30th August 2004 We are now at 3400m in the small village of Langmusi, bordering the Sichuan and Gansu provinces. It is mainly Tibetan in people and culture with a lot of Buddhist Monasterys nestled in amongst the mountains. Beautiful scenery with vast grasslands full of wild flowers. Today Rob had us dress up in the Tibetan garb for a bit of fun, but I believe it was so he could make a spectacle of himself, running down the hill with his sword unhilted as if he was about to start another revolution. It is interesting here as we have a guide who used to be a monk. He has been telling us a lot about the Buddhist way of life. Although they have to be very careful as they are not supposed to tell us anything about their political views and about the Dalai Lama. We are trying to adjust to the altitude drinking plenty of water. I am definitely feeling it more here than I did climbing Kili. The temperatures have dropped considerably although quite warm when the sun is out. We have now gone from the nice hotels to the budget with hot water only sometimes. Tomorrow night we have a homestay in a local tibetan village. Should be fun!! We have been busy visiting villages and monasterys - Rob and I even did the Labrang Kora. This means walking around the whole monastery in the evening with the locals, spinning the praywheels - 1147 of them. It was about 3km in total. Not sure that is going to help us much in getting to a higher position in our afterlife but worth a try. We also met a goat that used to be a monk in a previous life but he wasn't a good one. Now he sits in front of the monastery as an example to all the other monks. Rob tried to make friends!!! Today Rob tried the Yak Attack Burger - yep Yak's meat. He has also been trying to find out if he can ride one. His long hair has made him a bit wild I think. But it sure would be funny! Well that's all for now. We will be in Chengdu in a couple of days so we can maybe let you all know how the homestay goes. Rob and Kylie xxxx