Young Monks Chant

Word to wise, if a monk/ -apprentice ever asks you for money, he is simply a begger in monk's clothing. Monks can certainly rely on donations but are never to ask for them. So it is generally quite easy to spot the reals ones from the fake. These young boys I saw on the streets of Lhasa are the real deal so I certainly made a contribution after filming them.

Maybe I had too much coffee before I shot this but it is a little too shaky for my liking.

Young Monks Chant 7 megs 1:10min quicktime

Monk Tending Candles

When the pilgrims visit mon-asteries, they used to bring Yak butter as a fuel offering to help keep the candles burring. Today, vegetable oil is used which burns much cleaner and is actually much healthier for the Monks. This monk is tending to one of the monetary candles.

I had very little footage to work with in this sequence and there was also very little light. So I decided to slow the footage down which in addition to adding a nice dramatic quality to his work allowed me to get enough footage to make the sequence work.
Monk Tending Candles 6.7 megs 1:01min quicktime

Blue Truck Driving

Time to shift gears a bit. When you spend 16 days driving around in a beat up old workhorse of a Toyota truck through desert, mountains and rivers you can't help but grow attached to the thing. This video shows our blue truck in all its glory. The gooofy guy pointing at the camera is me getting my first glimpse of Mt. Everest. The shot at the end are my two travel companions Kathy and Andrew that are grabbing a snooze. Kathy wore a mask in the truck all the time becuase the dry dusty roads kicked up a lot of...well...dust.

The music track is 'Crunch' by the Doves from their Lost Sides CD. Although, it is very differnt that the other music in this series, I think it does a nice job of driving the video forward. I had a lot of fun making this video.

Travels in Tibet: Blue Truck Driving 16.9 megs 2:43 min quicktime

The Barkor Circuit

The Barkor circuit in Lhasa is a circumam -bulation route around the buildings surrounding the Jokhang Temple. It is an amazing site to watch the Pilgrams who come from all over the country walk around it almost endlessly. Take note of all the diffent regional influences in the clothes. At the start of the video, you will see a couple of people who are prostrating themselves around the circuit which earns you even more merit. Personally, seeing how some of the older people manage to carry themselves around, I think they are the ones who deserve the most merit

I probably spent more time editing this video than any of the others. I kept coming back to it for months on end. I finally ended up cutting about 4 minutes off the final edit and being more overt about cutting it to the beat of the music which is something I don;t generally do.
Travels in Tibet: The Barkor Circuit 30 megs 4:59 min quicktime

Young girl sings

I found this girl with a number of her friends in the Yarlung valley around the Valley of Tombs. I asked her if she wouldn't mind singing a song to my camera. She chose a song that her mother used to sing to her. I think her voice is great.

I only wish I could have asked her to sing it twice so I could have got more footage to play with as I was editing it.

Ahhh that is the editor in me speaking. Forget him... the artist in me says I already have too many cuts as it is.

I am only uploading this as quicktime as a test to see if anyone wants me to include wmv versions?

Travels in Tibet: Young Girl Sings 4.8 megs 0:46 min quicktime

Buying Yak Cheese

I love Yaks (as you will see later...) so I had to try Yak cheese, but I only wanted a few pieces. Little bit of a language barrier between buyer and seller going on here. I ended up buying the whole darn chain and giving most of it to our guides (who rather enjoyed it). I was glad I tried it though cause Yaks are wicked cool animals. If you get the chance try Yak cheese, it is an experience. It is sort of like eating a hard cheese version of an everlasting gobstopper.

No fancy editing here and the video is nice and short.

P.S. I capitalize the 'Y' in Yak in this post becuase I think Yaks are worthy of such distinction

Travels in Tibet: Buying Yak Cheese 5.5 megs 0:55 min Quicktime
Travels in Tibet: Buying Yak Cheese 6.3 megs 0:55 min WMV

Kids at play

Kids don't need much to have fun. Buses and wheel -barrows are all fair game. But it never fails, it always ends in tears.
Thankfully grandma is not far away


Travels in Tibet: Kids at Play 8.0 megs 1:16 min Quicktime
Travels in Tibet: Kids at play 10.1 megs 1:16 min WMV

Jokhang Roof Workers

Who ever thought that pounding down and smoothing out the clay floors or roofs in Tibet could be such a musical and communial experience. This particular group is working on the roof of the Jokhang temple in Lhasa which is the most important temple and spiritual centre of Tibet. After the song was over another lady would come around and pour water to keep the floor damp and another song would start up again.

I wonder what kind of reaction a bunch of burly constructions workers in North America would get if they appproached their work in a similar musical fashion?


Travels in Tibet: Jokhang Roof Workers 10.9 megs 1:44 min Quicktime
Travels in Tibet: Jokhang Roof Workers 10.9 megs 1:44 min WMV

Prayer Wheels and Monks

Wherever you go in Tibet there are generally two things you can count on seeing, Prayer wheels and Monks. The idea behind a prayer wheel is that on them and/or inside them they contain prayers or mantra. Each time the wheels spins one revoltution the prayer is 'read'.

I am not exactly sure what it is but, I am not as happy as I was hoping I would be with the final outcome of this video. Perhaps, becuase it probably should have been two seperate ideas rather than one longer one. I really like the first half of it though. Perhaps I should have worked harder on this one. Enjoy the first half anyway ;)

Travels in Tibet: Prayer Wheels and Monks 22.5 megs 3:43 min Quicktime
Travels in Tibet: Prayer Wheels and Monks 27.5 megs 3:43 min WMV