Category: Tibet

Days 199 – 200: Return to Lhasa

Not gonna lie – it was a bit of a rough night at Everest Base Camp, but not for the reasons we were expecting. We were dealing with the altitude just fine, and – thanks to the agency’s down sleeping bags plus the tent’s comforters – the cold didn’t bother us either. However, since our “hotel tent” was nearest to the outhouse, people kept walking by all night long – and look, I don’t begrudge anyone the need to relieve themselves in the middle of the night, but do you *have* to have a conversation with your friend as you walk to the loo at 1 o’clock in the morning? God forbid you keep your fucking voice down. Oh, and while you’re up, *do* smoke a cigarette right next to our tent door and let the putrid fumes drift inside, that’s just great – enjoy your deathstick you inconsiderate asshat.

/rant

Somehow, Igor was able to wake up early and drag himself out of bed for some sunrise shots of Everest. Samdup had warned us that sunrise is not as spectacular as sunset – perhaps that’s true, but the cloudless sky and frozen river were still pretty special.

 

Igor can sleep when he gets back to New York – he gets up early to stage a sunrise selfie at Everest Camp

 

Sunrise at EBC – it’s so cold that the river has frozen overnight!

After a simple pancake breakfast, we jumped back into the van and started our long journey back – the next two days on the itinerary were both driving days without any sight-seeing so the majority of the time was spent reading the Kindle (Lindsay) or playing chess (Igor). After an 8-hour drive, we arrived in Shigatse, where we would be staying a second night in the Geser Hotel.

Final view of Everest and Cho Oyu from the Pang-la Pass as we return to Shigatse

 

The Geser Hotel in Shigatse is so cute – not only are the rooms and hallways elaborately painted with Tibetan designs, but they actually go to the trouble of changing their elevator carpets *everyday* to correspond to the day of the week! We tested to be sure – the first picture was from our first stay, three days ago.

 

After our disappointing dinner the first time we stayed in Shigatse, we tried to visit the top rated restaurant on TripAdvisor only to find out that their menu is only available in Chinese. We walked all the way back to the “pedestrian street” and decided to give the C-rated Indian place a try – it was actually *delicious*! Such a shame they ended up with a “C” – looks like their business was hurting because of it (first time we’ve visited a LonelyPlant recommended restaurant without a single Westerner)

On our last full day in China, we drove about 5hrs back to Lhasa. During the drive, we noticed our driver and Samdup laughing at a mechanical Chinese voice – we had heard it several times before during our trip but just assumed it was one of their cell phones. “What is that voice?” Igor asked.

“It is the speed camera – it is telling driver to slow down,” Samdup said with a grin. Then he took off his baseball cap and placed it over one of two dashcams.

About 10 minutes later, the driver’s cell phone rings. He puts in his Bluetooth headset and answers, then motions toward the dashcam. Samdup removes his baseball cap as the driver hangs up.

“Wait, are they *watching* us?” Igor asked, incredulous.

“Yes,” Samdup replied. Lindsay and Igor looked at each other, surprised.

“That’s means…they must have a Wifi signal in order to transmit the video feed – how else could they be watching us in real time?” We pulled out Igor’s cell phone and checked for a Wifi network – sure enough, there was one, strong, password-protected signal travelling with us in the car. So, not only does the Chinese Govt. require that all foreigners have a separate permit and a guide with them to visit Tibet, but there also has to be monitored surveillance in their car?

Actually, it could be worse – turns out all those bus groups have to have a Chinese solider riding in the bus with them during their entire trip. As we continued on our way to Lhasa, Lindsay and Igor decided to roll with it, waved at the camera and started making out in the backseat.

 

Turns out our car has Wifi – so Big Brother can watch us! Too bad Samdup didn’t know the password…

 

A faux police officer & car with a real speed camera hidden inside! Killing time before the next asinine speed check with another thorough car wash.

 

Stopping for a roadside lunch of Tibetan noodle soup with yak meat

We rolled into Lhasa around 3:00PM in the afternoon, which was great as we had a few last-minute chores to take care of before our flight to Nepal the next morning. First, and most important, was to visit the central Bank of China – we needed to pay the balance of the cost for our Nepal tour plus the on-arrival travel visa as soon as we landed in Kathmandu so we had been hitting up ATMs frequently during our trip. We had once again found ourselves carrying a couple thousand dollars in Chinese Yuan and needed to exchange it to USD. Of course, there is *no currency exchange* at the Lhasa Airport (that would be far too convenient) – the ONLY place to exchange money in Tibet is at the central Bank of China. When we told Samdup about our errand, he quickly suggested that we stop at the bank together before going to the hotel. Since the task would obviously go faster if we had a translator with us, we agreed.

THANK GOD Samdup was with us! Turns out, foreigners are only allowed to exchange a MAXIMUM of USD $500 per person. Sure, we would have been fine, as the Kathmandu Airport *does* have currency exchange in the arrivals terminal (which makes sense, right?). But luckily for us, Samdup volunteered to us his ID card to exchange the entire amount for us. The whole process (which should have taken 10min) ended up taking us about an hour. Guys…it really doesn’t have to be this difficult.

After we were dropped off at the hotel, we headed out on our second errand – to mail our remaining three postcards to friends and family in the USA. We walked to the main China Post branch and waited in line at the “Postal Integrated Services” counter. When we finally got to the front and showed the agent our postcards, pointing to the “USA” in the address and the stamp in the corner, she waved us away, pointing down to the end of the room where a young guy was selling postcards behind a glass counter.

OK, no problem – we could go to a different counter to buy an international stamp. So we walked over, and made the same gestures to the guy. He starts shaking his head and says, “No.” No? What do you mean, “No”? Is this a post office or not? Surely, as the “Postcard-Selling-Guy” at the *main post office* in a MAJOR CITY, this is a request he must get ALL THE TIME, right? Even though it should be *painfully obvious* what we want, we typed our request into Google Translate: “Do you sell stamp to USA?”

Again, the guy shakes his head, waves his hands and says, “No.”

Seriously? How is it *this hard* to send a postcard? We finally turned to the Express Mail counter, and tried to ask the agent there how much it would cost to mail a postcard with her – we were even willing to buy an envelope and stick the postcards inside. She was obviously very confused with our request, and tried to wave us over to the useless postcard guy. We used Google Translate to tell her: “They won’t sell us stamp. How much to mail this with you?” She frowned, and walked over to postcard guy and started to have a back and forth with him in Chinese. Finally, she pulled out her own phone and used Baidu Translate to tell us, “Stamps sold out.”

GUYS, YOU HAVE ONE JOB. Not for nuthin – the US Postal Service may be in the shitter, but at least we manage to keep the fucking stamps in stock.

We finally gave up. We would be meeting up with Samdup one more time tomorrow morning for our drive to the airport – we decided to give him twice the cost of the stamps with our leftover Yuan and cross our fingers that he would mail the postcards for us after we left. We ordered a BIG bottle of beer at dinner and consoled ourselves with the reassuring fact that we would be returning to the “Normal World” first thing in the morning.

 

Sorry bother you with my request to buy some international stamps for my postcards, I thought this was a GODDAMN POST OFFICE. “Reaching Everyone Everywhere”? THAT’S A LIE. Try, “Reaching No One Outside China Because We Can’t Keep Stamps In Stock.”

 

Walking by the Potala Place at night – this is our LAST NIGHT IN CHINA and we are SOOO happy

 

We get back to our hotel to find SEVEN TOUR BUSES parked in front – sure enough, obnoxiously loud tourists walk up and down our hallway late into the night. We keep reminding ourselves we only have about 12 hours left so we turn up the volume on the TV (which is playing yet another anti-Japanese WWII movie) and wear earplugs as we go to sleep.

Day 198: EBC – Tibet

Today was all about the mighty mountain – Everest (AKA “Qomolangma” in Tibetan)!!! We had a short 3hr drive from Tingri to Everest Base Camp, with lots of stops for scenic viewpoints and pictures along the way. Our favorite viewpoint was actually the furthest away, giving us a full panorama of the Himalayan range and allowing us to appreciate the height and grandeur of the 8,844m (29,017ft) mountain. While it was still beautiful up close, Igor felt he lost the perspective, and started complaining, “It doesn’t look that big – I bet I could climb it in a few hours.”

THANKFULLY for Lindsay, the USD$30,000 cost for a permit stopped him from trying.

 

We arrive at the ticket center for the North Face of Everest early in the morning – it cost RMB 400 per car and another RMB 180 per person (including driver & guide), but we get luckily and are only charged for two people instead of four

 

We are planning to spend the night at EBC at our highest elevation yet – 5200m, so Lindsay preemptively takes a dose of the Chinese voodoo – we don’t really think it works, but we can’t return it and we can’t take it on the plane with us to Kathmandu, so we may as well drink it. Who knows? Maybe there is a placebo effect.

View of Mount Everest and Mount Cho Oyu (the big peaks at the right) from the Pang-la Pass

 

A helpful stone plaque helps us identify the various Himalayan mountain peaks – four of the Top 10 highest mountains in the world lay before us

 

Igor and Lindsay takes turns posing in front of Everest, before moving onto group shots with our driver and Samdup

 

The biggest mountain in the world requires quite a few selfies

We reach another viewpoint a few turns down the road, so we stop for some pray flag-framed photos

 

Mount Cho Oyu looks almost level with Everest, but the solitary peak of Everest is what keeps drawing Igor’s attention

 

We make a quick stop at Rongphu Monastery – at 5,000m it is the highest monastery in the world

 

It is absolutely FREEZING up here! After taking in the view for about 5min, Lindsay runs back into the minivan to stay warm!

 

What’s the quickest way to makes friends with an American? Offer them some French fries! At the final checkpoint before EBC, the army guard had a fresh plate of fries and offered us some – we were soon convinced that this is the nicest guard in the entire Chinese army (further confirmed when Samdup told us he is actually Tibetan – no wonder he was so friendly!)

 

About 4KM from the official base camp is a shanty town of yak hair tents – each one a “hotel” for tourists. We were staying at #51 – Chomolangma Tourist Hotel

 

Thankfully, these tents are fortified with additional blankets lining the walls and ceiling, so as to keep in what little heat the stove provides. Also, the tent has raised beds, so we don’t have to sit or sleep on the ground – big improvement over Langmusi!

 

While there is a shuttle to base camp, it only runs when it has at least 8 people (or so it claims – turns out a group of 5 took off while the 3 of us were waiting 2 hours for a full shuttle – guess the ticket guys didn’t want to bother and tell us) – we didn’t want to waste the day waiting on tourists that may or may not show up, so we convinced Samdup to let us walk. Though the scenery is spectacular and it’s only 4KM, it’s a hard trek – you have to walk along the road for about half the distance (during which time, passing shuttles and Govt. vehicles will kick up dust in your face – and no, you can’t flag down the shuttle along the way) before taking an off-road shortcut. All the while, a fierce wind is blowing you backwards and the high altitude is zapping your energy.

 

The barren, gravel valley leading up to Everest Base Camp

WE FINALLY MADE IT!

 

So, “base camp” is actually just a prayer flag-strew hill, where tourists can visit for a photo-op. The *actual* base camp (you know, where the mountaineers have pitched their tents in preparation for climbing Everest) is further down a dirt road, and completely out of sight. It’s a great view and all, but we feel more than a little gypped

 

There is a pile of rocks at EBC where tourists have written messages – we noticed a guy selling prayer flags and markers, so we picked out a nice rock and planned to write a message for our late friend and Kilimanjaro summiter, Alex Nordquist. However, once the guy realized we planned to write on a rock, he refused to sell us the marker, insisting we could only write on flags. The flags were not at all appealing to us – not only does it seem rude to write on someone else’s religious symbol, but the flags are not permanent – no doubt the wind would tear the flag to shreds before the end of the winter. So we placed a blank rock in Alex’s memory instead. It wasn’t until later that we realized the guy would probably get in a lot of trouble from the Chinese army for letting us write on a rock – EBC is a common place for “Free Tibet” statements, and he has no idea what message we are writing.

 

Even though there is a free return shuttle bus, we opt to walk back to the tents – the wind is at our backs now, making the walk significantly easier. Lucky too, because we saw our *first* and *only* wildlife sighting in China – a family of tiny Musk Deer! We later found out this is a very rare sighting as the Chinese army commonly hunts them and eats them, and their numbers are dwindling.

 

Like many attractions in China, the admission ticket for Everest is also a post card, so we visited the China Post tent (the highest post office in the world) to mail it home – unfortunately, they didn’t have any international stamps, but they agreed to stamp it with the “Everest Post Office” seal so we could just attach a stamp when we got back to Lhasa. Not truly authentic (but then, we’re learning China isn’t known for “authenticity”)

 

Once back in the tent, we realize we are *starving* – our host gives us a “Happy Meal” menu and we order our standard veggie fried rice. Given the ridiculously cold temperature, we don’t bother asking if the sodas are cold for once.

 

After dinner, Igor braves the cold and hikes out past the crowds of tourists to get some AMAZING shots of Everest at sunset – he even sets of the camera on a timer for a nice selfie

 

It’s almost a full moon, makin starry pictures a bit difficult, but Igor works his magic and captures a stuningly shot of Everest at twilight

 

Luckily for us, the high tourist season has passed at EBC (in fact, this is the last week the yak hair tents will be pitched – after this, everyone will have to stay down the road at either the monastery guest house or a hotel in Tingri) – normally the tents sleep around 10 people side by side, but tonight it is only Igor, Lindsay and Samdup – our poor driver has to sleep in the van as he has to wake up periodically throughout the night to turn it on to make sure the engine doesn’t freeze!

Day 197: Journey to Everest

Today was another driving day – it took us about 9hrs from Shigatse to the tiny town of New Tingri, within the Mt. Qomolangma National Park. “Qomolangma” (actually pronounced Chomolungma) is the Tibetan name for Mount Everest. We got our first glimpse of the mighty mountain this afternoon – tomorrow we go to Base Camp!

 

We are 5,000KM from Beijing, on the Friendship Highway in Tibet – “The Most Beautiful Landscape Road in China.” Of course, Chinese tourists want to capture the moment by taking a picture of themselves lying down in the road. Weirdos.

 

Such beautiful landscape! We are quickly climbing in elevation – we’re at 4,530m (14,680ft – over 6,000ft higher than Vail, Colorado and 200ft higher than the peak of Mt. Elbert – the highest point in the Rocky Mountains) on our way to 5,200m at EBC!

 

Stopping for a roadside lunch – veggie fried rice and pineapple-flavored TANG

 

The toilets here are just awful! Two stinky slots in the ground (covered by the piss of people who can’t aim their shit) – oh, and guess where the waste goes? DIRECTLY INTO THE RIVER. Always, always, ALWAYS boil the tapwater in China. I don’t care how remote it is, or if the water is from a “fresh mountain stream” – there is probably Chinese poop in it.

 

A wave of prayer flags crash upon the entrance to the Mt. Qomolangma National Park

 

Mt. Qomolangma National Park – Tibet

Our first view of Mount Everest!!!

 

We are staying overnight in the two-horse town of New Tingri – not much here. No views of Everest, no ATMs (the vestibule is empty – not even an electrical socket!) – just lots of stray dogs, so we bought about 10 sausages and had fun feeding them

 

Our hotel may not be much to look at, but their restaurant was unexpectedly tasty! Veggie fried rice again, but made with *basmati* – YUM!

 

Our expectations for the 2-star Snowland Hotel were really low, so we were pleasantly surprised by the restaurant and room – true, there was no heat, the TV screen was smashed, there was no hot water shower and there was an unexplained gas canister in the corner of the room, but the beds had heated pads! Plus, since we were *literally* the only guests in the hotel, we were spared the annoying racket of Chinese tourists shouting / smoking in the hallway at 11PM.

Day 196: Pelkhor Chode Monastery (Gyantse) & Tashi Lhunpo Monastery (Shigatse)

After a FANTASTIC breakfast spread at the Yeti Hotel (LOVELOVELOVE this place!), we grabbed our bags and drove over to the beautiful Pelkhor Chode Monastery for a tour with Samdup. While most monasteries in Tibet have had a strict “No Photography” rule inside the chapels, we were excited to see the Pelkhor Chode allowed pictures…provided we paid an additional RMB 10-20 per room. Whatever – Lindsay has been dying to take pictures inside these monasteries for over a week now and she makes Igor fork over the cash in exchange for some gorgeous and spiritual memories.

BEST. BREAKFAST. IN TIBET. For the past five weeks, we’ve been suffering through Chinese buffets, surviving on fried eggs and toast (the only Western options most hotels offer), but this morning we were treated to a huge *Indian* breakfast spread – it was AWESOME! Yogurt, corn flakes, fruit & hard boiled eggs for our Western tastebuds, plus delicious servings of spinach & potatoes, vegetable curry and deep-fried bread. We are gonna get so *fat* in India…

 

The Pelkhor Chode Monastery. High atop the hill in the distance, we can just make out the silhouette of the Gyantse Fortress, where the British attacked Tibet in 1904 (geeze, won’t anyone just leave the Tibetans alone?)

 

Inside the main chapel of the Pelkhor Chode Monastery: Past Buddha, Present Buddha, and Future Buddha

 

Huge, boddhisatvas surround the inner chapel

 

Cabinets full of cloth-wrapped scriptures line the now-empty assembly hall

 

Yak-butter candels burn throughout the monastery temples – monks fill the small candels with excess butter they siphen off from over-filled bowls

 

Offerings left for the temple Buddha inside the main chapel – in the main assembly hall, more offerings are left for the statue of the Wisdom Buddha

 

Scary masks! We enter the protector’s room and find a huge collection of frightening masks – apparently the monks will wear them and perform a “protector’s play” during special religious ceremonies – too bad we have to miss that!

 

A monk fills water bowls – offerings for the protector statues. Each of the statues in the room have their faces covered – Samdup tells us that these faces are *so* scary, they are only revealed on special religious days

 

Inside the protector’s room – a truly terrifying mask and what looks like a dead wolf hanging from the ceiling. Bet this place is popular on Halloween…

 

The Pelkhor Chode Monastery has a lovely flower garden just inside the main entrance – lovely touch, guys!

 

After we exit the monastery, we have a few moments to wait for our driver – Igor starts to get puppy-eyes for some adorable street dogs and run into the nearest store to buy some sausages to feed them

We had a short, 3hr drive from Gyantse to Shigatse – the second largest city in Tibet, and the previous capitol until the 5^th Dalai Lama moved into the Potala Palace in 1645. Like Lhasa, the influx of Chinese residents have built a sprawling mass of hideous buildings surrounding the “old Shigatse” part of town. The Gesar Hotel, where we were staying, is unfortauntely in the Chinese section of the city (although, surprisingly, the interior of the hotel is decorated with the most elaborate and *beautiful* Tibetan paintings we have seen! As much as we loved the Yeti Hotel last night, this room is running a tight race for our favorite!). After a brief break, we drive across town to visit the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, which is in the heart of the “Tibetan” side of the city.

 

As we drive through the countryide, we pass many farms prepping for the long winter ahead: drying yak dung on their walls, and cutting hay

 

Lindsay’s OCD is *loving* these beautifully symetrical walls of poop

 

The Tashi Lhunpo Monastery – home to the 1^st – 4^th Dalai Lamas before the Tibetan government moved to Lhasa & the Potala Palace

 

Prayer stones carved with Tibetan words and images of the Buddha lean against the stupas within Tashi Lhunpo

 

A stray cat roams an alley, and a cute puppy gnaws on a dismembered sheep leg within the monastery

 

After the Chinese ransaked the monastery during the Cultural Revolution, the 10^th Panchen Lama (the highest ranking religious figure in Tibetan Buddhism, after the Dalai Lama) worked to rebuild the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, and replaced the stupa tombs of the 5^th-9^th Panchen Lama. Days after the stupas were finished, he passed away.

 

PRETTIEST. HOTEL ROOM. IN TIBET.

 

SOFTEST. BEDS. IN CHINA.

After walking across town to a restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet (which we leave as it has a “C” rating – eww!), we wandered around the “pedastrian only” street (full of cars, BTW), looking for an alternative place for dinner. We finally ran into a big restaurant that proudly proclaimed that it serves, “Tibetan Food. Nepali Food. Indian Food. Western Food,” in the window. The place was packed, with over half of the patrons being Westerners, so we figured it couldn’t be *that* bad.

Service was *incredibly* slow – we watched over the course of an hour as each table slowly got their dishes (did everyone in the restaurant order at the exact same time?!) – as we were the last ones in, we were the last ones served. Poor Igor got an unidentifiable slop of overcooked chicken as his “Chicken Tikka Masala”. Lindsay’s Vegetable Korma wasn’t terrible, but not great either. On second thought, maybe a “C” restaurant wouldn’t have been so bad…

 

Meh. We’ve had better.

Day 195: The Friendship Highway – Yamdrok-tso to Gyantse

Time for a Tibetan Roadtrip! Even though today was essentially a travel day, we were driving down one of the most scenic parts of the “Friendship Highway” – the 865KM road from Lhasa to Kathmandu in Nepal (sadly, the boarder crossing into Nepal has not reopened since the 2015 earthquake). Today we covered 260KM, passing by the stunning Yamdrok Lake and Karola Glacier before ending the day in the charming city of Gyantse.

 

The road through Yamdrok-tso is incredibly scenic with lots of photo-op stops along the way. Almost all of these stops feature a handful of hawkers with gigantic Tibetan Mastiffs, with which you can pose for RMB 10. We’re suckers for 100lb. puppies, so we forked over the cash and cuddled the biggest bear-dog we could find!

 

Who’s a great, big slippery sweetheart? The one on the left, or the right? J

 

So there is a ridiculously slow speed limit up the Yamdrok-tso Pass, and the cops have nothing better to do than to photograph your license plate at two check points and calculate whether you were going faster than the speed limit. Because of this, we constantly have to pull off the side of the road and kill time so that we don’t get a ticket. Most of the time we stop at scenic spots and take photos, but at one point we literally pulled over and Samdup and the driver gave his minivan a thorough washing – and we weren’t the only ones! The green bus in the background was also getting a wash, while the passengers ran out to grab some ramen from a nearby noodle stand

Driving up the Yamdrok-tso Pass

 

When we reach the summit, we get our first glimpse of Yamdrok Lake

The stunning, turquoise waters of Yamdrok-tso

 

We watch a ferry boat chug across the blue water toward a small village on the side of the lake

 

Lindsay & Igor manage to dodge the crowds of fellow tourists and snap some lakeside selfies

 

The tranquility of the lake is beautiful…until you turn and see a bunch of goofy Chinese tourists giving peace signs from the back of a yak

 

It’s already 2:30PM by the time we reach Nangartse, a popular lunch stop along the road. We head upstairs to the Lhasa Restaurant – where we encounter an unimpressive selection of Chinese food and room-temperature Coca-Cola.

 

As we continue driving, we starting passing more and more snow-capped mountains

A beautiful stupa in front of the Karola Glacier

 

Next to the stupa, there is a rickety wooden walkway, taking us out for a close-up look at the Glacier

While our viewpoint is already at a dizzying 5,000m altitude, the Karola Glacier towers above us at 7,200m (23,600ft)

Looking back at the Karola stupa from the glacier viewing deck

 

Pulling over for yet another photo-op of the snowcapped mountain pass

 

Prayer flags flap around a prayer pole, which is covered by Buddha-tiles and prayer stones at the base

 

When we reach Manla Lake, we find the viewpoint *covered* in prayer flags

 

A narrow path in-between the prayer flags, gives us access to the viewpoint

 

Igor posing at the viewpoint above Manla Lake

 

We finally reach Gyantse late in the afternoon and check into the Yeti Hotel, a charming spot and our favorite hotel of Tibet so far!

 

Samdup and our driver join us for a DELICIOUS Indian food dinner at the highly rated Tashi Restaurant – the owners have another location in Lhasa, which we will *definitely* visit on our last night in Tibet!

As we walk back to the Yeti, we pass by the illuminated Pelkhor Chode Monastery

Day 194: Samye Monastery & Yumbulhakang Palace

After a *fantastic* night sleep (mattresses and pillows really work wonders!), we met up with our guide and walked the short distance to the Samye Monastery. Originally built around the year 775, it was Tibet’s first Buddhist Monastery. The organization of the complex is based on the design of the mandela – where the central building represents the center of the universe, flanked by four, multilevel stupas facing north, east, south and west.

Unfortunately, we don’t have any pictures of video of the inside of the main temple, which is a shame as this monastery was our favorite so far. When the entered the assembly hall, we found it full of monks who were all reading from the long blocks of paper scriptures, and chanting in unison. Every now and then, one of the head monks would start ringing a bell, then another would start pounding a huge drum – it was pretty magical.

 

The Samye Monastery – Tibet’s first monastery was almost destroyed by a fire, but luckily a plucky chicken sounded the alarm in the middle of the night – true story! Why else would devotees be giving money to the ceramic chicken at the entrance?!

 

OK, this so poster in the Samye Monastery is really fucking distrurbing – it seems to show a man getting eaten by a pack of vultures. The text is all in Tibetan, so we have no idea what’s going on here – our guide tried to explain that Buddhists sometimes give food offerings to birds, but human flesh is not a custom he has ever heard of. He assured us that the guy in the picture was already dead before he was offered to the vultures…oh, I really hope so…

 

Yak butter candles burn inside the main temple of Samye – representing the center of the monastery’s mandela design

 

View from the top floor of the main temple of Samye Monastery

 

From our bird’s eye view, we can see monks walking through the peaceful green grounds of the monastery complex

 

We follow the sound of chanting and enter a courtyard where we see a huge group of monks sitting and reciting something in Tibetan

 

Prayer wheels surround the doorway into the white stupa of Samye

 

Lindsay climbs the ladder to the second level of the red stupa before exploring the black stupa

 

Igor enters the final stupa – the green stupa, which is filled with colorful prayer wheels

 

When we leave Samye, our guide presents us and our driver with yellow scarves that are meant to protect us from harm. Samdup tells us we can take off when we go to bed tonight, but Igor will continue to wear his for the next three days! Not sure if he truly thinks it’s lucky, or if he’s just convinced that yellow is totally his color

We had a 2hr drive from Samye to the nearby town of Tsedang, where we would be spending the night. While we were staying in a nice, 4-star hotel, the town itself was lacking in charm: too big to be quaint, and too small for a selection of restaurants catering to Western tourists. Normally we’d be pretty self-sufficient, picking up fruit and ramen at a nearby mini-mart, but since today was our 6-YEAR ANNIVERSARY, we were hoping to celebrate over a decent dinner. However, a walk around the neighborhood showed us that we were SOL.

We met up with our guide and driver around 3PM for a short drive out to the Yungbulakang Palace – the ancient home of the very first Tibetan king, who lived around 100 BCE. While the castle is absolutely stunning – set high upon a hilltop with streamers of prayer flags flapping behind it, and a beautiful view of the farmland opening up below – it’s also *tiny*. The “palace” is made up of barely three rooms – it was hard to imagine a royal court in this building – this king must have had a very small entourage.

 

A lone camel and dozens of horses wait at the bottom of the Yungbulakang Palace for tourists who would rather ride than walk to the top of the hill

 

Was there any doubt we would walk to the top?

 

Igor spins some prayer wheels as he circumnavigates the palace

 

Igor disappears into a wall of prayer flags

View of the Yungbulakang Palace and the surrounding village and farmlands

 

At the bottom of the palace we find a mural and a statue depicting the first king, Nyatri Tsenpo. According to legend, he arrived in Tibet from India – when the local people asked him where he came from, due to his unique appearance, he simply pointed up, which the locals interpreted as “I’m from Heaven,” so they thought he was a god and made him their king!

As we left the Yungbulakang Palace and drove back into town, we asked Samdup if he had *any* recommendations for dinner, explaining the special occasion. Turns out, our driver has a cousin or something who owns a restaurant in town, so he suggested we all go eat there! Not as intimate as we were hoping, but OK. It didn’t seem like our driver is very close to whichever family member runs this place, as we nearly walked into two other restaurants before finding the right one. All the restaurants looked pretty much the same: small, dark, and unfortunately full of flies. Throughout the meal, beggars kept walking into the place, hitting up the patrons for money (unsurprisingly, they always aimed for the table with the Westerners).

Despite the odd surroundings, I would rather be in a smelly, dirty Chinese noodle shop with Igor, than a three-star Michelin restaurant with anybody else in the world. After six months of travelling the far reaches of the world, he is more my best friend than ever, and every morning I still wake up excited to see him (even if we are often in different beds). Happy Anniversary, baby – I LOVE YOU!

 

A typical Tibetan eatery – a small shop with a TV in the back playing Arabic cartoons, translated into Tibetan

 

The food was pretty good – Samdup and our driver shared a huge plate of momos, while Lindsay & Igor played it safe with sautéed veggies and rice.

Days 191 – 193: Trekking to Samye

We spent the next three days trekking through the Tibetan wilderness on one of the most popular routes – from Ganden Monastery to Samye Monastery. Our hike took us across two mountain passes, each over 5,000m high (the same altitude as Everest Base Camp!) – luckily we had two yaks carrying our bags, as well as all the cooking & camping gear.

Lindsay suffered the worst from altitude sickness, with a near-constant headache and nausea for two days, and even Igor started to feel the effects after a while. We chugged our weird Chinese medicine twice a day, but it didn’t seem to help – we just had to “keep on swimming” until we reached lower altitudes at the end of each day.

Even though the hike was the most challenging we have ever faced, the scenery was GORGEOUS. The snow-capped mountain peaks and solitude were everything Igor could have wished for! Even though the weather is just as warm and clear as Nepal (which is just going into its high season for trekking – we doubt we will have *any* solitude in the next two weeks), in Tibet the trek is empty of fellow tourists – we’re guessing trekking just isn’t that big in China!

 

As the sun rises over the mountains, Lindsay wakes up to find she has a splitting headache from the altitude and sleeping on a hard surface. She takes another dose of the Chinese medicine but it doesn’t help

 

As soon as breakfast is over, the yaks are packed up and take off into the distance

 

The headache and nausea make it a rough day of trekking for Lindsay – she constantly had to sit (or lay) down and take a break

 

Ascending to 5,000+m (over 16,400ft!) over the Tseb-La mountain pass

 

A couple of boots reach the snowline of the Tseb-La Pass!

The mountain peak at Tseb-La Pass

First view of the Gampa-La Valley – we will be camping at the bottom, near the lake in the distance

 

The rest of the day’s trekking is easier, as we are going downhill all the way to our camp

Once we reached camp, both Lindsay & Igor immediately crawled into our tent and passed out for a good 2hrs – Lindsay had been feeling horrible all day and Igor finally started to feel the effects of altitude sickness as well (oddly, not until we started to descend). Our cook, Tserine, woke us up around 6PM, asking if we wanted dinner. Unfortunately, we both felt so queasy we didn’t want to eat a thing, but we felt rude staying in our tent all night. We grabbed our deck of cards and joined Samdup, Tserine and Yak Man in the kitchen tent, where Tserine had laid out an AMAZING spread of potatoes, mushrooms, yak meat, egg & tomato soup and stir-fired vegetables! Our hearts were broken, looking at and smelling all this delicious food, and having to pass! We weakly took a small serving of plain rice, and asked for some slices of ginger to put in our hot water (which actually helped A LOT!). Once dinner was over, Igor & Lindsay tried to make up for our poor manners by showing off Igor’s magic trick and playing a dozen rounds of Pairs.

While the ginger tea helped our nausea the night before, Lindsay woke up feeling awful again! She tried her best to shove down Tserine’s tasty pancakes and eggs (REAL pancakes too! So not fair!), but all she really wanted was more ginger tea. Igor, on the other hand, LOVED Tserine’s pancakes, causing him to make them every morning for the rest of the trek. We guzzled our tea, and filled our water bottle with the remaining slices of ginger for the day’s trek. Luckily for us, our trek today would end at a *much* lower elevation (around 12,000ft – similar to Lhasa), so we started to feel better once we crossed the last mountain pass.

 

GINGER! The only thing that seemed to help our altitude sickness.

 

The strong and sturdy yaks are ready to take off with all our stuff!

 

It’s a beautiful morning, hiking through the Gampa-La Valley

 

The Gampa-La Pass – nearly as high as our ascent the day before, but the gradient is much more gradual. Our mantra for the day is, “Slowly, slowly.”

Mountain peak at the Gampa-La Pass

 

Igor & Samdup lead the charge over the pass, where we get our first view of the alpine lake, tucked within the pass

 

Fed solely by rain and snow melt, the lake is a stunning, turquoise blue

The alpine lake is beautiful, and *big* – it takes us a good hour to walk around its rocky shore

 

As soon as we clear the lake, we begin our descent into the valley

 

The lower we go in altitude, the better Lindsay starts to feel! She no longer has a headache and she’s actually starting to feel hungry!

 

When we reach the valley floor, we start to pass by several nomad settlements

 

As we cross the river, we see some nomads herding their horses, each carrying a load of logs

 

Down on the valley floor, our path takes us along the river and through a shurb forest – the sun is shining and we finally start to feel *warm,* and start shedding our jackets and thermals

After we *finally* reach our camp, Lindsay and Igor hike to the river for some much needed washing (bodies & clothes!) – the water is ice cold, so we can only splash the essential areas

 

Our final camp of the trek – it’s warm and we finally have an appetite to enjoy Tserine’s dinner (yak-noddle soup!) – we are very tempted to feed a few bits of yak meat to a shy puppy that is hanging around our tent, but decide that would be rude, so we secretly toss him a few leftover bits of bread from our lunch instead

 

Tserine & Yak Man load up the yaks on our final morning of the trek – these animals have been amazing – not only do they carry SO MUCH, but they are so sweet tempered!

 

Igor following the path out of the mountain valley

 

We finally reach the end of our wilderness trek and start walking through Tibetan villages on our way to Samye – even though the houses are very basic construction, it appears Tibetans really like ornate doors! Each one is colorful and unique

 

As we pass through town, we see a man slapping pats of yak dung on the wall! Just like the nomads in Langmusi, these villagers use the dried yak dung as fuel for their fires, and plastering them to the wall helps them dry out faster

 

Baby horses and baby donkeys! Feeling a little jealous of the villagers’ collection of pets!

 

Samdup points high up into the mountain, and we barely make out a collection of buildings – a small monastery is hidden in the cliffside! There is a long, meandering stairwell up the mountain for people who want to visit, as well as some picnic tents set up at the bottom (I guess they figure any pilgrim who visits this temple deserves a break!)

 

Before leaving the village, we are invited inside one of the homes for a cup of butter tea. We say farewell to Yak Man (who will be walking back by himself to his village at the start of our trek!), then continue on our way to Samye

 

Tserine and Samdup hop in the minivan and head for the village, but Igor and Lindsay ask if they can walk the rest of the way to town – it’s only 10AM at this point, and we were looking forward to a full day of trekking! The road to town is pretty straight (we make sure to select the biggest road at each intersection) and the minivan makes sure to wait at each fork just to make sure we walk the right way. We cover the final 18KM by 2PM, stopping for to eat our packed lunch along the way

 

We are so relieved to finally reach our hotel! Hot water showers, soft pillows and sit-down toilets seem like the ultimate luxury!

When we meet Samdup downstairs for dinner, we are surprised and super excited to find out that Tserine would be cooking us another dinner! He had set-up his propane stove in the guardhouse in the hotel’s courtyard and whipped up a Tibetan feast!

Day 190: Lhasa – Day 3: Potala Palace / Ganden Monastery / Start of Trek

We got up early, packed our bags, and were among the first arrivals at breakfast this morning – we had a lot planned for the day and the sooner we could get started the better.

As we discovered yesterday when our timeslots were bumped, admission to the Potala Palace is tightly controlled and the slightest misstep can cost you the right of entry. In order to visit the palace, Samdup had to present our passports and get voucher the day before. The vouchers had an admission time stamped on them (9AM) and we had to arrive at the entrance gate exactly 30min before our allotted time, otherwise we could forfeit our slot! Once in the gate, we had to climb 13 stories to the actual ticket office, present our voucher, and then buy the ticket. In a way, it’s nice that you don’t have to pay any money for the voucher – Igor was reading reviews on the Potala Palace and discovered that many elderly travelers miss out on touring the palace as they can’t complete the climb up the stairs with the high altitude. Luckily for us, we’ve been slowly acclimatizing over the past 3 days and, other than being a bit short of breath, we completed the climb with ease.

 

The gates to the Potala Palace open at 8:30AM – a half an hour before our ticket voucher, which means we are right on time!

 

Early morning view of Lhasa, from the stairway to the Potala Palace

 

An advantage to being fit and having an early morning time slot at the Potala Palace – we were able to bypass many tourists during the 13-story ascent to the ticket counter!

 

We pass through a yak-hair curtain and finally reach the ticket counter

 

Looking up at the windows of the palace from the inner courtyard

 

Igor at the palace entrance & exit. Sadly for us, photos aren’t allowed anywhere within the Potala Palace, so we put our camera away as we toured the former living quarters of the 5^th – 14^th Dalai Lamas (the 5^th Dalai Lama gave himself the BIGGEST room – he did build the place after all! The former living quarters of the current Dalai Lama was pretty recognizable from the film “Seven Years in Tibet” – Wikipedia Image here), as well as the magnificently ornate stupa tombs, housing the remains of several former Dalai Lamas (the tombs are decorated with gold and jewels donated by devotees, so the more ornate the tomb, the more beloved that particular lama was)

 

Walking down from the Potala Palace, via the rear exit, down Red Hill

As soon as we exited the Potala Palace, we hurried back to the hotel to grab our stuff, check out and head out of town. Our next stop was the Ganden Monastery – one of the three most important Buddhist monasteries in Tibet, and the birthplace of the Gelug sect of Buddhism (the sect practiced by the Dalai Lama). Though the Ganden Monastery was originally built in the 1400’s, the complex was destroyed in 1959 during the Cultural Revolution – the current buildings were rebuilt starting in the 1980s due to international pressure towards China (again – no mention of this at the monastery nor by our guide).

 

Since we are climbing in altitude today, we sip our weird-ass Chinese medicine as we drive up to Ganden Monastery

 

As we pull up to the Ganden Monastery, Igor spots a hungry cow, in the middle of a dumpster-diving mission. His face says, “Don’t judge me.”

 

Walking one of the pilgrim paths around the Ganden Monastery

View of the Kyi-chu Valley from the kora around the Ganden Monastery

 

While walking along the Ganden kora, we come across a pile of prayer stones and a carving of three Buddhas

 

At the end of the kora, we enter the huge monastery complex

 

In the middle of the day, the dozens of seats in the Assembly Hall sit empty, so we are free to roam the room and admire the many statues of Gelupa scholars and benefactors, bodhisattvas, Buddhas and protector deities (although only Igor is allow to enter the room with the latter)

 

Several rows of yak-butter lamps cast a gentle glow within the chapel, illuminating a gold plated mural depicting the “evils” that the Buddhist protectors have defeated

 

Ganden Monastery: home to around 400 monks (down from 2,000 before the Cultural Revolution), and many stray dogs who enjoy napping in the shade of the flag-covered prayer pole

 

We stop in the monastery cafeteria for lunch before heading out, and Lindsay and Igor get their first taste of butter tea (tastes like a milky hot chocolate, but with a VERY buttery aftertaste; not bad, but takes some getting used to)

Since we had to squeeze our visit to the Potala Palace into our itinerary for today, we were running a good two hours behind schedule. Samdup strongly suggested we cut the first day of our trek short and drive to a small village near the Yama Do meadows – reducing our hiking time from 6 hours to 2 hours. While Igor wanted to press on regardless, Lindsay was secretly very happy that we would be easing into our trek (especially since she wasn’t handling the altitude as well as her hubby).

  

We wait for our Yak Man at the base of a small village outside the Yama Do meadows

 

We suspect the Yak Man wasn’t told about our change in schedule, as we waited for 2 hours for him to arrive – at least it was a scenic spot!

  

Our Yak man finally arrives, with two yaks. We are shocked that the animals are able to handle all the weight…and even more shocked when they blaze past us on the mountain trail, beating us to camp by a good 30min!

Hiking through gorgeous scenery in the Yama Do meadows

 

After a good 2hrs trekking up the mountain, we reach our camp (which has already been set-up!)

 

After setting up camp with the Yak Man, our cook, Tserine wastes no time getting dinner ready

 

Tserine doesn’t allow the wild outdoors to minimize his cooking – the yaks hauled up a tank of propane, a portable stove, a pressure cooker, a wok, and a crate full of fresh vegetables! Tibetan Glamping!

 

Our first dinner is amazing – a soothing vegetable-ginger soup, and stir-fried pasta with julienned veggies and yak meat

 

We have a crescent moon tonight, which sets very early, giving us a spectacular view of the night sky

 

Enjoying the solitude and a bright, starry sky in Tibet

 

We tuck into our tent at 8:30PM – we’ll be sleeping at 14,620ft above sea level (a 2,500+ rise in elevation from Lhasa!) so we give ourselves plenty of time to get a good nest’s rest, as the cold, hard ground and altitude may make it hard to fall asleep

Day 189: Lhasa – Day 1: Sera Monastery

Unfortunately, the effects of Golden Week were able to strike us, even in Tibet. Our vouchers for the Potala Palace were bumped for today, and we had to reschedule for tomorrow. Sadly, that left us with a big gaping hole in our itinerary for the day, as we weren’t planning to visit the Sera Monastery until the afternoon, when the monks perform their daily debate. We tried to make the best of it – taking a solo walk around the Potala Palace in the morning, so that we could move on as quickly as possible tomorrow.

The Sera Monastery is a complex of several Buddhist colleges, just outside Lhasa. While it was originally built in the 1400’s and once housed over 5,000 monks, it greatly suffered during the Cultural Revolution – hundreds of monks were killed and many buildings, scriptures and artifacts were destroyed (all this information, of course, was not presented at the monastery nor by our guide). However, there is an effort to rebuild many of the buildings and murals. Also, the lively debates – for which this monastery had always been famous – still continue 6 days a week from 3PM – 5PM (although our guide suggested that these debates are more for show for the tourists, than serious debates on scripture).

 

Visiting the Sera Monastery, outside Lhasa

 

Watching the daily public debates, at the Sera Monastery

 

The debating monks are split into pairs – a defender (sitting) and a questioner (standing). The debates are incredibly lively, as there are many ritual hand gestures that accompany the back and forth exchange. As we don’t speak Tibetan, we couldn’t grasp all the complexities, but it’s pretty easy to see that every time the questioner asks a question, he slaps his left hand with his right (as if shooting the question out of his arm!). Our guide also told us that when the defender answers a question *really poorly* the questioner will circle the defender’s head three times, as a sign of humiliation! All the while, a teacher is walking around the pairs of monks, listening in and essentially “grading” them on their debating skills.

 

One of three gorgeous mandelas, crafted by hand out of colored sand.

 

These intricate pieces of art take several weeks to make. After about a year, they are destroyed – symbolizing the transitory nature of life itself.

 

As we enter one of the assembly halls, we see a painter working on one of the new frescos

After visiting the Sera Monastery, we returned to our hotel in the Lhasa city center. We made plans to meet our guide at 8AM sharp, so that we could be one of the first groups to enter the Potala Palace tomorrow morning. We also got a great recommendation for Indian food dinner – loving the food in Tibet!

 

No wait, and all our food was served at the same time?! Lhasa Kitchen beats Snowland Restaurant by a landslide!

 

Lhasa at night – walking back to our hotel with bellies full of naan – yum!

Day 188: Lhasa – Day 1: Jokhang Temple

Our first full day in Lhasa, we visited the Jokhang Temple with our guide, Samdup. Along with the Potala Palace (which we are scheduled to visit tomorrow), the Jokhang Temple is the spiritual heart of Tibet. Our hotel is located in the Barkor Area – the “Old Lhasa” side of town – so we had a short 10min walk to the Barkhor kora, which is a pilgrim circuit through the alleys surrounding the temple. As is customary in all Buddhist holy places, we circumnavigate the kora clockwise, along with a crowd of hundreds of Tibetan worshipers, until we reach the temple entrance.

 

Walking down the Barkhor kora toward the Jokhang Temple

 

Prayer poles, decorated with colorful prayer flags, rise high into the sky, and incense ovens churn out clouds of smoke

 

A haze of incense hides the entrance of the Jokhang Temple – once we are inside the courtyard, however, the air is crystal clear as we gaze upon the golden porch where the Dalai Lama would address the crowd

 

Monks sit in front of the temple entrance, meditatively polishing metal bowls, as we pass by colorful murals of the Buddha

 

Prayer beads for sale on the second floor of the temple courtyard – we continue to the roof, where we find pillars decorated with braided yak hair!

View of Barkhor Square from the roof of the Jokhang Temple

 

Hundreds of worshippers repeatedly prostrate themselves both in front of the Jokhang Temple, and throughout the Barkhor kora

The golden rooftop of the Jokhang Temple

 

As we leave the temple, we pass a large wooden tub of water, where worshippers have tossed paper money in addition to change. Before we have a chance to exit, Lindsay is once again asked to pose for a picture with a random Chinese tourist

There’s no doubt that Lhasa is crowded, but we don’t feel the same claustrophobia that we did in mainland China – probably because we are surrounded by either Tibetan pilgrims (who don’t stop to take pictures) or Westerners (who tend to be much more quiet and courteous than their Chinese counterparts). In fact, we were shocked by the number of Westerners we had encountered in Tibet already – at our hotel’s breakfast buffet, the room was *filled* with Americans! Perhaps the hotels are segregated in Lhasa, and all the Chinese tourists stay in a different part of town…?

 

We continue the clockwise circuit of the Barkhor kora with hundreds of Tibetan worshippers. Even though we are surrounded by people, we don’t get the same sense of being crowded, like we did in mainland China – probably because none of them are taking photos. We pass by the separate entrance line for the worshippers – even though admission is free for them, they have to wait hours in line to enter the temple!

 

The Barkhor Square is lined with souvenir shops – we peek in at the various Tibet curios: glittering Buddha statues and decorated yak skulls

 

We stop in at the office for our tour agency – Tibet Highland Tours – in order to finalize the payment for our tour. Since foreign credit cards are not accepted in China, we’ve been carrying around a couple thousand dollars for the past few weeks and we are relieved to deposit the large sum of cash!

 

Once our bill is settled, our tour agency treats us to lunch at the Tibetan Family Kitchen – a tiny restaurant run out of the chef’s apartment – apparently he used to be one of the agency’s most popular cooks before he decided to open his own shop. We sat down in the family’s living room and enjoyed a *delicious* Tibetan lunch, while the chef’s little girl watched “Frozen” on her tablet

 

By mid-afternoon, Lindsay is getting short of breath, due to the thin air and high altitude. We stop at a pharmacy to pick up some oxygen tanks and medicine to bring with us on our trek later in the week (just in case!), before returning to the hotel for a nap

We had the rest of the afternoon free. Since Igor wasn’t having any issues with the altitude, he let Lindsay sleep off her headache while he explored Lhasa in his own. Turns out Igor turns into “a curious little puppy” when he explores without Lindsay (his words, not mine!), and wandered around until he got lost. He had left the room with nothing but the camera and soon got lost in the sprawling Chinese section of town (which was very industrial-looking – not pretty like “Old Lhasa”). He finally recognized a cell tower in the distance and found his way back to the hotel, four hours later!

 

Unrefrigerated and smelling pungent, the main street in Lhasa is littered with yak meat stalls

 

Fresh from the farm – yak meat (still with bits of hair on it) and a bucket full of chicken

 

More Tibetan specialties – huge blocks of yak butter for sale near the monastery (devotees will bring yak butter as offerings and pour melted butter into lamps), and freshly painted furniture drying in a quiet alley

 

Wandering through the streets of Lhasa

 

Stacks of prayer stones near the Potala Palace

A 50 Yuan View! The Potala Palace as seen on the RMB 50 banknote

The Potala Palace – the former residence of Dalai Lamas 5^th through 14^th