Historically this area was one of the old Tibet`s provinces, referred to as Kham and was home to Tibetan ethnic group Khampas known for being fierce warriors.
Danba (altitude 1800 m) - a great point to travel around picturesque Tibetan villages! One evening walk around Danba is quite enough...
...so in the morning we are headed to discover Tibetan villages!
SUOPO VILLAGE
Rope bridge and prayer flags...magical feeling crossing it!
Quite some veiws!
Beautiful Suopo village houses
Bought some figs from this lady
And then we wondered into the yard of one house...
..and met a very nice family there - grandparents taking care of all of their 6 grandchildren during the holiday time.
Sisters. 10 y/old & 3 months old :)
After showing us around their house we were invited for some tea :)
My first sip of true Tibetan Yak butter tea - almost like a salty version of my daily black tea with milk ;) - and great talks!
The main attraction of the village are ancient stone towers that originally served as storage space, place of worship and as defensive lookouts that helped to guard against outsiders.
Now some of the towers are used for storing goods, but most of them stand empty. Some families have rebuilt the inner wooden storeys of towers and adapted planks of wood to serve as staircases, so it`s possible to climb up for a small fee. (And that`s what we did ;)
Kids guiding us up the tower.
Our lunch in progress!
Looks simple, but it one of the best meals of the whole trip!
Our lunch "chef":)
Bye bye Suopo village
ZHONGLU VILLAGE
The only shop of the village
"Green" water boiling mechanism - same in front of every house :)
We had a plan when we arrived to Zhonglu village: we were going to find a Tibetan family and stay with them for a night!
And it worked out :) ...we wandered around...knocked....looked...and then we found this nice family that was ready to take us in for a night :)
Family portret + me ;)
Nimalamu - 3 month old girl.
Her parents - 24 y/old couple, got married last year and hope to have another child in a couple of years.
She - finished primary school, takes care of the child, house, little farm, cooks, etc.
He - car driver...I nick-named him HIP-HOPPER as I had the feeling he wouldn`t take his cap off even for sleeping...
They hope to work hard to be able to send Nimalamu to University one day.
Nimalamu & her mom
House we stayed in
My bed
View from top of the house
Neigbor`s house
We had really fun time having dinner with the family, talking about family, traditions, job, hopes, introducing our countries, and learning things about Tibetan culture..
...learning and experiencing :)
And in the morning after breakfast it`s time to move on, so we get into our "HIP-HOP" host`s car and travel back to Danba from where we will continue to Tagong Grasslands!
