I have been traveling in Tibetan areas for more than a decade, and over the years I have been obsessed with the magnificent natural scenery of Tibetan areas and indulged in challenging niche routes in and out of Tibet, but I am not particularly interested in Tibetan humanities, especially religious-related things. Some friends think that I have to fly to Tibetan areas several times a month, so I must know all the allusions of Tibetan Buddhism, but in fact, in most cases, I just don't know why.
Lonely turning mountain road
When leading the team in Tibetan areas, I often take the team members to the door of religious or temple scenic spots, buy tickets for everyone, let everyone go in and visit, and I wait outside the door. I'm not rejecting religious scenic spots, I just think that my brain is sometimes not enough, and I often listen to it with relish when I go in, and I forget it when I go out. In order not to waste resources and feelings, I generally rarely enter religious scenic spots, but there are exceptions, some beautiful scenery or other religious scenic spots with special significance, I will also go many times, such as: Zizhu Temple, Kajiu Temple, Yaqing Temple and the sacred mountain Kailash.
The other side of Kailash
Although Kailash is obviously a natural landscape, it is more religious because it is recognized by many religions as the center of the world. I have been to Kailash Many Times, and each time I have been touched by the devout faith of the Tibetans. Kailash turning the mountain is generally divided into internal and external turns, it is said that only those who have completed 13 turns of the outer turn are eligible to take the internal transfer route, because I have only turned kailash four or five times, so I am not eligible to take the internal transfer line for the time being. However, as far as I know, ninety-nine percent of the mountain turners choose the external transfer route, about 52 kilometers outside the turn, the general tourists can walk in two days, the relatively poor physical strength can choose to turn in three days, and the physical strength of the super good can try to walk in one day.
The outward turn is divided into clockwise and counterclockwise turning the mountain, Tibetan Buddhism, Hinduism, and ancient Jainism are all turning the mountain clockwise, and the native religion of Tibet, the Bon, is turning the mountain in a counterclockwise direction. I guess there are several reasons: it is too difficult to turn the mountain counterclockwise and reverse the Dormala Pass; in recent years, Bon has been relatively weak, and the number of believers is small; even if a small number of Bon adherents arrive at The Tarchin at Kailash's feet and are ready to start turning the mountain counterclockwise, they may be shocked by the vast army of Tibetan Buddhists who turn the mountain clockwise, and then finally abandon the original plan to turn the mountain.
Wind and snow turn mountain roads
But last month, when I was turning the mountain in Kailash, I met a "tourist" who was turning the mountain upside down. At 6:30 in the morning, we set off from the town of Tarchin to Zhuanshan, and the driver drove me and Lao Xie to the starting point and ticket office of Zhuanshan, because it was late in the morning in Tibet, and it was still dark at this time, but the sharp-eyed conductor saw at a glance from the darkness that the two of us dressed as tourists "came and came to buy tickets, 150 people." Old Xie and I looked at each other and smiled, and the subtext should be: Get up so early, or haven't escaped the fate of buying tickets."
Set off in the morning light
When Kailash turns the mountain, the last thing to worry about is to get lost, because there are people turning the mountain all the way 24 hours a day, as long as you follow the trajectory of the large troops, you will definitely be able to complete the transfer smoothly. As the sky gradually brightened, the devotees from various resting places returned to the places where yesterday's pause was suspended, and continued their pilgrimage, and from time to time we had to surpass one or two groups of Tibetans on pilgrimage. From our attire, Tibetan friends can easily tell that the two of us are tourists who come because of curiosity hunting and not because of faith, but the vast majority of Tibetans will smile back at us with kindness.
At ten o'clock in the morning, Lao Xie and I walked one after the other, and came a backpacker dressed as a tourist, the first non-Tibetan mountain turner we had seen since we set out this morning, and the first time I had encountered a counterclockwise mountain tourist since I had turned the mountain so many times, and I wanted to go over and talk. Unexpectedly, Old Xie was more anxious than me, and there were still more than ten meters away from the people's homes, so he directly asked: Brother, why do you turn the mountain upside down?
The brother who came from the opposite side did not stop, but said lightly: Maybe everyone's faith is different.
Although I am not too interested in the Tibetan humanities, after all these years of practice, some basic common sense is still understood, since this brother said that it is because of different beliefs that he chose to turn the mountain upside down, it means that he must be a believer in the native religion of Tibet, Bon. In the past few years, because of my work relationship, I have had several encounters with the Dingqing Othello Living Buddha of Zizhu Monastery in Dingqing County, Qamdo, Tibet, and Zizhu Monastery is now almost the largest Bon temple in China. I wanted to use this as a breakthrough to talk to this brother, but before I could finish my opening remarks, the brother shook his hand and left, leaving me and Lao Xie standing in the wind messy.
Lao Xie thoughtfully explained: After the matter is whisked away, the merit and name are hidden deeply. Since people have chosen a different niche belief, how can they be willing to talk nonsense with us two laymen and tourists? Normal, normal.
Old Xie and I continued to bury our heads in the road, from time to time to talk about the retrogrades we had just met, it was the beginning of May, the snow at the Dormala Pass was still relatively thick, and we were all worried that the road down the mountain was not good; this brother Tai could turn the mountain upside down because of his faith, and we really admired it in our hearts.
After walking for another hour, we can already see the middle point of Kailash's turning mountain - the tip of the yellow cancan of the Zhihe Monastery in the distance, and there is a counterclockwise turning mountain on the opposite side, in view of the insulted lessons of an hour ago, we decided to pretend not to see it, directly floating over, saving the need to touch the nose of ash again. As a result, this older brother, who looked older than the previous one, took the initiative to stop me and Lao Xie. Asked if we had seen his little brother, and then described his little brother's appearance, height, dress, etc., I and Lao Xie thought, isn't this the brother we just met who turned the mountain counterclockwise because of his faith.
Old Xie took out his mobile phone again, found the two back photos he took, and the brother took a look: Right, right, this is my little brother, thank you so much, I will go to him.
Looking, why is it to find, not to chase? You are now five or six kilometers behind him, I'm afraid it's not easy to find him! I asked old Xie.
Then the old man told me about him and his little brother turning the mountain: they met to turn the mountain, but the little brother was in average physical strength and had no outdoor experience before, and yesterday they set off from Tarchin early. His little brother walked all the way to rest, and it was already eight o'clock in the evening when they arrived at the temple, and they decided to stay and rest at the temple and cross the Dolmala Pass this morning. But shortly after leaving this morning, his little brother said that the pass was too steep and too difficult to climb, and he didn't want to make an effort, so he turned around and went back. At first, the brother thought that the little brother was just talking angrily, not taking it seriously, and walked up for half an hour, did not see his little brother follow up, only to know that he had come really, and then began to look all the way back to his little brother. Along the way, he also met other Tibetans who turned the mountain, but due to poor language communication, he was not sure whether his little brother was on the right way to retreat.
I met a family who had come to the mountains from Nyima
We said: Now that you are sure that your little brother is on the way down, do you want to go down the mountain with us? After all, the opportunity to turn the mountain is rare.
The old man waved his hand: Forget it, there is always a chance to turn the mountain, there is only one brother, I still hurry back to find him.
As for when we walked to the Dormala Pass, saw the knee-deep snow, and began to lament the foresight of this little brother of "faith", that was the last word.
Maggie Ami Tibet travel, focusing on niche travel routes, more Tibetan area travel niche routes, no man's land crossing, Tibetan area travel information Welcome to pay attention to the WeChat public number: Sichuan-Tibet Line (on the Sichuan-Tibet Line, plus yellow V certification, the same as the head of this subscription number), we set off together to see the beauty of western China that others can't see.