Ahwensung
This is the entire town of Ahwensung, a small Tibetan community almost two hours over terrible roads from Machu, which is not exactly a thriving metropolis.
A few minutes walk outside of Ahwensung I saw these riders heading off towards their nomad encampment. Nothing but a horse, a motorcycle (dirt bike preferred) or a four-wheel drive would make it to the camps in this area most of the year.
Ahwensung seemed to have so many novices and monks I worried that there may be women who can't find a husband. I only met one nun in Ahwensung, so the monk population is not being balanced out by the nuns, that's for sure! For more photos of the monks, please see the Ahwensung Monks page.
This is another example of the fun combination of styles that you can find out here. An Adidas warm-up jacket provides a layer under a traditional Tibetan coat. These coats are so great! I tried one on with a mind to buy it, and then changed my mind, because I would never wear it in Korea. They are huge, felted wool fabric on the outside, lining on the inside (I have two garments, one is lined with flannel in a very contrasting pattern, and one is lined with some sort of artificial satin-surrogate), and they are designed to keep one arm outside, stuck through the neck hole for most of the time. In the coldest weather only both arms go into the coat. The sleeves are long (and can be used as a spare bag, if the ends are tied off) and hang down towards the ground. The coat is belted closed with a sash, and the area above the belt is also a good storage area. My one photo of a guy who appeared to be wearing nothing but the coat (and also was on a horse and in his 50s at least) unfortunately did not come out well.
When the young man below came up and started speaking near-perfect English I shouldn't have been surprised. He, like many Tibetans, had spent several years in India and in that time he had picked up more than enough English to communicate easily- and yet here he was in a town where electricity is from generators and there is nothing even remotely akin to a septic system. Computers? Ha! You can see many more photos of the people in Ahwensung on the Ahwensung People in B & W and the Ahwensung Kids pages.
Ahwensung Ahwensung in B and W Ahwensung Kids Ahwensung Monks China Flowers Ganjia Grasslands Hezuo Karjam Labrang Monastery Linxia Linxia Farms in B and W Linxia Farm Kids Machu Machu People Nomads Near Ahwensung Qingdao Xiahe Xi'an
Andong Mask Dance Festival Tibetan Photos I Tibetan Photos II
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