I Love Tibet!>>travel tales>>Capital of Khampa

** Capital of Khampa **
(Kham-Chamdo, 1994)

After three days rolling on the back of a truck,
I reached Chamdo, the biggest city in Eastern Tibet.
Although many Chinese lived there,
Tibetan mostly seemed to enjoy their own capital.
Chamdo is not open for foreign tourists.
It is better not to stay long without permit.
I knew it very well, but I liked the city.
A knock on the door interrupted my happy stay for one week.
They were policemen from foreign affairs section.

At the top of the hill, Chamdo Jampaling monastery
....was NOT found!
A television tower rose high there.
The monastery was behind the TV station.

On the slope of the hill, there were a Tibetan town filled with beautiful Tibetan style houses.

"1000". "No, more than 1500!" ---- When I asked the monks how many monks lived in the monastery, they just gave me rough answers as always. But I am sure the Jampaling monastery was so big actually. It was under total renovation.

The kitchen of Jampaling. The big monastery needs big pots naturally. When I visited there, a special ceremony happened to be held. Rice was delivered to all the monks.

I Love Tibet!>>travel tales>>Capital of Khampa