October 3, Langmusi

We arrived in Langmusi about 8 PM the day before last after driving 5 hours from Labrong. Langmusi is a very small Tibetan town in the Gansu/Sichuan provinces - half the town is in one province. The town is surrounded by high peaks, steep grassy meadows and evergreen forests.

The day we arrived we all went to eat at Lesha's which is infamous for its humongous portions and most notably the large yak burger. One guy in our group, Florian, attempted the large yak burger which if you eat the whole thing you get to design a shirt and put it on the wall. Before starting, he inquired where the restrooms were, then started the greasy burger, and about 1/2 way excused himself. Ha! Very knarly. Jeff and Liz opted for the vegetarian American burger which we were happy didn't also have meat in it.

The next day after banana, chocolate pancakes which were a treat, we headed out for an acclimitazation hike and tour of the town. We went by the Dachang Lamo Kerti Gompa which has about 700 monks in it studying medicine, astrology, and philosophy. It was built in 1413 and was very colorful inside. Our local guide, Derja, told us all about the various Gods, Lamas, and rituals which is a lot of information. Outside the gompa there were a lot of Tonkas (Tibetan religious paintings) and one of the most interesting was the Wheel of Life which illustrates how karma can predict the next reincarnation of life. The good reincarnations are Gods, Demigods, and humans with humans being the best as they are the only one capable of acheiving enlightenment - nirvana. The worst are animals, hell, and the skinny necked large bellied ghosts (greedy hungry spirits).

From there we walked along the White Dragon River passing prayer wheels that were being spun by the flow of the river. We walked to a sacred Tiger Cave and then past through the valley into a deep gorge. We ended up hiking for about 4 hours with gorgeous scenery. We had packed a lunch so ate along the way, and then many of us opted to scramble up the side of the gorge gaining about 1000 ft according to Jeff's altimeter.

Last night the group went out for a dinner that took forever. October 1 marked the week-long beginning of Chinese Independence so everyone has a week-long holiday. During this time hotels and restaurants are crowded, especially Beijing as people go to see Chairman Mao's mausoleum. The food was good and we got an early night.

Today we are going to walk around the Serti Gompa which is the smaller monastery and then drive to a homestay. Bye for now - Liz and Jeff