Travel Photo of the Day: Tibetan Horseman

I dare you to try this!

Our travel group, going on an overland tour from Kathmandu, Nepal to Lhasa, Tibet saw this Tibetan horseman. He was one of a dozen or so horsemen who were doing their tricks out in the open field beside the highway. They were probably practising for a horse riding competition. Our driver and tour guide was kind enough to allow us a few minutes to watch the spectacle from the roadside.

This was how it goes as I observed it: the horseman starts out on top of his horse racing towards the other side of the track in regular upright position. He then twists his body around in the middle of the track to try to touch the ground with his hands without stopping the horse. He comes back upright on his horse again just before he reaches the end.

I don't know the objective behind this trick or its history. I know much less if there is actually a regular competition for this trick or hwo this is judged. But, there were about a dozen horsemen doing this trick one at a time. And while it was obviosuly not a full blown horse race or horse fetival, there were several spectators on one side who were cheering them on, probably people from their own community come to see the tricks or even judge who goes to comnpete.

Too bad we had to be on our way we didn't have the time to talk to any one of the horsemen or the cheering crowd. Some children came to us though, out of curiousity as most children in all parts of the world do. Maybe next time I go to Tibet, I will have the time to stop and talk to these people and learn about their culture...

Travel Photo of the Day: Turquoise Lake, Tibet

A lake on top of the world!

This is the Turquoise Lake in Tibet that takes more than two hours to circumnavigate by road. This can be seen along the highway from Nepal to Lhasa. It freezes during winter.

Travel Photo of the Day: Tibet Landscape

One of my favorite spots on planet Earth!


This is located along the highway from Nepal to Lhasa. The river in the valley leads to Turquiose Lake, a huge lake in the highest place on earth. Being in this spot makes me realize just how small and inconsequential I am, and all humans are, in the greater scheme of things.

Musings: Poem - The Invitation

Here's a very good poem that was shared by a colleague during one of our conferences and I love it so much I like to share it with you all. I don't know the source and the publisher. I hope the author will pardon me for quoting the whole poem here.

THE INVITATION

"It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for,
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love,
for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow,
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own,
without moving to hide it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own,
if you can dance with wildness and
let ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic,
or to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you’re telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself;
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.

I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine,
and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon “YES!”

It doesn’t interest me to know who you are, how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself,
and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments."

By:
Oriah Mountain Dreamer
a Native American Elder