Day 9: October 6, 2006
Phenpho camping: travel to Reting via Taglung Monastery
















Sunrise over the Phenpho Valley

















..at at the camp site/grazing pen...























Villager going for morning water.






















temporary 'outhouse'!
















Letting the cattle out of the compound
















Break on the way up the pass...
















crazy, windy road. I don't know how Cory could have slept through it!
















Nearing the pass...
















Looking down at Chak-la pass, 5,300 meters
















Dusting of snow. Not much grows at these elevations...
















































Heading down the other side of the pass. North to Reting...















Looking back up to the pass.

















Nothing like a little salami snack, all the way from Seattle. Thanks Sara!
















The first 'settlement' coming down the pass. Some rock livestock pens and bases for nomads tents.
































Yak grazing in the Pak-chu Valley on the approach to Taglung Monastery (4,150 m).































The village came out to watch our lunch break....





















Not sure Grandma knew what to do with the bread we gave her!





















The lone monk opening the chapel for us....





















1000-armed Chenresig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion.
















Looking down at a home off the monastery roof, with all its kindling and hay drying.






















Milarepa, one of Tibet's most well-known yogis.
















A typical outhouse, although this one actually has a door!
















Ruins of the Tsuglhakhang (grand temple) of Taglung Monastery, dynamited by the Red Guards. It was founded in 1228 as the seat of the Talung school of the Kagyupa order and once may have house some 7,000 monks....





















Painting of what the monastery once must have looked like..
















Monks robes and a text.

























































Texts and carved wood blocks from which they are printed.
















Piles of dried dung are stored for cooking.






















Monks reciting and memorizing scriptures.
































Spectacular ruins..



















































Lone tre in the middle of the village.
















Agricultural fields (barley?) on the way to Reting...





























































Scenery on the way to Reting.
















Arriving at Reting Monastery (4,100 m), which dates back to about 1073.
















Campsite on the monastery grounds.





















The locals turned up to check us (and our gear) out...





















Shy villager. Check out that conch-shell bracelet!!




































Hmm, what's going on in there?!





















Tibetan cowboy....





















...and friends caught in the lens (and flash)
















Can I have some privacy please?









































































































































Up on the monastery roof....
















Jays lined up to eat a barley offering.
















The village is visible down in the valley below.



































































Tsongkhapa's hermitage halfway up the mountain..





















Cory enjoying the sunset from the 'bathroom'