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In 1982, China opened the formally closed country Tibet, which they had
invaded and occupied earlier this century. I was fortunate to be among the
first group of foreigners allowed to visit this mysterious land. Our destination
was the Anyemachin mountain range in the northern Tibetan province of Amdo.
Mt. Anyemachin was once believed to much higher than Mt. Everest, but today
it's height is around 26,000 feet. The Amdo region of Tibet was and still is,
populated by a nomadic people called Goloks. The Goloks are deeply religious
people, following Tibetan Buddhism. They were also very much a warrior tribe;
The Amdo region was the last to be "pacified" by the Chinese, and there are still
occasionally uprisings. The Goloks live in felt huts, or yurts, moving from pasture
to pasture, according the season. They are a hospitable people. We were invited
to share a yak-dung fire and sip cups of rancid butter tea (an acquired taste).

Above are two Golok children inside a yurt where we visited on the plains.

Above is an exception to the typical Tibetan highlands. The average height of the
Tibetan plateau is 15,000 feet above sea level. The terrain is composed of rolling
hills and sparse vegetation.

We were able to visit the Khumbum Monastery in northeastern Amdo province.
Khumbum was one of the largest Buddhist monasteries in Tibet and one of the few
remaining that weren't destroyed by the Chinese. At its height, Khumbum housed
over 3000 monks and nuns. Sadly, today there was under 300 when we visited. The
village where the current Dali Lama was discovered is located just outside the
Monastery.

Since Tibet was off the beaten track, we employed numerous forms of transportation,
to travel throughout the country, including: an ancient prop plane (complete with
chickens in the aisle); 3 wheeled motor scooters with passenger rickshaws; a steam
locomotive; Chinese Army trucks; Tibetan ponies; and of course our feet (big time!)
But the strangest must have been the raft pictured above. It was used to cross the
Yellow (Yantze) River to visit an 120 foot Buddha carved out of a cliff. If you look
closely at the raft, you will see that the means of floatation are inflated pig skins.

Recipe: Take one pig. Remove entrails. Scrape off fur. Blow thru nose until inflated.
Tie cord around nose to seal. Attach pig to raft with twine. Smile at prospective
passengers...

Before anyone rushes off to get the US Patent. I hope they work increasing the
length of inflation time. In my case, it was only good for 3/4 the width of the
river, but that's another story....

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