| Gowa Tour |
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| When you first set your eyes on the Tibetan Gowa, a traditional boat made of yak's skin, you wonder how a boat that looks so flimsy (it's light enough to be hauled by one man) is going to carry ten people downriver for many days. But then the river journey begins, the gowa drifting along the Brahmaputra River at the pace of a power walk, and you become mesmerized by the view. The empty parched land undulates in every direction, with distant snow-dusted peaks dramatically piercing the luridly blue sky, views that are ever shifting from your perspective in the boat, each bend revealing a different vista. |
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The river trip, which starts near Lhasa, makes you understand why the Brahmaputra is considered the holy lifeline of Tibet. Its clear waters are enticing, and the water sustains the Tibetan hamlets - clusters of stone houses - sparsely scattered along its banks. It also carries you on metaphysically: over the course of several days on the river (you can choose between a three-day or seven-day tour), which include hikes to nearby villages and monasteries, and the nights spent in camps on the riverbank, the river takes something of an intimate, reassuring presence. It's the same quality that perhaps inspired the profundity you will see during the course of your journey, especially the holy caves of Drak Yangdzong. Perched high up a white cliff, the caves are full of holy petroglyphs; equally inspirational is the lofty view from the caves. Fittingly, then, the journey ends at the Samye Monastery, one of Tibet's oldest with a circular design modeled on a Mandala - a monastery that symbolizes the cosmos. |
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