This was a common Tibetan style of architecture. The wood is assembled without nails or screws.
My favorite cafe to eat breakfast was called Fragrant Valley Cafe. I went there every day until they recognized me. It was nice to be a "regular" somewhere.
The "western breakfast" at the cafe.
I experienced fatigue as a result of altitude sickness from being at 3300 meters. Fortunately, oxygen cannisters are sold throughout supermarkets and drugstores.
The oxygen cannister has a date printed on it. Does oxygen have an expiration date?
We did experiments of inhaling oxygen while running up a steep hill. It helps.
There was a bar inside the Old Town section named the Google Bar. I surprised a Tibetan by showing how their bar's name matches the logo on my scarf.
The nearby Tiger Leaping Gorge is good for hiking.
At one point, the trail went through a small waterfall.
Wesley and I spent some of our time writing code together, just like the old days in college. We ate watermelon seeds while programming. We consumed a bag of watermelon seeds every day.
On Christmas Eve, the owner of Fragrant Valley Cafe held a party. His friend cut down a pine tree from outside of the town, and made it into a Christmas tree.
In this photo, I'm wearing a Tibetan hat with a Lhasa dress. Wesley said this is as incongruous as a cowboy hat with a Scottish kilt.
Me with newfound Tibetan friends. This is the Tibetan outfit that actually matches the hat.
...
Tibet was lovely, but I missed one thing from the States. I remedied this upon my return:
how did you inhale that oxygen tank ? never saw the inhaling point lol.
ReplyDeletedo u still have it as souvenir ?
Travelling to cool places, eh. Didn't Tibet have some big argument with China not a long ago, before the Olympics? I did not even know it had been sorted out.
ReplyDeleteWow, cool. What does Wesley do in Tibet - does he do software development from Tibet???
ReplyDeleteWhat an odd coincidence, I spent most of my breaks last week reading about the adventures of this Westerner currently living in Tibet (great photos, too):
ReplyDeleteTibet
:)
You look great in the Tibetan clothing. It could be your calling in life, to leave the corporate world and live on the plains.
ReplyDeleteYeah, you can almost see her capering about, with little bells on the ends of her shoes. :)
ReplyDeleteplease show the picture of Wesley's wife. She must be extraordinary for Wesley to stay in Tibet.
ReplyDeleteMichael Koswara, I abandoned the oxygen cannister to prevent any potential difficulties going through airport security.
ReplyDeleteThe cap of the cannister comes off and becomes the inhaling funnel.
John K. Lin,
ReplyDeleteWesley does in fact do software development in Tibet. But probably the most apt description of what he's doing is "being happy and living the good life."
Thanks a lot for sharing pictures from your trips. Your descriptions & comments are always so interesting. (My favorite though is for the trip you couldn't take - to Antarctica, where you wrote, below a picture of the M/S Explorer sinking: "I'm so disappointed. That could have been me on that boat!" I believe you!)
ReplyDelete