Sky Burials & Sweet Butter Tea

monastery
see all photos »

We hired a minivan to take us the 4 hours to Litang, as the locals in Xiancheng wouldn't allow us to take the normal bus.

They call 'Litang' the real Tibet and it didn't disappoint, all the locals dress in traditional Tibetan dress and the ladies hair is dressed with turquoise, coral and bone. Litang is set in a plateau surrounded by mountains and we all decided it was worth staying more than one night.

We visited the local monastery which was currently under renovation at the time, we were invited to drink sweet butter tea with the monks at the temple, though conversation was slightly lacking, as we only knew how to say 'Tashidelek' (hello) and 'Toudiche' (thankyou).

yaks on the hill
see all photos »

The altitude at Litang is around 4200mtrs, which is higher than Lhasa in Tibet. Due to the altitude and lack of natural fuel, the local people dispose of there dead by a 'Sky Burial'. This is where a a rogyapas (body breaker) cuts the body up and pounds the bones with flour. Vultures then come down to complete the job of disposal. We did attempt to see a 'Sky burial' whilst we were in Litang but on the morning we visited there were no disposals only us and about 20 vultures hanging around.

gav on the yak herder's horse
see all photos »

We took a walk into the hills (around 4500m) behind the monastery where the weather changed so fast from cloud to rain to sunshine in minutes, we were invited to drink tea from a Pepsi bottle when the heavens opened by a group of locals sat on the hill. We also met a yak herder who invited us to sit with him, we gave him peanuts and water for a turn sitting on his horse. Then another yak herder invited us to sit, this time a woman, we attempted to communicate she showed us the holes in her shoes.