Up there, almost 4.800 meters, air enters the lungs as if you inject liquid oxygen: cold, round, plethoric. At our feet, 300 feet below, extend the beautiful turquoise waters of the lago Yamdrok, the same as the British military Francis Younghusband defined as "one of the most beautiful lakes I've seen" in his journey to Tibet 1904.
Along with the traditional prayer flags that crown any port that boasts mountain, a group of farmers offering their yaks harnessed for five yuan for a photo tour. It breathes peace, as if your soul to expand the mountains blending with the snow, water and wind.
The road, dotted with potholes and gangs of young workers, along the lake, leaving behind small turquoise stone villages guarded by a power line. On one side you can read the ubiquitous mantra "om mani padme hum". While it has stopped raining. Ten kilometers (two hours of walking) east of Nangartse, the main town on the lake, is the Samding Monastery, saved in 1716 the destruction by Mongol troops by Dorje Pagmo, the only female reincarnation of Tibet, which became pig to drive away Muslim invaders. At VaP we published the story in a report on Lake Yamdrok. (https://www.viajesalpasado.com/lago-yamdrok-el-monasterio-budista-que-salvo-la-mujer-cerdo/).
It was an unremarkable girl, always wearing particularly well and prepared in Lhasa for his life as a nun. As a reincarnation, women was most sacred in Tibet, and where it made its appearance, people begged to be blessed.
And is that Pagmo Dorje has been reincarnated on, from his famous transmutation swine, a young girl. The story of reincarnation that Harrer learned is priceless. He himself says in the book he wrote after returning to the land of snow 30 years after, in 1982 ("Reunion with Tibet"). After the Chinese invasion, the revered lama moved to India in 1959 confused among the thousands of fugitives who saw his world crumbling ancestral. But, according to the Austrian author, "Soon returned and joined the Chinese". Paradoxical stigma in the curriculum of the reincarnation of a woman who has passed into history of Tibetan Buddhism, precisely, stand against the invader by. Perhaps the voices of the past bouncing it off his conscience, but the truth is that he adds Harrer- "With spiritual forces" again failed to prevent the destruction of the monastery, this time in Chinese hands. Perhaps aware that the pigs would hardly scare off the Chinese, opted for an entente cordiale with their new neighbors to achieve the same objective: Samding save burning.
Despite the strict religious laws, Pagmo Dorche reincarnation of married, "Divorced, had a child and was allowed to lead a good happy life ". For Harrer, its success among males was also the supernatural. "Since it is not very nice, as reincarnation had to possess certain secret forces-type- to attract as many men. At least, it is said of it ". Anyway, docility with Beijing (interested in the) was manifested. "Today a salary of the State", Harrer concludes with a terseness that is a real moral of the popular adage "if you can not beat your enemy, UNETE has el ". Even for a reincarnation is difficult to make ends meet.
The smiles are cleared and we got the car surrounded by the entourage, now turned into a pack. One woman and a girl insults us spits us as we continue our journey. It is the tyranny of misery 5.000 meters.
The lake is behind Yamdrok. Ascend now Karo-la, which first overcome the 5.000 meters flanked by snow-capped peaks of over 6.000. A sharp jab spurs the chest while the road ascends the road, as if the body should ask a little respite before going up. We stopped just below the top of the port, at the foot of the imposing Glaciar de Nojin-Kangtsang, where a group of Tibetan farmers and their children beg a handful of yuan. While Bethlehem take a picture with the glacier behind, surround it with a smile spontaneously hospital assuming the role of extras. Then extend the hand. I have only ten yuan. I ask for five more, but I have no change. The smiles are cleared and we got the car surrounded by the entourage, now turned into a pack. One woman and a girl insults us spits us as we continue our journey. It is the tyranny of misery 5.000 meters.
The beauty of the Tibetan plateau soon dissolves the bitter aftertaste. They are landscapes of fields of barley, tractors solitary, peasants bike, herds of horses and vigorous streams that descend from the mountains. This barley is indispensable for the Tibetan plateau: hence obtain tsampa, the national dish of Tibet (roasted barley flour mixed with butter and salt) and chang (Tibetan beer). We tried some seeds while go back the Tumbayangchu, tributary of Tsangpo. The heat of the devil. I have never felt so close to the sun.
