Wow. I don't know how I'd stand up to working a field, but they look so happy -- is it the satisfaction of a job well done, just the joy of taking a break with friends, or something more?

I know it's unfair for me to lump them all into one mindset... but I'm really curious, what was your impression?

And thank you for sharing all the new photos. I looked forward to every new blog entry while you were in China; it's so cool to see through your lens as well as your words.

beautiful. I love the colours, the smiles, and the scenery. Great shot.

..... on a break. I like the impression of the photo.

Kyle: maybe I'm equally going off the path to an incorrect conclusion upon nothing more than an intuition as well but from my experiences and from from what I can imagine life is a somewhat happier affair in the fields than it is in the new pollution-choked rapidly industrializing cities.

For evidence, I look back into history when London was undergoing the industrial revolution. There was a mass emmigration to the city. There, one could look forward to thick clouds of coal smoke, grueling factory working conditions, malnutrition, and an overall low quality of life. I cannot imagine that it might not be that different today in China, India, or other parts of developing Central Asia but not having been to this place myself I cannot say for sure.

All the same, beautiful work Raul! Did you happen to see this place and these people from your car or on a walk? How do you capture them looking so natural with none of them seemingly paying attention to the foreigner? Amazing!

One wish I would have is that you would put the year along with the title of your photo. I would like to know if they are from the new trip or the old trip.

Jordan.

This picture was taken about 2 weeks ago. All the images since the site resumed on August 23 have been from my new trip.

As for the workers, they were a happy bunch. I heard them singing before I even saw them. One thing that is striking about Tibetans is that even when doing hard and tedious work (these vast fields were all being cut by hand with sickles) like breaking rocks, or making bricks, or manual fieldwork, there is lots of good cheer and camaraderie. This is contrast to workers in other countries doing the same kinds jobs where the heaviness of the work is visible on the worker's faces and attitude.

As for "natural looking" pictures, I think if you just spend some time hanging out people forget about the camera and start doing whatever they need to be doing. In this case everyone was breaking for breakfast.

Lhasa is certainly not polution choked yet (at least not as of 2 years ago when I was there). It may be a bit choked by Chinese immigrants who are given special incentives by the Chinese government to settle in Tibet and certainly the traditional Tibetan architecture is being superceded by modern chinese architecture...

Anyway, the tibetans are relatively happy (although I met some who after a few drinks really complained about the chinese occupation and kept saying they would someday get their country back - I could see some deap down depression then). They are also the most beautiful people my wife and I encountered in Asia and they certainly do sing while they work which is really pretty.

In the picture they are drinking either sweet milky tea (which we liked) or butter tea (made with yak butter which is gross if you think it will taste like tea but not bad if you anticipate you are about to eat soup).