Arriving in Tibet and Nepal - Part II

I was last harping on about how wonderful Lhasa was...we visited the Potala palace, which was the Dalai Lama's winter residence.  It's Tibet 's most iconic building.  It's one of those buildings which dominate the skyline.  No matter where you are in the city you can always look up and see this majestic palace.  The inside is also impressive, but sad.  The place feels incredibly unlived in...Which of course it is, as the Dalai Lama (DL) was forced into exile in the late fifties.  It was strange standing in the DL's private quarters.  I peered out of the window of the DL's bedroom and found myself looking at a very typical, modern, soulless, Chinese-looking city.  The most criminal thing of this sky line is that the Chinese have erected an ugly monument in a sea of concrete, opposite the Potala palace.  The monument is there to celebrate the 50 year anniversary of the 'peaceful liberation of Tibet '.  I actually cried when I saw this and thought of all the Tibetan pilgrims who must come here & look out & see this...I don't know what to call it...disgrace.  The fact that the monument resembles a hand giving the middle finger doesn't help matters either.  I mean, it's by no means the worst thing that the Chinese have done in Tibet , but it gives an insight into their insensitivity.

I think it's really important to see these sorts of things and get a slap in the face about the reality of what's happening in the world.

From Lhasa , matt and I wanted to head to the Nepal border.  As we were short of time, hitching wasn't really an option, so we decided to take a land cruiser.  For this, we needed to find other travellers to share the cost.  This can be a bit of a pain, time-wise and actually finding other people who want to do the same route as you and who are actually sound enough folk that you'd want to spend 8 days travelling with.  But we were lucky enough to meet Frank and Remco (from Holland ) who had exactly the same trip in mind and were absolutely lovely guys too...Frank even had a guitar with him, which is always a plus when you're on the road.

Travelling from Lhasa to Nepal

The trip from Lhasa to the Nepalese border is a bit of a monastery tour.  The Chinese have destroyed the majority of the Tibetan monasteries (over 6,000 of them) but were kind enough to leave a few standing so they could rake in money from tourists.  It's bizarre: ruining a beautiful building then being brazen enough to demand a rather large entrance fee from tourists, so the tourist can see what the Chinese were kind enough to leave standing (and of course the money is going to the Chinese, not the Tibetans).  I think I'm right in saying that all the monasteries we saw in Tibet had been attacked at one time or another by the Chinese (most often the red guards during the Cultural Revolution).  Usually the faces of some of the most beautiful murals I've ever laid eyes on had been scratched out with knives or stones.  But then the Chinese have killed over a million people in Tibet (through imprisonment, torture and execution), so it feels strange to say what a tragedy it is to have lost this unique Buddhist art.

Now it would be easy enough to paint an overly-romantic picture of all the monasteries in Tibet .  And architecturally, they are stunning and most of the time the atmosphere is also incredible (in a spiritual and powerful way).  However, whether it's just Tibet catching up with the 21st century or the Chinese occupation, I'm not sure, but there were a few things in the monasteries that I just didn't expect to see.  Things like monks in their beautiful maroon robes chatting away on mobiles, or sitting texting!  Monks walking around monasteries carrying plastic bags full of cans of coke. These images just don't seem to belong in such revered sights.  But then I guess we can't just expect everywhere to remain in the past just because it would look better for the tourist.  I just hope they're all happy and they brush their teeth before going to bed.

Our first stop after Lhasa was a place called Samye monastery.  We stayed in the monastery guesthouse (where you could buy beer, cigarettes and meat...can you even imagine monasteries at home selling the first two?).  The monastery itself was nice...prayer wheels encircled the compound, so you could spin the wheels and increase your karma to your heart's content. 

The following day we hired a tractor to take us up a hill to some fantastic meditation caves. The four of us then set off on a trek back to the monastery. In hindsight it was really stupid to start a 6 hour hike at 2pm , and the climbing was tough because we were already well over 3,000m. We climbed up to almost 4,500m, so even catching your breath at that altitude is quite a task. We ended up stuck on a ridge about 1,000m up from the road, as the sun was disappearing behind the hills. The reason we were stuck was that there was 1,000m of gorse bush between us and the road.and no path to get through it. Eventually, we just had to go for it and throw ourselves - quite literally - down the hill. After about 15 mins of sliding through gorse, when the scratches on our arms and legs were getting re-scratched; when it was starting to get really dark; and the road still an hour away; I thought about starting to cry. But then I realised that wouldn't help anything and would only waste fluids (and we didn't have any water to replace them)! Anyway, it was all alright in the end. That night we lay on the roof of the monastery, under the most perfect blanket of clear, twinkling stars and sung happy birthday to Frank. It was after midnight and therefore his birthday. He even saw his first shooting star that night. What a way to turn 27!

Next we headed towards Gyantse and poor Frank didn't get to celebrate his birthday properly because of the Chinese army. Next to a beautiful lake, an oil tanker had been left abandoned across the single track 'road' we were travelling on. At first I thought that the tanker had been abandoned by the driver, and the police/army (in their official green uniforms) were there to move it. Then it soon became apparent that it was the army that had put it there! It was all very confusing because no one could speak enough English to explain what was going on, or why we couldn't get past. There were other cars and buses stuck at the other side of the tanker too. The army were shouting and generally verbally abusing our (Tibetan) driver, but he didn't have the English to explain what was happening - it's also not too wise for Tibetans to slag off Chinese officials. So there wasn't much we could do. We sat there as the sunset on Frank's birthday for over 3 hours. Eventually, when enough cars and trucks were piled up on either side of the tanker the army demanded money from each and every vehicle! Soon after the tanker was moved and everyone went on their way. Isn't that what guerillas do? This was just drunken boy soldiers, entertaining themselves by being cruel to Tibetans and making some easy money. It wasn't possible to get too annoyed about it though, as the Tibetans were all staying calm. I guess they have to deal with it all the time; and in their own country too. There are now 7.5 million Chinese living in Tibet and only 6 million Tibetans. China 's idea of breeding out the Tibetans and their culture could certainly be a reality (especially with the coercive birth control policies, including enforced abortion and sterilisation).

In the monastery we visited the following day, we found a Buddha statue who was actually giving the middle finger to all who gazed upon him. I'd like to think that it was built with the Chinese government in mind (although it must've been built hundreds of years before the Chinese started their aggression in Tibet ).

Our driver, Nobu, was an alright guy; except for the limp. We presumed it was a permanent affliction and not something that had just manifested during our trip. We were wrong. His leg started getting spasm attacks when he was driving one day and we had to make him stop. He kept telling us he was fine but we could see the pain in his face. He told us that in the next town he'd visit a good doctor and then he'd be alright. Before he started driving again he took some pills, which were probably strong painkillers and certainly didn't help his driving.

The following morning we came down for breakfast and discovered him sitting attached to a drip (which was hanging on a hat stand). Despite his pleas, we refused to get in a car with him. After a lot of shenanigans and a day spent in a town of no interest to tourists, we were on our way again with a new driver, Kalsang. Kalsang seemed very proud of his enormous belly, to the extent that he let village kids run and bounce their heads off it!

Everest Boot Camp

I forgot to tell my dad that I went to Everest base camp...I'm afraid it doesn't involve nearly so much effort to get to on the Tibetan side as it does on the Nepal side (where you have to trek for 2 weeks before you can even see it). We could take our jeep, and then a bus then a horse and cart and we were at the base camp! We slept at 4,800m in a monastery guest house. In the morning the most spectacular view awaited us. The sky was pink and the top of Mount Gomolangma (as it's called by the Tibetans) was clear. Lots of pink cloud was floating around at the bottom of the valley, at the base of the mountain. It was spectacular. The view only lasted for 30 mins as the cloud crept up the valley and obscured the rest of the mountain. We were so lucky to see it. Other travellers had been there for a few days and this was the first glimpse they'd had.

Our last night in Tibet was spent in some hot springs . There had been a severe lack of showers since we'd left Lhasa , so it was fantastic to have a proper bath! It was a surreal, but great, way to spend our last night in Tibet .

We then descended from the roof of the world (at over 5,000m) and into the valleys below. I've never experienced such a change of scenery. From mountains and hills which look like the barren top of the Cairngorms in Scotland, to lush, tropical, green forests, with the highest density of waterfalls I've ever seen! There must've been a waterfall every 30 seconds; some of them so huge that they stormed across the road. It was breath-taking.

We arrived in Kathmandu later that day. Great to be back in the land of showers and pizza! Had a good time in Kathmandu but didn't do anything too exciting. We hired bikes one day and rode to Bhaktapur, a beautifully preserved old town, brimming with temples and traditional carvings.

From there I flew to Delhi , where I stayed at my aunt's and uncle's. It was great to see them again. Then my friend Campbell (who I used to work with at the Union ad agency) arrived in town. We took an overnight train to Jammu with the idea of going to Dal Lake in Srinagar (next to Kashmir ). However, when we arrived in Jammu to be told that the road was closed and they didn't know when it was going to open. We did a quick change of plan and went to Dharamsala. This is a Tibetan settlement in India and home to the Dalai Lama and his government in exile. It's a nice place but it's been so long since I was around so many annoying tourists.

We travelled from Dharamsala to Srinigar and stayed on a houseboat on Dal Lake . It was great to spend time with Campbell , but can't say I liked Srinigar all that much. It's a bit of a hotspot and there are many terrorist attacks there. But that wasn't the problem: it was the hundreds of touts, all hassling you and trying to pull you in different directions. My impression of Dal Lake was that it would be peaceful and pretty, with a handful of houseboats. Yet, it was noisy, full of rich Indians on holiday, and there must've been almost a thousand houseboats.

Needless to say I didn't hang around there for long! I said goodbye to Campbell and headed north to Leh...my first trip as a solo traveller. Well, kind of, there are so many tourists in India that you're never really by yourself here. I met up with 2 nice Israeli guys and we spent the 2 day bus journey together. The scenery en route to Leh (which is close to both the Tibetan and Pakistan borders) was incredible. As good as the Karakoram Range in Pakistan . Unfortunately I was stuck in the middle of the back of the bus for the 2 day trip, so I didn't get to 'oooo' and 'ahhhh' as much as everyone else. But nevermind.

Camels

So I'm in Leh now. Been here for about two weeks now. It's the sort of town where time has very little meaning and days just drift into one another. I've met some lovely people here, including two French guys whom I've been hanging out with for the past couple of weeks. They've got an incredible adventure planned. They're trying to buy five double-humped camels and trek with them from Leh to Pushkar. For those of you who know India , you'll know how far this is...for the rest of you...it's going to take them about two months. They're making a documentary about the trek...it should be spectacular. The idea is to arrive with the camels in time for the Pushkar camel fair. They'll see the reaction of the local Rajasthan camel owners whom, despite living and breathing camels, have no idea that a double-humped camel even exists. Should make for good footage!

I went with these guys to Nubra Valley , to try to buy the camels. It was a real wild camel chase. Despite the fact that the sale of five camels had been agreed in June (including the price); when we arrived no one wanted to sell any. Queue us walking around in the desert, with ropes, trying to find some camels ourselves. It was hysterical! The guys have now managed to borrow camels from the tourist board and should be heading off in a few days. I'll be sorry to see them go. One of them is an incredible photographer and has been teaching me a lot...primarily that I should get a digital SLR!

What I'm going to do until December I'm not so sure about (the joy of total freedom!). My mind changes daily. Yesterday I was thinking about flying to Indonesia (via Singapore to get a digital SLR camera), but today I'm thinking about going back to China (via Singapore to get a digital SLR camera!). But they're just ideas...I could also very easily kill 3 months in India ...especially as beach season will start in November, and a month in Goa or Gokarna wouldn't be too painful.

BY: Jenny