xining to yushu

last tuesday i boarded a bus bound for yushu prefecture in southern qinghai. when i arrived i realized that i had not bought the sleeper bus ticket, but a regular bus ticket. this meant that i would be sitting in a seat next to a tibetan nomad for at least 17 hours. so i took my seat and met the nice gentleman sitting next to me. he was an older nomad with quite the smell to him. he seemed friendly enough until it came time to sleep, when i became aware that you had to actively keep your space, otherwise you lose it. so about midnight i am startled by a hip thrust pushing me half into the aisle so that he could turn sideways and curl into a ball. this sort of jockeying happened all night, and i eventually learned to give as i was getting. but nonetheless, i did not sleep more than 2 hours the entire bus ride. it was a long and bumpy night.

but there was a redeeming factor. i met an incredible tibetan family. a grandmother, a mother, and two nieces traveling to their hometowns to see family and to attend the yushu horse festival. when we stopped for dinner they invited me to sit with them and even paid for my meal. they were so kind. the next morning we arrived at 6am and i had no where to go. i was meeting a friend who was coming from a different town at 9 that night, but was on my own for the bulk of the day. so, after trying to find me a place to spend the day, they decided to take me home with them. all i can really say is that hospitality really is a blessing that can touch the soul. this family fed me three meals, took me around town, and helped me find my friend. it was incredible to talk with them all day and to work out my chinese. they live in xining, so i will be able to talk with them more, and pay them back for treating me to 4 meals. later in the week i saw the same family out at the festival, they had their own compound of tents--it turns out they are fairly wealthy--and drank some corona's with the father and daughters. i tell you what, a corona never will taste as good as on the tibetan plateau after nearly a week without a shower.

the horse festival was incredible, but not for the expected reasons. the performances grew boring after a while, but the people were amazing. they wore some of the most elaborate and beautiful clothing i have ever seen. and kham tibetan dancing is out of this world. i want to learn how to dance from them. there is so much i could tell you, but i will keep it short. this place feels like home. the mountains surround a beautiful grassland that sits at 13,000 ft. that's right, i am at the lowest point in the valley and am at nearly the elevation of most mountains in america. two nights ago i attended a fire dancing performance, and wow. during one of the songs i began to cry. i was pressed by the compassion of J for them and by the fact that they were ignorant of Him. as the woman sang, i was stirred for the people, and felt a real call to the nomads of tibet. i was given a sense of ownership, or home-ness of the place and people. earlier that same day the entire festival was covered in a dust storm like i'd only seen in movies or read about. the horizon grew black and before you knew it there was a wall of ice cold rain and dust upon you. the winds were ripping down tents, signs and even the covering of the grandstand. it was amazing. but the nomads took it in stride, not budging from their places watching the dancing. i, on the other hand, had to join with others in holding our tent down, as the wind was ripping up everything and blowing across the valley. i even wore a white bandanna like an old west cowboy, it was quite cool. lastly, kham tibetans, the women, are beautiful. it's a strange thing. they wear pounds of jewelry, have rosy cheeks, and probably have'nt showered in weeks or months, but there were some of the most beautiful women i had ever seen at the festival. maybe i'll marry a tibetan after all, hah hah.