COME TO TIBET THIS SUMMER!

    

Service Learning Trip to Tibet

To benefit the Pureland Project

July 1st-July 29th 2012

                Kham is considered the wild west of Tibet, inhabited mostly by nomads, the rugged mountains are not hospitable to any other way of life. Tours to the region are quite rare, yet as roads are built, the area is seeing rapid change.

                This service learning trip will be led by Meg Ferrigno (Pema Lhamo), who lived in this region from 2004-2008 has been leading trips to the area for the last three years. She leads the trips not only to share the precious wisdom of Tibet and expose people to its sacred spirit, but also to show the Tibetans how valued and respected their culture is by the outside world. Meg voluntarily leads the tours to raise funds for Garchen Rinpoche’s village school projects which she manages under the Pureland Project. Jamyang, a Tibetan writer and ASIA foundation translator will also co-lead the trip. He will share his knowledge of Tibetan culture, Buddhism and grassroots development work.

                We will begin the tour in Xining, an amazing city built on the Silk road, slowly making our way to Nagchen, Kham we will stop in Yushu to see Tibetan resilience in action and observe how the city is rebuilding from a devastating earthquake in 2009. Our time in Nangchen will be spend primarily in traditional summer tents with the school communities learning traditional crafts and helping students create exports that will support their schools in the future. Every day will begin with optional yoga and meditation class, followed by Tibetan lessons. Our last part of the journey will be spent in Amdo’s largest monastery, Labrang, where we will tour the temples and absorb the history of this pilgrimage site.

   

2012 Trip Schedule:

July 1-2
http://www.garchen.net/
All students begin in Prescott, Arizona for a two day orientation and cultural briefing by their leader.  Students visit Garchen Buddhist Institute/Temple in Chino Valley near Prescott for orientation to Tibetan Culture.

July 3-4 Fly PHX- LAX-PEK-XNN (Xining)

We will travel from phoenix to LA to Beijing to Xining (where we will meet Jamyang our Tibetan guide). We will stay two nights to rest in a great little youth hostel where you can connect with other travelers and explore this city that was a major stop along the silk road hundreds of years ago.

July 5^th XNN

We will take the day to explore Xining and taste the different cultures that live here.

July 6th Xining to Yushu

http://www.plateauperspectives.org/yushu.htm
We will wake early to drive all day from xining to Yushu (Jeykundo-Tib.). Jeykundo is a fabulous little town where we will rest for the evening. This district center was leveled by and earthquake in April of 2009.

July 7^th Yushu to Nangchen to GarGon
http://www.nangchen.org/
After a chinese breakfast, we will take the 4 hour drive to nangchen where we will have lunch  and take a stroll through the town some have likened to the wild west. the next four hours in the jeep will be incredibly scenic as we leave the beaten path and enter the truly nomadic regions of the borderlands. We will reach the monastery in time for dinner, meeting some of the community we will spend the next 2 weeks learning with. Our food from now on will be mostly nomadic cuisine- roasted barley flour with butter from female yak (dri), yogurt and dried yak meat.

July 8^th- 15th GarGon

http://thepurelandproject.blogspot.com/
http://www.anusara.com/
http://www.dhamma.org/
Optional morning meditation and yoga will be offered for 2 hours for the remainder of the course. Breakfast will be followed by a hour long Tibetan class. And for the first week we will pair off in each classroom at the village school working with the students and teachers on math, English and P.E. During this time we will stay in the lower monastery, taking hikes to different sites.

July 15^th-25^th Picnic!

Over the next 10 days we will join the annual school picnic. We will move out of the monastery and into traditional picnic tents, where we will celebrate summer with the community. We will be learning traditional crafts, helping students make crafts to export in order to raise funds for the school programs. We will also be teaching English through games and working intensively with 2 teachers on their English language skills. During this time we will be camping and there will be no running water and the only electricity will be from a generator and a solar panel.

July 25th  GarGon to Yushu
we will say our goodbyes in the morning and drive to nangchen for lunch and make it to yushu for dinner. students can explore town and  take hot showers.

July 26^th Yushu to Xining to Labrang
http://tochinaandbeyond.com/destinations/gansu/xiahe/
we will fly to xining then travel by car 6 hours to Labrang to discover Amdo’s largest geluk monastary.

July 27^th Labrang

 Labrang  is a vibrant monastic community where our guide, Jamyang studied philosophy for a number of years. He will show us the historical temples and explain about the monastic culture and speak to us about Buddhist philosophy. Since labrang is a major institution, this has become a bit of a tourist town, we will have some free time here for shopping and individual exploration.

July 28^th Labrang to Xining
http://sites.google.com/site/xnlete/%E4%BB%8B%E7%BB%8D%E8%8B%B1%E6%96%87
Travel 4 hours from labrang to Xining and again stay in Lete Youth Hostel. Enjoy our last night at a tibetan night club and chinese night market

July 29th
Flight from Xining to LAX to Phoenix drive to Prescott

A Note for prospective students: This trip includes extensive time on the road. In order to reach our destination, the group travels over roads that are long, bumpy, and dusty. We may need to cross rivers in jeeps, wait for landslides to clear, push our vehicles out of sticky spots or make detours. The altitude is high, the food choices are limited, and the group camps for several days. There is also rare internet, limited cell phone coverage, limited solar electricity, few showers, and mostly only outhouses. Students have daily language classes and required to read a book and report about Tibet during orientation.  The travel is challenging and rewarding! Stamina, patience, and good teamwork are required. All students/participants on this trip must agree to strictly adhere to a no alcohol or drugs policy throughout the course.

Trip Cost: $2,700

All in country travel, lodging, food, guides and entry fees will be covered. The cost of the trip includes a $600 donation to the gar schools project, this is a tax deductable donation. Your guide Meg Ferrigno (Pema Lhamo) is donating her travel, translation and leadership in order for this donation to be reasonable for all travelers. Please be mindful that  this is a service learning trip, part of this journey is a practice of generosity.

Expected External Costs:

Roundtrip Airfare from U.S.A. to Xining (XNN) China $1,500

Chinese Visa (1 month) $130

Personal travel Insurance (1 month) $80

Spending Money $300

For More Information Please visit:

www.thepurelandproject.org

Or email: thepurelandproject@gmail.com

In order to travel at this price we need to have 8 participants! 

****This price is based on shared occupancy rooms, and shared local style meals, if you have special needs we can make special arrangements and adjust your price.