Showing 1-8 of 8 results
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Where to find Shangri La? – Comparing 3 Himalayan Kingdoms
Blog: Around The World On The Toilet - 4 September 2010
It might be one of the most overused cliches in the travel universe but the idea of a kingdom deep in the Himalaya’s inspired by James Hilton’s classic Lost Horizon has thousands of backpackers and jet setters alike grabbing their warm coats and hiking boots in search of this mystical kingdom. The sheer remoteness of [...]
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Monastic Militarization
Blog: Passed Ports: images and anecdotes from our travels - 3 July 2010
I thought that I had a moderately respectable knowledge of Buddhism for a nonbeliever. Turns out I was wrong. Tibet taught me that I have woefully little understanding of Tibetan Buddhism. Apparently almost all of my prior knowledge to Zen and Theravada Buddhism and the Tibetan variety is markedly different. We spent a lot of [...]
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World Cup Chronicles: Tibet to Xi’an
Blog: Passed Ports: images and anecdotes from our travels - 25 June 2010
My favorite thing about South Africa 2010: Paraguay’s uniform looks remarkably like a Where’s Waldo costume. I had forgotten that Where’s Waldo ever existed, but upon seeing Paraguay’s uniform, I remembered that Waldo’s escapades were one of the earliest influences of my travel obsession. (My second favorite thing is that allegedly, North Korea will not [...]
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I Smell Yak Butter!
Blog: Passed Ports: images and anecdotes from our travels - 13 June 2010
Lhasa can be a magical place. You may read elsewhere that it has lost it’s soul, that it has sold out to Beijing, that you cannot find the “real” Tibet here. Don’t believe everything that you read. The reality is that there are two Lhasas. One has all the makings of a thoroughly modern Chinese [...]
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Tibetan boy on the Barkhor
Blog: Tibetan Portraits - 22 May 2010
All dressed up for Tibetan New Year, this little boy sits with his grandpa watching the pilgrims circle the Barkhor.
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Old Lama at Sera Monastery
Blog: Tibetan Portraits - 12 April 2010
Though I do not recognize this elderly monk, he looks to be quite important. Note the two assistants helping him and that clever, knowing look on his face! He might be a Geshe (a monk who has achieved great learning and passed a very difficult Buddhist philosophical exam) or Rinpoche (a “precious” teacher, oftentimes a [...]
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Tibetan Family at Drigung Til
Blog: Tibetan Portraits - 31 March 2010
This woman and her children were doing kora at Drigung Til Monastery just outside of Lhasa. It was around the time of Tibetan New Year, which is considered an auspicious occasion to perform meritorious works.
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7 (nights) in Tibet.
Blog: Leave Me Here - 2 October 2009
In the travel world, to get where you want to go, sometimes tours are the only option. There are places that simply don’t allow solo travel, Saudi Arabia is one of those places, Bhutan is one of those places, Tibet is one of those places. Ours is a group of 20, its also the last group that [...]
Showing 1-8 of 8 results
