Our Journey to Tibet

Hello dear ones,

With blog delays and e-mail voids, we thought we’d write you a brief synopsis of our journey to Tibet. Jeffrey and I are both deeply appreciative to all the support and encouragement we have received from so many of you. This trip was like Tibet herself – magical, fierce, wildly beautiful and treacherous. It is as though she challenged us to grow – to find places within ourselves that had not yet been required and to find the courage, tenacity and trust that, once made known to her, we were then allowed to enter. I have fallen deeply in love with this land of vast spaciousness, rugged rock walls and narrow winding roads; and with these people whose laughter, affection and open-heartedness is a constant teacher of forgiveness; and with Om Mani Padma Hung, etched in stone In a million places throughout this land – I Bow to the Jewel of the Lotus!

Our Journey to Tibet

Week One

Our first two nights were in the Ta’er Monastery, aka Kumbum Monastery, about 30 minutes out of Xining. We loved everything about it. We laughed with the staff, melted into the quiet serenity of meditation bells and gentle monks and made friends with Tibetans lined up in their stalls, selling their wares. If only we had our luggage!

On Wednesday we drove into Xining where we met our dear translator, Tashi and later that afternoon Jeffrey, Tashi and I had tea with Tashi Gyeltsen Rinpoche. It was a wonderful day as Rinpoche mapped out our journey on the back of a piece of paper. He is a dear, gracious man, speaks good English and, most delightful of all, he and Tashi immediately recognized each other! It turns out that Rinpoche’s father and Tashi’s father had been best friends and that Rinpoche had spent several nights with Tashi’s family over the years. It was such a joy for Tashi to reconnect with Rinpoche, especially since his beloved father had passed away just two years ago.

Rinpoche set us up in a room in the hotel he’d lived in for 3 years and suggested we all go out to the Nepalese nightclub that evening. Staying in Xining was an abrupt change after the monastery hotel, but it was necessary to be in town for all the business at hand.

By Thursday, we still didn’t have our luggage, nor had the metal beads arrived from India. This was one of first of many moments when I wondered if this were all for naught. After many attempts, we got hold of India and the beads were promised for Friday night. Our driver, who we hadn’t met yet, was obviously anxious to get going since we were already 3 days late in departing. Saturday morning – I promised we would leave – beads or no beads. But what about our luggage! I called my daughter Leslie to check on the luggage and said, “E-mail me when you find something out” – then realized that there was no electricity that day to receive e-mails! Could this all be some cosmic joke?

Thursday night we got the call that our luggage was at the airport – Thank God! It was 5 days in the same clothes in the hot, smoggy, dirty streets of Xining. Friday we had lunch at Rinpoche’s home and happily agreed to take Chuying Lama with us on our 10-hour jeep ride. Later we met our driver. Oh Dear! Mr. Lee was clearly not the person we wanted on this trip. Again, I tried to let go and trust. But how could we make this journey of yet so many unknowns with this uptight, grumpy man?

7 am Saturday morning. No beads. Tashi is so excited to be going home to Yushu and the trip ahead. Oh, one change though. Our driver, Mr. Lee, was in a car accident (nothing serious) and we had a new driver! Mr. Jian, although quiet and reserved, was one of us! This was one of many huge blessings we received as we embarked on our journey.

Chuying Lama blessed us with an on-going recitation of prayers and mantras and every bone in my body inhaled his blessings. For ten hours I sat huddled between he and Tashi, Jeffrey in the front seat, all bouncing and jerking on the bad and bumpy roads. We climbed three mountains of the way and the third was 16,400 feet! Tashi threw prayer flags out and we all chimed in with the traditional calls of “Tsa, tsa, tsa” in honor of the particular mountain God.

Arriving in Yushu

By 8 pm we were in Yushu turning the first of many prayer wheels. Chuying Lama spoke to one of the many villagers who came to greet him at one of the temples of the world’s largest Mani stones, requesting the key to let us in. It was all ours! The doors opened and we were in a field of burning butter lamps and a huge prayer wheel. Tears of joy and gratitude overcame me. (Jeffrey says – again!).

It was dark by the time we arrived at Tashi’s home, where we ate a delicious meal cooked by his beautiful wife, Dowa Drowlma. Mr. Jian, Jeffrey and I slept together in one room and received directions to the outhouse which was about 15 feet across the back yard, up five steps and, most importantly, past the four ferociously barking, albeit chained, dogs.

Although we’d never received the metal beads from India, I had gratefully brought about fifteen malas with me in the suitcase. We took out the package bundled up by Porter, cut all the malas, and sat outside in the backyard teaching Dowa Drowlma and Tashi’s cousin how to make the malas. They were better at it then me!

After two nights at Tashi’s house, we headed to Shandar, aka Nangchen town. This was a three-hour drive further into the magnificent Tibetan landscape. Rinpoche had insisted that we stay at his family’s home in Shandar. His father is a high Lama and his sister works for the government as a police person. She received us into their lovely home and we began at once trying to get directions to Dechenling Nunnery. Although horseback had been the only way up, Rinpoche had told us that a road had been paved and it should be easy. Easy. Somehow that word was not fitting into this picture! No, the road was not good and it was either horses or motorcycles. OK. no motorcycles up high mountains for me or Jeffrey! Possibly too wet for horses. And, no one seemed to know the way. We sat on the curb, watching pigs walk around the dusty streets. What to do! Why did this seem so impossible? Then Jeffrey said, “Let’s go to Gebchek instead”. Of course. If Dechenling was this hard to get to, how could Tashi deliver the malas and pick them up every few months?

The Road to Gebchek

So, how do we get to Gebchek? Tashi’s best friend Nima met us for lunch. Nima works for the government also and had been to Gebchek before. He’d like to go with us he said. Another great blessing!

We spent the night at Rinpoche’s home and early the next morning we headed for Gebchek. We knew we couldn’t go if it rained, but optimistically, we headed for the mountain. Or should I say mountains? The last peak was again over 16,000 feet and is called Sky Wall. Sky Wall because when you climb this steep mountain wall, you are so close to the sky! It was a grey morning as we took off without breakfast, trying to beat the potential rain. Within an hour it started drizzling. No one said anything. The rain became heavier and the dirt, narrow road was starting to fill its potholes with puddles of water. We kept heading up the mountain. We could not have gone any slower as we crawled along inch by inch. The drop was on Jeffrey’s side – a sheer cliff that seemed to drop endlessly. Then, suddenly the car spun. We all jumped out, our feet on solid ground and looked at the car barely on the road in its almost 180-degree turn. We were all shaken as we stood there on this barren mountain road, knowing there was nothing we could do but go forward. Tashi jumped into the drivers seat and somehow righted the jeep. We climbed back in. I prayed to Tara with all of my being, as we all prayed in our own way. “Please part these clouds and give us sun, please!”

After an hour or so, we arrived at a tiny village and were received into a humble home and offered tea. We would have to spend the night (where, I didn’t know) and either go back the next day or, if the sun came out, we could go forward. “Tashi”, I said, “We are already at Gebchek. Feel the nuns waiting for us. We must go”.

Although something so strong was taking us to Gebchek, I had a moment of terror. What was I doing? Everyone kept telling us the road was too dangerous, that a truck had just gone over the mountain two days before. Was this fair to these people? Poor Mr. Jian sat in the back with Tashi and I, his car was his livelihood and it was getting mightily beat up.

I walked outside the little dirt home and left everyone inside. I wanted to just surrender to whatever needed to happen. When I walked back inside the decision had been made. We were going! I realized that the rain had stopped and there was blue sky above! We had to either go now or turn back. We went! As we climbed the dreaded Sky Wall, Nima’s side mirror was nearly touching the mountain on one side, and on the other (that would be Jeffrey’s), the wheels kicked off loose rocks crumbling from the sheer cliff.

God, were we happy to arrive at Gebchek. The tension had been so thick and the only thing that seemed to keep us breathing was Jeffrey’s dry jokes. Here we were – finally. A nun by the name of Mingur was beckoned by the nun that Tashi first spoke with. She seemed to fly down the stairs and grabbed my hands in hers with such a force and welcoming that it seemed we were long lost sisters. Her smile was radiant as she led the five of us into the room that visiting Rinpoche’s usually stay in. There were five day beds there just waiting for us. More and more nuns came in, bringing us Tibetan tea, dried yak meat, candies and bread that looks like funnel cake.

More to come . . . .