kiaoratibet:Return to Tibet, arriving into Kham: A few days ago I finally returned to the high pla
kiaoratibet: Return to Tibet, arriving into Kham: A few days ago I finally returned to the high plateau of Tibet, the amazing country that has become home to me over the last few years. This time it’s different though - after living for two years in the holy capital city of Lhasa, in central Tibet, I have now come to the far east of the plateau to explore the ancient eastern province of Kham (now in Sichuan Province of China). My journey begins in Dartsendo, also known as Kangding in Chinese, the traditional gateway city to the region. A six hour car journey directly west from Chengdu, Dartsendo is a deceptively large town that springs up along the banks of two rivers that flow through a deep mountain valley. The sides of the valley are so steep that building on them is impracticable, so the narrow valley floor is densely packed with high-rise apartments, factories, and offices. A few days in Dartsendo has given me a taste of what is to come on my continuing journey through Kham - negatively the struggles with adapting my Lhasa-dialect Tibetan language skills into Kham-dialect, but positively the feeling of peace and joy that I get from being in the mountains surrounded by Tibetan Buddhist people and buildings. Kham dialect has only a few pronunciation differences from Lhasa dialect, but many differences in vocabulary which I am currently endeavouring to familiarise myself with, thanks to a helpful book lent to me by the owner of Zhilam Hostel where I am staying. The altitude here isn’t particularly high - only about 2500m - but it’s enough to give the air a certain clarity that I missed while living at sea level over the last few months. Upon arrival here in the town I was treated to the perfect blue sky that Chengdu had definitely been lacking during my stay there. At last, I felt, I had made it back to Tibet. The journey begins! -- source link
#kangding#sichuan