July 12th

We leave Rinpoche’s home the next morning, pick up Nema on the way out and head for Yushu. We are happy that Nema has decided to come with us.

Nema is a quiet, somewhat serious man who works for the government. So many people work for the government here, even Tsanyang Gyatso Rinpoche, the high Rinpoche at Gebchek. Nema is very thin and Tashi continually teases him that he needs a wife. Jeffrey and Nema have created a connection together, the two of them up there in the front seats sharing innumerable glances in the last two days that speak volumes. And, it turns out, Nema and Jain Su have become great friends. I’m not sure just when this happened. Maybe it has to do with something much less visible than usual - great trust. They seem to really love each other and had many toasts last night to their new friendship.

Here we are on the same road again. We pass one of Princess Wangchen’s holy places and there are hundreds of prayer flags streaming above us. This is exactly where I left my camera a few days ago. I realized it when we got to Shandar, about 40 minutes away, and dear Jain Su drove all the way back here to see if he could find it. Tashi was beside himself with worry and got a terrible headache. So, I made up a story for Tashi and I:

I love this beautiful Princess and prayed for her help and guidance. She said, “yes” she will help, but I must give an offering, so I leave my camera right there on the monument to her. Soon thereafter, a young Tibetan man drives by on his motorcycle. He is wearing the familiar dress of pants, a pull over shirt and a jacket. His child is sick and he comes to this place to pray to Princess Wangchen for help and there, waiting for him, is a wonderful American camera in a snappy new case with extra batteries and memory cards. He waits. And waits. No one comes back and 30 minutes have passed. He gratefully takes the camera, sells it and returns to his home with all of the money needed to take his child to the hospital in Yushu. His family is deeply grateful for this amazing answer to their prayers!
Obviously, this is likely not to be what happened, but it helps Tashi’s headache as well as my sense of loss for my pictures. Feeling much better, we all sit down for lunch.

Back on the road, another 2 hours or so go by and we pass the sacred baths of Princess Wangchen.

I take off by myself while the guys park the jeep and, I find out later, all have a great time washing Tashi’s hair in the river with Jeffrey’s wonderful mint shampoo!

I love this place. Prayer flags fill the heavens like a huge flock of birds – a constant fluttering and waving. They go from the top of the mountain on my side of the road, to the top of the mountain on the other side of the road. I wonder how they do that? It is thick with prayer flags – old ones and new ones, large ones and small ones. All different colors, many pink and red. This is the sacred place where she would come to bathe. I climb up a big rock and sit there in the midst of the prayers floating by. All of these last five months starts sinking into me and I am in wonder. Is it all a dream that I will awaken from?

A Tibetan woman starts climbing the rock below as though she has climbed it a million times throughout a million lifetimes. We look at each other as she passes and keeps going. After a minute, I follow her. Where is she going with such purpose? I am high on the mountain now and getting just a bit cautious. I see the car far below and yell out to Jeffrey so that they know where I am. I see him looking around for me, and then looking up. I continue to follow the woman until a combination of breathlessness and fear takes over. Turning around, I start back down the mountainside. Praying and praying. Praying in awe and wonder and the great mystery of life. There is no where I would rather be than here on this mountain, here in this country, here with these people, here with this completeness. Finally, I cannot hold back the tears that have been patiently waiting and I fall to my knees sobbing – and I cannot stop. This dirt, this land of such devotion and prayer and pain, these people who I have learned to love so much; this journey of faith and trust and hard work and so many people helping to make it possible. It is all so much in this moment. I pray in gratitude to Tara and Princess Wangchen, and the Blessed Mother and Mother Earth and all of the great feminine and to my nuns back there at Gebchek, praying in their little boxes for all of us, and I pray for my wonderful guys below.

Actually, not so far below. I hear Tashi calling “Hey, CC, be careful. It is dangerous here”. I tell him I am fine, but he will not leave until my feet are on level ground. Still sobbing, I slowly find my steps down the rock wall. (Thank goodness for the rock-climbing stink I went on a number of years back in Shasta!).

I stop at the stream and wash my face and arms in her bath. I see a perfectly round, purple rock next to me and want to take it, but need to leave something in its place. As I pull off my cowboy hat, my pearl and diamond earring falls off. At first I go to find it, then decide to leave it here. A worthy exchange! I realize that this is the second thing I’ve left at her places of worship.

Tashi later tells me that at the very top of this mountain is a hole with sacred water in it. Next time.

We climb into the car and head to Tashi’s home. Tashi and Jain Su drive Nema to his parent’s home and don’t come back until about 1:00 in the morning. Jeffrey and I walk into town; buy a huge cake and pastries for the family, a bottle of wine and head back home.

There are five wonderful children here and they all gather around Jeffrey and I that evening in the back yard as I show pictures from my computer and then start playing music. Jeffrey and I dance with them and they are delighted, as we are. Tashi’s sister-in-law starts doing her lama dancing, the children sing and I studiously start writing down all of their names and ages. There is 13 yr old Tsen Cuo and her younger sister Padma Tsen Cuo who is 8, and their brother Cho Ja, 10 years old.

This little 8 year old is just the cutest thing ever! Rather impatiently, she repeats her name to me several times, saying it slowly and loudly. When I get it wrong again, she repeats it – just a bit slower and a bit louder. We all laugh hysterically! Affectionately standing with their arms almost always around each other are the two other brothers, Giang Cai Chirang, 16 yrs and Cai Do, 15 yrs old. The affection between these children and their parents is so endearing!

This evening I go through all my bags and reorganize everything. Dust and dirt is everywhere, including on me. It is great to just have time to fuss with everything. I spray rose water on my dirty face. Even though there are bowls here and there, everyone makes such a fuss when we try to do something and I can’t stand to put them out more than we have. Earlier today, Jeffrey had the idea of finding some baths in town he thought he’d read about on-line. However, all we found we those little massage chairs and it looked a bit skanky. Tashi talked about going to a hot springs tomorrow – ahhhhh.

Finally we are off to bed after a relaxed and lovely evening.