Our afternoon in Chengdu

After lunch, the girls when to shop for clothing while I went to
visit the "computer city" buildings. I mainly stopped at the Apple
and Canon booths.

We met again at 5 p.m. in front of the Mc Donalds downtown, then we
went together to the small Tibetan area of Chengdu where we met with
Yeshe Dorje from Rinchen Ling the village across the river from
Rigul. He kindly offered us dinner in his restaurant.

On our return at the hotel, Cheukyi had the privilege of choosing the
DVD in honor of her birthday. She turned ten today and lost a teeth too!

It's past midnight now, our bags are almost ready and we're about to
go to bed. We have booked a taxi for 11 a.m. tomorrow morning. Our
flight to Amsterdam is scheduled to leave at 2 p.m.

Rain in Chengdu

It's almost 11 a.m. in Chengdu and it's raining. I will not complain
as it keeps the temperature much lower than last week.

The girls are still sleeping. We haven't much plans for today except
meeting someone from Rigul tonight. He has a Tibetan restaurant here
in Chengdu.

I posted some pictures from Lhasa on Flickr, I will probably upload
some more today.

You can see them at the usual address: http://www.flickr.com/photos/

francoish/sets/72157601114970981/

Back in Chengdu

We just arrived at the Mix Hostel in Chengdu.

Quite a few tears were shed when we left Lhasa at 9.30 this morning.
Almost all the family came by to say goodbye. We all hope to see them
again very soon.

We reached the airport just in time (11.05 for a 12.00 departure!).
The flight was delayed by 30' but for the rest it was fine.

We are all quite tired (the girls went out last night) and we will
probably have a little nap soon.

I'll try to upload some pix from Lhasa later today.

Last two days in Lhasa

On tuesday we had a family picnic at Gyamtso Chumi. The girls had the
opportunity to swim at an altitude of 3,500 meters. We all had a lot
of fun.

On wednesday, the family met again, this time at Passang's house.
Passang is Yangchen's eldest sister.

Monday in Lhasa

Again bright sun. Sunburns!!!

We had a shopping day at the Barkhor, buying some souvenirs.

Oh, Zoe turned 16 today.

Happy birthday Zoe!

Sunny day in Lhasa

This afternoon we all went for a walk in the mountains around Sera monastery. The sun was shinning bright and we all enjoy the splendid view of Lhasa's valley.

Our second day in Lhasa

We all slept relatively late as we were quite tired. Around 10.30 a.m. , I went to the Jokhang. It was my lucky day as it was open for Tibetan pilgrims. I joined the Tibetan pilgrims queue and I was able to enter without paying any fee.

In the queue I was able to buy a khatag (traditional white Tibetan scarf) and some butter to feed the many butter lamps inside the temple. After visiting secondary chapels, I went to the chapel housing the Jowo. The Jowo is a statue of the Buddha and is considered as the most sacred in Tibet. I consider myself extremely lucky that I was able to see it from so close once again! I was also able to request for butter lamp offerings in memory of Tsering Lhamo.

After the visit, I again went to sit in front of the temple and recited prayers and mantras until around 1 p.m. I then returned home for lunch.

In the afternoon, the girls, cousins, aunties and I returned to the Barkhor to do some souvenirs shopping. After the shopping we had tea all together then we splitted. I went back to the Jokhang for more prostrations and mantras while the other went for a walk around the Potala before heading back home.

As strange as it may sound to some of you, I really feel so good there with the pilgrims. The idea came to my mind that I should return here in a couple of years and stay long enough to complete a 100,000 prostrations cycle.

It was 8.30 p.m. when I returned home.

Tonight the girls are going out with their uncle and some of their cousins. I'm sure that they will have a lot of fun.

I tried to connect using Yangchen's mother telephone line but it is so slow that I could only retrieve 2 emails in ten minutes. So I'm now in an Internet place, 5 minutes walk from home.

We have no specific plans for tomorrow. We will see...

First day in Lhasa

So we are in Lhasa!

We left the hotel in Chengdu on time at 4.20 a.m., we were at the
airport 30 minutes later. Check in, security and boarding went very
well. The Airbus 319 was almost empty so we had a lot of space to
rest while we had to absorb a 1 hour delay "due to ATC"!

We arrived at Lhasa's Gongkar Airport around 9.30 a.m. Yangchen and
a few family members welcomed us there. The drive to Lhasa city is
now much shorter thanks to a new bridge and tunnel. We all went to
Yangchen's mother. She was, of course, delighted to see us again.

We all had dinner together. Then, the girls went with Yangchen to
visit all their aunties new houses while I went with Ama-la for a
khora (circumbulation) of the Potala Palace. After the kora we had a
stop for a cup of tea then I went on my own to center of Lhasa.

The first thing I did was to get our tickets for the return flight to
Chengdu. It took 15 minutes. We will leave next thursday (August
30th) at 12.00 p.m. We can take the airport bus at 9.30 a.m. in Lhasa.

Then I went straight to the Jokhang temple and the Barkhor, the heart
center of Lhasa. Thousands of pilgrims go there everyday to pay their
respect to Lhasa's most sacred temple. I did a khora and then joined
the pilgrims in front of the Jokhang. Most of them perform
prostration in front of the Jokhang doors. Prostrating is not only a
way of showing respect but it is also a very powerful body
purification practice. Many among the pilgrims are there for many
weeks to accomplish an accumulation of 100,000 prostrations.

I stayed there for about three hours. I mainly sat reciting mantras
and prayers but I also did a set of 108 prostrations. This place is
probably the one that inspire me the most to practice. I intend to go
back there tomorrow morning.

Now I'm back at Ama-la's. The girls went to sleep at Sega's (one of
Yangchen sisters).

4 a.m. friday

Time for me to wake the girls up. The taxi is going to be here in 20
minutes.

My next post should be from Lhasa!

Packed!

The girls have packed (I still have to!) and we have the tickets for
tomorrow's flight. A van is coming to pick us at the hotel at 4.20 a.m.

We are now going to bed.

Check also the two new pix on our Flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/francoish/sets/72157601114970981/

Finding our EMS package

So around 3.30 p.m., Yangchen called us at the hotel to ask if we had
received the letter with the permits yet. When we told her we hadn't,
she went to the post office to check with them. They said that the
package had reached Chengdu last night and that it would be possible
for us to trace it and get it from the EMS dispatch center.
So the very kind staff of the Mix Hostel called the information line
of EMS China, got a number for the Chengdu branch, then got another
number for the local dispatch center. They called there and got their
address. They point me a place on the map in the vicinity of
Chengdu's train station about two kilometers from here. They also
gave me a piece of paper with what I suppose was the address in
Chinese and a phone number.

Since it was not my lucky day for taxi I had to go there on running
and taking the bus for one stop. I was afraid I would arrive after
the opening hours. The indications I got from the Mix Hostel staff
about the location were not totally exact. Of course nobody talks
English here and I just walked around looking for a post office.
Finally, somebody pointed me in the good direction and I found the
place. It was not a post office at all. It was a distribution center
with trucks everywhere and people working but not customer reception
center. I asked about five different people and at last someone took
me to the appropriate building on the appropriate floor.

I showed the reference number. They checked the packet location in
the computer then went to a big postal bag that they started to
search. After two minutes they got hold of our envelope. I then just
had to show my passport, sign a document and I had it in my hand.

I soon as I left the office, I checked what was inside. It was four
documents in Chinese with our names and red stamps. Yeah, it looked
like permits.

I then took the bus back to the hotel. These buses are so good here,
very well organized, you never wait more than 3 or 4 minutes to get one.

I stopped at the shop to grab a bottle of water, running in that heat
got me thirsty! I told the girls that I had the permits and I asked
Lara (a very kind and extremely efficient staff member) to arrange
for the earliest flight to Lhasa.

So we are flying tomorrow at 6.20 a.m. and should arrive at Lhasa's
airport about two hours later. Yangchen and one of her brother in law
will come to pick us there.

It was really time for us to get those permits. We were all tired and
bored of waiting.

Thank you to all of you who sent support message during these 7 long
days!

GOT THEM!

We are booking the flight right now...

Tracking the letter on the net

We missed the fact that the letter had a tracking number and that we
could follow its progress on the webpage of the China Post.

I was now able to check it online, it arrived in Chengdu last night
and there was a attempt to deliver it this afternoon. For some
unknown reason, it failed. With the kind help of the Mix Hostel
staff, we are now trying to contact the post here in Chengdu to
arrange for me to collect it at their dispatch center.

I will keep you "posted".

Thursday 23rd, 2 p.m.

And still no news :-(

This morning I took the time to listen to Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
talking about the effect on meditation on the brain on NPR.

You can hear it here: http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wnpr/

news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1128440

Wednesday has passed...

... but no letter came.

Hopefully it will be for tomorrow. We kinda really need it now!

Waiting for the letter

It's almost noon in Chengdu on wednesday august 22nd and we are
waiting for the letter with the permits to arrive.

I took my camera when I went to shop for breakfast this morning. You
can see some of the pix on our Flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/francoish/sets/72157601114970981/

Tuesday morning, still stuck in Chengdu for a couple of days!

Our travel permits for Lhasa were granted but they still have to
reach us. They were sent by express post this morning. They should
reach us at the hotel here in Chengdu by tomorrow afternoon or
thursday morning. That would allow a departure for Lhasa on friday
morning.

We were hoping that a faxes copy of the permits would be okay, so we
are now a little bit disappointed...

But this morning, Cheukyi, Zoe and I went to buy some new DVD's to
help the time to pass. The TV room in the hotel as airco and it's
really good to be there away from Chengdu's warmth and humidity.

Right now, the girls are watching Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette".

Monday afternoon in Chengdu, we're not gone yet!

We spent the day doing nothing except waiting for news from Lhasa.
Things are progressing but not very fast.
We won't have any definitive answer before tomorrow morning. I think
that we will not be able to leave until wednesday morning at the
earliest.

The girls are very brave and I hope that soon heir patience will be
rewarded.

First pix from Yachen Gar posted on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/francoish/sets/72157601114970981/

What do girls when they have time?

They go for shopping and to the hairdresser!

That's what they did this week-end. On saturday we went to visit this
huge market about 15' walking distance from the hotel. I got dizzy
just at the size of the thing!

Then Tenzin and Cheukyi had their hair cut. The result is not too bad
knowing that they can't speak chinese and were not able to say what
they wanted. Zoe was more reasonable and had just a shampoo.

PS: I had a haircut too a couple of days ago! ;-)

Nothing new in Chengdu

It's warm and we are waiting.

Hopefully, we'll get some good news from Lhasa by the end of the day
tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.

Yachen Gar, Part 1, August 11th: Getting there

Since we returned from Rigul the day before, we decided to sleep late
and to leave Kandze for Yachen Gar around noon. It was not the best
idea money wise. If you leave around 6 a.m. you can find seats in
shared cars for 35 RMB (3,5€). At noon everyone for Yachen had left
and I had to search a lot to get a driver to agree to a 400 RMB
price. We put our bags at the back of the car and left as planned
around 12 p.m. I paid the driver 200 RMB in advance for him to take
fuel.

30 minutes after leaving Kandze, we started the climb to the Tsoda-la
pass, the highest point of our trip at 4,900 meters (16,000 feet). A
couple of times during the climb, the driver stopped to talk to car
coming in the opposite direction. He then told me that there was a
problem on the road and that he wanted to return to Kandze. Not
really understanding what was the nature of the problem, I asked him
to continue.
We stopped at the summit to throw paper prayers flags and to take a
few pictures. We then proceeded downwards to the next valley. The
driver took great pleasure in driving like mad. He was going so fast!
I was really feeling uncomfortable if not afraid at times. I think
that the door handle still has the mark of my fingers!

After 20 minutes, and a few other stops to talk to cars in the
opposite direction, we reached the end of the descent and the police
check. That it is what our driver feared so much, the police check!
It quikcly appeared that he had no driving license. he had to stop
and leave the car there!

Then negotiations started. The girls and I stayed in the car the
whole time, while our driver was going from one police officer to the
other. We were surrounded by half a dozen of nuns from Yachen whose
car also had been confiscated. He first came back saying that they
wanted 500 RMB. I answered to him that it was not my problem and that
there was no way I was going to pay that amount of money. After
another 20 minutes or so, he came back asking 300 RMB. I told him
that I would pay but that he would not get any more money when
arriving at destination. He discretely handed the money to the police
officers but nothing happened. I could see him begging them to let us
continue. Finally, after another 20 minutes or so, a police officer
took the car keys and climbed into the car. I was thinking that he
would drive the car into the police station to be confiscated when he
said: "I, you Yachen". He was actually going to drive us to Yachen
Gar! I don't know if that was the point of giving the 300 RMB or not,
but that is what he did! I thought it was quite nice of him anyway.

After another two hours or so, we reached Yachen. He dropped us there
and left without asking any money.

The first people to welcome were officers of the local police
station. yes, they put a police station in the middle of the
monastery/camp. In quite good English, they asked us for our passport
and checked our visas. We were asked how long we wanted to stay, I
answered that the plan was to stay for three days. They said that
three days were okay but that we should leave after.

Then we started looking for someone to help us to find the nuns I
sponsor and a place to stay. After little time, we met a 13 years old
nun that I met last year and I asked to take me to Yashe Cheutso. She
lead us to the site where the khenpos of Yachen teach. There are in
some kind of glass house and monks and nuns gather around to hear
them teach Buddha Dharma. Two khenpos were teaching and more than
1,000 people were listening to them. I was lead to sit next to a monk
who seemed to know me or about me and I was told to wait there until
they find Yeshe Cheutso. After 30 minutes, the teaching session ended
but there was still no trace of Yeshe Cheutso. The girls were still
waiting away from the teaching side and had become the center of
everyone's attention.

We met with Pema Chodron another nun also coming from the Rigul area,
she speaks some English and understands my broken Tibetan. She told
us that the best was to go to Yeshe Cheutso's house and that we would
stay there. On our way we met with Khakha, Yeshe Cheutso's older
sister. She became a nun last year and I also sponsor her. Yeshe
Cheutso joined us a few minutes after we arrived at her hut that she
now shares with her sister.

We were told that they new we were coming on that day but that they
were waiting for us in the morning. Of course, food was offered to us
and a few people came to visit.

Then the time came to sleep. Yeshe Cheutso and Khakaha's hut has two
rooms. The one where we slept in was about 2,50 by 2,50 meters. The
four of us squeezed in and we fell asleep quite rapidly despite the
conditions.

"Hors de Prix"

That's the film we watched tonight after enjoying a nice vegetarian
dinner at a "fake meat" restaurant near the Wengshu Temple 2 blocks
away from our hotel.

We have no plans for tomorrow yet. We'll see and I'll keep you posted.

Goodnight ;-)

Shower time in Chengdu

It's 7 p.m. at the Mix Hostel. The girls are taking a shower, I'll do
the same soon. It's been quite warm today: 32°C.
The girls were up around 12 p.m., we went for breakfast/lunch at
small local restaurant. Luckily there were two young guys speaking
English to help us to order.
I then called Yangchen in Lhasa. She won't be able to do anything for
our permits before monday. Since we are stuck here for the w-e, we
went to shop for DVD's. I'm quite happy with my memory and sense of
orientation as I was able to find my way back to a remote place were
DVD's are available at a small price, 15 RMB maximum.
Taxi 4, Die Hard 4, ... , this is the program for the w-e.
I almost finished writing the report of our first day in Yachen Gar.
I'll post it soon. In the meantime, check the pix I uploaded today on
Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/francoish/sets/72157601114970981/

Friday 17th, Chengdu 10 a.m.

The girls are still sleeping. They must be quite tired after all
these days of traveling and short nights in between!

I already talked to Yangchen in Lhasa. She'll try to meet people this
afternoon to help with the permits but there is no guarantee that
they will be able to do something. As I wrote yesterday, we have two
problems: one is getting the Lhasa permits for my Tibetan named
daughters, the other is that all offices are closed in Lhasa until
the 23rd!

We have no special plans for today except to wait for news from
Lhasa. We will certainly make a good use of the washing machine here!
The girls want to get some DVD's while I would like to take them to
the Chinese Buddhist monastery nearby. In addition to housing a bone
relic of the Shakyamuni Buddha, the monastery has a vegetarian
restaurant that is supposedly one of the best in China. Their
specialty is to offer meat like dishes. So you can order beef, pork
or fish that will look and taste like beef, pork or fish but it's all
fake, it is pure vegetarian!

Posted a few more pix on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/francoish/sets/72157601114970981/

In Chengdu where it doesn't get easier!

So we arrived in Chengdu around 3.30 p.m. after a 7 hours drive from
Dartsedo. The rain was still with us until we reached the plain two
hours away from Chengdu. After our arrival, we rushed into a taxi to
get to the Mix Hostel. We checked in and got our money back for the
Lhasa flight booking. Zoe and I got our permit but of course we will
not go to Lhasa without Tenzin and Cheukyi.

We then went to the travel agent where Yangchen was able to get her
permit. The first "good" news is that every office in Tibet will be
closed for one week to celebrate the Shoton festival. So the earliest
departure date with a "normal" permit is August 24th. The second news
is that persons with Tibetan names have to contact a special
department in Lhasa in order to get the permits for central Tibet.
All the travel agent gave us is a phone number in Lhasa where we can
call in Chinese or Tibetan. So I called Yangchen in Lhasa and asked
her to try to contact the office and try to arrange something despite
the holiday. All we have to do now is wait and see what happens.

We then went to visit Chengdu's Computer City buildings but we just
had the time to get a MP3 player for Cheukyi before closing time. We
then had dinner at the Mc Donalds to have a change from chinese and
Tibetan food. But it is so expensive compared to small local restaurant.

We are now back at the hotel and enjoying a relaxed evening. With no
bus or flight to catch tomorrow, we can relax for and sleep as late
as we want.

I'll take time to upload more pictures and to write a detail account
of our stay in Yachen Gar.

And to top it all ...

There was meat in the instant noodles I thought were meat free :-(

But I was able to upload some pix on the Flickr page :-)

Go to the Tibet 2007 stream to have a look.

Small "technical" problem

I just called our hotel in Chengdu to check that they had a room for
us tomorrow and were able to get our permits + flight tickets for
Lhasa on friday.
If the room is ok, two permits out of four are not. I suppose that
it's my daughters' Tibetan names that cause the problem.
We will have to contact the appropriate office in Chengdu and try to
arrange that. Right now I'm not sure that we will be able to fix the
problem before the week-end (when offices are closed) so we may have
to wait 5 or 6 days in Chengdu. That would leave us only one week in
the Tibetan capital.
Tenzin is quite upset right now, but there is nothing else to do than
wait for tomorrow in Chengdu and see what we can do.

In Dartsedo

We arrived safely in Dartsedo after a 11 hours long drive. It rained
all day, we even had melting snow welcoming us in Dartsedo!
Now the girls are taking a shower (it's been some time) then they
will try to chat with their friends on MSN from the computers in the
lobby. Myself I'll probably have a short walk in the city.
Tonight we will have instant noodles dinner in our rooms watching
Chinese TV.
We have our bus tickets for Chengdu tomorrow. We will leave at 8.30
a.m. and should arrive in the Sichuan capital around 3 p.m.

P.S: I will try to (finally) upload some pictures tonight. I'll keep
you posted.

In Kandze again

We are back in Kandze after our three days stay in Yachen Gar. We are
quite tired and dirty too ;-)

We really enjoyed our stay in Yachen Gar despite the sad
circumstances. The girls got along very well with the nuns.

Tomorrow at 6 a.m. we will take the bus for Dartsedo, I hope to be
able to write a longer post there with all the details of our stay in
this 6,000 nuns and 4,000 monks monastery. If not it will be for
thursday in Chengdu.

About to leave for Yachen Gar

It's 11.15 a.m. The sun is now shining bright. Our bags are ready, we
are leaving most of our stuff here. We reserved seats for Darstsedo
on the 15th.
We should be back online on the 14th or 15th.

Kandze, Saturday August 11th.

It's 7 a.m. in Kandze. The girls are still sleeping. We plan to leave
for Yachen Gar around noon.

We left Rigul at 9 a.m. yesterday with all the school kids waving
katags (white skill scarf) at us. I must confess that I had "wet"
eyes and that I'm already thinking about my next visit there. On our
way back to Kandze we stopped at Sechen monastery to look at the
wonderful new temple dedicated to Guru Rinpoche. Guru Rinpoche is the
Indian master who first brought Buddhism to Tibet (go to Wikipedia
for more details).
At 1 p.m., we reached Manigango and stopped there for lunch.
Unfortunately our car broke when we tried to leave. After spending
two hours watching our driver trying to fix his car, we decided to
get another one.

By 6.30 p.m. we were in our rooms at the guest house in Kandze. Since
no rooms were left, we were given rooms in the owner's part of the
house. Luckily there is a phone connection in the room Cheukyi and I
are staying in and I'm able to connect and post to the blog.
Unfortunately, the connection is very slow and I will not even try to
send pix to the Flickr page. That will be for next week from Dartsedo
and Chengdu.

I think that the girls enjoyed their time in Rigul very much. I'm
very pleased that everything went well there. I'm especially happy
that altitude was not too much of a problem. This was my biggest fear
before departure.

Last night, after enjoying a bath at the hot springs, we gave phone
calls and send emails to let our families know that we are doing
well. Yangchen arrived safely in Lhasa, we talked with her mother as
she was out when we called.

It's a little cloudy this morning but I hope that we will have a
clear sky soon.

I was able to retrieve my email last night. Thank you very much to
all who send messages or left comments on the blog. I'll post again
soon!

Rigul, Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th.

On wednesday we went to visit the villages of Kana and Kara Gon
respectively 80 and 60 minutes walking time away from Rigul. In Kana
we were invited to Khenpo Senge's house. He actually came to pick us
up in Rigul with his car. He served us with food and drinks (what a
surprise!) and offered some gifts to everyone of us. We were also
invited to a couple of other people's houses before driving to Kara
Gon. There again we were invited for (too much) food and drinks. In
both places I enjoyed handing out printouts of pictures I took last
year.
Around 1 p.m. Karma Senge drove the girls back home in Rigul while I
decided to enjoy the great weather and walk back there after another
invitation for some more food and drinks! When I arrived in Rigul,
the girls and I were invited (yes, for food and drinks) by Yungsu
Tulku, one of the high lamas or rinpoches living in Rigul. There was
not much room left but in the evening we were invited for dinner at
one of the school's teachers'. He lives with his wife and their cute
daughters but also with four school kids from Kara Gon and Api so
they don't have to walk back home for two hours everyday. After that
Tenzin had to walk back home with stomach cramps. Zoe went with her.
Cheukyi and I went then to visit Palyang's house where luckily, only
tea was served. Palyang is one of the two school cooks and a close
relative of Ringu Tulku. She had a two months old baby daughter.

On thursday (already our last day in Rigul), we did some laundry in
the cold river water. I had a meeting with the school staff that
ended up with everybody being happy. I walked trough the village with
my camera to make sure I had pictures of everything. It is quite
important to show our sponsors our things are evolving in Rigul. I
personally think that it is going extremely well!
Around 5 p.m. our car arrived from Kandze. Despite the very bad road
between Shechen and Rigul, the driver who brought us here had
proposed to come and pick us up. He will sleep here tonight, we plan
to leave at 8 a.m. tomorrow. After the school hours, the girls went
to play with the school children and took more pix and videos of them.

Rigul, Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th.

On wednesday we went to visit the villages of Kana and Kara Gon
respectively 80 and 60 minutes walking time away from Rigul. In Kana
we were invited to Khenpo Senge's house. He actually came to pick us
up in Rigul with his car. He served us with food and drinks (what a
surprise!) and offered some gifts to everyone of us. We were also
invited to a couple of other people's houses before driving to Kara
Gon. There again we were invited for (too much) food and drinks. In
both places I enjoyed handing out printouts of pictures I took last
year.
Around 1 p.m. Karma Senge drove the girls back home in Rigul while I
decided to enjoy the great weather and walk back there after another
invitation for some more food and drinks! When I arrived in Rigul,
the girls and I were invited (yes, for food and drinks) by Yungsu
Tulku, one of the high lamas or rinpoches living in Rigul. There was
not much room left but in the evening we were invited for dinner at
one of the school's teachers'. He lives with his wife and their cute
daughters but also with four school kids from Kara Gon and Api so
they don't have to walk back home for two hours everyday. After that
Tenzin had to walk back home with stomach cramps. Zoe went with her.
Cheukyi and I went then to visit Palyang's house where luckily, only
tea was served. Palyang is one of the two school cooks and a close
relative of Ringu Tulku. She had a two months old baby daughter.

On thursday (already our last day in Rigul), we did some laundry in
the cold river water. I had a meeting with the school staff that
ended up with everybody being happy. I walked trough the village with
my camera to make sure I had pictures of everything. It is quite
important to show our sponsors our things are evolving in Rigul. I
personally think that it is going extremely well!
Around 5 p.m. our car arrived from Kandze. Despite the very bad road
between Shechen and Rigul, the driver who brought us here had
proposed to come and pick us up. He will sleep here tonight, we plan
to leave at 8 a.m. tomorrow. After the school hours, the girls went
to play with the school children and took more pix and videos of them.

Rigul, Monday 6th and Tuesday 7th August

Our first two days in Rigul went very well. Zoe altitude problems
were over by noon on monday. This Diamox is really good!

On monday morning, after enjoying a breakfast made of Tsampa, we
visited the new school. I think it is really fantastic; I'm really
pleased with what they achieved there. It really looks like a school
now with classrooms and blackboards. Every day, two meals are offered
free of charge to the children. We enjoyed a lot looking at them
eating and having fun on the playground.
In the afternoon, the girls had a short ride on horses. I think they
enjoyed it despite the rain falling.

As always in Rigul, whenever we pass someone's house, we are invited
to get in and are served large quantities of food and drinks.

On tuesday Zoe had small stomach problems (too much invitations and
food!) and she stayed home resting. Chuga, Rigul's doctor, gave her a
mix of about 8 pills!
Tenzin, Cheukyi and I went on a bike ride to visit the village of
Rinchen Ling. Rinchen LIng faces Rigul on the other side of the
river. The main purpose of going there was to have a look at the
newly build Sakya monastery. I was pleasantly surprised to meet a
monk there that could speak English. The sun was shining bright and
it was actually very warm. By the time we returned home, Zoe was
feeling much better.

Tsering Lhamo 1986? - 2007

I met Tsering Lhamo when I visited Yachen Gar for the first time in
june 2005. Tsering Lhamo was the best friend of Yeshe Cheutso the nun
I sponsor there. Both were coming from the same village near Rigul.
As she had spent a few years in Lhasa, Tsering Lhamo and I could
communicate very well and she was acting like a translator for me.
She actually stayed with us all the time I was there. She impressed
me with her sense of humor and joy of living.

During my second visit in Yachen Gar in may 2006, I stayed at her
parents place as all her family is living there. My stay was much
longer than the previous year and I learned to know and appreciated
her better. Despite her young age and being a nun for less than two
years, she showed real dedication for her buddhist practice. And it
was a real pleasure to see how much she enjoyed her life there.

Tsering Lhamo became sick in the first months of 2007. I was told
that she was taken to the hospital in Kandze and Manigango but they
couldn't do anything for her.

I know that these things happen all the time and that dying is part
of living but I do feel great sadness. Her death at a young age
reminds me of the buddhist teachings on the uncertainty of the time
of death and how difficult life in remote areas of Tibet can be.

I will probably meet her parents in Yachen Gar next week and I'm
afraid that it will be difficult to stop tears from falling.

Anyway, I feel really lucky that I met her and she'll forever remain
an inspiration for me.

Rigul, Sunday August 5th

So, we left Kandze at 5 a.m. as planned. The car was big enough for
all of us and our luggage. The only thing is that we forgot the
vegetables and fruits we bought at the market the day before.
It was 7.30 a.m. when we reached Manigango where we stopped for
breakfast. Then, drive was alright until we passed Dzogchen where the
road starts to deteriorate and we had three hours of very bad road
before we reached Rigul. We thought that the driver would be very
upset but he actually asked if he should come for our return trip to
Kandze. He will come on thursday evening and we will leave on friday
morning.

In Rigul, we were welcomed at the new school by all the children. I'm
really impressed with the new school building. They did it so well.
They had just started the construction when I was there last year and
now it's completed. I'm really happy about it, I think that the money
we sent was really well used.

The old monastery has been renovated and the new one is now finished
and was inaugurated a few weeks ago. They also started the building
of a new temple for the Shedra (monastic college) with concrete
foundation.

We were offered a huge amount of drinks, snacks and candies in the
school master's room and witness the children's dinner. Since last
year the Rigul Foundation sponsors two meals a day for the school
children and staff.

Another good news is that Palyang, one of the two school's cooks and
a close relative of Ringu Tulku, has a two month old daughter. I'm
really happy for her as she lost a newborn about 15 months ago.

I was so happy about all this but, unfortunately, I also learned
something very sad! Tsering Lhamo one of my nun friends from Yanchen
Gar died a few months ago and it just breaks my heart!

Later in the evening, we moved to the new clinic that is now
completed, that is where we are going to stay with Ani Choden and Dr.
Chuga.

Zoe showed signs of altitude sickness (headache and nausea) and I
gave her some Diamox. I hope that she'll feel better soon.

Kandze, Sunday Aug. 5th, too early in the morning

I know that I will not be able to publish this post for a while but
I'm afraid that if I don't type it now, I'll not do it.

So, we arrived in Kandze yesterday after a strenuous 13 hrs drive
from Dartsedo/Kandze. The drive was bumpy most of the time but we
were all able to sleep a little bit. I must say that the girls were
very brave and didn't complain a single time. I'm also very happy
that until now they don't seem to suffer much from the altitude.
Altitude sickness was probably my biggest fear concerning their
travel to Kham. Let's hope it is going to continue like that.

I will not be able to describe the drive and all the things we saw
but what I can say is that as soon as you cross the pass just after
Dartsedo, you are in Tibet. Yacks, stupas (chorten in Tibetan) and
monks and nuns are everywhere to be seen. The valleys are very green
and with a lot of flowers.

So it was around 7 p.m. when we reached Kandze. We were lucky enough
to find beds in the LungTa guest house were I usually stay. It's
simple and cheap but very clean. The owner was very happy to see me
again and to meet my daughters and he offered us tea and tsampa. He
is from Kandze but he also speaks the Lhasa dialect so both Tenzin
and I are able to communicate easily with him.

On the way to the hotel I was able to find a car to drive us to Rigul
tomorrow. Rigul being such a small village/monastery, I had to
explain him the way. I asked him to come to pick us up at 5 a.m. It
is quite early but then we should arrive in Rigul around noon
allowing us to still enjoy a full afternoon there. The only little
worry I have is that I didn't see our driver's car yet and I hope
that it will be big enough to fit the four of us and our luggage. If
not I think we will have to wait 6 or 7 a.m. to find another car.

After enjoying the tsampa in our room, we went to visit the town. We
bought some fresh vegetables and fruits to bring to Rigul as they
don't have much there. We also gave a few phone calls before leaving
for Rigul and being unable to communicate for 5 days. We called
Yangchen in Chengdu. She got her permit for Tibet and will fly to
Lhasa on the 7th. We also called my mother and Zoe's father.

We then had dinner and went beck to the guest house and went to bed
after a small talk. I'm very pleased with the atmosphere among the
four of us. Everybody is relaxed and happy.

What about the weather? Well we had a clear sky went we left Dartsedo
at dawn. It was a little bit cold but we all had enough layer. Then
as the day went on and with a bright sun shining, the temperature
raised and it was rather warm. Clouds appeared when we came closer to
Kandze, it even rained a little bit but nothing too bad.

The significant points of today's drive are Manigango (see http://
jamyang.wordpress.com ), the Muri-la pass (4600 meters), Dzogchen and
Sechen monasteries. Both these monasteries are very important in the
Nyingma lineage of Tibetan buddhism.

Well, I think that I will leave you here for this time and lay in bed
for 30 minutes before getting ready for our departure. I hope to be
able to connect to the Internet and publish this post and others
when we return here in Kandze next friday.

Dartsedo, Saturday, 5 a.m.

My internal clock is working rather good as the alarm will only ring
in ten minutes. I hope that it will not be too difficult to wake the
girls up. If I remember well, some restaurant are already open and we
can have rice soup for breakfast. I have no idea of the temperature
at the top of the first pass so we will take the jackets out of our
bags in addition to our sweaters.

I'm so happy to be here. I can't wait to reach Rigul tomorrow. I
think that the girls will enjoy it too.

I have to go now and bring them the "bad" news that it's time to wake
up. I'll post again soon (tonight hopefully).

Details of our drive to Kandze tomorrow

I forgot to give you some details of our drive tomorrow, here are
some significant point we will pass trough. The times are from last
year.

6.25 Dartsedo (2590 meters)
7.20 Gye-la pass (4920 meters)
8.15 Minyak Chakdra Chorten
9.15 Lhagang
9.30 Drepa-la pas (4,420 meters)
12.40 Tawu for a one hour lunch stop
15.20 Drango (3475 meters)
16.05 Trewo (3612 meters)
16.35 Joro Lake
Dresel-la pass (3962 meters)
17.40 Kandze (3,581 meters)

For the actual weather in Ganze, search Garze, Tibet on wunderground.

Late at night in Dartsedo (Kanding in Chinese)

It's past midnight in Dartsedo and after a shower we will rush to
bed. As we had a long day and will have a longer one tomorrow. We
left Chengdu on time at 1 p.m. sharp. The drive was okay but a little
longer than usual. We only reached Dartsedo around 8 p.m. Since the
drive was very smooth, we all slept a little bit in the bus probably
missing some beautiful scenery (the "amazing" sceneries are for
tomorrow!)

First thing we did was to buy the bus tickets to Kandze. We payed 11€
each and are leaving tomorrow at 6 a.m. for a 12 hours drive. The we
went to search for an hotel.

We are staying at the Tai Ning Buisness Hotel, a chinese hotel 5
minutes away from the bus station. It's a little expensive (16€ per
double room) but it was difficult for us to start searching for an
hotel with our bags on our shoulders. The good thing is that there
are two computers in the lobby and that the girls were able to check
their hotmail. Myself I'm able to connect trough the telephone in the
room and the Apple USB 56K modem. I'll will try to upload one picture
but I'm not sure of the time it will take.

After dropping our bags in the room we went for a short walk in the
city. It was already night time but most of the shops were open and
bright lights were shinning on the streets. We didn't went very far
as we were hungry. We had dinner at a Tibetan restaurant. Tenzin had
momo (of course) and we had noodles. If you don't know what a Tibetan
momo is, use Gooogle ...

I was able to upload three pix on Flickr, have a look at them.

I have no idea if I'll be able to connect in Ganze. So maybe it is my
last post before our return here on August 15th. But hopefully, I'll
be able to give you news earlier.

It's time for bed.

Love to all of you!

Breakfast in Chengdu

Waking up the girls proved not to be that difficult after all. We
went out to have a Chinese breakfast. We had dumplings and noodles
with egg and vegetables. Cheukyi not being the biggest fan of Chinese
cuisine had a pancake at the Mix Hostel.
Go to the Flickr page to have a look at the pix I took with my mobile
phone.

In about an hour we will leave the hotel to go to Chengdu's Xin Nan
Men bus station (or south bus station) where we will take the bus for
Dartsedo (Kanding in Chinese). The drive takes about 6 hours and is
priced at 115 RMB (about 11€).

Friday, 8.30 a.m.

Everybody but me is still sleeping. I'll have to wake them up in 30
minutes. I know of some who will not be delighted to leave their bed...
No, I will not give any name ;-)

In Chengdu

Our flight arrived on time in Chengdu. If we were among the first to
go trough immigration, we were among the last to get our luggage but
at least we got all 6 pieces. A driver sent by the Mix Hostel was
waiting for us but we had to wait for me to change some money at the
airport. Actually the rate at the airport is better than in the city!
We were at the hotel around 2.30 p.m. A room was waiting for us.
Tenzin and Zoe went for a walk while Yangchen, Cheukyi and I went to
arrange for flight and bus bookings.
The girl and I are leaving for Kanding/Dartsedo tomorrow at 1 p.m. We
should reach there around 7 p.m. Yangchen will wait in Chengdu until
she gets the permit to visit Lhasa. She won't leave before tuesday at
the earliest. It was easier to book the flight for the girls and I on
the 17th.

I'm now in the hotel lobby surfing the web and typing this post
thanks too the Mix Hostel free wi-fi network. As expected, I'm not
able to connect to the blog, I have to post via email. Actually, it
would be nice if someone could email me to confirm that what I'm
typing right now actually appears on the blog.

Yangchen took the girls for a walk. They will probably return soon as
we are all quite tired.

Someone asked me about Zoe. Zoe has been one of Tenzin's best friend
for many years now. We asked her more than a year ago if she wanted
to join us on this trip. She's been very enthusiastic from the very
beginning.

I also posted a few pictures from today on the Flickr page ( http://

www.flickr.com/photos/francoish/sets/72157601114970981/ ) but I can't
display them. Could again someone let me know if the four pix taken
in Chengdu actually are displayed on the page?

Cheuki and Yangchen are now back. Cheukyi is asking me to finish this
quickly so she can chat for a few minutes with her friends before
going to sleep.

I leave you here for now, I hope to be able to post again tomorrow
before our departure.

Thank you for reading this post and take care!

From the air

I'm typing this in the air somewhere over a former soviet republic I
suppose. We have about three hours to go before landing in Chengdu.
The flight is almost full I believe. Many Chinese on board of course
(60% of the passengers or maybe more?). The staff is charming and the
food is good. It's a real pleasure to fly with KLM. The aircraft type
is a Boeing 777, modern and relatively comfortable in the economy class.

The girls (Cheukyi, Tenzin and Zoe) enjoyed the entertainment system
so much that they just turned it off and are only now trying to get
some sleep. We will land in Chengdu around 12.30 p.m. local time,
drive to the hotel and drop our bags there before going to the travel
agent to book the flights to Lhasa and to the bus station to get seat
on the bus to Kanding/Dartsedo tomorrow. We will probably not have
the possibility to get some sleep before tonight. It may be better,
doing a siesta would probably not help with the jet lag.

Oh, I watched "Flushed Away" after dinner. I saw it in the cinema
with Cheukyi a few month ago but it was still a lot of fun. Try to
catch it on DVD if you didn't see it yet!

Yangchen and Zoe on their way.

Yangchen and Zoe's flight took off a few minutes ago from Brussels. They should be with us in less than 30 minutes, giving us all the time to walk to the gate F8 to catch the KL891.

Update: We are reunited now and joining the queue for boarding.

More pix from Amsterdam

Surfing the web in Amsterdam

Cheukyi, Tenzin and I (François) are already in Amsterdam. Afraid of the short time between our two flights in Amsterdam, I decided to try to leave with an earlier flight. Unfortunately they were not able to put all of us on the same one. So Yangchen and Zoe will only arrive here in 4 hours. The good news is that all of our luggage is already here and that there will be more than enough time to transfer it in "our" KLM891 to Chengdu.

Right now, Yangchen and Zoe are enjoying the sun outside of the Brussels terminal while Cheukyi, Tenzin and I are waiting in the transit zone of Amsterdam.
I paid 16€ for a day of wireless internet from KPN. Expensive but it keeps us busy while waiting. Cheukyi lost no time in starting a chat on MSN with her friends.


Later on, we will be able to follow the progression of Yangchen and Zoe and as soon as they arrive here, rush to Terminal 8. The "official" walking distance is 25 minutes but it can be done faster. I did it before when flying to Delhi. My flight from Brussels was delayed and I actually sprinted trough Amsterdam's airport. I was able to make it to the gate in time but not my luggage. You see, that's why I'm not a short connection time lover anymore ;-)