Tibet Archaeology

and all things Tibetan

Category - My old journals

September 2013

Get ready for take off with another Flight of the Khyung! This month we jet between Mongolia and the High Plateau to regale you with stories of the present day and inform readers about the distant past. There is also …

May 2010

This month’s Flight of the Khyung begins in Pemako, that region in southeastern Tibet famous for the great bend in the Brahmaputra river. Taken at random from my journals, this issue revisits a foray I made in the region in …

April 2010

This issue of Flight of the Khyung moves west beyond the legendary realm of Zhang Zhung to take a retrospective look at culture in the Hindu Kush mountains. Our focus is Indus Kohistan, a region of northern Pakistan that once …

May 2009

New Photo Gallery Featured
In this month’s Flight of the Khyung I would like to call your attention to the new photo gallery here on my website. The new gallery has a much larger array of photos and is laid out …

March 2009

Happy Earth Ox Year to you all! May this brand new Tibetan year be a blessed and salutary one. This month Flight of the Khyung resumes travel to yet other Himalayan domains. Please join me in the exploration of Lahoul …

February 2009

This month let the khyung bird fly us between Tibet and the northwestern lands of Drusha and Takzik in varied pursuits. From the glaciers of the Himalaya to the bazaars of the Hindu Kush, I shall provide you with a …

January 2009

New Year’s Greetings
Happy New Year! May 2009 bring much joy to all of you, a time for attainment and illumination. One could despair of the current world economic troubles, but new opportunities in the way we structure our societies are …

May 2008

Springtime Recollections
I have been lucubrating yet another month, inputting data on archaeological sites surveyed in Upper Tibet in 2004 and 2005. The process of writing is going well but there is certainly plenty of it to do. When I applied …

April 2008

The Fate of Tibet
After last month’s civil demonstrations and disturbances throughout the Tibetan cultural regions of the People’s Republic of China, the central and provincial authorities have opted for a series of staunch measures. Nevertheless, only if the PRC government …

March 2008

An Early Himalayan Spring
Spring seems to be dawning quickly in the Outer Himalaya. Due to the general scarcity of snow and rain, temperatures are steadily rising, and new plants and insects make their debut everyday. Of course this could …

February 2008

Big Worldwide Web Work Gearing Up for Publication
This past month I have traveled quite extensively, but I have also brought the first part of Antiquities of Zhang Zhung to the copy editing stage. This catalogue of pre-Buddhist sites in Upper …

January 2008

Happy New Year!
Another month and year has rolled by. May 2008 bring much happiness to the lives of my readers and great success to all their good endeavors! While I attempt to issue this newsletter at the beginning of each …

November 2007

My Fellow Explorers
The adventure continues! And it always will. The very act of living is the true adventure – if one takes the time to explore the deepest recesses of consciousness, let alone the backyard! What really is the nature …

March 2007

Sitting and Running
The expedition season is set to start. Soon I shall turn my attention to logistical organization, negotiations, and the challenges and joys of living on the road. I am still very much spurred on by the prospect of …

February 2007

Flight of the Khyung
Wintertime Wonder
Another month has gone by and I am back at my desk with a full array of research materials around me. During my recent trip to the Library of Congress I collected all the references needed …

January 2007

Flight of the Khyung
Happy New Year! May 2007 bring all readers of Flight of the Khyung much happiness and understanding. May you soar high and unencumbered just like the khyung bird of ancient Zhang Zhung. Off to a good start, …

December 2006

Diverging Views, the Seminar on Tibetan History
Recently, the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala, hosted a two day academic conference, the Seminar on Tibetan History. A scholar from the Bon monastery in Dolanji and I were graciously invited to …

November 2006

Menri Monastery Road Trip
At the end of October, I made an excursion to Menri Monastery, the chief Bon religious center in exile. It’s a long drive but well worth the time and effort. I happily passed three days at Menri, …

October 2006

Writing, Walking and Flying
Another month has slipped past with much of it at my desk editing and adding bits to my new book manuscript Antiquities of High Tibet. I did have to slip away to Singapore at the beginning of …