Soggy Moose Travels : A VISIT TO THE VILLAGES NEAR SHIGATSE

Shigatse nearby Villages

Today we will be visiting some local villages in the country side. I know I will really enjoy this day. Weather is cool and sky is clear.

I should also mention a flashlight is a great thing to have as the hotels can be dark and light switches are elusive.

We were up and outside the door of the restaurant when the doors opened. We had breakfast with most of the drivers and staff. Rice porridge and a meat like SPAM, coffee and steam buns, which are locally known as Mo Mo. After breakfast we walked about and found another market area.

We struck out from the hotel at 0900 and made our way to the Narthang Monastery. The areas we are visiting are rural, agricultural villages. This area could be considered the bread basket of Tibet. Here we walked the streets as the yaks and tractors made their way to the fields. This monastery is small and old and housed some very interesting items. I found the wooden printing blocks used to print their scriptures amazing. These print blocks are about 30 inches long and 8 inches wide. We learned they were hand carved and it took about a week to carve each one. These items survived the cultural revolution by the local folks hiding them. I very much enjoyed this intimate monastery.

Our next stop was a local residence. Here we were greeted by the Grandmother, who was at home watching the grand children and overseeing the household. These residences usually house three generations of the extended family. The outside courtyard contained sheep, chickens and several cows and a dog and cat. These houses are designed so the first floor can be a barn in the winter for their livestock which provide heat for the house. The cooking and heating all come from one stove in the kitchen area, which is fueled by the yak dung patties. There is one room in each house that is used as a chapel where their religious items are displayed. I was amazed at the intricate woodwork and paintings on the walls. There were bags of sheep and yak wool and a spinning wheel to turn the wool into yarn.

We next ascended towards the Ngor Monastery. The vehicles were stopped about 1K from the monastery and we walked up to the monastery at 13,500 feet. We were greeting in the parking lot by our cook truck. It was a perfect mountain day with the sun shinning providing warmth and the wind provided ever so slightly cooling light breeze. The best item on todays lunch was a Yak Mo Mo that tasted wonderful and if one added a bit of a hot paste they were excellent.

This monastery was founded in 1429 by Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo, a scholar from the Sakya Monastery. This monastery was completely destroyed during the cultural revolution it has been brought back to life, housing about 40 monks.

We returned to Shigatse and as it was early we went to the market we had discovered this morning. Here we bought some prayer beads, glass beads for Lynn called Djo, and a yak halter with several bells for The Boys (The Boys are our Malamutes, Kenai and Sitka). It was a market where bargaining is expected. We chose our items and asked for a price, usually displayed on a hand held calculator. One is handed the calculator so as to make a counter offer. Thus starts the bargaining process , we were successful in negotiating a price from 450 Yuan or RMB to 150 RMB. The lady we were bartering with made this a fun experience as we both laughed at each others offers. After I would make a very low offer she would pat me on the back and laugh. After our business was completed the next door vendor latched onto Lynn in an effort to sell us more items.

We have returned to our room and cleaned up and got some laundry done. Awaiting our briefing and dinner.