To the Roof of the World

I went on a 5-day trip in Tibet with some good people I hooked up with in Lhasa. If you are a lone traveler, checking the notice boards at the hotels in Lhasa is a good way to find some people to travel with.Trips around Tibet are expensive for one person, so people are always looking for a third, fourth, and sometimes fifth person to help split the costs.

The trip we went on went to Yamdrok-Tso lake, Shigatse and Gyantse to see some monasteries, Rongphu for its monastery, and finally to Everest Base Camp. Except for the "guide" we had, it was a very good trip. My travel companions were good company, the driver was good and very accommodating, and the scenery was spectacular.

One of the first thing I noticed as we drove out of Lhasa was the clear sky. The sky in Lhasa is very clear and blue, but it seemed to be even more so as we continued the drive. I am grateful to my travel companions for allowing me to ride shotgun.

We drove out of Lhasa along the river valley heading for the Kamba-la pass (4794 m) and the view of Yamdrok-Tso lake. All the passes are topped with prayer flags.

As we drove past and under the prayer flags, the lake came into view. It is an incredible sight. The turquoise-blue waters are amazing and the colors of the lake continue to change as the clouds and sun shift in the sky.

After a while contemplating and admiring the scenery, it was back down the mountain and on to Gyantse.

The road took us up the canyon of the Brahmaputra river. At times, the canyon was wide and the river slow. And other times it looked as if there might be some possible class-3 rapids far below.

In the canyon we had our first delay as road work was being carried out across both lanes. (It seemed as if road work was going on nearly everywhere we drove, but for the most part, there was little delay.) In the canyon cars were lined up for probably a kilometer or more on both sides of the section of roadway under repair. The wait wasn't total loss. It allowed me to wander around and get a few pictures. After about an hour we were able to get underway and enjoy even more canyon scenery.

The monasteries in Shigatse and Gyantse were interesting, but I think for me, it was the landscapes I enjoyed the most. We drove through desert with sand dunes, green rolling hills at 4000+ meters, up roads with numerous switchbacks winding their way to the top of mountains, river plains with trees turning to gold, and barely fields ready for harvest. Part of the time, if it wasn't for the lack of scrub and the green moss and grass, I could have swore we were driving through the area outside of Las Vegas. The mountains and plains seemed very similar.

Rongphu monastery was interesting because it is set in the valley leading up to Everest Base Camp. It is small, but being where it is makes it the highest monastery in the world.

The Jeeps and Land cruisers actually stop about four kilometer past Rongphu and four kilometers before the actual base camp. There, there are a collection of tents for use as tea houses and accommodation. Many of them have colorful names. We stayed in one called the "English Hotel." It wasn't very British and the proprietor didn't really speak much English so I am not sure how it got its name. But it was a nice place and the highest elevation I have ever slept at, around 5000meters.

The last four kilometers to EBC must be walked. At 5000+ meters that is no simple task so you could opt for the horse cart ride if you didn't feel up to the task. No, I walked the distance, two times actually, approximately 16 kilometers in total. For the walk you can follow the road and go to where the base camp tents actually are, or you can take the shortcut which takes you up a hill which over looks the whole of base camp, the terminal moraine left over from the receding glacier, and the remnants of the glacier itself. I have always been one for shortcuts, so up I went.

It really is incredible standing there looking up at Everest in the distance. It just captures your attention. You keep looking ... wondering ... what route have the people who climbed it taken, how were the actually able to reach the top. You take one picture, but then you feel you need to take another because you are not sure if you have caught the grandeur of it all. It really is something special.

So now the highest I have ever been is 5250 meters plus or minus a bit. It was a really good trip. The accommodations and facilities weren't always so nice, but that is something you have to expect, and I wasn't expecting much to begin with. All in all, this was possibly one of the best excursions I have ever been on. If you get the opportunity to come to Tibet, you really should consider doing something similar. There is nothing quite like visiting the roof of the world.

Biking at 11,000 Feet

More or less.

After riding a bike in Beijing, I figured riding couldn't get much more difficult anywhere else. Of course when I was figuring this, I never even considered altitude. Turns out, that wasn't much of a problem either.

Oh sure it affected me, but not in any way I wasn't already used to. Generally when riding, after a particularly long hill climb or a long fast stretch, I am breathing pretty heavily. Mouth open, deep, fast breaths if possible. I may breathe this way for a while until my body gets back into its natural rhythm.

However here in Lhasa, that kind of breathing started about 15 minutes and generally continued throughout unless I consciously tried to slow my breathing down. It wasn't really uncomfortable, just very noticeable. (Oddly, climbing stairs here makes me feel more out of breath than riding a bicycle here.)

I have gone on two rides here in Lhasa. Both of them had their difficulties, but I wouldn't count lack of oxygen among them.

The first ride started well. I headed north out of the city to the Sera monastery at the base of the mountains surrounding the valley. I got there and the ticket taker said the monastery was closed that day. Some kind of monk event. Bummer! I thought since I rode all the way there I might as well take some pictures of the area. I wandered around and then noticed some other people go up to the ticket taker. There was a short conversation, money and tickets were exchanged, and in they went.

Hold on! I went back, asked if it was still closed, and the guy told me no, it was five yuan to go in. Five? The sign said fifty.
"Fifty?" I said.
"No, five"
Who was I to argue. In I went. It was an interesting place. Apparently the monk event was over.
After looking around the monastery I came out, sat down, and had lunch. Yes, peanut butter. And then it was back on the bike. I was headed to another monastery, Deprung, on the same side of the valley, but way on the other end of town. I could have gone back into the city and followed the main roads, but the map I had showed a road running along the base of the mountain. That would probably be more scenic.

After a few false starts I found the road. Unfortunately, the map didn't say that the road was unpaved. Oh well, what the heck, I have been on worse roads. It was the more scenic route, and more interesting allowing me to see more of life in Lhasa. And it was only unpaved in some places. Eventually the unpaved road met with the main road and it was on to Deprung monastery. The actual road up to the monastery was quite a hill climb at this altitude, but I made it.

This monastery was a bit more interesting than the other. It seemed more active, alive. But maybe that was just because there were more monks walking around. It was a nice place.

(Click the image to see photos of the trip.)

Now came the time for one of the best parts of riding a bike. Going downhill. Things were going great, I was enjoying the ride. There was a curve coming up, so I needed to slow down. I was going a little faster than expected, so the back tire started to skid a bit. The suddenly the bike skidded to a complete stop.

Let me explain something here. When a bicycle tire goes into a skid it is more susceptible to lateral, sideways, motion. This is partially due to it no longer spinning. This is generally not a problem ... on a good bicycle. However, because the person who put this bicycle together was obviously incompetent, the little skid this time was a big problem. That bit of sideways motion caused the rear tire to warp, bend, pretzel, whatever you want to call it, it twisted out of shape. If there had been more room in the frame, it probably would have turned into a mobius strip. Whoever had trued the rear wheel obviously didn't know what they were doing. The wheel had been straight, but some of the spokes were overly tight, while others were overly loose. This is what caused the wheel to bend. I had neglected to check for this before starting out.

The wheel was now so warped, it wouldn't even turn in the frame. And I was still up the hill near the monastery. If I had had the tools, I would have fixed it myself. But I didn't, so I couldn't. There was nothing to do but carry the bike down the hill. I picked up the bike so the rear wheel was off the ground and started walking, and walking, and walking.

Now maybe I am just too kind-hearted or something, but if I were in my car and saw someone obviously having difficulty carrying a bike down a road, even with a language barrier, I would at least have given them a ride to some place where they had a better chance of getting more help. At least five cars passed me as I was carrying the bike down the hill.

After about a kilometer or so, I finally got to the main road. Now I had to find a bike shop. Not an easy task in Lhasa, especially on the outskirts of the city. I looked left, right, and left again. I chose left. At least that direction headed back into town, which actually wasn't saying much. I picked up the rear of the bike and started walking. Luckily there was a motorcycle shop not too far down the road. Through mostly sign language, and Tibetan, which I didn't understand but got the gist of, he said it can't be fixed. Or more likely, he couldn't fix it.

By some rather odd coincidence, he had a 15 speed road bike at his shop. He was willing to sell me the rear wheel of the road bike, making that bike useless, for 100 yuan, about $13. This was actually a top quality road bike. Buying a wheel like that in a bike shop probably would have cost close to $100. Still, it was a road bike wheel, I was riding a Mt. bike; it was 15 speeds, the Mt. bike was 18 speeds. But what could I do? I had to get back to town.

I bought the wheel. He changed it. I took the original wheel with me (Heck if I was going to loose a $100 deposit. There had to be someone in town who could fix it.) and rode back into town.

To make a long story short, I found a scooter/bike shop ; the guy straightened and trued the wheel, fixed the flat, and put the original wheel back on the bike, all for 30 yuan. I just gave him the road bike wheel. What use did I have for it?

The second ride was also nice. I headed out of town just to try and see some of the countryside. I got pretty far, but then a storm was moving in in front of me so I decided I should turn around. On the way back I got a flat tire. Fortune or fate I don't know, but it saved me from being caught in the downpour. I walked back to the city I just passed, about 1 km, and had the flat fixed. By that time the rain had mostly stopped, so I continued in the new direction and then headed back to town.

Click the image below to see some photos from the ride. The photos are not bad, but I have to say the images don't do the actual view justice. You really have to be here it see it as it actually is. But have a look anyway.

Mmmmm ... Yak!

I broke down the other day and had an actual restaurant meal rather than just eating from food shops/stalls. It was a nice place with different cuisines from the area- India, Nepal, Tibet, etc. The menu was in English, but just to make it easier on myself I chose the Nepali Set, with yak. I had the option to choose chicken, mutton, and a couple of others, but I thought, when in Tibet ...

What is the Nepali set you may ask? Well, you get a large plate with some loose rice, not the sticky east Asian kind. Next to the rice is a dollop of some kind of red pepper sauce. Similar to Korean kochujang, but actually a bit tastier. Maybe it was fermented or something. Also on the plate were some mixed vegetables, potatoes, carrots, peas, onions, small broccoli, and some kind of mushroom, in a light curry sauce. Finally, on the plate was what I assume was an homage to the western palate- a single slice each of tomato, carrot, and turnip, on a lettuce leaf.

The final items were a dish of a light curry soup with some kind of leafy vegetable, and a dish of yak pieces in a stronger curry. Maybe it should have been called the Nepali-curry set.

Everything was pretty darn good. Turns out, yak is good eatin'! What does it taste like? No, not chicken. It is pretty much just like beef. The meat was particularly tender. I don't know if that is a quality of yak in general, or just this particular preparation.

Maybe it is because the meat sets out in the open in the street markets. The butchers tend to leave a bit of yak skin/hair on the bone down around the hoof. I assume so you can be sure you are buying genuine yak. In the meat section of the street market, you see one stall after another with big hunks of meat on their tables and a big cleaver for easy portioning. I actually saw one guy using an axe, not a hatchet, to chop up a particularly large piece of meat (beef?). I think it had been frozen.

Anyway, it was a pretty good meal. They were decent sized portions, so I was full after eating. And the whole thing came to 31 Yuan (about $4.13), 25 for the food and 6 for the Coke. (I should have know better than to buy a drink in the restaurant. You can get a coke for 3 at the shop.)

Since then I have bought yak jerky which is also pretty good.

So, when you come to Tibet, try the yak.

Beautiful

(Edit: Photos added.)

This is the one word I would use to describe the train trip from Beijing to Lhasa. I have some other words I would add, but I'll get to those later.

The train trip is quite an experience. The 9:30 PM departure time seems to be timed well to see some fantastic scenery. Even though the early part of the trip isn't very high in elevation, the countryside is still interesting.

The train follows rivers a lot of the way, so some of the canyons you see are really spectacular. But the real beauty starts as you get closer to the Tibetan plateau. The plains are empty, only covered with moss and some scrub, but they extend off into the distance, sometimes a short distance, to some incredible hills and mountains, both green and snow-capped. We traveled through sun, clouds, rain, and even a snow storm.

The elevation, 4938 meters at the highest, wasn't a problem for me, but I did see some people opt for nose tubes. Actually, during the highest part of the trip, oxygen was pumped into the train car from little valves under the seats. If you want, you can ask for a tube for direct oxygen.

After the highest point, the train starts down toward the Lhasa valley. And the scenery gets even better. Finally you go through a couple of tunnels and enter the valley. High green mountains to either side, some in the distance covered with snow. A fast river flowing below you. You get closer to the city and then you can see the Potala in the distance, the enigmatic icon of Lhasa.



You have arrived.


(Please go easy on me. These were taken from a moving train, out a smudgy window, with reflections. And, sorry, I couldn't get a reliable GPS signal on the train to be able to geotag these photos.)

I could certainly spend a lot of time in this area if I had the money.


Now for those other words about the train trip. Crowded, noisy, annoying, uncomfortable, exhausting, and slightly disgusting, to give you just a few.

If you are contemplating taking this trip after my description, for the sake of your own sanity ( unless you are a hardened, veteran traveler) get a sleeper for the 48 hour trip. Don't choose the hard seat option. I chose the seat because I am traveling alone, and I am cheap when it comes to myself (I am still eating peanut butter, I brought from Korea, for lunch here in Lhasa!) . I don't know if I would choose the seat option again. Remember, this is all just part of my view of the whole experience.

Crowded - The train was over booked almost the whole length of the journey. There were people with no seats standing in the aisle. Many of them for shorter trips of 8, 10, 12, or 24 hours for destinations along the way, but I did see one guy with no seat for the entire trip to Lhasa. He would stand and sometimes sit wherever he could, on the edge of someone else's seat, on a box, or even on the floor. Strange thing was, even though people got off along the way, the train was still over-booked until the last section into Lhasa.

Noisy - I can deal with noise, and a certain amount is to be expected on a train, but man, the profusion of people talking, kids screaming, and train noises was almost overwhelming sometimes. I didn't even get close to quiet until about 2 or 3 AM.

Annoying - Just the general push and shove of people can certainly get on your nerves at times. At each stop, people and their luggage (I use this term loosely. It could be anything from a book-bag, to an over-sized backpack, to overly large sacks of what I assume [hope] was some kind of grain product.) getting on and off and smacking you in the leg, shoulder, or head as they go by. People leaning on your seat or kicking you as they go up and down the aisles. Having to move whenever the person next to you wants to get out (Luckily I had the two-person seat rather than the three.) people spitting, smoking, and throwing trash on the floor when there were signs in three languages clearly stating not to spit, smoke, or throw trash on the floor.

Uncomfortable - This goes hand-in-hand with annoying, but also, whoever designed those seats clearly didn't actually travel in them for 48 hours. They weren't wood, but almost as hard. The key was to find a position for your butt and not move. In time, about 4 or 5 hours, your but and the seat would reach an equilibrium of cushioning (about the softness of a tire tread) and numbness where you could endure the situation. Of course if you moved, it started all over again. Also, the seat backs were fixed vertical and only slightly accommodating to the human spine.

Slightly Disgusting - I say slightly, but others may not be so forgiving. The smoking and spitting is a given here. But also, it was disgusting because of those who had the presence of mind to not actually spit. The thing was, they still did the sniffing, hawking, coughing, and throat clearing one normally does proceeding the actual spit, but they never actually spat. Think about it for a moment. It'll come to you.

The amount of trash that can collect on a train is amazing. A few times during the trip, the train personnel would start at one end of the car and just sweep everything down to the other end. I had the good fortune of being on the collection end of the car. I even heard other passengers gasp as the mountain of trash passed us out the end to be bagged.

And lest I forget ... If you have ever used a squat toilet, then you'll only partially understand what the facilities were like on the train. Imagine using a squat toilet on a bumping jostling train. Now add into the picture 98 people per train car with two squatters per car. Figure in all the various foods eaten in China and what they can do to a person's bowel movements, and multiply it all by 48 hours. Oh yeah, and you are not supposed to throw the toilet tissue down the toilet, so there is a can of the material (yes, used) next to you as you try to do your business. Now you might have a clearer picture of how things were. Sorry about that.

Exhausting - Any long distance travel can be tiring, but I swear, on this train time seemed to slow down. It felt as if I was in the Twilight Zone or something. The train left at 9:30 PM. We click-clacked along for a while and I thought to myself, "This is not so bad, I can do this. Forty-eight hours will be a piece-of-cake." Then I looked at my watch. 10:00. What?!? Thirty minutes, I could have sworn it had been longer than that. I am not a clock-watcher, but after what seemed like an additional lengthy period of time, I looked at my watch again. 10:45. Huh? That's impossible!

The whole journey seemed to turn into a collection of 30 - 45 minute segments that individually felt like many hours, each. Even at night when I was trying to sleep, I remember looking at my watch around 1:30 AM. I woke up a while later realizing I had actually slept for a bit there. Wondering how long it would be until everyone else would wake up, I looked at my watch. 3:00 AM. Impossible!! And it continued throughout the whole trip. It was only a forty-eight hour journey, but each hour seemed to stretch into 2, 3, or 4 hours.


Now please don't let all these negatives put you off taking a trip from Beijing to Lhasa. I am sure with a sleeper instead of a seat the trip would be a lot better. It is just easier to talk about the negative aspects, because with the positive ones, namely the scenery, you just stare in rapt awe. The words don't seem to come. And those that do don't seem to do justice to what you see before you. It certainly was one train trip that I will long remember.

I will try and have some pictures up before too long. Until then, have a look at this:
http://triptracker.net/trip/2334/
This is a track of the bike ride I took in Beijing. If you click the map, you'll get a bigger version that you can zoom in and move around on. I'll put more tracks up later. Have fun.

Musings On Travel

Beijing is an interesting city. Like most major cities, the cultural aspects most people come to see are dotted around the city like little islands of the past in a large, more modern sprawl. You usually can make your way to these islands pretty easily if you don't mind paying extra or enduring extra, unwanted, side trips. I, however, have a rather low tolerance for such things.

I am not so sure how good of a traveling companion I would be. I can be very accommodating when I am with others, but I know, when I see someplace on a map, I feel there has got to be some way to get there. And I tend to try and do it by myself. Sure, I may ask for directions occasionally, but I am not the type to just hop in a taxi and say, "Take me to ..."

Yes, this does end up with me taking some rather long unplanned (and planned) walks, having to wait for buses which only run at certain times, confusing buses, missing connections, and generally enduring a lot that taxi riders would never even have to consider. My wellspring of patience rarely ever runs dry, though, so I do endure it and usually make it to where I am headed, sooner or later.

And when I do, there is an extra sense of accomplishment. "I've made it." Sure, the locals do it all the time, but for me, doing what I set out to do makes that little part of the trip a bit, just a bit, more special. After all, someone did say, "The journey is the reward." And completing that journey, through your own ingenuity, is even a bit more rewarding.

I have a few pictures for you. Just a few shots, out of many, of some of the places I've been so far. (Don't think you are missing much because you can't see the rest of the photos. There are only so many ways you can photograph a wall or temple.)



The first couple are interesting. I have always thought that food-on-a-stick was a great invention, but the Chinese seem to almost elevate it to an art.

The Great Wall. One more of the Seven Wonders I can now tick off my list.

A lot of Chinese temples are fairly familiar, having just come out of Korea. The color schemes are a bit more varied, and the complexes sometimes a bit more grandiose, but still rather familiar.

I am off to Tibet next. Taking the train from Beijing to Lhasa. Being the cheap bastard that I am, I opted for the "hard seat" rather than any kind of sleeper. I may regret that after the approximately 48 hours are up. Wish me luck.

(P.S. I can post to my blog, but I can't (without a lot of difficulty) actually view my own blog. Apparently "blogspot.com" addresses are blocked in China. So forgive me if my posts appear a bit strange now and then.)