Speachless. Again.

Did my laundry this morning. In the well, of course. Then started wandering through Litang, especially the Tibetan part of town and the monasteries.

I do not know where to begin.
People are beautiful. Character. Their faces tell life stories. Tibetan families (up to four people) cruise the streets on their motorbikes. People stop on the street and just look at you. They touch you. Say “hello”. Shake your hand. Little children and elder people, anyone actually, asks you to take a picture of them. Monks, wild looking Tibetan men with long black hair, beautifully dressed Tibetan women and few Chinese wander the streets. In one of the monasteries an old monk approached me and said “ok”. He then showed me trough the monastery and offered me drinks (boiling water with sugar) and snacks (sugar, some kind of flour, some sort of yak cheese and boiling water mixed in a cup with the finger and eaten with the finger). We talked a while, he told me about his encounter with the Dalai Lama. A little girl posed proudly for a picture, then grabbed me by the hand and took me to her home, where I met the family. They offered me tea and fresh milk. I went up one of the hills close to the monasteries. Little kids playing wanted to pose for picture. I sat there and talked to them for a while. They looked at my guide book and pointed to any caucasian face asking me if that was me. They played with my camera, as if they had never seen one.

Just amazing. My heart is full of impressions. This was quite some day.

The setting for all this. Litang lies on flat grassland plain, on 4014m, surrounded by mountains. The monasteries are halfway up the hill, overlooking the plane. Skies are as blue as they can get. Small white clouds seem so close you think you can touch them.

After writing this all down, I think I can say this has been of the most amazing, beautiful days of my life.

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Compared to other people altitude has not been a big problem so far. A little headache, sometimes shortness of breath and quite tired. The sun is intense. You can very easily get burnt.

And.
Yes. There is an internet cafe. Yes. There is cell phone reception.

Still. This place is off the world.
Or better. This place is the world?!