In just a few weeks, it will be the 4th anniversary of the Yushu Earthquake. The earthquake occurred just before 8am on April 14th, 2010. It was a 7.1 magnitude earthquake that killed over 20,000, however the “official” government toll is only listed at 2698. The earthquake left nearly 80,000 people across the extended region homeless for the next 2 1/2 years. The earthquake destroyed over 90% of the buildings in the region. The 6 months following the earthquake was spent taking down all the buildings in the area, including the handful that survived the earthquake. After that, the government came in to start the rebuilding phase, which was expected to take 3 years.
Tibetan woman prostrating around the Gyanak Mani Temple, which is the largest collection of hand-carved prayer stones in Tibet. There are between 3 and 4 BILLION hand-carved stones here that contain Buddhist mantras written on them.
Prayer flags looking out to the mountains in Nangchen. There are tens of thousands of mountains across Tibet that are covered in prayer flags like this.
Buddhist pilgrims walking around snow-covered prayer stones in the Nangchen region.
Experiencing the earthquake was something that we will never forget. Not a single day goes by that we don’t think about it. We had several close friends who were killed in the earthquake along with numerous other friends who were inured. The entire region that we had been traveling to for nearly 7 years was literally wiped off the map. The last time our family was in the Yushu region together was in August 2010, a little over 4 months after the earthquake. During this visit in August, we had to camp about 7 miles outside of town as there were no hotels anywhere in the region. The town at that time was still just rubble and a complete mess. At that time, we never thought the area would be rebuilt.
Jamin continued to travel to Yushu prefecture as much as possible after the earthquake to visit friends, make prayer journeys and to work with on-going relief projects. However, Tamara and the boys weren’t able to make the long journey into he high mountains…..until recently.
In November 2013, the government announced that 95% of the reconstruction in Yushu prefecture was completed. A celebration was held that included top level officials from Beijing. Jamin went to Yushu prefecture in early November and saw for himself that the construction throughout the region was nearly completed. With Tamara and the boys having over 7 weeks off of school during the winter, our family planned a trip to Yushu prefecture for the first time in 3 1/2 years.
Josiah with a new Kham Tibetan friend from Jyekundo. They are standing at the starting point of a pilgrimage route around a mountain Tibetans consider holy.
Tyler standing on the nomad grasslands at 13,000 feet above sea level.
We loaded up the 4WD and began the long drive south through the mountains. For high altitude acclimatization purposes, we stayed at a town that sits just under 10,000 feet to allow our bodies to adjust to the high mountains. Early the next morning, we drove the remaining distance, arriving in town at dinner time. Altogether, the drive took just under 16 hours to complete over 2 days.
Immediately upon entering Jyekundo, the capital of Yushu prefecture, Tamara was amazed at how great the reconstruction looked and how orderly things were. Before the earthquake, Jyekundo was known to be quite chaotic with wild-haired nomads walking down the street, herds of yaks sifting through piles of garbage that were everywhere and crazy motorcycle drivers who seemed to be on some kind of suicide mission! This time though, we were all amazed on how nice and orderly things looked. The streets are nice and wide and offered parking (something that didn’t exist before). All of the buildings were nice and in a modern Tibetan design. Overall, we were pleasantly surprised with how nice everything looked!
An older Tibetan man spinning his prayer wheel inside a Buddhist monastery during a prayer time.
A village located beneath a mountain covered in prayer flags
Prayer flags are almost everywhere you look across Yushu prefecture.
Our family spent 4 nights in Jyekundo exploring town, meeting with people and enjoying the amazing mountain views. Sitting at over 12,000 feet above sea level, the mountain air and scenery in Yushu prefecture are quite spectacular. After our time in Jyekundo, we drove a further 125 miles south to Sharda, the capital town of Nangchen county. This Wild West cowboy town is a bit rough and crazy and quite uncivilized, however, it is one of our favorite places in Yushu Prefecture. Tibetan culture in this region is well preserved. Buddhism is strong across Tibet, but even more so in this region, which has nearly 150 monasteries.
When we were in Nangchen it snowed nearly everyday we were there. The hotels in the area are all quite poor. Though we were staying in the best hotel in town, it smelled like an open sewer and had no, heat despite night time temperatures reaching down to around 0°F. Even though it was quite cold and snowy, our family had a really fun time the 4 days we spent in this region. Many of our friends from this area were either in the city or in Lhasa for Tibetan New Year celebrations. But we still had a great time praying over the area and we were able to make a few new friends. Josiah and Tyler loved hiking in the mountains and made some friends of their own with young monks from a monastery.
We came upon heavy snow and high winds on our journey back to the city. The bad weather caused the drive home to require 27 hours of driving, often times in white-out conditions.
The new modern-style Tibetan buildings found in Jyekundo
Beautiful new Tibetan style buildings in downtown Jyekundo
Altogether, our family spent 11 days on the high plateau and we loved every minute of it. For all of us to return to the earthquake area together was a a very special time and a real time of healing. We still love the Yushu region and would love to be able to live full-time in this region. There are still no foreigners living within 500 miles of this area an we would love the opportunity to return. We are currently exploring possibilities of at least living in this area part-time. We will keep you updated on how these plans progress!
Prayer flags beneath a snow-capped 18,000 foot mountain in Yushu prefecture