Sky Burial

We weren't certain of the time it would start so set out on the walk there around eight thirty in the morning. We could see no vultures circling. But we passed some guys coming back saying it was in full swing. Over the brow of a hill there they were, two bodies and a crowd of the birds. It was some distance away and we wondered how close we could get. Some brave soul walked down and over a small bridge and up to sit a little above half a dozen tibetan men who lay on the grass. They didn't seem to mind and so in the end there were close to a dozen of us curious westerners sitting perhaps 30-50 metres from the bodies.

The sky master was dressed in a white robe, and clear plastic wrapped around his body from the waist down. With a large 8-10 inch knife he sliced at the remaining flesh on the bodies and threw it up and away from himself. The vultures fought for its nutrients. Once the flesh was mostly consumed he took an axe. Lining up for a big swing he brought the weight down on the sternum and after a few blows split the left and right rib cages from each other. He then similarly divided the skeleton he was working on at the hip bones. The manageable sections he began to pound on a grinding stone, using the blunt side of the axe head. This took considerable time and effort, grinding it with some kind of cereal. It took perhaps one hour to complete one skeleton and then he stood back to allow the vultures to swarm in and quickly consume the result.

At one point during this process the skull from the other body was knocked by a bird and went rolling down the hill. The master had to leave what he was doing and run to fetch it. Then a dog ran off with what we assume was a bone and two tibetan men ran after it shouting. Apparently it's inauspicious to not be fully consumed by the birds. I didn't see if they got it back. The skymaster moved to the other body and looking up at us tourists shouted out, "OK?". We didn't know if this was a greeting or a request for affirmation. He was smiling and chatted happily with two of the young men, the three of them laughing at times.

Though the occasion was mostly somber it was not maccabre or unnecessarily gruesome. The sights were the realities of life and death and the historical reason for these "sky burials" was that they didn't have sufficient wood at this altitude for burning or soft enough ground, it being frozen much of the time, for burials. It was eco friendly and gave the opportunity for closure.

After the first body had gone we decided to leave. We gave a respectful nod to the half dozen men on the grass. They stood up and spoke friendly words with Craig. One guy came up to look at Craig with his white skin and long dred locks. He just stood and staired in a very animalistic way, way beyond what would be comfortable within western etiquette. I thought the sociable student might instigate some conversation but they just stood looking at each other, like wild animals. And then Craig turned and walked on.

The tibetan men ambled across the small bridge and sat with some others around a fire and we were invited to join them. It seemed polite and respectful to do so. I took some tea which they offered and tried their hard stale bread. It looked a little like pitta bread. I declined from taking from a piled up plate of meat on the bone. It looked old and the occasion didn't suit. Craig chatted in mandarin with the men. They were relatives and friends of the deceased. The closest family members rarely attend. Women are allowed but tend not to. The only women on this occasion were tourists. I was surprised how quickly the whole occasion had become normal for me. Sittng on the hill it felt a very natural process. The tibetans didn't seem beyond a little sober minded and thoughtful.

After a short while some of us decided to leave, wishing the tibetan mourners well and came back to the town. It was the end of the festival. Soldiers were sweeping the streets, supposedly on a clean up mission. But we'd heard from a local guide that they'd been brought in to stop the event early. Throughout the days I'd been there I'd heard rumours of arrests and fighting between the police and some khampers. I was told that before I'd arrived in the town somebody had sang a nationalstic tibetan song on stage and the organisers had refused to remove him. The police arrested some people and when monks protested apparently some of them were arrested too. Talk was of two hundred. I even heard a rumour of a khamper being shot by police but it was hard to know what had really gone on. The police had made an attempt at keeping it from us travellers. They had visited a guesthouse to check cameras for possible damaging media. All we really knew was that a bigger police and army presence was noticeable for a few days and then the festival was stopped a couple of days early.