June 2007 Update


We’ve been through a number of trials and tribulations (involving passports and vehicles) – and we’re learning to be patient and to persevere.

Thank you God, Our Father, for creating Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh region of India (which is more Tibetan than Tibet), in the foothills of the Himalayas – and thank you for taking care of us as we traveled in this rugged, remote and unspoiled region of the world, just 30 kilometers from the border of Tibet. The snow-capped peaks, at 18,000 to 20,000 feet, are more impressive than those of The Canadian Rockies because they are twice as high. And the windswept gorges, although not as colorful, are every bit as spectacular as the walls of The Grand Canyon. The waterfalls are the highest we’ve seen, and the rivers are swift as the intense sun melts the snow.

Thank you too God, for civil engineers who designed the mountain roads and for the human hands that built them. And thank you as well for power stations that provide electricity for some of the villages, and for the irrigation trenches that provide water.

And thank you especially for the Spitian people (of Tibetan descent), who have lived in Spiti Valley for several thousand years, in almost complete isolation, at elevations of 12,000 to 14,000 feet, inaccessible from October until June, since the passes that must be traversed to get into Spiti are filled with snow then.

The Spitian people have survived severe cold in the winters (-20 to -40 degrees Celsius) and extreme heat in summers. And they’ve worked hard to remove rocks, and hand cultivate small plots of land on which they grow barley, potatoes and peas (most for export ). They’ve built villages and monasteries in high places – and their children go to schools. We met a young woman, Tanzin, in her final year of secondary school, who has learned computer skills mostly from a book.

Thank you too for our tour guides, Lhakpa and Norbo, for our vehicle drivers, Tsering, Yeshi (and three others), and for our two yak drivers. You can contact Lhakpa (lhak_tse@yahoo.com) if you want to arrange for a trek – and also if you want to help with the education of Spiti children in Tabo and Tibetan nuns in Dharamsala.

We wonder - will these people be able to maintain their traditional way of life, their Tibetan culture and their Buddhist religion as more roads bring more tourists, and satellite TV, cell phones and computers bring the outside world to Spiti Valley? Will Spiti Valley still be as awesome (others say mystical and enchanting) to experience ten years from now? Fifty years from now? Please God, let it be so. Next stop, Kenya, which you can read all about next month.
Dankhar Monastery
Dankhar Monastery



Tending Peas
Tending Peas



Tanzin
Tanzin



Yak Treking
Yak-Treking