Shannon Helland (life-unlimited.biz)
Festival in Tibet, mysterious, caught in China's grip, but open to visitors.
In May of 2005, Shannon had the opportunity to travel to Tibet with her teacher and the founder of the Unlimited Network, Arne Rantzen. The following are emails that were sent home to friends and family during the journey, along with a few pictures. They tell the story of the physical trip but say little about the spiritual journey that occurred along the way.
May 5
It's either 2:50 AM or 3:25 AM depending on which of the two clocks in my immediate sight I look at. We're in Bangkok on a 12 hour layover before heading out to Nepal at about 10 AM Bangkok time. The Thai massage shop here in the airport was a great luxury...a 60 minute massage for $26! It's a combination of unabashed stretching as well as rubbing in the more familiar Swedish style and perfect for a weary traveler....
May 6
I've made it this far. We arrived in Kathmandu and were greeted at the airport by the scent of incense burning as we waited in line to get our visas. The hospitality team that orchestrated the travel plans for us [schlepped] sherpa-ed our bags to the bus and gave us each a lei, that we termed Him-a-leis, which paired nicely with the orchid corsages that the airline gave all of the women as we landed....
Tibetan nunnery: happy hosts and warmly greeted guests
May 8
We are still in Kathmandu, Nepal until tomorrow morning though we've been traveling around to different towns and monasteries in the Kathmandu Valley. It's warm -- 80 ish -- and very comfortable. Yesterday we traveled to Pharping and had an audience with a Tibetan Lama named Tenga Rinpoche, akin to the Dali Lama. While the altitude on this trip has not at all been an issue yet, walking into his room made my head spin for all the elevated energy he personally has....
May 12
We'll, we made it -- finally -- to Lhasa. There have been a few amazing experiences these last few days, and a few frustrating ones....
May 22
I wasn't able to log on to my email account from Tibet the last night I was there. I don't know if it was an AOL thing, or if it was a China thing. Either way, it's good to be in a country where I feel a little less monitored. Anyway, 5 of the last 7 nights we were in Tibet were spent camping. We first spent a night in a beautiful mountain valley at just down from a nunnery in the Shannan (yes, truly) region of Tibet....More>>
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