25:37’.05N   100:16.10E

15th April 2011

Shiboa Mountain and Shaxi Village, (Sideng)

Shibaoshan has been developed to preserve rock carvings of Mahayana Budhism from Tibet, made over 1300 years ago.  It was a good climb up and down to see these interesting artefacts, amongst pristine natural forest.

The exposed rock face everywhere took on this formation of a turtle’s back pattern, caused by cascades of water running along it.  I’ve never seen anything like it before.

Our second guide, called

Gyasou is another Tibetan guide who replaced Dorgee whom we only had for two days.  The latter, poor boy had to return to his family when his cousin had fallen from a pylon he was wiring up, and hit his head on a stone!

Gyasou is unable to read Chinese (mandarin) as he was educated in Tibet.  However, he has been able to pick up English since he came to live in Shangrila, and the local dialect of Nepalese, Bai, Shaxi and Mandarin of course.  He was a Sherpa guide in Lhasa, and has done an enormous amount of very high mountainous trecking.  He trained as a monk for 18 months when he was a young boy in Lhasa, so is very well informed on the Buddha scripts and ways from Tibet.

The two flowers on the hillside, I think the Rhododendron is the prettiest!

We took a long walk downhill, once again a bit of a test on the knees for me, and perhaps Bunty, but Christine leaped away like a rabbit!

This man was walking up to the Shibao Temple where he lives to take care of the place, he obviously does it regularly!

In the Shaxi village (also known as Sideng) the market was just finishing as we walked down the street to our guest house.

The  children were just out from school too!  No cars allowed, our cases were collected in a handcart!

Bunty and Christine’s room downstairs, and my double bed upstairs, with all mod and ensuite

Sideng village has been renovated and is preserved under an award winning project by the Technical School of Zurich.  A walk outside in the morning revealed how well it was maintained:

The main square, now has a delightful cafe and other guest houses around it

This life size toy is a real little boy, waiting to be taken off in the hand car somewhere by his grandfather. 

I forgot to mention that Shaxi society is matriarchal.  The women walk over to a man from another clan and have a baby, then go back to their own clan for their mother’s family to bring them up.  If they have a boy, so much the better for helping doing the heavy work.  Therefore the Uncles become surrogate fathers, and cousins are their brothers and sisters.   Of course its the grandparents who do most of the bringing up, whilst the daughter is out working in the fields.