Going Monk in Tibet!

Upon my arrival in Tibet I was greeted by Pachang who would

be my local guide throughout my stay in Lhasa

the city known as “the roof of the world”.

He came around bearing silk scarves a traditional welcome in Tibet,

and when he brought my scarf to me he said,

“Welcome to Nirvana”.

I knew that Tibet was going to be a special place, but it didn’t

hit me until I landed and saw the place in all its glory

just how sick it was really going to be!

Now maybe it was the altitude or something else,

but some serious spiritual shit was going on in my head as I cruised

on the bus to Lhasa.

On the real though this place is so high that I had a hard time coping for a bit

lack of oxygen to the dome I suppose, but in its sheer

beauty I got all teary eyed.

Once I got into Lhasa I was pretty F’ed in regard to the altitude, but

I had to get some grub and I got Pachang to take me to his

favorite local restaurant to get my first shot at Yak!

Now normally I try to stay away from red meat, but you know

when in Tibet do as the Tibetans do!

Although, it is all a blur now I think that I was pretty happy with

the Yak!

After a quick lunch it was time for me to go see the Dalai Lama’s

palace the Potala Palace, which is located at the top

of a hill in all its majesty.

The palace was super dope, but the climb up was intense!

I workout a lot, but damn!  Not gonna

lie I almost passed out a couple

of times in the

high altitude.

So note to all you out there you

should be sure you take a rest for a day or two before

getting ballsy in Tibet!

After a cold beer from “The Roof of the World”

I had to hit the bed because day 2 in Tibet was full of wisdom.

The next day I went to meet the Tibetan Monks.

When I arrived on the scene the monks

were involved in one of there

regular activities

group debate

in fact you could hear them

yelling and slapping hands from quite a distance.

By slapping the back of their hands the monks were scolding the monk they were

debating with for being wrong.  A question they would typically ask would be,

“what is big?”  The correct answer would be, “big is relative”.

I was able to chat with one of the monks after debates and meditation.  From the

look

of his smile I think that my Karma is pretty good!

During my time with the monks they gave me a special necklace

that was formed by a rock called an agate turning

in the sand for years and years and well

years! The designs on the rock are all

natural and said to have meanings.

The rock that they

gave me

is said to increase

celebrity and bring more riches to the

person wearing it!

I liked their choice!

After blessing the stone the monks told me that I would have to give a

substantial contribution to them in order for their blessing to work!

So I guess that Buddhist monks have the same

mantra as me…

Gotta spend money to make money!

Before leaving Tibet the next morning I had one last stop to make.

A local family had asked me to join them for Yak butter tea and some traditional

barely beer.  Since they were fans how could I refuse?

The yak butter tea was actually really dank!  And the barely wine was super

strong! Always a bonus!  The day seemed really perfect and the

next day I had to be out of Tibet early, because my special

Visa into Nirvana was running out!

Tibet was a magical place and I am so happy that I

was able to see what it was all about.

Hopefully, the happy monks will remember me in their chants

and I hope that money thing will be on their minds for

sure!

I’ll try to get some new blogs up ASAP, but I am on a luxury liner on the Yangtze.

It is baller, but the internet ain’t all that!

About 5 days until I get nasty in Shanghai though so keep your heads knoddin’ !

Dasha deli! (Tibetan for best wishes)

~Cain

PS. Sorry for the delay! Service is terrible on a boat!