 Mt. Everest Base Camp, Day 3 |
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Videos in the Playlist:
1: Training the Yaks... 44 secs
1: Training the Yaks... 44 secs
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Old Tibet, new Tibet...
I loved the colors and wall hangings in this restaurant and then right in the middle is a computer...
We ended up getting to our hotel late last night, about 10:30, after a decent meal in Shigatse, Tibet. Even though we didn't get to see Mt. Everest up close yesterday, on our way back to the closest town we did get to spend about forty minutes watching the top 1/3 of the mountain appear and then fade away, and then appear again as cloud formations slowly passed over the mountain range. She is a spectacular sight indeed.
This morning Jenny and I are up early, but groggy and grumpy, as we both ended up sleeping in our clothes. It was that kind of hotel. We got out and on the bus after skipping a Chinese breakfast and after the night we had I grabbed the long seat in the back of the bus slumped up against mounds of backpacks and suitcases. Both of us slept for a few hours as we continued on the all-day drive back to Lhasa from Shigatse.
The drive was uneventful except that we picked up an additional guide who just finished up providing a private one day tour for a guy who is now on our bus for the ride back.
The guide was at one time a Mt. Everest Sherpa, which means he was trained in mountaineering and was working towards getting his certificate to guide people all the way up Everest as a team Sherpa. He told us about what changed his mind. As part of his training he was with a group but they were climbing up Everest slowly, stopping for a day, then heading up again, getting acclimated while learning skills at the same time. He was about 1/3 of the way up, feeling great, when he said he just felt like a bus was laying on his chest. He is from Tibet, lived here all his life, but his body simply could not acclimate to the height and he fought for several hours but in the end had to give up and crawl back to the highest base camp, Base Camp C, or he would have died. That was it for him, acute mountain sickness kicked his ass - years of training for naught, he never went back it shook him up that deeply. He told us the story while laughing and smoking a cigarette...he also laughed when we asked him how much it costs to climb Everest. He said soberly, "They will pull you up to the top for about $70,000...not worth it, not worth it...
We laughed with our guides, looked over the albums of pictures of our adventure and tried to entertain ourselves as we rolled away the hours. We stopped often for a bathroom break, to slow down our time so we wouldn't get fined, or to look over random souvenir stalls on the side of the road. Eventually we stopped at a beautiful ranch that looked like it was under Montana big sky country. Just perfect blue sky, puffy clouds, trees everywhere, dogs barking and running around...it was a Yak ranch and they also raise the famous Tibetan Yak dogs. Don took care of the logistics and within about fifteen minutes they brought over a huge white Yak for those of us who have always wanted to ride one of these beasts. He moved pretty slow, but they can move quick if they want to and his horns reminded me vividly of running through the narrow streets of Pamplona back in 2006 when I ran with the bulls in San Fermin. We both hopped on and had a great time because he was well-behaved and well-mannered and he smelled nothing like the Yak I encountered up at the Mt. Everest base camp...now that guy smelled!
Finally made it back to Lhasa in the early evening and went to the hotel for less than 20 minutes and then we were herded back on the bus and whisked over to a local restaurant for a delicious buffet and floor show including authentic Tibetan dances. The food was awesome and the floor show was hilarious, especially a dance with the Yak's and a Shepard who trains them...that's in the video above...me and Jenny had such a great time they pulled her up on stage and got her to dance the last number with the performers. She acted a little shy but she really does love the spotlight!!
After dinner we rounded up most of the original Music Night group and headed out to another one of our favorite bars to say goodbye to everyone and wind down the entire adventure. We had some beers and talked but most of us were fairly quiet, as if we were all walking alone through the emotional quagmire we have discovered called Tibet. We talked local politics, and global politics, but it didn't mean much. What had we learned about being on the rooftop of the world for eight days? The underlying current moving beneath each of us this evening is sadness. Sadness beyond words. We have traveled from all over the world to be right here this evening enjoying ourselves in the middle of a culture that is slowly being eradicated from the earth. We are drinking beers and chatting inside a living, breathing genocidal event. Our words are as nugatory as our ideas on what to do about the situation. The most we can do, we all agree, is be grateful and accept that it is enough sometimes just to be happy right here, right now. No epiphany, no solution, just empathy for these beautiful, peaceful, fundamentally spiritual people. We also agree that the invasion is complete and it was a success; all that is left is to strangle and suffocate the Tibetan leaders and people until they slowly whither away, leaving nothing except echoes in their monasteries, temples, palaces, all of which will continue bringing in money for her captors for decades and decades to come...
Jenny and I are in Lhasa for one more day because the trains leave only on odd/even days so tomorrow we are on a private tour with Don Drop all day. Our attitude about the Chinese has turned darker, we are both tinged with bitterness now after visiting Tibet. We tell each other we are going to have to get over this fiery streak in our hearts and guts because we have to teach English for five more months here...I smell the Juniper burning in the night air as I walk home under the stars and feel conflicted and confused; as if I've been given a gift but have no idea what to do with it...
9 Comments - Add Public Comment or Send Private Message
September 5th 2009 - Dad: Reality
I'm crying.
September 5th 2009 - FYI:
What type of people usually are the manual workers in USA? What type of people usually are the low-income people in USA? What type of people usually have a large percentage in jails in USA? Are Hawaiians still the majority in Hawaii? Is the NATIVE Indian culture still alive? Is the official language of Alaska the Native Alaskan Language? How many people are dying during the bombing of USA in Iraq and Afghan? How many Iraq people have died since Iraq War? Which country provide weapons and money to Israel to kill the Palestinian people and overthrow their houses and occupy their land? Which Country keep Israel from being condemned in UN? Please THINK ABOUT THIS.
Should China use reservation to keep Tibetan people just like the Indian reservations in USA? Absolutely not. USA shows us a bad example. Why the eastern minorities have lived peacefully with Han Chinese for thousands of years? Tibetan people should interact with other Chinese people and develop their culture and show their culture to China and the world. I am happy there are a lot of Tibetan singers/artists who are famous in China. I donot mean every aspect is good. But some bad things happened and are happening in whole China. Not just in Tibet. So you should not think that just aims at Tibetan culture. Now China is participating in the globalization and Chinese are eager to learn foreign languages and some Chinese like the KFC, McD, Starbucks. There are more and more Christians in China. There are not China's traditions. Should China forbid these? Learn form others and develop ourselves. This is the key to survive in the era of globalization. So does Tibet and Tibetan people. I have deep confidence in China and Tibet.
Your argument that USA provides a bad example has nothing to do with what is happening in Tibet and certainly does not mean that what I am saying is not occurring in Tibet. Instead of attacking the person you need to attack the facts. Here are some for you:
The Chinese assert that Tibet has always been part of China and this is not true. Tibet was not part of China at any time, in any way. China invaded Tibet and says that Tibet should be part of China because a Tibetan Emperor had once married a Chinese princess. Later on, the Chinese said that Tibet was part of China because of Genghis Khan, talking about when the Mongols came to Tibet and subdued it. Although Genghis Khan and the Mongols controlled Tibet - they never incorporated Tibet into China. Using this reasoning, America should belong to England right now.
Chinese and Tibetans are completely different people, as different as the Uighurs are from Han. Tibetan culture, religion, way of life, habits, even their way of eating is different than Chinese. And the Chinese hate these differences because as a culture you detest anybody who behaves differently because they are viewed as a threat. This is referred to as splitism and it is the primary reason China invaded and is still in Tibet. And of course the language is also different; Tibetans have a spoken and written language that comes from Indian script Sanskrit.
Before the invasion, Tibet has it's own theocratic government led by H.H. Dalai Lama. They had a National Assembly and their own army. They also had their own currency, gold and silver coins, and they also had paper money, their own postal system and their own stamps. Before the invasion, Tibet has nothing to do with China and did not threaten China in any way - there only 'crime' was being different, the irony is they were also peaceful, fundamentally spiritual people who choose the peaceful way and not the violent way.
Since the Chinese invasion over 1 million, of the 6 million Tibetans, have been murdered - 17% of the population. In the Amdo region alone, there are less than 5,000 people of the Golok tribe of the 100,000 who lived there before the invasion. Over 6,000 monasteries is now reduced to less than 10% of this number and the monastic population is now completely controlled by the Chinese government. Tibetan language and arts are no longer taught in schools and monks have been replaced with Chinese spy's to both entertain the tourists as well as report on any uprisings.
Lhasa has only 1/3 of the Tibetan region left and that is quickly dissolving, being swallowed up by a voracious Chinese appetite for money and power. The Tibetan population are almost all displaced as Chinese fill up all new jobs and soon Lhasa will be all Chinese - there is now only 1 Tibetan for every 6 Chinese in this capital city.
I live here in China and have been to Tibet and have done some research and can see with my own eyes what is happening there. These are only my personal opinions, and I say what the Chinese are really doing in Tibet is a genocide against the Tibetan people and their culture. DR Congo, Sudan, Chechnya, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Rwanda, Burundi, Darfur...as defined by the 1948 Convention, genocide consists of acts committed with the intent to physically destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group resulting in widespread crimes against humanity or systematic attacks against civilians...
Peace.
September 6th 2009 - FYI:
Your argument is nothing new---copied from "Tibetan government" in exile or “free tibet movement”. I saw too much in their website. Only the "kind westerners" believe that. But they can not provide any evidence. Whether Tibet was/is part of China, it's not necessary to argue about that.
I just want to say Chinese are not just Han people. Have you ever seen the mosque in Tibet? Some "PEAeaceful " monks wanted to fire it.
September 6th 2009 - FYI:
Using this reasoning, America should belong to England right now.
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History is interesting. If England had defeated USA in 1770s, USA was part of England. Before 1770s, USA was truly part of England.
What needs to be new in this argument? - the facts speak loud and clear. The saddest part of the problem is the "kind" Chinese who do not believe reality - the rest of the world and especially Westerners know what you are doing. What evidence do you need to believe what the whole world knows and only your government does not accept, and therefore by default your people do not accept either? You're right though; there is no argument that Tibet was/is part of China because it never was but you have invaded their country with force and so now it is. How powerful you are conquering a small peaceful country of monks and farmers! Perhaps you and your countrymen are still angry and raging about not stopping your insane hero Mao's Cultural Revolution and only now need to vent your hatred anywhere you can - and if your enemy is weak and spiritual and can not fight then you can feel that much better - you are crushing them unfettered and unresisted.
Do you really believe your country invaded, conquered, and is now strangling Tibet in order to improve their lives? What would Confucius say about this atrocity?
If you do not believe the monks in Tibet are peaceful I plead with you to turn off your television and the internet and go there yourself and spend a few days in what is left of their homeland. Then look in your heart and make up your own mind - you will be changed.
I'm not sure you understand what you are saying, but I will refresh your memory of American history. From the beginning, the American colonists were used to doing things their own way and yes, although we came from Great Britain, she was far, far away and that's the way we liked it. When problems arose, we fixed those problems ourselves rather than waiting for Britain to tell us what to do and we, like the Tibetan people, are willing to pay dearly for this autonomy. When Britain decided American's should pay a large part of the money Britain owed to its banks and other countries they levied huge taxes on the American's and we got pissed off - and unlike the Tibetans, we were not peaceful Buddhists by nature and instead we formed militias and fought back with a vengeance. Dozens of battles later, it looked like Britain was going to win as they were highly skilled and they were winning almost every battle in sight. However, we won a key battle, Saratoga, and France took notice and agreed to help us fight the British by supplying money and troops. The Brits continued to try to conquer us but we kept fighting and as French ships sailed into Yorktown harbor our American army advanced. Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington and the Brits left America, the Treaty of Paris was signed and America had won our war of independence.
My point is, at one time we were considered part of England but eventually we wanted our autonomy and independence and considered ourselves American EXCEPT in the eyes of Britain. And just as you can ask any Tibetan, if you had the courage to go anywhere near Tibet which I doubt you do, he will also say he is only part of China in eyes of the Chinese.
September 6th 2009 - FYI:
You want to argue about Tibet history. OK. Please wiki "Qing dyansty" "Republic of China(ROC)" "People's Repulic of China(PRC)", or Please google image"Qing dyansty" "Republic of China" "People's Repulic of China" which indicates Tibet was/is an independent country? Which country recognized/recognizes Tibet as an independent country.
China never said Tibet was part of China because the Tibetan King married with a Tang princess or because of Genghis Khan. But Tibet was part of China since Yuan Dynasty(the grandson of Genghis Khan found Yuan Dynasty).
PS. there are about 6m mongolian people in China(some live in Tibet and Qinghai), while leass than 3m in Mongolia. The tomb of Genghis Khan is in China. Yuan Dynasty is not equal to Genghis Khan's empire.
You know HongKong and Macau have their own special systems, but no one can deny they are part of China now.
You mentioned Tibetan language and arts are no longer taught in schools. Could you provide the name of the School? Just one school!
By the way, I know the American history you told me. Thanks.
I did my research on the history of Tibet and here is what I found. Historically, Tibetan dynasties often conflicted with Chinese dynasties (and of course you and your countrymen take the opposite side of this argument). The Tibetan Yarlung dynasty (ruled during 6th - 9th centuries) conquered the Chinese T'ang dynasty (7th - 10th centuries) - you read that right, they conquered the T'ang dynasy, for most of the 8th century.
No indigenous Chinese dynasty ever conquered Tibet, although the Mongols and the Manchu Empires pulled in both China and Tibet under their imperial hegemony. The Brits invaded Tibet and forced a trade treaty on her, but they also did the same thing with China.
The big point here is NONE of these three empires made any attempt to homogenize China and Tibet into a single national entity, or to even colonize Tibet with Mongolian, Manchu, British, or surrogate subject Chinese settlers. And another point - except for a few border regions in the Far East, there was almost NO CHINESE POPULATION in high plateau Tibet until the People's Republic of China (PRC) invasion between 1949 and 1951 - that's when your government began invading, occupying, and colonizing Tibet. Your country invaded Tibet immediately after the communist victory over the Chinese Nationalists (who fled to Taiwan), they imposed a treaty of "liberation" on the Tibetans (what they really wanted was more power and more money and suppress any culture that was different), the Chinese militarily occupied Tibet's territory, and divided that territory into twelve administrative units.
Now, we can argue these facts all day because you, like your entire country prefers to do, will just ignore how you got there and what you are doing in Tibet today.
My real question is, China is so big and so powerful - why do you feel the need to eradicate the entire culture of Tibet? Why is your country so afraid of the Dalai Lama and a population consisting of monks and farmers? Surely such a big and powerful country can figure out how to "make lives better for Tibetans" (that was China's reason for invading Tibet after all) without killing them, killing their language and arts, killing their spirituality, and killing their way of life? Why can't your country do this without using guns, spies, and violence? Those are the questions that your government does not, and simply can not answer.
The truth is Tibetans ARE different, they do not follow China's strict Buddhist forms, they don't worship the mainland and instead look to H.H. Dalai Lama, and big and powerful China sees this as a threat. And like a petulant child with a big stick, China marches in and crushes a weak, spiritual country until it quickly gets on it's knees for survival. And today China is mining Tibet's natural resources, using their spiritual temples as tourist attractions, developing Lhasa and surrounding cities into thriving industrial zones to continue China's only real motivation - to make as much money as possible. Because the more money you have the more powerful you feel and you can continue ignoring the world's pleas to stop abusing human rights.
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