Seda, the lamas institution

This summer I went to Seda (色达) , a small village in the Tibetan Area of Sichuan (Ganzi Autonomous Province). Seda is famous for its lama institution(Larung Gar) which is located 10 kilometers away from the village. Seda is a terrific spot, where not a lot of tourist go to. You’ll find approximately around 15.000 lama’s in here, which makes it the biggest settlement of lama’s. Seda is the only place in Sichuan Tibet Area where I’ve seen so many nuns ! Prior to arriving in the mountains of this wonderful institution, you’ll first need to find your way there. Seda is a city which is pretty much in no-man’s-land. The fastest way to get there from Chengdu is via Maerkang which will take you two days. Myself went there via Luhuo, because I came back from Dégé. Luhuo is also a good alternative to go to Seda, especially if you want to check out Kanding first. The road from Luhuo to Seda is very rocky and bumpy, the only way to get there is through a minivan. My recommendations is to stay at least one night, either at the foot of the institution or in Seda. To get from Seda to the institution will take you probably 15 minutes with a minivan. It is hard to get a minivan, I eventually ended up paying 40 Yuan together with my friend so we could ‘BaoChe’ which means you’re they only passenger, normally you would pay 6 Yuan pp. and wait until all seven seats are occupied. The Institution is high up in the mountains, which gives you an astonishing view if you walk to the top and look on the other side.

The minivan will drop you halfway the top near the biggest prayer hall. I was overwhelmed with all the small houses they live in. Immediately after I walked out the minivan people stared at me and looked surprised to see foreigners. The institution is overwhelming and the crowd (95% lama’s) is so large. The first thing I went to was the big square in front of the prayer hall.  The whole time I was flabbergasted by everything I saw. I’ve had a lot of experience with all sorts of Tibetan temples and lama’s, but this was so enormous and outstanding ! There is not so much of a tourist thing in this settlement, but the whole settlement is worth seeing. I walked through the narrow streets between all the houses. It is impressive to see that all houses are hand painted and see how it is like to be a lama. The majority of the lamas and nuns here are like a lot of ‘beginner lamas’ not prosperous. I wondered how these people can find their homes in this area ! One thing you should definitely do when you are here is to climb a mountain and enjoy the incredible view on the other side. It was so staggering and so breathtaking ! (I always call these moments, ‘a moment to just sit, stare and think about the beauty of life.)

After I’ve experienced one of the best views and moments in my life I looked for place the lunch. This is still a pretty though job, because it is very hard to find a place to have lunch. We managed to find a place where they served noodles. The restaurant was filled with lama’s and we were the only ‘outsiders.’ I talked to a nun, she told me she was from Luhuo and she only saw her family once a year. She told that she will not leave the institution and probably will live there forever. It felt so special to talk to a nun from this place, although I had experienced a lot with lama’s, one of my good friends in China is notably a lama in Dégé ! (Will talk about this in my second post) This place really had something special !

This place has even more to offer than I’ve seen. If you are a religious Buddhist, this place has even more to offer you and it did to me. One of my friends even went to see a traditional Tibetan burial. Everyday around 5 o’clock there is a burial ceremony on the hills and it is very shocking. I didn’t went to this burial, but from what I heard was that they cut the death body parts open and wait for the eagles to gobble it up.

At the end of the day, I had a great experience in this place and it is so unfair that the Chinese government undermined this place. This place is definitely worth visiting despite all the effort you have to put into it reach it.

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First blog post

Hello guys !

This is my first blog. I use this blog to write about certain topics, concerning Chinese culture, focused on Sichuan. Not only will I try to write about cultural issues but also use it as a travelers blog.  As I am biracial, I have good inside in both Western and Chinese culture, which, from my experiences, can conflict a lot, but we can also learn a lot about each other. More information about me you can find under the About section in the Menu.

I hope you enjoy reading my blog, and feel free to post any comments or questions !

Cheers,

Yeming 叶明