Well, I’m sure in the days ahead I’ll have some good stories to share with you about my time in Xiahe/Labrang. For now, here’s the best of the pics I took with some brief explanation.

This panoramic picture was taken on our hike where we summited a peak at about 11,000 feet. We’re looking down on Xiahe (on western edge of the Gansu province) which is basically the Chinese name for the Tibetan city of Labrang. The whole town basically grew out of the monastery. It’s now a touristy type place where many westerners head in the summertime.

Many faithful Tibetan buddhists visit the sites below to perform various rituals to gain merit so they can (hopefully) eventually "break out" of the cycle of life, death, and rebirth they feel trapped in…