The Edge of Tibet

So I originally thought we'd spend all our time near the eastern cities (Shanghai and Beijing), but somehow we found ourselves in western Sichuan not so far from Tibet. These pictures are from Tagong, which was definitely Tibetan and not Chinese. Yak yogurt and cheese, tons of monks (many with motorcycles :) and lovely people with bright red cheeks who looked at you cautiously until you smiled, then they beamed back.

The pictures show monastaries, prayer flags and wheels, snow (which fell in the town and the surrounding hills on our second and fourth days not just dusting the hill as in the picture - quiet a shock to us after sweltering weather in Yangshuo. We think the town is at about 10,000 ft), and me with some nuns who had us in for yak butter tea when we went for a hike through the grasslands.