the rooftop of the world (subtitled: yaks are my new spirit animal)

om mani pame hum ("hail to the jewel in the lotus") is the mantra to avolokiteshvara (chenrezig) the buddha of compassion is the most famous buddhist mantra. it's written on all prayer wheels and prayer flags-- releasing the prayer to the wind as they are spun or moved. old men and women mutter the words as they perform holy koras (the circumnavigation of a holy site). om... is also the national prayer of tibet as the buddha of compassion's reincarnation is the exhiled dalai lama. and what am i getting at? tibet is un-real-ly diffuclt to encapsulate. but in a way, it's the hidden jewel in something that grew out of ugliness (the lotus can grow out of the most polluted of waters). you get my drift so far?
tibet is one of the most incredible places i've ever seen. during my overland drive on the friendship highway, which runs from lhasa to the nepali border, i thought about how i would explain this "rooftop of the world" to people. for anyone unfamiliar, tibet was captured by chinese forces in 1959 and the dalai lama has been living in exile ever since. during the years of the cultural revolution, tibet did not escape mao's wrath and millions of people were killed due to his policies. tibet, once a subsistence economy, was forced to grow crops unfit for the mountainous climate. thousands starved. monks and landlords (the enemies of mao's brand of communism) were submitted to thamzings, "struggle sessions," in which many were tortured and died. others were imprisoned for supporting the dalai lama against the chinese will or for not submitting to chinese power. even today, when i was in lhasa, an ngo worker was "imprisoned" for two weeks for "questioning." the dalai lama's photo is still banned in the country. what was once a small buddhist kingdom under the rule of a now-nobel-peace-prize-winner has become a colony of china. lhasa has become a large chinese city and tibetans are at risk of becoming a minority in their own country. tibetans are probably the most peaceful, beautiful, compassionate people in the world. and looking into the eyes of anyone over the age of 40-or-so is knowing that they've seen things more terrible than anyone should ever witness. they are the gems in the lotus.

frustrating rewarding ugly beautiful compassionate hateful. dream-like hell-like happy sad. a contradiction. it seems like tibet is now a big sea of china and the monasteries and small villages are the only remaining things tibetan. chinese tourist groups are everywhere in a concrete jungle. phallic-like chinese monuments stand in front of the potala and other famous monuments. monasteries have fewer monks and nuns now (since the chinese killed many of them) and are run by the chinese government. the photo of the hands is from ganden, the monastery hit the hardest by the cultural revolution. they are still rebuilding, these hands are for a tantric statue of compassion and truth. but. still. beauty.

and for some reason, the people are still amazing. the jhokang, which is said to be the religious heart of tibet, is surrounded with people prostrating and performing koras. pilgrims welcomed me to walk with them, sometimes embracing my hand. at a nunnery, i had momos and tea with a grandfather and his grandaughter, making paper airplanes and using my lonely planet to communicate in minimal tibetan. a monk led us around ganden monastery and took photos of shrines (that aren't supposed to be photographed by tourists). yak butter lamps burned in monasteries. smiling, warm tibetan women laughed and grasped my hand with love flowing. a nun, tenzing, asked me to sit down next to her during prayers. after i sat, she showed me her mantras then she touched my necklace. we looked and looked at each other's necklaces, touching them lightly. when she deemed me safe, she dug deeply for another. a necklace with the image of the dalai lama. the only picture of the dalai lama i saw during my time in tibet. my eyes welled with tears and i said, "yes! good!" she them made slapping gestures on her cheeks and said, "no, china. bad," and tucked the locket back into her robes, patting it to ensure its safety, and then gesturing, "sshhh."

and more. drinking beer with the driver who led our overland trip and the owner of the guest house. amazing tibetan and chinese food (i've always argued that the only positive thing about colonization in all it's forms is food). an incredible expat community and caramel lattes (!). the tibetan plateau and mt. everest base camp. off-roading and actually using four wheel drive as i bounced around, reminiscent to bumps on valley fair's high roller. the friendship highway, like a ride at epcot center, complete with cliffs and waterfalls.

alright. that's the best i could do. i've run out of steam, which i continue to blame on the kathmandu heat. i would like to upload every picture of mountains, beautiful tibetan women, monasteries, monks and the like. but. what to do. an om for us all. (and, p.s. that last photo is everest).