In Tibet

Now one week into my trip, I've made it through Beijing, Xi'an, and now I am in a small town called Xiahe in the Tibetan province of Andou. I won't go through all the details of the trip until now because it would just take hours, but I am traveling with an amazing group of people and having the most incredible experiences.

We are 3000meters high right now in this town up in the mountains. Tomorrow we will visit the Labrang Monastery, which is one of the largest monasteries in Tibet. But today we left the town to go to a village of people of the Bon religion, which is the original religion of Tibet before Buddhism arrived. We were the only tourists in the village, and it seemed that they didn't get many visitors. We were so close to the clouds and over the mountains it made everything feel so mystical. In the grasslands, which house the Tibetan nomads, I stood about 2 meters from yaks and goats grazing everywhere, and wild flowers were growing in every inch of the grass. It's beautiful.

Also, the people are so so lovely! I played with all the little kids in the village-- they seemed to really like me, maybe because I am near their size and look morelike them! But anyway, I gave them my camera, and this little girl was acting like a photographer taking photos of everyone! Then we had lunch in the house of one of the monks in the village-- just different types of bread and yak milk tea. Can't wait to upload all my photos, but it won't be until I get back to Tokyo.

Next onto the small village of Langmusi, another town in the grasslands, before moving on to Sichuan.

Until then...