We flew into New Delhi after a 15 hour nonstop flight from Chicago. We spent three days trying (not entirely successfully) to recover from jetlag (we had come exactly half way around the world from Tucson) and saw some of the sights. Here are some pictures from New Delhi. I was pleased to find Delhi a much cleaner and less polluted city than the one I visited 25 years ago. They made it mandatory for all vehicles to use compressed gas as fuel and it certainly had a positive effect in the city. We stayed at the Hotel Shangri-la. It is modern and very good.

            We enjoyed the sightseeing in Delhi, in particular the National Museum and Qutub Minar. The museum features artifacts of the early civilizations of the Indus Valley, Harappa and Mohenjo Daro (2600–1900 BC). I was delighted with the self-confident, daring expression of the Dancer Girl, a bronze figurine, 10.8 cm tall, found in a house in Mohenjo Daro. A good collection of bronze statues of the Hindu deities and miniature paintings from the Moghul period are worth seeing at the museum. 

            Qutub Minar is tallest brick minaret in the world (72.5 m). It is part of the Rajput citadel built around 1060 AD, and captured by Qtub-ud-din-Aibak in 1192 AD, marking the arrival of Islam in India. The Qtub complex in south Delhi is an important example of Indo-Islamic Architecture.

            We also visited the Humayun's tomb complex in central Delhi. It includes several mausoleums. The most impressive ones are the Isa Khan tomb (1547) and the Mogul emperor Humayun tomb (1565). The latter was commissioned by the emperor's wife Bega Begum and designed by the Persian architect Mirak Mirza Ghiyas. It is the most magnificent of Delhi's tombs, made of local sandstone, marble and stonemasons.

            Another example of the Moghul architecture is Jama Masjid Mosque, commissioned by the powerful Mogul emperor Shah Jahan and finished in 1656. Jama Masjid Mosque and Red Fort are part of Shahjahanabad, a city built by Shah Jahan to be the most important symbol of the Mogul imperial power. Those sited are located at the edge of Old Delhi, a busy, colorful and poor area of the city. We took a rickshaw ride through some of the narrow streets in old Delhi. It was fun.

            I read in the newspaper that they plan to modernize and sanitize Pahar Ganj Main Bazaar, the budget travel area of Delhi where I stayed 25 years ago. Our hotel then, Balajee lodge, was a place beyond imagination: iguanas climbed the wall of an incense factory in front of our room and the pipes of the sink ended   on the floor. The Pahar Ganj can certainly use an upgrade and the modernization project shows that times are changing in "Mother India".

            We met our travel agents Mr. Mukherjee and Ms Sheena, who were delightful people - very friendly but also professional. Mr. Mukherjee took us to dinner in a good Indian restaurant on the first evening. He confided that he had never booked such a long tour and that he was very curious to find out of kind of people we were, and what had made us decide in favor of his travel agency. We told him that: 1- they had been recommended by John's daughter Erika, who had taken a Classical Indian Tour with them; 2- their price was better than any other for private tours; 3- they only demanded 25% down payment to book the tour. I confided that I'd been a little skeptical about their ability to book such a complex tour in four different countries, but John had insisted and I had gone along with it. I expressed my concerns about what I considered a critical point of the trip – the moment they were to hand us over to the Chinese. He said he expected the tour to work like a Swiss watch, but he conceded that the day we were to take our plane from Beijing back home he would go to temple…

            The next evening we had dinner at Komal's charming apartment. Komal is a celebrity in Indian cuisine, having published several cook books, and appearing regularly on Indian TV.  She showed us how to prepare two delicious salads. The meal she served us was flavorful and exquisite. Her husband told us a little bit about Sikhism. We had a very friendly and interesting interaction with them. It was one of Delhi highlights.

            From New Delhi, we flew to northern India, which was our real destination. We flew into Bagdora, and then drove to Darjeeling, in the foothills of the Himalayas. That part of the trip was rather exhausting. We had not fully recovered from jetlag yet, and the roads around Darjeeling and in Sikkim were narrow, winding and washed out. Besides, there were traffic jams all over the place caused by the parades of the Durga Puja festival, which coincided with our arrival. (I think they were celebrating our visit!) But as we drove into Darjeeling, we got an incredible view of Khangchendzonga, the third highest mountain in the world. See the picture above. It looks close, doesn't it? But then think about the fact that Darjeeling is at an altitude of 7500 feet, and Khangchendzonga is 28,000 feet high. It looks close, but it is more than 20,000 feet above us. It is not close. It looms over much of northern India. We went on to see the steep hills and narrow valleys of Sikkim covered with rain forest, prayer flags surrounding ethereal Buddhist monasteries shrouded in mist, and bright green tea plantations on the plains of West Bengal. Here are some pictures of the Darjeeling area.

            From all the local travel agencies that handled us, the Alpine Nature Beyond Ltd from Siliguri was the least efficient one. We had to wait for 45 minutes at airport in Bagdogra for our driver and guide to show up. The drive upward to Darjeeling on a curvy road was hard, but the arrival in Darjeeling was beautiful. When Mt Khangchendzonga appeared for the first time, my eyes filled with tears at such a sublime sight. In Darjeeling we stayed at The Elgin, a Victorian style lodge, featuring a staff in colonial uniform. Smiling turbaned fellows greeted us with a small cup of sherry and a welcome- scarf when we arrived. It felt good at the end of that long day. The meals at the Elgin were very tasty and tea was always elegantly served in pots covered with insulating material.

            The next day we got up at 4 AM to go to Tiger Hill, to watch the sunrise over Mt.Khangchendzonga. They brought us coffee in the room and off we went in the dark. A local driver who spoke very little English drove us through narrow, steep and crowded alleys and roads up to our destination. A sleepy young guide who spoke some English came along with us. Tiger Hill was not what we had expected - a breathtaking view just for us. There were, of course, hundreds of people queuing up for the spectacle. However, we managed to find a good spot.

            On our way back to town, Buddhist monks anointed our foreheads with red spots between our eyebrows. It was meant to celebrate the Durga Puja, a Hindu festival that takes place every year at the foothills of the Himalayas. Durga is the Hindu warrior goddess worshipped during the festival. In the end she kills the terrible demon Mahihasura with her trident. Hinduism and Buddhism display a close conviviality, and share some rituals, including the Durga Puja, in northern India, Sikkim and other parts of the Himalayas. In addition, the ancient practice of animal sacrifice, remnant of the Bon religion, is still alive in the region.

            The old Ghoom Monastery was the first of many Buddhist monasteries that we were to visit on our trip. Its soft colors looked very pretty in the early morning light. Buddhism has been big in the Himalayas since the 8th century, when Guru Rinpoche integrated Tantra esotericism into Buddhism, making it more appealing for the followers of Bon, the old shamanistic religion, who eventually converted to Buddhism.  

            Guru Rinpoche is venerated as the great Mahayana mystic. He is believed to have been the second Buddha, born 12 centuries after the first Buddha in a lotus flower on a lake in Pakistan. He is said to have manifested in eight different ways. One of the manifestations is represented by a ferocious looking image, known as the Thunderbolt, depicted in some of our photos. The fearsome aspect of the Thunderbolt is meant to protect the Dharma against the demons. Guru Rinpoche is a historical figure, in spite of all the legend surrounding him.

            The early and enduring tantric influence in the Himalayan Buddhism can be found on wall paintings, thankas and statues (old and new). The traditional tantric motif is quite erotic. It encompasses a female deity clinging to a male deity in an inextricable embrace. In some monasteries those images were covered with yellow silk, in others they were exposed.

            After our first encounter with Tantric Buddhism at early morning in Darjeeling, we were driven to the Gorkha soldier war memorial. Gorkha means Nepali. There is a big Nepali community in Darjeeling. The war memorial is situated at the top of a hill overlooking the Khangchendzonga range, surrounded by a picturesque market of cheap goods.

            At that point we decided to forgo the toy train ride and return to our hotel to have breakfast.  It was a very wise decision. The ride might have been fun once, but now it consists on riding a very small train, at a very slow pace, at the side of a busy narrow road full of cars pumping carbon dioxide down your nose and throat, right there at the foothills of the Himalayas. And it takes hours! Not recommended.

            On the next morning we visited the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute whose first director was Tenzing Norgay. He and Edmund Hillary were the first two men to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. The early Everest expeditions' memorabilia can be seen in several glass displays. I found it quite moving. The Zoological Park annex to the institute has some cute red pandas and elegant gray and white snow leopards, among other beautiful creatures from the region.

            From Darjeeling we drove into Sikkim. Sikkim was an independent kingdom until it joined India in 1975. You still have to get a special permit to enter Sikkim. Our first destination in Sikkim was Pelling, where we hiked to the beautiful Sangacholing monastery, and visited Rabdentse, the ancient capital of Sikkim. Here are some pictures of Pelling.

            The office where we had to get our Sikkim permit in Darjeeling was closed for the period of the holidays and the travel agency failed to get a permit in Siliguri by paying a fee, so we had to drive out of our way down to Rangpo to get the permit, and then up the mountains again to Pelling. That trip turned out to be a bummer. We drove about 30 km an hour on the curvy National Highway of Sikkim down and up, through and around potholes, we only made it to Pelling in the evening. It was a pity because we missed the beautiful scenery as we approached Pelling. In addition, our driver who spoke very little English, reported repeated problems with the front tire and became consistently late from then on.

            But the life of a traveler is full of surprises and if in the middle of the day one is in the pits, there are chances that one might be greeted with better luck when the evening falls. So it happened for us that day. Our hotel in Pelling, the Norbu Ghang resort was a fascinating place. We had a bungalow on the hillside, facing Khangchendzonga. The valley was full of clouds that cleared briefly in the morning yielding a spectacular view of the mountain range. The style of the hotel was a mixture of Indian and Chinese influences, more to the Chinese side, but with gardens that made one think of Japanese gardens. The people were different as well. They looked more Chinese than Indian.  We befriended some Indian tourists from Delhi and Kolkata there.

            The next morning we hiked to Sangacholing Monastery on the hill behind the hotel. The pervasive mist created an ethereal atmosphere around the monastery with its stupas and vertical prayer flags. It was a genuine Shangri-la experience.

            In the afternoon we visited the old Pemanyangtse monastery, where there is an amazing 3-D structure shaped like a tower, depicting the several stages of life according to Buddhism. In the monastery we were approached by a young lady from Kolkata, who spoke very little English, but who was very interested to learn what John's trick was to have such a white complexion. People were usually curious about John in that part of the world. They requested to have their picture taken with him, or tried to include him surreptitiously in the picture they were taking. They didn't behave the same way towards me though. Weird.

            We also visited the ruins of the old Sikkim capital, Rabdantse, down the road from Pemanyangtse monastery. The signs were very amusing at this site. They kept telling you not to get discouraged and keep walking because you were just so many meters away from a great site.

            The next day we set off to Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim, via Rumtek Monastery. Here are some pictures of Gangtok. Rumtek was built in the 16th century to be the seat of the Kagyu school of Buddhism in Sikkim. It was in ruins when the head of the sect, the 16th Karmapa, came to Rumtek as an exile from Tibet in 1959. The Sikkim Royal family and the Indian government helped the Kagyu order to rebuild the monastery in the sixties. It is a big and rather sprawling place. We preferred the small monasteries that we had visited before in western Sikkim.

            In Gangtok, it was rainy and cloudy. We couldn't see the mountains at all. We stayed at the hotel Norkhill that featured an interesting combination of Chinese and Tibetan style, with some Indian influence. I read some books about the history of Sikkim at Norkhill. It turns out that the Sikkimese kings had a custom to marry Tibetan wives, who were used to the dry climate of the Tibetan Plateau and could not adjust to the rainforest. As a consequence the kings spent little time in Sikkim and the British eventually conquered the kingdom in the mid-19th century. One of the kings was invited to go Darjeeling, where he remained a prisoner until he signed the treaties transferring power to the English. Nevertheless, Sikkim preserved some kind of autonomy and only became part of India in 1975. Even today it is necessary to have a special permit to visit Sikkim.

            The Tibetology Institute in Gangtok has a very good collection of old thankas depicting the life of Buddha among other interesting religious objects. We were able to buy some scholarly books about Buddhism there. I became an object of curiosity on the streets when I bought and wore a beautiful Indian golden necklace that is the equivalent to the wedding ring in the West. The women spotted it immediately. They wanted to know where I was from. Our guide told one young woman, "Nepal".

            We heard that Nathula Pass at the Sikkim/China border is a magnificent place. Local travel agencies in Gangtok organize trips to go there. We would have liked to take that trip if we had known about it n advance.

            From Gangtok we traveled downhill to the green, hot and very humid plains of West Bengal. Here a a few pictures from there. We stayed in a resort in Chalsa. It was a little run down, but it had nice gardens and excellent meals, but a poor breakfast! I had a quite good Ayurvedic massage.    There are several wildlife parks in the area. We went to the Gorumara National Park to look for rhinos, but all we saw were water buffalos and domesticated elephants. We didn't get to see the tiger of Bengal either. I guess the animal is averse to tourists. People kept talking about elephants destroying crops and houses in the nearby villages. The overpopulation of water buffalos also seemed to be a problem. We heard that they try to solve that problem by taking the water buffalos to the Gulf of Bengal, where they get stuck in the swamps…

            The villages in the area looked picturesque but quite poor. The tea plantations were immense with lots of workers. It looked like hard work, but not as hard as road building, where we saw lots of women and children working with very basic tools. Our stay in India ended at Jaigaon/Phuntsholing, the Indian/ Bhutan border, at the foothills of the Himalaya.

            We were sad to leave India but happy to get into Bhutan. Next time we want to visit the West Himalaya, Himachal Pradesh and Cashmere. Bon Shiva!

            Then we drove into Bhutan from the south, at Phuntsholing. Everything changed drammatically when we entered Bhutan. Bhutan is a kingdom sandwiched between India and China. Bhutan is famous for measuring its economy in terms of "gross national happiness". The people in Bhutan really look happy. It is still an idyllic place. The men wear dresses, it is illegal to kill animals, and the national sport is archery. The people of Bhutan love to get their pictures taken, asking nothing but to see the image on the back of the camera afterwards. Here are some pictures of our entry into Bhutan and our visit in the capital city, Thimphu.

            Getting into southern Bhutan from India through Punsholing gate feels like entering into a stylized oriental cartoon. Men wear a checkered or gray, knee length traditional dress, with wide white cuffs and a wide white collar, folding over the dress from a cotton shirt underneath. Socks extending as far as the knees and leather shoes (these days some wear running shoes) complete the outfit. To enter official places they have to throw a large beige silk and wool scarf across their shoulder and waist. Women wear a long version of such dress, also with wide cuffs.

            The dominant ethnic group is of Tibetan and Tibeto-Burman ancestry, but there are many ethnic Nepali in Bhutan as well. Most people are slender and have dark and straight hair. The buildings are very colorful and elaborate. The traditional architecture uses no nails. In spite of the exoticism of the place, one feels immediately at ease and safe. Very soon those guys wearing checkered dresses just look ordinary.

            As we loaded the car to initiate our journey uphill from Punsholing to Timphu, the capital of Bhutan, we discovered, to our joy, that we had been upgraded from the Mahindra Jeep we used in India to a Toyota SUV, much like the one we have at home. Our guide Kinzang and our driver Tenzing were adorable people. Kinzang had been a monk for a year when he was 16, following his uncle's advice, but his career at the monastery didn't last very long. He just didn't do well with the discipline (sticks…), and the learning of the doctrine by heart. He claims to be agnostic nowadays. Nevertheless he thinks that the (former) king might be a mind manifestation of the Buddha, due to his kindness, compassion and attention to the people. Tenzing, the driver, spoke little English but was always in a good mood.

            The former king (he was still the actual king when we were in Bhutan) is married to four sisters. There was a fifth sister - the youngest -  but she didn't want to marry him. He has ten children with the four women. Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, one of the queens, has published two books. The  "Treasures of the Thunder Dragon – A Portrait of Bhutan", by Penguin Books India, is quite interesting. People talked kindly about the former king, but they were somewhat critical of the royal family and their hotel and car businesses.

            Everybody in Bhutan is expecting something momentous to happen in 2008, something that might transform the way they live. The kingdom is, in fact, likely to go through big changes. The beloved king has abdicated in favor of his eldest son, and parliamentary elections are going to be held in 2008, inaugurating a parliamentary democracy headed by a constitutional monarch. Market economy has been encouraged in all areas. Hydroelectric projects, house development and tourism are growing industries. Bhutan's big challenge in this process is to protect the environment and preserve the culture.

            Most aspects of life in Bhutan have been intertwined with Buddhism for a long time. The state supports a monastic body of 5000 monks, and another 3000 monks are supported by private patronage. Nevertheless, people from remote villages still hold animists beliefs, and practice the old Bon religion.

            A Tibetan monk introduced Buddhism in Bhutan in the 7th century but it was Guru Rinpoche who popularized the religion in the country in the 8th century. Several local deities became assimilated to the Bhutanese Buddhist pantheon during that period.

            The political and religious events that took place in the early history of Tibet tended to extravasate into Bhutan. The country functioned like a buffer for the Tibetan disputes and received waves of immigration from that country. Many of the early historical figures of Bhutan came from Tibet, including the founder of the Buthanese state, Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel (1594-1651), and an anarchical and burlesque character, Lama Drukpa Kinlay (1455-1529) who became known as the "Divine Madman" and remains a beloved saint in contemporary Bhutan.

            The tales about the Divine Madman allude to his extravagant sexual and social behavior as an unorthodox way of teaching people to question social conventions, including the rigor of the clergy. It is said that he tied a ribbon on his penis in hopes it would help him get women. Flying phalluses are still hung on roofs and painted on walls and doors in his honor.

            It appears to me that the persistence of the phallic symbol in the Bhutanese culture through the tale of the "Divine Madman" is connected in some way to the Shiva Linga (an ancient Hindu symbol). Buddhism and Hinduism have not become so interlocked in Bhutan, as opposed to Nepal, but Shiva seems to have found his way into the culture.

            The "Divine Madman" is also credited with having created the takin, the national animal of Bhutan, by thrusting the head of a goat in the body of a cow, after eating both animals (mind you that Buddhists monks are usually vegetarians).

            Takins can be seen at the mini zoo in Thimphu. Even though Buddhists don't believe in keeping animals in captivity. It is said that one day some takins showed up around Timphu. The king ordered them to be fed and delivered back to the forest. However, after a few days the animals came back to town. The king realized that the animals wanted to stay, so he ordered that a safe and comfortable place be arranged for them.

            A legend says that when the school of Mahayana Buddhism called Drukpa Kargyupa was established in Tibet, in the 12th century, its founding father heard a thunderous sound coming from the south (Bhutan), proclaiming the great truths of Buddhism. The sound was believed to be the voice of the dragon (druk).

            In relation to that legend, Bhutan was named Druk Yul, the Land of the Thunder Dragon and Drukpa Kargyupa became Bhutan's state religion in the 17th century, under the spitritual and political leader Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel (1594-1651).

            The Drukpa Kargyupa sect is a Red Hat sect. Its esoteric practice and monastic discipline are different from the Geluk sect (also known as the Yellow Hat sect), dominant all over Tibet and Mongolia since the 16th century. The highest religious authority of the Drukpa Kargyupa sect is not the Dalai Lama who is the head of the Yellow Hat (in fact the Dalai Lama has never visited Bhutan).

            Perhaps the most important character in Bhutan's early history is the Tibetan Lama and military leader Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel or simply Zhabdrung.  He arrived in Bhutan in 1616. A powerful rival had challenged his legitimacy as the head of the Drukpa Kargyupa sect in Tibet and he had been forced to leave the country.

            People endowed him with such power as he traveled through the region, that he was able to forge a Bhutanese identity and negotiate the unification of the several warring fiefdoms into a single nation. He advanced diplomatic treaties with neighboring kingdoms, promoted religion, art and architecture. Zhabdrung is considered to be the founder of the Bhutanese state and he is venerated as a saint - "the precious jewel at whose feet one prostrates". His image and statue can be found in several monasteries throughout the country.

            He's credited for having built the "dzongs", the beautiful fortresses for defense, religious and political purposes, situated in strategic locations all over Bhutan. We visited several of these buildings on our trip. Seventy per cent of each dzong' area is occupied by the monastic body and thirty per cent is taken by administrative offices nowadays.

            The topography of Bhutan has been correctly likened to a steep staircase, rising from the foothills of the south, at 150 meters above sea level, to snow peaks of above 7000 meters, within a distance of only 240 kilometers. On our second day in the country we drove 172 km from Puntsholing to Timphu, passing from the thick broadleaf evergreen forests of the lower zone, to the valleys of the temperate, central zone. The altitude of the central zone ranges from 1500 meters to 3500 meters. Timphu and most of Bhutan's major towns, dzongs, and monasteries are situated within that range. Rice and red rice fields form beautiful patterns at such altitude.

            In Timphu we stayed right in the middle of town. Dogs barked all night long and spent the day idling on the streets. We heard that people in Bhutan believe that dogs are the last incarnation of a being as an animal. The next step is to reincarnate as a human. Therefore nobody disturbs them. Our guide confided that he thought it might be all right to get rid of some dogs. We could be doing them a favor. After all they could be reincarnated as humans.

            Archery is the national sport of Bhutan. On Sunday morning we watched an amazing archery contest in Timphu. Two teams of guys wearing the traditional dress shot arrows from a distance of about 200 meters and more often than not hit the target! This is particularly remarkable when you reflect on the fact that medieval European castles were designed on the belief that no one could shoot an arrow further than 80 meters. The targets are so far away that the archers cannot see the arrows when they land, so their team mates sit close beside the target and point to where the arrow lands. This shows great faith in their fellow archers! After the archery contest, we attended the Sunday market near the archery field, what a colorful experience.

            In the afternoon we attended a religious festival on the National Memorial Chorten at the edge of the city. A chorten or stupa is type of Buddhist architectural structure reminiscent of the mound that enshrined the ashes of Gautama Buddha in India. They are very common in Buddhist countries. They appear in a few different styles and in many sizes but they always contains some kind of relic in their interior.  At the gate of the Chorten a monk sprinkled holy water on people's hand or head. A procession of colorful-hatted monks proceeded clockwise around the chorten, followed by a crowd of people spinning their prayer wheels. A rainbow of bright colors!

            The next day we set off to Punakha Valley across the scenic Dochula pass at 3,150 m. Here are some pictures of Punakha Valley. At Dochula pass there are 108 stupas that were built by one of the queens to celebrate a victory over an Indian group that invaded Bhutan. Prayer flags in the five traditional colors, red, yellow, green, blue and white, waived in the wind. The highest peaks of Bhutan in the Eastern Himalayas Range made a fuzzy appearance behind the clouds.     

            From Dochula Pass we drove down to the Wangdi Dzong and Wangdiphodrang village. We hiked up to the dzong passing by cacti planted on the hillside to discourage invaders. At the dzong we met many young monks (children) who wanted to check our cameras out. One of them asked me to take his picture, and then asked for some money. It was the first and only time that it happened in the whole trip. I told him that he was a monk and shouldn't be asking for money. He smiled and left.

            On the way out of the dzong we walked into Wangdipodrang, the most picturesque little village! At the entry of the main street there was a Court of Justice sign on a wall, and something that looked like a court procedure was going on in plain air. People strolled down the street following a row of small shop's windows. Little monks in red robe gathered at one of these windows to look at a TV set. Women carried bags of goods. Children played in front of little doors. Guys just strolled around.

            We were sad to learn that by 2008 the hamlet will no longer exist. The government is building apartments in the valley for the Wangdipodrang's dwellers. As soon as the buildings are finished the villagers will be transferred, and the settlement will be disassembled. The claim is that the place is not hygienic enough, which is probably true. However, nothing was said about what will happen to the businesses that people carry on in those small shops.

            We drove another hour to Punakha passing by breathtaking hillsides patched with rice fields. On both sides of a beautiful river laced with glaciermilche, golden red rice fields combined with fresh green rice fields resembled an exquisite quilt unfolding through the valleys.

            We arrived in Punakha late and drove straight to the hotel, which was said to belong to one of the royal daughters. Lots of girls were part of the staff and some of them didn't seem to be in a very good mood, ever. 

            The next morning we hiked up to Khamsum Yuelley Namgyal Chorten, 7 km from Punakha. The three-story chorten that was consecrated in 1999 took eight years to build. It displays an immensity of amazing murals on each floor. I felt inundated with bright color in tones of red as I entered each chamber. The paintings were done recently, showing that Buddhist art is very alive in Bhutan. From a balcony at the top of the chorten the visitor can admire the glowing Punakha Valley. It is one of the most exhilarating monuments that I have ever visited.

            In the afternoon we visited the Punakha Dzong, built in 1637 by Zhabdrung. The dzong served as the seat of the government until 1955, when the capital was moved to Timphu. In a festival that happens every year the Bhutanese celebrate a famous Tibetan invasion that was repelled from its premises. One thinks of Tibet as this peaceful Buddhist country, but the entire history of their part of the world consists of people fighting Tibet. A signed at the monastery explains all. It says that they are celebrating the first time that anyone beat the Mongols! The Buddhist temple in this Dzong displays beautiful contemporary Buddhist paintings in tones of green, in contrast to the ones in tones of red at Khamsum Yuelley Namgyal Chorten.

            All good things must end, so we drove to Paro, from which we flew to Nepal. But we are going to return to Bhutan. Here are some pictures of Paro. The drive to Paro was quite spectacular, following a turquoise blue river at the bottom of the valley. We visited the ruins of Drukgyel Dzong, 14km from Paro. Drukgyel Dzong was the site of an important victory over Tibet in 1644. It was destroyed, in 1951, by a fire caused by a butter lamp.

             From Paro we flew to Khatmandu, Nepal. Khatmandu proved to be a contradictory tourist destination. We enjoyed it more in retrospect. The air was so heavily polluted that we got sick every time we went out, and because of the political turmoil there had been no garbage pickup in six weeks, so the streets were lined with great piles of garbage. But we got wonderful pictures, and can enjoy the sights more from them than we did when we were there. Here are the pictures.

           I'd been in Kathmandu in 1981, but I found it beyond recognition in 2006. The towns of Patan and Bhaktapur, once separated from each other, and from Kathmandu, by rice fields and vegetable gardens, have merged together with Kathmandu producing a chaotic urban setting with long traffic jams, unbearable air pollution and piles of garbage. Kathmandu Valley holds more than three million people these days. 

            From the Swayambhunath, where I spent an idyllic afternoon in the late days of the hippie trail, there remain the monkeys, and of course, the beautiful stupa with the Buddha's eyes, a symbol appropriated by the hippies in search of enlightenment.

            The legend says that the Swayambhunath arose from a lotus flower on the surface of a huge lake. Manjushree, with the aid of a holy sword, cut open a part of a southern hill and drained the lake, allowing humans to settle in the valley, later called Kathmandu valley. Manjushree is a deity of wisdom in Buddhism. He is believed to be the creator of Kathmandu Valley and the founder of the Nepalese civilization.

            It took us an hour and a half to get back from Swayambhunath to our hotel by taxi. According to our guide Dinesh, a bright Nepali sociologist, the valley became so populated as a consequence of the political unrest that took over Nepal for more than a decade. Maoist guerrilla attacks in the countryside caused an exodus of people from the rural areas and small villages towards Kathmandu Valley.

            In 1990 Nepal became a parliamentary monarchy. However, the political parties never gathered enough power to oppose either the monarchy or the Maoist movement. In 2001 an appalling event took place at a royal dinner, in the royal palace of Kathmandu. The crown prince Dipendra was accused of having killed his family and mortally wounded himself on a killing spree under the influence of alcohol. Nine people were killed and four people were wounded in the episode that became known as the royal massacre. Among them Dipendra's father, King Birendra, his mother, Queen Aiswarya, his brother, prince Nirajan, his sister princess Shruti and his uncle prince Dhirendra. Dipendra officially became the king for the three days that he lingered in a coma before dying.

            The alleged motive for the massacre was Dipendra's response to his parents' rejection of his choice of wife. Nevertheless, it is unclear what happened at the palace on that unfortunate evening, and who was really behind the killings. Some people believe that Gyanendra, Dipendra's uncle and successor in the throne of Nepal had been the actual mastermind behind the massacre.

            The fact is that because of that traumatic episode in June 2001, the Himalaya Kingdom of Nepal had three different kings in four days. It was an indicator that more trouble was yet to come. Upon taking office Gyanendra proved to be incapable of administering Nepal's enormous social and political problems. The popular support for the monarchy waned and the Maoist guerrillas flourished, plunging Nepal into a civil war.

            The cremation bonfires for nine people of the royal family were lit at the same time, under the eyes of a bewildered crowd at Arya Ghat, along the shores of the Bagmati river. Arya Ghat lies within the premises of Pashupatinath, the sacred Hindu temple of Shiva in Kathmandu. This area of town is known as little Varanasi due to its resemblance to the famous city by the Ganges, also known as Benares, in northern India.

            Kathmandu combines Hindu and Bhuddist art, tradition and architecture in a unique way. The syncretism is a characteristic of the Newar culture, a sophisticated culture developed between 1300 AD -1700 AD by the indigenous people of Kathmandu Valley. The golden age of the Newar civilization was the 17th century when a Newar king unified the kingdoms of Patan, Bhaktapur and Kathmandu. The woodcarving and metal craft of Nepal are unmatched in the world.

            The worship of Kumari, the living goddess, is a symbol of the alliance between the Hindu and Buddhist influential families of Kathmandu Valley that forged the Newar culture. The Royal Kumari is a prepubescent girl selected from a Buddhist family by Buddhist priests to represent an incarnation of the Hindu goddess Parvati. Once the girl is chosen to become a Kumari, she undergoes a number of secret Tantric rituals to cleanse her body and spirit so that she can become an unblemished vessel for Parvati. When these rituals are completed, Parvati enters the girl and she is presented as the new Kumari. From then on her life takes on an entirely new character. Her family will visit her rarely, and only in a formal capacity. She will neither work nor attend school. She will always be dressed in red, wear her hair in a topknot and have the ‘fire eye' painted on her forehead as a symbol of her special powers of perception. She will leave her palace only on ceremonial occasions.

            The power of the Kumari is perceived to be so strong that even a glimpse of her is believed to bring good fortune. Crowds of people wait in the courtyard of her palace hoping that she will pass by the latticed windows on the third floor and glance down at them. Her irregular appearances last only a few seconds but the atmosphere in the courtyard is charged with devotion and awe when they do occur. The Kumari's divinity ends as soon as she menstruates. Parvati 'vacates her body' and she reverts to being a mere mortal. Once a new Kumari has been selected, the former Kumari undergoes a number of rituals that formally divest her of her status. Former Kumaris receive a pension from the state. According to our guide Dinesh, that fact encourages men to marry them, in spite of the popular superstition that a woman who's been a Kumari retains strange powers. Right now it is not clear what will happen to the Kumari tradition when Nepal finally becomes a democracy.

            On February 2005, King Gyanendra dismissed the entire government and assumed full executive powers in Nepal, in the name of combating the Maoist movement. He was forced to reinstate the country's parliament on April 2006 when an alliance between seven political parties and the Maoist movement led to a revolution in Nepal. Gyanendra was accused of having become an ambitious autocrat seeking power for himself alone.

            Following Gyanendra's relinquishing of absolute power, the Nepalese government and Maoist rebels agreed on a ceasefire. In August 2006, both parties came to an agreement on the issue of arms accountability under the supervision of the United Nations. Other issues remain very divisive. The Maoists do not accept the monarchy façade that the political parties say it is important to preserve for the sake of the institutions. They refuse to give up all arms until the monarchy is really overthrown.

            When we were in Kathmandu last fall, the atmosphere was filled with anxiety and hope about the peace talks between the political parties and the Maoists. The streets were filled with garbage that had not been collected for more than six months due to the political turmoil. Power shortages happened frequently (we decided to carry our headlamps in the hotel elevator). A normalization of the situation was badly needed. 

            A peace deal to end the Nepalese Civil War, which is said to have claimed more than 13,000 lives, was finally signed in November 2006. An interim government with the participation of the Maoists is in effect since January 2007 and elections are supposed to take place sometime in the near future. The road to democracy still looks convoluted in this Himalayan country which much like Bhutan, is squeezed between the two rising world powers, India and China.

            Kathmandu has forever ceased to be an idyllic place. Bhaktapur is the only place that retains some of the old feel. However, I was happy to discover that the Tibetan refugees have thrived in Kathmandu, around the Buddhist stupa of Bodnath, one of the cleanest and most agreeable areas in Kathmandu these days. They have built over fifty Tibetan monasteries and own many art shops around Bodnath, whereas in the early 1980s they were still striving for survival in Nepal.

            From Nepal we flew to Lhasa, Tibet. On the way we flew around three sides of Everest and then on over the Tibetan plateau. It was one of the most spectacular flights I have ever experienced. Below, see Everest with a cloud forming behind its top, and Lhotse in the foreground. See the pictures of Everest.

            Tibet is truly mystical. We will go back to Tibet, and when we do we will go with our guide Tenzin (tenzin_lo@hotmail.com, cell 136 389 01182), pictured below. Tenzin made our trip wonderful, and he can do the same to you. Furthermore, if you contact him directly, he can arrange your Tibet tour at a far better price than you will get through a big agency. For many years, Tenzin was a Buddhist monk. Now he is a guide with an extraordinary knowledge of Tibetan culture and Tibetan history, and an excellent command of English. He seems to know everything there is to know about Tibet. Although not a mountain guide, he does know the mountains, and has even been on one Everest expedition. They made it up to 25,000 feet, but had to turn back when one of the climbers became ill. By contrast, most of the largest tourist agencies will give you a guide from some other part of China with only a passing knowledge of Tibet. If you are either lucky or smart, you will get a Tibetan. We were lucky, but you can be smart and contact Tenzin directly. If you want a private tour, he can arrange everything, do it more cheaply than the big agencies, and give you a better tour at the same time.

Here are the rest of our Tibet pictures.

            We reached the Tibetan Plateau from the south, flying northeast over the Himalayas from Kathmandu, The flight spanned a wide range of mountains, including the mighty Mt. Everest. We saw its south, east, and north faces very close from our airplane window.

            The dry, cool, thin air of the Tibetan Plateau causes the high mountains to look very detached from the deep blue sky. It feels a little like looking at the Catalinas in Tucson on a dry winter day. However, the Plateau is higher, cooler and very bare. There is no vegetation at all on the hills sides, and very little deep in the valleys. From Lhasa we could see some snow-capped mountains in the horizon. 

         Our arrival at Gonggar airport, the futuristic looking, mirror paneled new airport, 60 Km from Lhasa, was eventful. Our guide was not there, we didn't have a local number to call and the Han Chinese guard at the exit of the airport lobby would not let us go out unaccompanied. All the other tourists left with their agents and we stayed there for what seemed to be a long time. Some guys with cell phones tried to help us calling by our  travel agency in Beijing and in Kathmandu but none of them succeed. However a few days later I received an email message from Sushil, our agent in Kathmandu, saying that we had been seen at the airport in Lhasa. He wanted to know what had happened. It turned out that our Tibetan guide had been given a wrong arrival time for the flight. He eventually showed up and we were retrieved from security. So started our little adventure in Tibet.

            On our drive from the airport to Lhasa we crossed a recently built, modern looking tunnel, and passed by several large greenhouses, that according to Tibetans are the only good thing that the Chinese brought into Tibet. Vegetables used to be scarce and expensive during all seasons, and practically nonexistent in the winter. We proceeded through a pristine landscape reminiscent of a mythic period: 11,000 ft mountains, blue sky, green pastures, clear streams and hairy yaks.

The Tibetan Creation Myth

            The Tibetan creation myth tells that at the beginning there was a monkey living alone in a cave. One day a female demon showed up. They wanted to get married but because there were no monks they couldn't. They started living together in the cave nonetheless. Some time later the female demon Oraess gave birth to six monkeys (each monkey symbolizes one stage of the Buddhist wheel of life). Oraess became the Tibetan Mother.

            The community survived on fruit at first, but when the population had increased to 500 monkeys they began suffering from lack of food, and they were forced to figure out how to grow crops. The first available seed was the millet seed. The successive generations cultivated millet, and by eating it they progressively lost their hair and became more and more human.

            Humans now, they founded a village near the original cave. They realized that they should have a leader, as the village grew bigger. However, they were not able to find an educated person among them to become the leader.

            One the day a local shepherd was tending his sheep when he saw a young foreigner passing by. He asked the stranger where he came from. The young man didn't speak the language so he pointed his index finger upward in response. The shepherd assumed that the man was saying that he came from heaven. Thus the foreigner was acknowledged to be "the son of heaven" by the villagers. He was acclaimed the first king of Tibet in 127 BC, inaugurating the Tibet historical period. The first king had no descendants.

Lhasa

            We didn't experience any altitude discomfort and we were ready to explore Lhasa in the next morning. Our first visit was to Norbulingka, a palace surrounded by a park that served as the traditional summer residence of the successive Dalai Lamas from the 1780s up, until the Chinese takeover in the late 1950s. The Dalai Lama was at Norbulingka when he was forced into exile in India in 1959.

            Later we saw a mural depicting the history of Tibet at Jokhang temple in the old city. In one of the corners of this mural there is a little scene of the Dalai Lama as a young man, having a meeting with Mao and Nehru in Beijing, probably to discuss the Seventeen Point Agreement, a document that established China's sovereignty over Tibet. Tibet was forced to sign it in 1951 under military pressure. Apparently the Dalai Lama and Nehru became friends then, and when there was reason to suspect that a plot to assassinate the Dalai Lama was on its way, following the collapse of the Tibetan Resistance Movement in 1959, Nehru allowed the gate of India to open at a frozen Himalaya pass to let him into India, where he set up the government of Tibet in Exile in Dharamsala.

            Tibet has been, ever since, under the administration of the People's Republic of China, a situation that the Tibetan Government in Exile considers an illegitimate military occupation. The current policy of the Dalai Lama, however, is that he does not seek full independence for Tibet, but would accept an autonomous status similar to that now held by Hong Kong.

            The Central Tibetan Administration exercises many governmental functions in relation to the Tibetan exile community in India, which numbers around 100,000. The Administration runs schools, health services, cultural activities and economic development projects for the Tibetan community. It also provides welfare services for the hundreds of Tibetans who continue to arrive in India as refugees after having crossed from China on foot. The government of India allows the CTA to exercise effective jurisdiction in these matters over the Tibetan communities in northern India.

            However, the Dalai Lama is having a difficult time advancing his political objectives these days. The Chinese Government supports an aggressive policy of colonization of Tibet by the Han Chinese that arrive by the thousands in Lhasa every day, since the railroad with the high altitude train connecting Tibet to China has been completed. Furthermore, as the diplomatic and trade relations between Beijing and New Delhi improve, in the context of both countries sharing the status of fast developing worldpowers, the politics of Tibet gets more and more overlooked.

            The same cannot be said about the Dalai Lama's religious and philosophical views. These are very much alive and echoing all over the place. Due to his charisma and talent as a public speaker he has helped to spread Tibetan Buddhism throughout the Himalayas, India and the world. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

The Potala Palace

            Our second site on that day was the Potala palace, an impressive fortress-looking white and red building towering over Lhasa. A group of Tibetans chanted while they pounded the floor made by crushing stone. According to our guide Potala means a boat on a river.

            The Potala palace was built in 637 AD, by king Songtsen Gampo, the 33rd king of the Yarlung Dynasty and the first emperor of a unified Tibet. It is said that Songtsen Gampo came to Lhasa when he was 12 years old and spent three years meditating in a cave at the top of a red hill (where the Potala palace lies today).  When he came out of the cave at the end of the third year he had become very popular in Lhasa. People supported him as a reincarnation of the 32nd king of Tibet. Thus he became the 33rd king of Tibet and started to build the Potala palace.

            The present building, however, is much more recent. The Potrang Karpo, the white palace, was finished in 1648 and the Potrang Marpo, the red palace, in 1694. Both events took place during the rule of the 5th Dalai Lama, a political and religious leader who reunified Tibet under the control of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Potala Palace has served as the headquarters of the Tibetan government and as the winter residency of the Dalai Lama until 1959.

            Potala used to have a monastic body of over 7000 monks. It is now reduced to 300. It is difficult and expensive to obtain a permit to become a monk in Tibet these days. Besides, the candidate is required to pass an exam affirming that the Dalai Lama is a fraud. A heavy military presence is felt inside the palace, guys in dark green uniforms and trucks. We heard that the palace and the monasteries are all bugged. Large groups of Chinese tourists visiting Potala palace have priority over foreign tourists. The authorities keep the tour guides on edge, if they do something considered wrong they risk losing their jobs and getting into even worse trouble. 

The Jokhang Temple – the arrival of Buddhism in Tibet

            In the afternoon we went to the Barkhor in the old city, a lively area around Jokhang Temple. Pilgrims from other parts of Tibet, wearing woolen clothes and colorful jewelry circumambulate the sacred temple and prostrate themselves repeatedly at the entrance. As we joined them through the market alleys around the temple, John became as much a curiosity to them as they were to us. Some monks came up to him and were amazed at his beard, and the hair on his arms. It was the birth of the celebrity that John was to become later in China where people wanted to get their picture taken with him all the time, even in sites like the Great Wall with lots of western tourists.

            The Jokhang temple is the most sacred temple in Tibet. It was built in 642 AD by Songtsen Gampo, the same king that built the Potala palace, and has remained an important center of Buddhistpilgrimageeversince. The Dalai Lama received the Lharampa degree, the highest degree in Buddhist philosophy at the Jokhang temple in 1959, just before being forced to search exile in India.

            The legend about the construction of Jokhang temple says that one of Songtsen Gampo's wives, princess Wencheng, asked the king to build a temple to house the image of Buddha that she had brought into Tibet as part of her dowry. Princess Wencheng was a niece of the powerful Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty.  She arrived in Tibet in 641 AD to marry Songtsen Gampo in a marriage of state, part of a peace treaty.

            In response to the princess' request the king decided to throw their wedding ring up in the air to find the right place to build the temple. The ring landed on the surface of a huge lake and immediately a stupa arose where the ring had landed. The king immediately ordered the lake to be filled with earth so that he could build the temple. However, to fill the lake proved to be a very difficult task and they were not successful at the enterprise. Then, one day, a goat appeared in the city. The king noticed that the animal was carrying bags with earth on its back. He took the bags from the animal's back, spread the earth on the lake and was finally able to build the Jokhang temple.

            It appears to me that this legend encodes nicely the transition from Bon religion to Buddhism in Tibet. Bon was the old shamanistic and animistic tradition of the Himalayas that was progressively assimilated and modified (without ever disappearing) as Buddhism became dominant in the 7Th century.  The goat (from Bon) provided the ground for the foundation of Buddhism.

            Songtsen Gampo is celebrated as the great king of Tibet. He was skilled in diplomacy as well as in warfare, and is credited for having promoted culture, education, law and Buddhism in the country. Tibetan monasteries still use a set of 26 rules created during his time. Songtsen Gampo is said to have had two important ministers. One was sent to Nepal and brought back to Tibet the king's first wife, princess Bhrikuti, who was also a Buddhist, like princess Wengcheng, his second wife. The other minister, Thonmi Sambhota, was sent to India to study Buddhism and to devise a script for the Tibetan language. Upon his return to Tibet he introduced the Tibetan script based on an abugida of Indic origin (a writing system in which consonants are inherently associated with a following vowel), and a Tibetan grammar based on Sanskrit grammar.

            A traditional story tells that during the rule of the 25th king of Tibet, in the 5th century, a book fell from heaven. The Tibetans couldn't read it because they didn't have a written language. However, the thoughtful king ordered the book to be preserved for when they had acquired a written language.

            The 5th century corresponds to the initial arrival of Buddhism in Tibet, although the dissemination of the religion didn't happen until mid- 7th century, when Tibet acquired a written language and many books were translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan. This process continued in the 8th century under the 38th king of Tibet (742 AD- 797 AD), who was a very religious man. He invited several Buddhist masters from India to teach in Tibet. The most famous one was Padmasambhava or Guru Rimpoche who introduced Tantric Buddhism into Tibet. He also founded the first monastery and initiated the first monks in the country. Padmasambhava is said to have taken eight forms or manifestations, including fearsome ones. He used his manifestation as a wrathful deity to defeat the Bon priests and establish the superiority of the Dharma.

            The Jokhang temple has survived several Mongol sacks and has staged important events of the history of Tibet.

            Langdharma, the last emperor of Tibet, was assassinated in the temple, during a festival in 842 AD. His murderer was a Buddhist monk. The Buddhists refer to Langdharma as the devil king, because he persecuted Buddhism and tried to reinstate Bon. An interesting question in Buddhist philosophy arose from the circumstance of the king's killing. Was the monk who killed the devil king a good monk because he killed the devil king? Or was he a bad monk because he killed a man? 

            Langdharma's two sons ran away from Lhasa in fear of being killed as well. They started a power struggle for the leadership of the country. One of them established a very large kingdom around Mt. Kailash, in the west of Tibet. Mt Kailash is considered a sacred peak in Buddhism, Bon, Hinduism and Jainism. The other son went east and ruled over the eastern territories. Thus began the period known as the "decentralization period" in the history of Tibet (late 9th century – early 17th century). Tibet ceased to be a Central Asia empire. Feudal wars ensued. Religion broke into sects and Bon was to a great extent reborn. It was only in the 17th century, under the 5th Dalai Lama, that Tibet was reunified. The 5th Dalai Lama was the first Dalai Lama to wield effective political power over Tibet. He defeated the Kagyupa school of Buddhism and a secular ruler, the prince of Tsang, and reunified Tibet under the Gelupka school of Tibetan Buddhism.

Ganden Monastery

            On our third day in Tibet we took a trip to Ganden monastery located on the Wangbur mountains, 47 km from Lhasa. Barren 14,000 ft mountains dominated the landscape.

            Ganden is the seat of the Geluk administrative and political power in Tibet. The monastery was completely destroyed following the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959, and it has been under reconstruction since the 1980s. The monks at Ganden took active part in the Tibetan Independence Movement, from 1987 to 1989. The Chinese crackdown on dissent led to many of them being jailed or expelled from the monastery.

            Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Geluk order (also known as the Yellow Hat sect) established Ganden monastery in 1409. He is believed to have come from the east of Tibet when he was 16. He lived for many years in a cave on Wangbur mountain. People would visit him to discuss philosophy during that period, and he soon acquired the status of a wise man.

            The traditional story says that two of the most important philosophers of the time, Gyaltsab Je and Khedrup Je, approached the Tzongkhapa to talk philosophy but ended up becoming his disciples. The Tzongkhapa was "all knowing" so he knew that they were coming in a certain day. He ordered his cook to prepare a very strong tea. It was the custom that monks took their hats off when they were in the presence of a high ranking person. On their way to meet the Tzongkhapa, Gyaltsab Je and Khedrup Je debated whether they should take their hats on his presence. They finally decided that they were not going to take off their hats. The "all knowing" Tzongkhapa, anticipating what was bound to happen, ordered the cook to set up a hook on a string hanging down from the ceiling to snatch one hat as they came in. When the first monk entered the cave the cook pulled the string and the hook snatched his hat. The second one to come in saw the other monk without his hat and thought that he had taken it off voluntarily in respect for the Tzongkhapa, so he did likewise.

            The cook provided two seats for the guests, one at each side of the Tzongkhapa, and poured the strong tea. It was the custom that before drinking the tea the master recited a mantra. The three of them were silent… after some time had passed the cook said: the most important philosopher in Tibet is the Tzongkhapa, the two others are Gyaltsab Je and Khedrup Je. You are the three great lamas of Tibet.

            That is the traditional story about the foundation of the Geluk sect, which was to become the most important order in Tibet. The Tzongkhapa built Ganden and two of his direct disciples built Drepung and Sera. Ganden, Drepung and Sera became university monasteries with several colleges each, bearing a resemblance to Oxford and the Sorbonne at the time.

            The Yellow Hats also became prominent in China and Mongolia. The Lama Temple in Beijing still carries a very big statue of the Tzongkhapa. The first Dalai Lama (1391-1474) was a student of Tzongkhapa. However, the Dalai Lama institution didn't achieve political power over the state until the time of the 5th Dalai Lama (1617-1682), who reunified central Tibet. The current Dalai Lama is the 14th Dalai Lama and the future of the institution is uncertain. The university monasteries however have been reorganizing abroad, mainly in India.

From Tibet we flew to Guillin, China, and took the trip down the Li River to Yanshou. This is one of the most popular tourist destinations in China, but too touristy for our tase. Here are the pictures.

Next we flew to Xian, home of the terra cotta warriors. See the pictures.

After Xian, we abandoned the normal tourist routes and flew into Dunhuang, China, in the middle of the Gobi desert. We immediately hopped onto camels for a ride into the dune mountains, and a view of the incredible Crescent Lake, a Buddhist temple build beside a natural acquifur nestled in the dunes. From there we to Jiayuguan, site of the west end of the Great Wall of China. It is odd to think of the Great Wall as having an end, but there it is. See the pictures.

From Jiayuguan, we took a night train west to Turpan, in northwest China. Turpan is the second lowest place in the world -- 140 feet below sea level. The summer temperatures reach 104 F (40 C), and the winter temptures drop to -40 F (-40 C).We visited the ruins of the ancient city of Jiaohe (200 BC), and then visited the market for some wonderful interactions with the people, who are Muslim. See the pictures.

Next we flew to Urumqi and visited Heavenly Lake, high in the mountains (9000 feet). See the pictures.

From Urumqi we flew to Kashgar, at the far end of China, in Xingiang autonomous region, which borders Uzbekistan, Kazakstan, Turkestan, Aftganistan, and Pakistan. This was an incredible place, and the people were wonderful, We wandered the streets, visited the Sunday animal market and the bazaar. See the pictures.

It was time to begin our return home, so we flew across the breadth of China to Beijing, where we spent our last few days visiting the Forbidden City (where the emperor lived with his concubines), the Summer Palace, and the Great Wall. Here are some pictures.

Finally, I cannot resist sharing with you some of my favorite pictures of Shangri-La. Shangi-La is, of course, a mythical place, but I have photos of it nonetheless. Here is my Shangi-La version of the Cholin monastery, with Kanchenjunga looming over it. Kanchenjunga doesn't really loom over Cholin monastery, but it should:

We witnessed a trial taking place in a small village in Bhutan. I moved it to a room in a mosque in New Delhi:

Everest doesn't really loom over Rabdentse, but it does here. The little monk doesn't reallly stroll these paths, but he might have:

The great wall of China by Beijing would be a better place if it were framed by the surnise over Kanchenjunga:

Enjoy!

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