Cranky German

Category: Uncategorized

  • Drepung Monastery Kitchen

    These pots and stoves once fed 7000 monks and are still being used for the remaining 700.

  • Lhasa Impressions II

  • Lhasa Impressions

    Even with the Potala Palace, amazing monasteries and incredible mountains in the vicinity what remains most unforgettable are the pilgrims with their wide range of outfits, weathered faces, open gazes and life stories that we can only sense but will never know.

  • Jokhang

    Soon Da Nuo will have slapped the names and purposes of all the Buddhas into our heads just as the debating monks emphasize their questions with a clap of their hands.

  • Mountain Sonata

    Soaring across myriads of mountains nameless to us yet leaving us with an indelible impression of how remote Lhasa once was.  

  • Tibet On The Horizon

    As the sun sets on Shangri-La we ready our bags for an early flight to Lhasa. Even if people here don’t live for a couple of centuries as in the fictional Shangri-La this town was good to us. Great family style dinners at the CrossRoad guesthouse, local peaks to climb, yak pie and Tibetan disco…

  • Light A Couple Of These And Your Sins Will Be Forgotten

  • Morning In Shangri-La (really this time)

    Minds giddy with the thin air of 3200 meters we are closing in on Tibet. Already Yak carcasses are dangling from store fronts and prayer flags are everywhere.

  • On the Road to Shangri-La: Tiger Leaping Gorge

    A towering redwood above the apple tree that is Hell’s Canyon in Oregon, Tiger Leaping Gorge soars some 3900 meters above the water of the Yangzi river. The Yulong Xue mountain, i.e. Jade Dragon Snow mountain stands watch with its 5500 meters. Enjoy the sight while it lasts as plans to dam the river will…

  • Yin and Yang: Laborer and Folklore Disco

    Lijiang is a place of extreme contrasts as hords of affluent Chinese tourist with fat Canons with L-lenses dangling from their necks amble through the narrow alleys of this ancient city come outdoor shopping mall. The stores sell some interesting trinkets that show local color and the bars have women dressed in local tribal outfits…