Conclusions
During this voyage I omitted to photograph the new cities built according to the Chinese model which are, to me, an insult to tibetan civilization. It is undoubtedly a lapse for those who want to discover all the faces of Tibet. Furthermore, the richest interiors of the monasteries could not be photographied, either because volumes required a lot of powerful electric spots, or because of the presence of monks who prohibited photographing. The map hereafter shows their locations. - As for the number of visited monasteries, we could enter 87, 1 was closed and 1 I could foresee the interior through the openings of the first floor, 1 was in ruins and we were driven back in front of Tarting G. The map hereafter shows us their locations.
- In total we visited 87 monasteries, 1 was closed and 1 I could foresee the interior through the openings of the first floor, 1 was in ruins and we were driven back in front of Tarting G. The map hereafter shows their locations.
click to see the temple and click on it to come back
- One of our goals was to check the precision of geographical positions in longitude and latitude as the charts resolution is higher than the majority of the known maps. Although there seemed to be some disparity between the two, the result was quite satisfactory. One sees on the attached map the roads before the departure and the position of the toponyms which we carried out. The most significant deviations was approximately 500m.
- With regard to the toponymic study, it is out of the scheme of this presentation. It enabled us to clear up the method used by the Chinese to transcribe the tibetan toponyms. It seems that the differences that one notes can be explained by the fact that the teams dealt with the problems of phonetic transcription by different methods. Finally the tibetan spelling was noted where possible.
- Postscript:Tibet is certainly with Egypt the country owing the most facinating treasories in art of the world. But the Tibetan cultural heritage is quite new for us.To appreciate the travel, a minimum of knowledge on the main historical and religious facts is necessary. Local guide take the entrance ticket for you but are enable to give any detailed explanation.
Sometimes, the facts and the emotions I tried to transcribe can appear excessive. I am happy to have had my son as witness. For us, these facts will remain marked forever in our memory. Upon our return home, our listeners gently smile about this. They should have been allowed to take them seriously. For Olivier and I, we know now that other forms of life and thoughts exist and that our mode of Occidental life can in no way become a model for the future.