is relatively more freedom in this region and people live a more traditional way of life, although some border areas, such as Xining itself, are far more Chinese in both population and culturally.
We will spend one night in Xining and try the local Muslim cuisine famous in this city. Depending on what time we arrive in this Xining, we visit Kubum Monastery or the next day on the way to Yushu.
Continue our journey to Yushu, driving through the grassland of the Tibetan Plateau where nomads live with their yaks. We should arrive in Zachuka, Karnang Monastery, in Yushu. The lama of the monastery will have set up a tent for us in this breathtaking beauty of grassland under one of the biggest open skies on earth.
DAY 2
Journey into the deepest Tibetan cultural way of life still remaining in Tibet
We set off on nomadic cultural expedition and drive to the famous Amnye Machen mountain that nomads worship as their protector deity. Amnye Machen in east Tibet and Nyenchen Thanglha in west Tibet are considered the most important mountains for the Tibetans. Since the ancient time, the Tibetans believed that some godly powerful spirits (Mountain Gods) dwell in certain mountains and they worshiped the mountains as their protectors. After Buddhism arrived in Tibet, the Indian Buddhist master Padmasambava converted these spirits into Buddhist protectors. Today mountains like Nyenchen Thanglha and Amnye Machen are considered the protectors of Buddhism as well as leaders of the other mountain gods in Tibet. In the world of Tibet, the glories of these mountains go beyond the Mt. Everest. See what His Holiness the Dalai Lama says about this mountain: http://www.dalailama.com/page.87.htm
We spend one night camping at this mountain where nomads live in their Bha, a big black tent made out of yak hair, and pilgrims may already be circumambulating around the sacred mountain.
DAY 3
Journey Through Grassland
Continue our journey to Yushu (also, Yulshu), driving through the grassland of the Tibetan Plateau where nomads live with their yaks. We should arrive in Zachuka, Karnang Monastery, in Yushu. The lama of the monastery will have set up a tent for us in this breathtaking beauty of grassland under one of the biggest open skies on earth.
DAY 4 and 5
Yushu
The life here flows with nature. We experience and share our lives here with nature and nomads. In this century, perhaps there is nowhere in the world where people live as close to nature as Tibetan nomads here. We spend two days in this area, visiting nomad families and seeing their traditional way of life that has remained relatively unchanged for many centuries. Some nomads today may have a few modern products, such as a small solar panel that dimly lights their big yak-hair-tents at night, and hand-rotated milk churning machines to make butter, but aside from their animals, they live with very few possessions.
During this time, we also visit the monastery, and receive a Buddhist introductory teaching from a lama. If we need to, we drive to the town of Yushu and take a shower, but the high grassland air gives no room for BO!.
DAY 6
Yushu to Xining
We say goodbye to the lama and nomad friends and drive back to Xining. A long day drive, but beautiful. We check-in to our hotel and take a shower!
DAY 7
Journey to Lhasa by train
The train ride is about 26 hours. Although this is a controversial railroad, it does give a unique opportunity to witness the massive Tibetan plateau stretching from the far eastern part of Tibet to the far west, Lhasa. This plateau, known as “no man’s land” is the home to wildlife that used to cover the entire plateau. Despite the unprecedented environmental destruction that has taken place in this region, this is still the only place where you find certain wildlife such as Tibetan antelopes, which often can be seen from the train, and wild yaks.
DAY 8
Arrive in Lhasa (probably in the late evening). Check-in to our hotel in the Tibetan section of the Lhasa city and rest.
DAY 9
Lhasa
Visit to the Jokhang Temple.
Built in the 7th century, the Jokhang is the spiritual heart of Tibetan Buddhism. Here pilgrims from all over Tibet gather, walking with prayers beads and prayer wheels in their hands, focusing only on repeating their mantras and completing their circumambulations to ensure their good rebirth and eventually enlightenment. They add their offering of yak butter to each of the hundreds of giant lamps lighting up the 30 chapels of the temple. Each of these chapels has different statues of Buddhas, deities, lamas and protectors that were collected between 639 and 1959. The central chapel houses Jowo, a 2500-year-old Buddha statue bought to Tibet 1300 years ago, surrounded by precious jewels embedded in pillars. Pilgrims touch their forehead on the knees of Jowo and pray for their deepest desire.
After visiting the chapels and statues, we visit the roof of Jokhang to enjoy the famous views over the city of Lhasa.
We have lunch near the temple at a rooftop restaurant from where we see the pilgrims walking around the temple and hear the murmuring of their mantras. The whole world here moves clockwise, doing Kora around the holiest Buddhist temple in Tibet, the Jokhang.
Our spiritually stimulating afternoon is spent exploring the Barkor, a sacred circumambulation route around the Jokhang Temple, which is also a marketplace and has many temples and galleries along its edges. We share the experience of the thousands of Tibetan pilgrims who come here from hundreds of miles away, some on foot or even making the whole journey in prostrations, to cultivate good karma.
DAY 10
Lhasa, Drepung and Sera Monasteries
After breakfast, we discover the quiet beauty of Drepung Monastery, built in the 15th century, historically the largest monastery in Tibet. Explore the Dalai Lama's first palace and the Great Hall that once held 10,000 monks. Drepung was less damaged during the turmoil of recent history than many other monasteries in Tibet and therefore possesses more old relics. There we also have an opportunity to meet some inspiring nuns who have been meditating in a cave near the monastery for many years.
We have our lunch at a restaurant run by a women who mothers six orphan children.
In the afternoon, we visit Sera Monastery.
Sera Monastery is known as one of the three greatest monasteries in the country. We observe monastic life while sharing tea with some monks in their cell. We may skip seeing the temples there because they are not too different then the temples we would have seen in Drepung Monastery. But a must see, a unique and dynamic, event that takes place is the debate amongst the monks on Buddhist philosophy in the debate courtyard. We may be able to have an audience with one of the head teachers of the monastery who can share with us his insightful wisdom of the spiritual world.
DAY 11
We explore the landmark of Lhasa and an architectural wonder of the East.
The Potala Palace is located on a hill called Marpori. From the front, one could forget that the palace is on the hill because the architecture starts from the foot of the hill. While we walk up to the palace, which is quite an arduous hike at altitude, we take frequent breaks to enjoy the views of Lhasa. The palace's 13 stories, built entirely with mud and wood, house 1000 famous chapels, gold-embossed tombs of past Dalai Lamas, one of which is called Zamling Yeshag (the equal value of entire world) because of the amount of gold and precious gems this tomb contains.
In the afternoon, we attend a lecture on an introduction to traditional Tibetan medicine by a Tibetan doctor at the Tibetan Medical and Astrological institution.
For dinner we are invited to join another family member of your tour leader for dinner, where you participate in making momos (Tibetan dumpling) and taste different home-cooked Tibetan food.
DAY 12
Visit Tsurphu Monastery and Yangpachen Hot Srping
Located in a remote valley about two hours driving from Lhasa, Tsurphu Monastery is the seat of the Karmapa, the head lama of the Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism. We explore the Kagyu tradition and meet monks. On the way back to Lhasa, we visit a natural hot spring.
DAY 13
last day in Lhasa
Today is the fifteen of the Tibetan Lunar calendar and it is full moon. There is a special day in Buddhism and we see more vibrant spiritual activities in temples and in the Barkor. It is also our last day in Lhasa. We have the day to explore more of Lhasa and do shopping. In the evening we have a farewell party and say good bye to those we met and enjoyed their hospitality!
DAY 14
Fly from Lhasa to Beijing. Trip Ends.
