At a Watermill in Tibet

 

The millpond

Going from Gyantse to Shigatse we had the good luck to visit a watermill.

“You see the miller's daughter / She's dancing with the boys / The poor thing's lost her garter / Somewhere in the noise“ – no, we didn‘t see the miller’s daughter. And they didn’t play Die schöne Müllerin [The Fair Miller-Maid] (Op. 25, D. 795) by Franz Schubert (based on poems by Wilhelm Müller).

We visited a watermill, which mills the local grown grains, mostly the highland barley. The heavy mill stones grind constantly and the room is filled with dust. This watermill works with horizontal water wheels on a vertical axle.

As it is next to a road, it sees a lot of tourists, but the main business stays in milling for the farmers in the valley.

 

Constantly grinding

 

Close-up

 

Traditional ceiling

 

Water turning the mill

 

 

Different grains and flour -

modest beginnings of tourism

.