Animals and Surroundings
Winter Sport in Ritoma
Tibet is a country of lakes, and in winter they shimmer in the midst of the yellow grassland. Animals cautiously walk over them, licking the ic...
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Animals and Surroundings
CHADOR KHORCHEN
Past Ritoma Monastery, hidden from view on a hill is a small temple devoted to the meditational deity Chanadorje. It was built in the late 18th...
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Animals and Surroundings
Flower Garlands
Late Spring on the pasture is marked by the appearance of red and white clumps of Stellera Chamaejasme, or Ramarichok in Tibetan and attractive...
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Animals and Surroundings
Sheep and Sheep
Sheep are the largest contingent of domesticated animal on the Tibetan plateau. It is said there are about 20,000 in the small village of Ritom...
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Animals and Surroundings
Snow Days at Norlha
The signs of winter on the Tibetan Plateau cling fast; the earliest snow can come at the end of September, the latest in June. Though they brin...
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Animals and Surroundings
The Bright Side of Winter
In early September, the bright green of the pasture begins to fade into ochre, then yellow. Soon, all that is left of the intensity of summer a...
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Animals and Surroundings
First Snow
The first snow is a soft reminder that winter is coming. After a string of sunny, crisp days, it soothes the grassland in moisture, coaxing the...
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Animals and Surroundings
Autumn is Here
It starts with frosty mornings and frozen flowers. Soon the bushes turn red and yellow, and the pasture goes from green to golden with all the ...
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Animals and Surroundings
Ode to Summer
There is a magic ten days on the plateau in mid-July that marks the height of the wildflower season. Even during their busiest time of year, yo...
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Animals and Surroundings
Celebrating the Last of Summer
Spring on the plateau is the least remarkable of seasons. It creeps in quietly, with the exhausted pasture turning from brown to a timid green....
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