Doker La, Yunnan-Tibet border

Doker La, Yunnan-Tibet border, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Kawa Karpo kora Day 3

Kawa Karpo kora Day 3, originally uploaded by jiulong.

This is the 'bowl pass' on the way to Chonatong camp.

Kawa Karpo kora: Looking down on Abing, Tibet (Nujiang)

Looking down on Abing, Tibet (Nujiang), originally uploaded by jiulong.

Kawa Karpo pilgrim with an iPhone

Kawa Karpo pilgrim with an iPhone, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Taken on Day 3 - on the way up to the Abing Pass. A pilgrim, like many, who spent a lot of the trek mucking about with his phone.

George Patterson 1920-2012.

Sad to hear of the death of the remarkable George Patterson, a Scottish missionary turned adventurer who was in Kangding at the time of the Chinese takeover of Tibet. George went to Tibet as a medical aid missionary on behalf of the Plymouth Brethren. Although he wasn't a qualified doctor, he lived and worked providing medical aid to the Khampa people of Kangding in the era 1947-50. When the Red Army invaded, he rode over the Himalayas on behalf of the Dalai Lama to send an appeal to the western and Indian governments via Sadiyah in India. After Tibet came under Chinese rule he went back to the west but later returned to Asia and made forays into China. He eventually settled back in Scotland, and I was surprised to hear that he was not only alive but  active at the time of the Beijing Olympic Games, protesting on behalf of a free Tibet. He even had his own website. His spirit and adventures were remarkable, but I have to admit that I found his books a bit hard going.

Close up of the Doker La pass.

Close up of the Doker La pass., originally uploaded by jiulong.

Western (Tibetan) side of the border pass between Yunnan and Tibet. Taken with a Bessa R2 90mm Tele-Elmar and Ektachrome. Oct 2012.

Doker La - from the Tibetan side.

Doker La - from the Tibetan side., originally uploaded by jiulong.

Kawa Karpo Kora

Kawa Karpo Kora, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Rolleiflex 3.5F and Ektachrome E100G

Cangshan, Dali, in 2012 - and 22 years earlier

Cangshan, Dali, by Rolleiflex 3.5F, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Here is a picture of the Cang Shan summit ridge - and specifically a place called 'Horse Drinking Pool'. This was taken in October 2012 with my Rolleiflex 3.5F and Ektachrome. Below is a picture taken by me from the same spot 22 years earlier. It was taken during my first ever trip to China in October 1990. I had just met my wife-to-be Linda in Guilin and was on the backpacker circuit doing Kunming-Dali etc before returning to Hong Kong. Me and a few other backpackers did a day hike up to the Cangshan peaks courtesy of Jim (of Jim's Peace Cafe), who hired a tractor to take us half way to the top on a rough service road. This first picture was taken with an old Praktika and used colour print film that was developed in HK. As you can see, in 1990 the summit area was fairly wild and untouched. now there is a cable car installed to bring tourists up to an alpine hut and walkway. I should say that this is quite tastefully done and fits in with the environment - quite unlike the concrete ugliness inflicted on the Yading nature reserve.

Cangshan mountain summit ridge, above Dali, Yunnan

Cangshan mountain summit ridge, above Dali, Yunnan, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Taken with a Rolleiflex 3.5F and Ektachrome E100G, October 2012.

Tibetan pilgrim woman on Kawa Karpo circuit, Oct 2012

Tibetan pilgrim woman on the Kawa Karpo circuit, October 2012, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Taken with Rolleiflex 3.5F and Kodak Ektachrome E100G. I think this was on Day 3, after we had tackled the Doker La.

Dali Cangshan summit ridge

Dali Cangshan summit ridge, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Interlude:this is a pic I shot on the summit ridge of the Cangshan range above Dali. It use to be a right old slog to get up here - we hiked up in 1991 and it was awesome. In Oct 2012 I went back and this time was able to take the new cable car all the way to the top (or at least to that Alpine Resort you can see in the background). Still a brilliant place - around 4000m.

Looking down into Tibet from the Doker La

Looking down into Tibet from the Doker La, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Just over the steepest bit! Taken with a Bessa R2, Summicron 35mm lens and Ektachrome E100G.

Tibetan kid on the Kawa Karpo kora trail

Tibetan kid on the Kawa Karpo kora trail, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Mt Miyetzimu, NW Yunnan

Mt Miyetzimu, NW Yunnan, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Kawa Karpo (Meili Xue Shan) at sunrise

Kawa Karpo (Meili Xue Shan) at sunrise, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Bessa R2, Tele-Elmar 90mm and Ektachrome.

The trek that my kids did ...

Scanning a few pics of the Kawa Karpo kora (well half kora ...) - including some of my teenage sons who did the trek with me back in October ...

Didn't they do well?

The Doker La

Doker La, originally uploaded by jiulong.

This is the first of my (many) pics from the Kawa Karpo outer kora - just a rough scan with a cheap Canon 8000F scanner - hoping to get my Epson working soon. Pic taken with Rolleiflex 3.5F and Ektachrome.

Kawa Karpo kora - want to see some amazing photos?

Unemployed and rather skint at the moment, which is frustrating when I have about 20 rolls of 35mm film and a similar number of 120 format rolls of Ektachrome from the October Kawa Karpo kora that still have to be developed.
While I'm waiting to visit CC Imaging in Leeds, have a look at these great pictures by Peter Jost - who did the full kora at the same time as me, but with a group of fellow Aussies.
There's another album of amazing photos from the same kora taken by our other trek mate Darren Farley (from Calgary). Some great portraits there of the many pilgrims we met along the way:

Dali Cangshan - wish I was here!

Dali Cangshan, originally uploaded by jiulong.

It's cold and grey in the UK.