探秘异域人文 西藏是一个什么样的世界

TIBET, MAY— JUNE 2001 - What makes Tibet so special ? Its people. This story tells the tale of the people of Tibet I've encountered on my travels through this amazing part of the world, and is meant as a tribute to their faith and courage. I try to evoke the scenes I've seen, but you have to see it yourself to believe it.
2001年5至6月，西藏 — 是什么让西藏如此特殊？ 答案是其人。这个故事讲述了我在西藏这片神奇的土地上旅行中所遇到的关于西藏人民的故事。 是指对他们的信念和勇气地赞颂。我试图回忆起我所见过的场景，但是你非得你自己去亲眼见证才能真正地相信我所说的。

Lhasa
拉萨
Let's start in the capital, Lhasa in the barkhor area, near the Jokhang temple. Take a moment to relax and sit down on the square in front of the Jokhang, and observe the people. The most obvious are the owners of the souvenirs stalls , which try to attract your attention. Filter these ones out, and what you see is the real heart of Tibet : the pilgrims, monks, nuns, children, women going to the market place,... See the pilgrims prostrating in front of the Jokhang - some have been traveling for months from their home, or see them chanting and rotating their prayer wheels.
让我们从它的首府开始说起，拉萨在八廊街地区，临近大昭寺。花一点时间在大昭寺前面的广场放松和坐下休息一下，观察着路过的人群。最明显的是卖纪念品的小摊主，他们试图引起你的注意。过滤掉这些，你看的将是西藏真正的核心：朝圣者，僧侣，尼姑，孩童，女人缓缓地走向集市…看那朝圣者们匍匐在大昭寺的前面—其中的一些已经花了几个月的时间从他们家乡旅行到这，或者看他们咏唱和转动经轮。

Now do some 'koras' on the Barkhor. Again avoid the souvenirs sellers, but go into the side alleys, and discover the horn-and-cymbals-playing-monks and the chanting nuns; let the prayer wheels rotate that are placed on several spots along the way, discover a crowded courtyard full of ordinary people drinking yak butter tea... Do the same walk many times; everytime something else will be around the corner. Then enter the darkness of the Jokhang (where only tourists buy tickets), smell the yak butter lamps and queue in line with the hundreds of Tibetans to see the Jowo. Go into the different chapels and look and listen... This is all too much for your senses; it's not a museum you visit, you're part of the daily life of Tibet now, this is living culture you experience. Then when it becomes all too much, go to the roof and see the beautifull sights, and bathe in the light, be surrounded by goldplated roofs. If you're lucky, discuss with some of the monks. It will be hard to leave this place because you just can't figure out what is realy happening and want to understand, experience it all again...
现在让我们在八廊街游索一番，记得二度避免卖纪念品地小贩们，但是进入侧边的小巷，发现用角和钹演奏地僧侣和咏唱地尼姑；沿途地几个点上放置着可以让行人转动的祈祷轮，发现在一个拥挤地小院里许多地普通民众正在品着酥油茶…多次走同样的小道，每次总有一些其它的东西出现在转角周围处。然后进入大昭寺的黑暗当中（只有游客需要买票），闻着用酥油点的灯，和数以百计地西藏人民一起排着长队去看佛陀等身像。进入不同地小房间中凝视聆听着…耳目所不能及也；你不是在参观一个博物馆，现在你是西藏日常生活地一部分了，你经历的这是活生生的文化。然后当渐觉疲惫之时，去屋顶观光美景，在阳光下沐浴，被镀金的屋顶所环绕。如果你足够幸运，和其中的一些喇嘛讨论。这是一个让人很难离开的地方，因为你还不能弄清楚什么是真正地发生了，什么是你想要明白的，而这一切你似乎都不能再次地去经历…

Villages and nomads
村庄和牧民
But there is more than religion alone. When you go into the 'true wilderness' of Tibet, you will encounter the people in the little villages and the nomads with their yaks, and the horsemen along the way. If possible your guide can bring you into a Tibetan home where you can have some yak butter tea with the family... Go to the local restaurants, where the cook first comes taking to you (a phrase book is handy) and then starts cooking. The other locals will come and look while you have your diner, as if they've never seen someone eating noodles. Or you will encounter the sales men and women, who still travel like they used to do in medieval times, on foot and with mules and donkeys. In any of these encounters the children will encirle in large numbers, and if you have cameras (who hasn't ?), you will be very popular. It made me happy to meet at some occasion children that were just curious and playfull and not only beggars.
但是不仅仅只有宗教。当你走入西藏真正的野外，你将会遇到小村落里的人们、牧民以及他们的牦牛，还有沿途地骑马的人。如果可能的话，你的导游能将你带到藏民的家里去，那你将能在那里和他们一起品尝酥油茶…去到当地的餐厅，那里的厨师会首先来跟你交谈（有一本短语书会很方便），然后才开始烹煮。当你在用餐时其它的当地人会来看你，就好像他们从来没有见过别人吃面条似的。或者你会遇到推销的男人和女人们，他们仍像中世纪过去的那样，带着螺子和驴徒步旅行。在这些遭遇者当中孩子们将会占据大部分，如果你有相机的话（谁又没有呢？），你将会变得很受欢迎。在一些场合遇到的一些孩子们让我十分开心，他们大多是出于好奇和玩耍心而不仅仅是因为乞讨。

It's impossible to forget the people of Tibet. It's amazing how they still have preserved their culture. You will leave Tibet with an ever lasting impression.
要忘掉西藏的人民是不可能地，他们仍然那么的努力地去保存他们的文化，是那么地让人惊奇。你将带着从来没有过的印象离开西藏。