TIBET!

My girlfriend left on the 14th however I could not rest for long for on the 18^th I had scheduled to go to Tibet. We had only decided to go on this trip on the 7^th, so we had to do a lot of planning! Friends of mine wanted to do this and asked me if I wanted to join, a chance to go to Tibet is a chance I would never let slip away. So I had a lot to do before I could leave the University for nearly two weeks. We managed to get the go-ahead from our teachers after we promised to finish all the homework ahead of time. This meant that the four days I had between Joske leaving and me leaving for Tibet were spend behind books and laptops. We worked extremely hard to finish all our homework two weeks ahead of time but we managed to do it! Finishing of 3 reports and two presentations in time, arranging with our other team members that we would make the reports and they would do the presentations.

The four of us left late at night and entered the train that would take us from Shanghai directly to Lhasa, once again China’s impressive constructions prevail. We had to plan and book our entire tour ahead of time. One has to get this all done and sorted before a visa is issued. Lhasa is located at 3600m and we planned to also visit the Mt. Everest which is located nearly 2km higher at 5400m. The decision to take the train was therefore not taken without careful consideration. The train ride takes 49 hours, nearly a 1000km of the railway is at an altitude of more than 4000 meters, with the highest point of the track at the Tanggula Pass at 5072 meters. The long ride would give us some time to adjust to the altitude; the wagons are pumped with oxygen to make the ride a little more comfortable.

We ate on the train and played cards, reading up on Lhasa in the various information books we brought. We were with four people and we decided to buy second class, hard sleeper seats. This meant we shared our little cabin with 2 Chinese, in our case we got lucky and we shared it with a friendly young couple, who unfortunately did not speak any English. The train ride was long but the scenery made more than up for it, we stopped only a few times and each time we hopped off, sprinting to the food sellers on the train platform to buy some more food for the rest of the journey. However, as soon as we arrived we realized we would have to sit in that train for another 49 hours on the way back, all of a sudden the train ride seemed really long!

Upon our arrival we met our guide who took us to our hotel. In the middle of Lhasa, the first thing we noticed was that any physical effort we undertook was extremely difficult. Breathing is heavy, you are constantly out of breath, it does not matter how fit you are or what your build is. The only people not affected by altitude sickness are the Tibetans, it’s said to be in their genes. That first night was difficult to say the least, all of us hardly slept that night and spent most of the night near the bathroom. We tried to battle the sickness by drinking a lot of water, which is the only real remedy. We drank near to 4 liters of water a day and made sure that we did things slowly.

Taking things slowly was apparently not what our guide had in mind, the first morning we were driven to the Potala Palace. It’s the large monastery in the center of the city build on a hill. It stands tall in this city and is a safe haven for Buddhists from all over the world. Everyday there are believers who circle the entire palace while swinging their prayer sticks. It is impressive to see that even those who have so little are so devoted to their belief. The temple itself is a masterpiece with over a 1000 rooms which house prayer rooms, statues and ‘stupas’ which are tombs in which the monks are buried. There are so many other things to say about this palace but I guess you will just have to travel to Lhasa and find out for yourself.

Apart from the dozens of temples we visited the scenery grabs you as it is so diverse. One moment you are surrounded by lakes and hills and the next moment one is driving through a desert. Some areas of the Himalayas are sheltered from rain all year round and are therefore excluded from rain. We spend a lot of our time in the car, firstly driving over 300km from Lhasa to Sighatse after spending the first two days in Lhasa. It’s a nice drive because we cut through the mountains via valley and also climb over the top of some mountains which results in beautiful views. We visited the Nmatso lake which is the second highest salt water lake in the world at 4720 meters. Arriving at Sighatse later that day we find a local restaurant where we are able to enjoy our first yak steak, which tastes amazing!

The next day we wanted to leave Sighatse again in the early morning to be at the Mt. Everest before the sunset. However on the way to the mountain there are a lot of security stops and checks. Your visa needs to be in order and you need to have the appropriate paperwork. However, our guide had not yet gotten our papers and visas so we had to wait for the police office to open. So after leaving late we tried to get our driver to pick up the speed and hopefully drive over 100km per hour. Unfortunately 102km of the 350km drive was over unpaved, hairpin turned tracks, constantly driving up and down mountains. During these twists and bends we climbed to the highest point I have ever been, 6256 Meters! Due to the low speeds we were driving we unfortunately missed our sunset and had to view it from a distance. We arrived at the Base Camp and drank some sweet milk thee with the locals that are stationed there.

Our rooms consisted of 2 beds and 4 covers but that night was still the most unbearable and horrific night I have ever endured! The Base Camp is at an altitude of roughly 5300 meters. The windows are single layered and some of the tiles in the window are missing so the only protection you have from outside is a thin curtain. We wore all of our clothes while sleeping but still we were freezing! However, it wasn’t so much the cold that really got to us; the altitude sickness was far and far worse. We all suffered from intense headaches, upset stomachs and restlessness. Because we were desperate to make sure we did not miss the sunrise, we decided to wake up at 6 and leave the camp at 6:30.

We were all awake for pretty much the whole night, constantly hoping our phones would indicate that it was close to 6 so we could put this night before us. When this was finally the case we re-screwed the light bulb in place to illuminate the cold rooms. Our water which we had brought with us and kept with us next to our beds had frozen, indicating that the temperatures in the room had gotten below 0. Outside the temperature had dropped far below that and reached -25 degrees! When we went outside and got in the car to drive to the furthest point it was still pitch black outside. We waited in the car for the sunrise to start and as soon as the tips of surrounding mountains became vaguely visible we started on our journey to get closer to the Everest.

We left the safety and relative warmth of the car and walked roughly 2km towards the mountain. We had to climb small ‘hills’ which are rock barges that make the area behind it inaccessible for cars. Once on the highest point of the valley we were in, we waited for the sun to rise. Temperatures rose only ever so slightly and it was freezing cold, roughIy -15 to -10 degrees, I was wearing short and long thermo underwear both bottoms and tops, together 2 long polos and 2 sweaters and a jacket. Over my long thermo underwear I wore sweatpants and over that normal jeans. Then two pairs of ski socks and two pairs of gloves, in combination with mountain boots purchased at the fake market in Shanghai and a beanie. Wearing this entire still provided little to no protection to the cold that you are exposed to on the mountain. By the time we were on the location where we wanted to view the sunrise it was 8 o’clock. The sun was not even close to passing over the tips of the surrounding mountains. We had forgotten that we were positioned in a valley and therefore had to wait for the sun to get higher in the sky before we would have been able to see it. So after roughly half an hour of waiting we decided that we would head back! One of the girls that were with us suffers from bad blood circulation and is naturally a lot colder than the rest. Her fingers and face was starting to turn blue so this was a clear indication that we were in over our heads and not prepared to face these temperatures. It would have been unhealthy to stay at that altitude without the proper clothing. Heading back to the car the sun was still not visible. We made the right decision to go back in time, and we still got to see the sunrise from the pitch black to the morning light casted on the largest mountain on earth.

After the cold morning we visited some more monasteries and started our journey back to Sighatse and the day after we drove back to Lhasa. Arriving there late in the evening to finally have the first good night’s rest we’ve had in days. With the Everest at 5300m and our hotel in Sighatse at roughly 4000m it was nice to be back in Lhasa at ‘only’ 3600m. After this nice rest we traveled to the Ganden Monastery, it is located on the top of a mountain range and overlooks a valley, a truly magnificent sight! We observed the high monk chanting and teaching to his fellow believers and gotten a private tour of the place from an English spoken monk.

The following day we headed down to the Samye Monastery. To get there you have to cut through the desert. The monastery is one of the most special ones as it was one of the oldest in Tibet. Up to earlier this year foreigners were not allowed in the temple! The highlight of the temple is the depiction of the 14^th Dalai Lama. This is strictly forbidden in Tibet but there is one portrait of him which is allowed by the Chinese rulers. After the tour we enjoyed some more sweet thee on the porch of a local restaurant, and we watched as the packs of stray dogs walk through the empty streets in the deserted area. We returned home to Lhasa for our last meal in, yak steak of course!

Following morning we headed to the post office for some post cards, then buying a lot of supplies for the train ride back. We had to share a 6 person cabin with 7 people seeing as one of the bunks was being shared by a couple who would take turns in who gets to sleep. The way back was a lot less exciting as we had expected. A lot of reading and listening to music, with regards to food and drinks the way back was slightly more challenging. Seeing as after a few stops a large military platoon boarded the train and claimed all the food and beer!

Tibet was all in all a wonderful once in a lifetime experience! It was not a ‘fun’ holiday because most time was spend in cars and observing temples. But it was an eye opener to see the wonders of the Everest and the landscape that surrounds it. Meeting the local Tibetans as well as the Chinese that now share this land after 1959. Due to the position that I am currently in I cannot go into more detail on how this relationship is going but in short the Tibetans are being suppressed to a certain extent. However, it must be said that the Chinese are investing a lot of money and resources into improving the county with regards to quality of life, infrastructure and wealth. However, their methods can sometimes be questionable.