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Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan were built in as the central elements of my sabbatical with great intentionality.  I believed them to be — this part of the globe, the top of the world — to be places of great spirituality. Not my spirituality, mind you, but it still seemed a thin place to come with […]

Our excursion today took us out of Lhasa, way up into the rural mountain areas. (Eventually we reached an altitude of 5300 meters.) En route, yak country. Yaks have long been an integral part of Tibetan life. From using their fibers and hides for clothing and other textiles, the dung for fire building, or consuming

After dinner we returned to Potala Palace, our afternoon destination for stair-switchback-climbing. (At the altitude we are at, it was hot, slow and huffy. In fact, many, many people carry oxygen with them!) Built in the 7th century, this was formerly the Winter Palace for the Dalailama. We are told fewer than ten monks currently

We arrived yesterday and today was our first day of actual touring….we visited a couple of monasteries where we saw monks at work, at worship, debating, and offering blessings. And since we were walking about Buddhist monasteries, we saw all sorts of prayer wheels. But the prayer wheel that caught my eye today was this

After returning from our failed attempt to drive across the Chinese border, I discovered that ‘for a small fee’ I could fly into Lhasa China (aka Tibet). Okay, I wrestled with the extra cost for a hot minute before deciding to grab this once in a lifetime opportunity. Wednesday morning I will fly into China;

Even though I have been in and out of this town repeatedly in the last week, today was the first day that I got to simply be a curious tourist. From a Hindu holy place to Buddhist stupas, my guide had much information to share with me. And truthfully, if I listen with my heart

After days of waiting and hoping to cross into China and continue tour into Tibet, we are now crafting a plan to return to Kathmandu. In the face of a minor travel disappointment, we are entirely aware that many folks around us have and will suffer substantially in the wake of these floods and landslides.

There are 12 of us. Some are anxious. Some are bossy. (Not me this time.) Everyone has an opinion. And none of us really knows what is happening. Has the landslide been cleared? Is the road repaired? Can we move forward? Will they send us back?What about our visas? Today we advanced to a different

We have landed in a wee mountain village, less than 10 miles from the Chinese border. (More about that in just a bit). After lunch, a (wet) walkabout seemed a good idea. It was an opportunity to get a closer look and a few photos of the local people and businesses. When I got to

Gnarly was how Katie spoke of the mountain pass that I crossed again yesterday.  Years ago when she was on that route, the vehicle she was riding in got caught by a bit of a landslide. Last night, we were not hit by the landslide, but it did close the road for a time.  The