Tibet.

An exotic high altitude travel destination.

The unspoken highlight of our Month-Long travel.

I remember my first reaction when Hobbit first asked me if I wanted to join her friends and her to travel to Tibet after our attachment. "whoaa..." Yea. That's the word. whoa. But the seed of adventure had already been planted and I was bent on making Tibet one of our key travel destination after our attachment, even when Hobbit's friends had to cancel on us.

And so the 2 of us bought books on Tibet (in Chinese, no less), researched for tours (cuz the regulation on that exclusive Tibet permit can only be arranged for by takin a tour with a tour agency) and finally settled on a personalised private tour provided by Access Tibet Tour (http://www.accesstibettour.com/). We flew in by plane, one fine Friday morning, each of us one-half of a two-person tour 'group'. The feeling was surreal as we trudged out of the Lhasa airport, our heavy backpacks being carried by our own private tour guide and driver, and looked around in wonder at the close proximity of the sky:

With an average altitude of 4000m above sea level, the "Roof of the World" is the highest region on Earth, hence travellers to Tibet would, more often than not, encounter High Altitude Sickness (Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) represents the body's intolerance of the low oxygen environment at one's current elevation). To enable ourselves to acclimatize faster, we had started taking 红景天, a chinese herb specifically to prevent AMS, while in Chengdu. We still continued takin 2 pills at meal times as our body continued to acclimatize.

The altitudes of different places (that we visited) in Tibet:
Tsedang (泽当) - 3500 m
Lhasa (拉萨) - 3658 m
Shigatse (日喀则) - 3836 m
Tingri (定日) - 4300 m
Mount Everest Base Camp (珠穆朗玛峰大本营) - 5200m
Damshung (当雄) - 4200 m

Following a 2hour car ride and some corked-up arrangements regarding our accommodation, we were finally settled in at this luxurious 3 star hotel in Tse Dang and left to rest and acclimatize.

Red and orange, on top of a polished wood table. Classic.

The rest of the day was spent exploring the opposite row of outdoor gear shops and equiping ourselves of a heavy duty double layer 'micro fleece-Goretex' jacket each. In RED, no less. And at S$50 each. Real or fake? Who cares as long as they keep us warm... Since we're not intending to go mountaineering in this stuff anyway. Spent the rest of the day luxuring in our hotel room, delighted over the cheap purchases that we bought.

Our first venture into Tibet monasteries started with their oldest and largest monasteries - Samye Monastery:

The first introduction to the different Buddhas and God Protectors was brief and I got confused by the many similar-lookin statues and the long long Tibetan names. What we quickly caught on to was the 5 coloured prayer flags and their significance - blue (sky), white (clouds), red (sun), green (grass) and yellow (land):

The second place we visited was the Yongbulakang Palace, which was perched high on top of a rocky hill:

Our transport only came up to the foot of the mountain and we were given the option to make our way up either by horse ride or by foot. Being wheezy and still in the process of acclimatizing, we opted to take the horse ride instead of trudging up the rather steep path, like most devotees:

We bought a set of prayer flags (rem those colourful flags?) each and proceeded to write down the names of our loved ones on it, so as to wish for blessings for them. How? By tying the string of prayer flags on a small hill, a short climb from the Yongbulakang Palace.

Local Tibetans lookin on as I write the names of my loved ones on my set of prayer flags.

Tying the string of prayer flags; Basically, I was just making sure that they were well-anchored down.

Just after secring our prayer flags to the mountain, we saw the sky turn a menacing grey. However, Hobbit still whipped out her camera and proceeded to take a couple of quick shots of the surroundings:

Luckily for us, the storm clouds quickly dissipated after releasing a short and light drizzle of rain. So we managed to wish for more blessings for our family and friends by throwing small pieces of prayer paper, which also comes in 5 colours, into the air while making our wishes:

Beautiful wish. Beautiful background. =)

On the way down, I got a little cheeky with a camel:

...which fortunately or unfortunately, did not seem too interested. ah well.

After 2 days in Tse Dang (with our lousy tour guide, no less), we drove to Lhasa and promptly went to the travel agency to re-confirm all our accommodation and travel plans, and more importantly, to change our tour guide. Luckily for us, the agency assigned their best tour guide to us and he proved to be an informative and fun guide for the rest of the trip.

Along the streets of Lhasa at night (Pago Street):

The area where we stayed at was bustling with activities and we were in a great position to soak in the Tibetan culture and marvel at how religious the Tibetans are. It was fun checkin out the various types of souvenirs that the stalls were selling.

While we're in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, how can we miss visiting THE Potala Palace? This iconic building in Tibet is such a hot tourist spot that tickets were hard to get hold of, and cuz our tour coincided with the peak tourist season, we were limited to a one hour tour of the place.

THE Potala Palace:

Looks grand huh? Well... it is. But it's a hell of a climb just to reach the entrance to the inside of the palace. How so? Let's put it this way: If you thought the Great Wall was tough from the look of the pictures in my previous post, let me tell you that this is WAYYY tougher. Why? Although the number of steps here is definitely much less than that of the Great Wall and the gradient here no where as steep, the high altitude and the thin air made every step a hell lot more challenging. No better word to pun on than 'breath-taking'.

Maybe a short video clip might put matters into perspective?

I did mention about the strength of the people's faith right? This a typical scene outside the Jhokang Monastery, a major pilgramage site, on a typical day:

When the Tibetans pray, they 'offer' their mind, speech and body - both hands palm-to-palm, first to the forehead (signifying the mind), then to the mouth (signifying speech) and finally to the chest (signifying body):

The Tibetans' strength in their religion is such that countless Tibetans undetake pilgramages to temples and sacred objects, to famous lamas and saints, and also to the holy sites of Buddha in India. Each ardous journey is a test of their faith and can take up to months. We happened to chance upon 2 pilgrims - assumed to be father and son - while in Lhasa:

The religiousness of the Tibetans would leave one speechless in admiration.

And so there we are, on the roof of the Jhokang Monastery, overlooking the parade-square-like area below, lined with stalls, side by side, selling souvenirs and other knicks and knacks:

Oh yea. As religious as they are, and disregarding the fact that they are not as fashion-forward as us back here, the Tibetans do keep up to date with technology. For example:

Note the rectangular silver object clutched in the left hand of the monk in red robes? Yeap. That's a handphone. Now... before u guys start makin noise about what's so great about Tibetan monks holding handphones (yea I know Singaporean monks do carry handphones as well), let me tell u that we encountered a monk with a Motorola Razor V3 with (get this) a PERSONALISED RINGTONE, and another with what looked like a POCKET PC. Pretty up to date huh? It's pretty amusing to see a monk whip out a V3 from within his robes, flip it open and answer a call, while conversing with ur tour guide just seconds before. hmm.

Ok. Technological advancement aside, the Tibetan women are traditionally dressed like this:

...and some sportingly consented to posing for pictures with us (after tidying up her hair of course)! U go girl!

While out on Pago Street, I decided to toy around with my camera functions and got Hobbit to be my model:

Of course I tried using the cam mode to take scenery pics:

Quite like the effects in these pics. What do u guys think?

Moving out of Lhasa a couple of days later, we were on this butt-achingly long car ride to Shigatse when Hobbit needed to use the washroom.

Question: Where do you find a decent toilet in the midst of the mountains?

Answer: Lower ur expectations and make do.

A typical toilet that you might find along the road:

FYI, this is what the inside normally looks like:

Yea. So people, u shld be SO GLAD for the toilets we have in Singapore!

Toilets aside, the scenery along the roads were nothing short of spectacular:

Dilapidated single storey traditional housing in a Mother Nature backdrop of clear blue sky, fluffy white clouds, green plains on slopes of mountains. Beautiful.

Enroute to Old Tingri, one stop before Mount Everest Base Camp, our friendly tour guide brought us to see what horse racing is like in Tibet:

Massive numbers of people were gathered on the muddy slope surrounding the race course. There were also a number of groups of people who had climbed on top of their vehicles to watch the race. There was a buzz of excitement in the air.

Surprisingly, the riders on horse back looked relatively young:

After watching one exciting race around the muddy track, our tour guide brought us to a nearby flour mill where the Tibetan staple, Tsamba, is traditionally made using the water mill:

We got to try the freshly milled Tsamba, but I cnt say that I understood the delight which showed on our tour guide's and driver's faces when they tried the flour. I guess it's a Tibetan thing? hmm.

Moving on on the road, our tour guide showed us his cool watch which shows the altitude that we're at:

5000m above sea level. hmm.

After 8 hours of butt-aching car ride (our tour guide calls it free massage), we finally arrived at Old Tingri, a small desolate town seemingly made up of only a single street lined with single storey buildings:

Make-shift stalls sellin various odds and ends grouped at a corner:

The guesthouse that we stayed at - a court yard comprising of a number of prison-cell-like rooms:

Close up of what each room's entrance looks like. Yeap, they are the doors in red:

The weather was so cold due to the high altitude of 4300m above sea level that we wrapped ourselves snugly in 4 layers of clothes - while we were in our prison cell-like room. Our sole source of light came from a bare dangling light bulb in the middle of the room. Generator-provided electricity is scarce, thus electricity is only supplied between 9-11pm. To combat the increasingly high altitude and to beef up our body's immune system for the next day's visit to Mount Everest Base camp, we doubled our dosage of 红景天 and downed bottles of redoxon and multi-vitamin drink.

We awoke in pitch black darkness, at 0630hrs the next morning, so that we could get a headstart on the 'dry weather' and reach the base camp smoothly before noon time. Our effort paid off brilliantly.

We caught the beautiful early morning scenery:

The rising sun; The low cloud cover; The mountainous backdrop:

A lone ranger standing on the sands of time:

After 4 hours worth of exhilarating drive through muddy ditches, across small rivers, skirting the edge of mountains and one broken 4WD (luckily not ours) later, we finally arrived at the Mount Everest Base Camp...vicinity. Yeap. We're NOT at the base camp yet. Apparently the vehicles can only drive til this point, after which we have the option of either takin a 1hour hike to the base camp or payin 50rmb for a horse cart ride. No prizes for guessing which option we took.

The base camp vicinity, where all the tentage guesthouses and vehicles are:

Despite choosing the horse cart ride, we did venture about 200m towards the base camp and soaked in the majesty of the surroundings while takin a couple of pics. This is my personal fave:

A 20min ride, courtesy of a Tibetan 'driver' and an undernourished horse, later, we found ourselves at the Mount Everest (or Mt. Qomolangma) Base Camp, 5200m above sea level:

With only 30mins to spare before we take the horse cart back, we trudged up this rocky hill:

...and stared in awe at the tallest peak in the world which stood just in front of us:

The feeling was surreal standing there in front of the highest peak in the world. According to our guide, we were really lucky cuz the weather over the past 9days had been too cloudy to see the peak of Mount Everest, yet the clouds had cleared for us! In his own words, "你们念的是什么经啊？真的太有效了..." For the uninitiated, our guide refers to our K-Os on board our 4WD as “念经” or reciting scriptures.

A shot of the highest mountain in the world, although I must say that this picture does not do justice to the majestic aura that it gave off:

Lady luck smiled down on us as we got a clear view of the summit on our horse cart ride back from the base camp.

While makin our way back to (New) Tingri, our guide and driver stopped at the side of the road and hopped out of the car with bottles in hand. Interestingly, they told us that there was a 'miracle spring' there and they were goin to get some 'holy water' from it (the water is supposedly much touted to cure various diseases). Though kind of skeptical, we still tagged along and drank some of the water:

Oh yea. And a distance down from the miracle spring, we hopped out of the vehicle to attempt to take a postcard perfect shot:

If u mus know, this is cuz a single postcard of Mount Everest, including postage, costs 35rmb, yet they don't allow us to choose the design we want! Hence we thought... who needs the freakin postcard when we have our own camera? ah well.

We also have a guide who claims to be able to take postcard perfect pictures of us:

Looks pretty good to me.

Fast forward. Another highlight of our Tibet trip: We saw SNOW! In July! Ok. Given that Tibet is the highest region in the world and the range of high altitude means that it experiences different weather all year round, we did not go to Tibet expectin to see SNOW. And considering that a white landscape came into view outside our windows while we were on yet another butt-aching car ride and it was the first time either of us saw SNOW, naturally we were exceedingly excited and practically bouncing in our seats as we asked our driver to stopped by the side of the road for us to take pictures. Christmas has come early this year!

Ernie and Hobbit leave their prints:

Snowflakes fallin in a 'winter' wonderland, along the road side:

Oh yes. You people might be wonderin, "What's up with the
ERNIE??". ah well. Compare the following pic with the next might
answer this question:-

This is me:

This is Ernie:

See the resemblence? Frankly, I think I'm cuter. But that's
another story. ah well.

While takin pics and leavin our prints on the winter landscape, we had a couple of snowfights with our boy-like tour guide, who mischieviously sneaked up on me while I was posing for a pic, and smashed a handful of snow on top of my head just before the camera snapped:

Needless to say, I chased after and hurled balls of snow at him once I got over the shock.

We saw more snow enroute to Namtso Lake the next day:

Namtso Lake, the Salt Lake with the highest elevation in the world, was to be our final stop before returning to Lhasa where we would head back to Beijing on board the infamous Qinghai-Tibet Train:

At the entrance to the Namtso Lake Nature Reserve, we were told that there had been an accident inside, thus we were not allowed to enter yet. While waiting, we busied ourselves with some photo-takin:

From the bright sunlight and our dressing, don't we look like we've just teleported to another country?

Little Hobbit got down to getting to know a little Tibetan girl better:

...while I remained contented snapping away with my trusty IXUS 70.

Family closeness:

Boy on a bike:

ahh..

And here's the little Tibetan girl and her elder sister:

See the little blue book that she's holdin? That's the autograph book that she asked us to sign in.

When we were finally allowed into the Nature Reserve, we learnt the seriousness of the accident that had taken place - a mini tour bus had flipped over the edge of the road and crashed; 7 people lost their lives. Shocked at how the recklessness of one bus driver had cost 6 others of their lives, we looked on with heavy hearts as we drove pass the accident site.

On our way to the camp area:

Our accommodation for the night was within one of the containers that were set out in a circular manner at the 'campsite'. There were tents available, but our dear tour guide made sure that we got the warmer option of accommodation - a room within the container restaurant:

Tired after the long wait, we only ventured to the edge of the lake then retired for the night.

The next morning, we got up nice and early to explore the area before we set off for Lhasa. We braved strong, numbingly cold winds and climbed a steep flight of stairs which led us to a great view point which looks out to the lake:

Yeap. That vast amount of (darker) blue is the lake:

All too soon, we had reached the end of our Tibet adventure and found ourselves back in Lhasa for some last minute souvenir shopping and food tasting. We had a hell of a shock though when the dear travel agency informed us that they had FORGOTTEN to book our SOFT SLEEPER train tickets when we were all set to leave the NEXT MORNING. To their credit however, the agency boss assured us that by hook or by crook, he would produce 2 tickets for us on board the train we were supposed to be on. To his credit, he managed to get hold of 2 tickets (the tickets were sellin like hot cakes), although they were HARD SLEEPERS, meaning we had to share with 2 more commuters in the cabin. As much as we wanted to put our foot down and demand for more compensation, we were also hard pressed for time, thus accepted the refund of the ticket price difference and bid a fond farewell to our dear driver and tour guide.

48 hours on board the train was no joke, as we found out. First, we found out that we were sharing a cabin with 4 other China uncles. Second, we were so busy shopping for souvenirs, we had forgotten to stock up on food supplies. Third, it definitely did not help that the China uncles had brought enough food to camp outdoors for a week. Fourth, and worse of all, we certainly did not appreciate 2 of the guys gettin drunk and one of them PUKING into our food. -_-" So much for the infamous Lhasa Express - the train with the highest elevation in the world.

One las pic for u guys:

That's me with the bowls of instant noodles that we fought tooth and nail to buy at a rest stop.

End of Tibet.

josh, signin off.

Labels: tibet, train, travel