Day 22: Labrang Monastery
Wanted to join the monks for their morning class but it was raining and I also woke up late. Guess I was not fated to be there for the morning class. I only went there after the rain. On the streets towards the monastery. It was a long walk to the monastery.
An overview of the monastery. It is huge.
The view of the monastery from far.
Finally.
It seems like they were just dismissed from their morning class.
Together with a small group of other travellers, a monk led us around for sightseeing. Here are the photos taken around the monastery.
These are handmade by the monks. They are made from Su1 Yu2 and there is a strong smell. Su1 Yu2 is also something which the tibetians add to their local speciality tea.
This is where the monks live.
The small houses you see on the slopes are the places for the monks for stay if they need to go on a long term meditation. They will stay there for months and dont come out. In chinese, it is called "Bi4 Guan1 Xiu1 Lian4".
The tibetians believed that by turning these wheels, it will bring good luck, health etc to them and others. The more they turn, the better it is. Thus they come here everyday to turn the wheels. Anytime of the day, so long as they are free, they will be here. Young, old, everyone.
These wheels are lined up one after another and they go on for kilometers. One complete round will take hours to complete. So just imgaine, what a great form of exercise it is. Even the elderly do more than one round per day. They must be in very good health.
After the monastery visit, I had some traditional tibetian food for breakfast. Tsampa (Roasted barley flour with dried cheese and butter), and Su1 Yu2 Char2 (Tibetian butter tea with salt). This is the same tea that the tibetian in the mountians had offered me the other day.
And also Momo (Tibetian meat dumplings).
I went back to my hostel after breakfast and prepared to leave. On the way, I passed by the internet cafe which I had mentioned about in my previous post. The one with many monks playing counterstrike.
Took some photos in the hostel.
The hostel helper and me.
Fellow travellers and me.
Riding off from here, I decided to take a shortcut that passes through small tibetian villages to save time. There are no road signs along this road that I took and so I had to ask around for directions whenever I am at junctions. I think no travellers uses this road as When I rode through the villages, they all stared at me as though I dont belong to this world. Surprisingly, noone seems to understand me here and so I had to go by feeling (I dont use GPS). Thus I chose whichever way I think it's right. Thankfully, I managed to get out and got back onto the main road.
Riding on the main road, I am now in QingHai province. Riding in QingHai is a test of my endurance for coldness. I had never felt so cold in this trip. Not only was it cold, it was very misty. So misty that I cannot even see the road ahead of me. I got so frighten. I am more afraid of riding in the mist then in the night. Why? Because even with my headlights on, I cannot really see through the mist. I do not know what lies ahead of me.
Then came the rain which worsen the situation.
The rain came and left, and the sky became clear after that.
After riding for quite some time, I am now at another famous river of China, Huang2 He2 (The yellow river). The weather is alot different the moment I crossed this river. The temperature dropped even more and now I feel even colder then before.
That night, I stayed at a place which was only meant for the locals. I did not know that no foreigners were allowed and the boss only found out that I am a foreigner after he allowed me to stay. It was through a conversation after that then he realised it. But he told me that since he had already allowed me to stay, it is not nice of him to ask me to leave. And so he took the risk.
He is a really helpful person. Not only did he let me stayed for the night, he also helped me to find a place to patch my tyre. Yes, I had a puncture again, the third time on the front tyre. He also treated me to beer. He was so comfortable with me that he lefted his son in my care while he run some errands. This is the kind of trust that we need to have between humans.
The boss warned me that it will get even colder when I travel westward and that it might even snow. I already know that it will be cold before I started this trip. That is why I name this trip "The Cold Journey". But I did not expect it to get so cold so soon. And snow? I pray hard it will not happen. It will only make it even more difficult for me to ride.
Man, I think I am riding my bike too hard. So much so that it is now tearing apart. The speedometer and the tripmeter had decided to stop working. How long more can this bike last? I dont wish to find out the answer so soon.
*Click HERE to return to the Main Page of The Cold Journey.*
An overview of the monastery. It is huge.
The view of the monastery from far.
Finally.
It seems like they were just dismissed from their morning class.
Together with a small group of other travellers, a monk led us around for sightseeing. Here are the photos taken around the monastery.
These are handmade by the monks. They are made from Su1 Yu2 and there is a strong smell. Su1 Yu2 is also something which the tibetians add to their local speciality tea.
This is where the monks live.
The small houses you see on the slopes are the places for the monks for stay if they need to go on a long term meditation. They will stay there for months and dont come out. In chinese, it is called "Bi4 Guan1 Xiu1 Lian4".
The tibetians believed that by turning these wheels, it will bring good luck, health etc to them and others. The more they turn, the better it is. Thus they come here everyday to turn the wheels. Anytime of the day, so long as they are free, they will be here. Young, old, everyone.
These wheels are lined up one after another and they go on for kilometers. One complete round will take hours to complete. So just imgaine, what a great form of exercise it is. Even the elderly do more than one round per day. They must be in very good health.
After the monastery visit, I had some traditional tibetian food for breakfast. Tsampa (Roasted barley flour with dried cheese and butter), and Su1 Yu2 Char2 (Tibetian butter tea with salt). This is the same tea that the tibetian in the mountians had offered me the other day.
And also Momo (Tibetian meat dumplings).
I went back to my hostel after breakfast and prepared to leave. On the way, I passed by the internet cafe which I had mentioned about in my previous post. The one with many monks playing counterstrike.
Took some photos in the hostel.
The hostel helper and me.
Fellow travellers and me.
Riding off from here, I decided to take a shortcut that passes through small tibetian villages to save time. There are no road signs along this road that I took and so I had to ask around for directions whenever I am at junctions. I think no travellers uses this road as When I rode through the villages, they all stared at me as though I dont belong to this world. Surprisingly, noone seems to understand me here and so I had to go by feeling (I dont use GPS). Thus I chose whichever way I think it's right. Thankfully, I managed to get out and got back onto the main road.
Riding on the main road, I am now in QingHai province. Riding in QingHai is a test of my endurance for coldness. I had never felt so cold in this trip. Not only was it cold, it was very misty. So misty that I cannot even see the road ahead of me. I got so frighten. I am more afraid of riding in the mist then in the night. Why? Because even with my headlights on, I cannot really see through the mist. I do not know what lies ahead of me.
Then came the rain which worsen the situation.
The rain came and left, and the sky became clear after that.
After riding for quite some time, I am now at another famous river of China, Huang2 He2 (The yellow river). The weather is alot different the moment I crossed this river. The temperature dropped even more and now I feel even colder then before.
That night, I stayed at a place which was only meant for the locals. I did not know that no foreigners were allowed and the boss only found out that I am a foreigner after he allowed me to stay. It was through a conversation after that then he realised it. But he told me that since he had already allowed me to stay, it is not nice of him to ask me to leave. And so he took the risk.
He is a really helpful person. Not only did he let me stayed for the night, he also helped me to find a place to patch my tyre. Yes, I had a puncture again, the third time on the front tyre. He also treated me to beer. He was so comfortable with me that he lefted his son in my care while he run some errands. This is the kind of trust that we need to have between humans.
The boss warned me that it will get even colder when I travel westward and that it might even snow. I already know that it will be cold before I started this trip. That is why I name this trip "The Cold Journey". But I did not expect it to get so cold so soon. And snow? I pray hard it will not happen. It will only make it even more difficult for me to ride.
Man, I think I am riding my bike too hard. So much so that it is now tearing apart. The speedometer and the tripmeter had decided to stop working. How long more can this bike last? I dont wish to find out the answer so soon.
*Click HERE to return to the Main Page of The Cold Journey.*
posted by ZeeVinCeZ at 1:13 PM
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