Amanda and I are packing up and moving to The Tibetian Autonomous Region China on the 9th September 2007. We plan to be there for 12 months plus. Amanda has secured a posting with The Trace Foundation project managing an education project. We will be based in the Garze Prefecture of Western Sichuan Province China in the small town of Sertar not far from the Tibetan border. Sertar is at an altitude of about 4000 meters above sea level, isolated and with a population of around 5000 people mainly ethnic Tibetans. This region of China is politically very sensitive and we will be watched by the Han Chinese. Even taking photographs will be limited to "touristy" kind of images,,for the first few months anyway until the authorities get use to us and its going to be really difficult blending in with the locals,,ummmmmm Amanda and I are the only foreigners in town.

Our first task is to get permanent accommodation hopefully a Tibetan style house out of town to rent. I can see us pitching a yurt on the Tibetan Plateau herding yaks and goats. Sounds a tad drastic but we need to find something quickly before the snows in late October.

I will keep this gallery updated with images and info as we experience life in Sertar and Internet access availability. So keep checking it out. This gallery is our only means of communication with family and friends back home in Australia. By the way,,leave a message or two, it will be great to hear from you.

From time to time check out the weather in Sertar here

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=sertar

NOTE--Amanda's project in North Western Sichuan Province has been cancelled and we are back in Laos. It appears The Trace Foundation had employed Amanda under false pretenses. In late September 2007 Amanda and I made our way to Sertar to start working on the project. We met with the Director of Education of the Sertar Prefecture. During our discussions with him it became clear he had never heard of the Trace Foundation and was unaware an education project had been designed for the ethnic Tibetans in his community. In short he sent us packing with our tail between our legs back to Chengdu. On return the project co-ordinator Mr Hendrick Bjorn assured Amanda she had fulltime employment with Trace. We were to mark time in Chengdu until the commencement of the project. Mid October 2007 Amanda's contract was terminated by Mr Bjorn with Trace leaving us high and dry without employment in China. Three other projects were also cancelled and contracts terminated.