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THINGS TO PREPARE
And what to expect

As His Holiness the Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa says repeatedly, "Pilgrimages should be a great purifier and should involve some physical hardships."

We can be quite certain that the challenges we will be encountering during the forthcoming pilgrimage and prayer ceremonies in Nangchen, Eastern Tibet, will be great support for our spiritual path and our development of devotional attitude towards genuine masters and their lineages.

As Qinghai province is a mountainous region, there will definitely be times that some people may suffer from a certain degree of mountain sickness, especially in Nangchen and even in Yushu. You should consult your doctors before embarking on such a trip if you have health concerns.

For many people who have gone on a pilgrimage or traveled with His Holiness the Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa and/or His Eminence the Eighth Trulshik Adeu Rinpoche, or any great master of present age, it is not unusual to expect a sudden change in schedule, itinerary and programs. Sometimes these changes might not have seemed intentional, such as snowing, raining, flood, etc. all kinds of natural phenomena that might appear in an unlikely season or time according to scientific weather forecast. Therefore, as pilgrims on a spiritual path, it is best not to expect physical comfort and luxuries, even if the conditions seem quite possible to have all these within reach, because the least one expects, the better things seem to be turning out.

LIMITED FACILITIES IN NANGCHEN

Much unlike Kunming, Lhasa, Chengdu and many parts of Tibet, Nangchen is not a widely traveled region, therefore it has very limited facilities for visiting tourists. But for seasoned pilgrims and travelers, they should not worry too much, because before and after the journey to Nangchen, there are plenty of modern facilities to enjoy in Xining and Yushu.

As much as the organizing members wish to provide the most luxurious camping facilities in Nangchen, unfortunately this is not possible due to the undulating landscape in the vicinities of the two monasteries where the tents will be pitched. Therefore, there is very little flat land for setting up tents, and not only that, some land should also be provided for many other local nomadic people who will also be joining us in this very rare and precious occasion, 

A few huge tents will be set up for the registered foreign pilgrims, in each twenty pilgrims will be accommodated (male and female to be in separate tents). Each pilgrim will be provided with a bed, a pillow and a blanket, all brand new.

In the entire Nangchen, there is no supply of electricity and no shower or bathing facilities. Please re-charge all your electrical gadgets and clean yourself nicely in Yushu before going to Nangchen for the few days of spiritual journey. Although there are a few natural streams, it is still best not to bathe oneself in them because the stream water is extremely cold.

Each bus will be provided with a qualified doctor and some nurses to help those who may suffer from high mountain syndromes.

Should there be any shortcoming with any part of the arrangement, please do not hesitate to reflect to the organizing members, and also give them the opportunity to resolve and improve the situation.

COOPERATION

In every pilgrimage or spiritual gathering, there could be tested times where our tolerance and patience are challenged, when we least expect these to happen. But please remember that in all pilgrimages and holy occasions, we all need to be understanding and supportive towards one another so that the entire event will be beneficial for ourselves and those around us, especially for the longevity of our precious masters and for the sake of their lineage.

As we may travel in a large group, it is imperative that we move very quickly in a disciplined manner in order not to miss any sites or flights (or miss any one). For ease of administration and to ensure no one is left behind, you will be assigned to travel in different buses or jeeps (such as buses or jeeps 1, 2, 3, 4 and etc...) throughout the whole pilgrimage whenever we travel in the tour buses or jeeps.

Each bus will be assigned a bus leader (excluding the travel guide) to co-ordinate the group's boarding. The identities of the bus leaders will be advised in due course. We urge you all to kindly look out for your fellow pilgrims on the same bus to help ensure that no one is missing. You will be advised which bus group you belong.

Throughout the pilgrimage, your luggage will follow you in the same bus as you are assigned.  You will be given color coded luggage tags, please tag them onto your luggage. This is to facilitate the porters to load the luggage onto the respective buses and make counting luggage easier.  You will also be given corresponding color ribbons to be tied onto your luggage for easy identification.

Each registrant will be given an identity tag. Please wear it all the time because permission to enter into most of the main shrines of the various monasteries and into the cafeteria for having meals will require a show of the tag.

There are telephone roaming services in Xining, so your mobile will work well there. But there are no such services in Yushu and Nangchen. In case of emergency, we will provide you with a telephone number to contact when the time is closer to the pilgrimage. We apologize that information regarding local telephone numbers are not yet available.

PRACTICE TEXTS

THINGS TO BRING