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Published: February 15th 2007
Chengdu to Lhasa
The ride from Chengdu to Lhasa was a nice 48-hour scenic escape with breathtaking, eternal landscape... well at least for the time I was awake! I was in the second level of the hard sleeper, which doesn't give me enough room to sit up, so most of the time I just fell asleep while reading...that is, until the altitude started kicking in and I started having wild, vivid dreams, and some trouble sleeping. I shouldn’t complain about my bed b/c there were people who were sitting for the entire ride in the hard-seater! An added bonus was that since my bed was at the end of the carriage, the toilet, people coughing/spitting phlegm, and cigarette smoke were all within smelling and hearing distance. Nothing like someone hocking a massive loogie to wake you up in the morning. I was especially thrilled with the accented "Smoking is very, very bad for your health... please do not smoke on the train" broadcast. I wondered, "Is this being broadcasted in Chinese? Because the only people I see smoking on the train are the Chinese passengers!"
The ride was a little lonesome, considering that I had a constant traveling companion
At 4,594 m high!
Qinghai-Tibet (Qingzang) Railway up to that point. Oh, and another bummer was that at Mix Hostel, I greedily decided to upload songs from their music library into my ipod, which had 700 of my "can't live without" songs. Being the computer illiterate that I am, I somehow deleted my entire stock of tunes! &*@*#&%*##*! So in a time-constricted panic, I uploaded all the songs from Mix Hostel, which to my horror, I later found out on the train ride, was a bland mixture of international/ futuristic/ pot-smoker crap. Augh!!!
I met some nice Chinese college students and we had a nice time trying to communicate together. I found out they had no permits because only foreigners needed it. China is so full of surprises it's ridiculous.
The Qinghai-Tibet (Qingzang) Railway crosses the Tibetan Plateau, and it is an extraordinary feat in itself. For decades, it was deemed impossible to build because of the inhospitable environmental conditions (some areas are 5,000 meters above sea level, and most of the land has perma frost), but you know in China, if there's a will, there's a way! So the railway was completed quite recently, and it rightfully earned the title of many superlatives, but
the most relevant would be the "World's Highest Railway," which is no surprise since Tibet is the highest country in the world. Tibet is just full of superlatives… the world's highest __________ (fill in the blank here). But it's not just those things that draws people (and me) to visit.. it's that (1) the media has posed it as a land of magic, passion and suffering, (2) there is some mystical allure about the holy country, and (3) Brad Pitt/ Seven Years in Tibet.
It cost $4.2 billion to build, and obviously China continues with these types of investments in the Tibet Autonomous Region (how it's referred to) because it's such a hot tourist destination. Because of this railway alone, tourism is expected to explode in the next decades. It's quite contradictory on how to feel about all of these changes imposed by the Chinese. For one, it's great because the roads are nicely cemented and most things are easily accessible. So for people from modernized nations, it's convenient. On the other hand, and more significantly, the country is being stripped of it's culture and history, and it's so apparent throughout the city and country. The areas near the
Shopping
Barkhor Square Potala is like some super center... which feels just so out of place because no where else in Lhasa is that modernized, and I wonder how many of the Tibetans can afford to go there? Not much. Probably just the Han Chinese walking around there, who take up a huge chunk of Tibet's population thanks to the population transfer campaign over the past decades. Of course the Chinese will never admit to that! Even on the train ride into Lhasa, there is propaganda disguised as a friendly introduction being broadcasted as we approached Lhasa, that claims that 70 or 80% of the population is Tibetan, when some sources say it's 3:1, Han Chinese:Tibetan. The Chinese nearly destroyed all the monasteries during the Cultural Revolution, and now they are restoring it to increase touri$m, although as a country, China represses and discourages religion. Strange. Also, the entrance fees for the monasteries go to restoration (good) from the destruction caused by the Mao-inspired Cultural Revolution, or the money goes into the pockets of the Chinese gov't (bad), rather than the Tibetans (very bad). And most business owners are Chinese so the Tibetans are lacking opportunity to financially benefit from the tourism. (Now
I'm just rambling). All the stores/facilities in Tibet have huge Chinese signs, with small Tibetan translations on top. Talk about ethnic repression and cultural genocide... and the newly-built railway now promotes more Han Chinese to immigrate into Tibet, who are encouraged to do so through tax breaks and other such benefits. I felt weird being there because I look Chinese and I wondered if the Tibetans were thinking, "That bitch!" (which by the way happened.. read on). Anyhow, I'm not an overtly "World Peace" activist, so I don't mean to preach or say that other countries are innocent from bully-like behavior, but still, I need to give criticism where criticism’s due, and China is committing one huge assault against Tibet and that is just really f*cked.
The Holy City of Lhasa
As I arrived into the "roof of the world," I met four Aussies (which included a couple named Will and Grace... I kid not!) and a Japanese girl (Ari) at the station. Luckily, one guy had been there before, so he led the way as we walked past the swarm of taxi drivers and into the most over packed public bus I have yet been on (but sure
"It cost us Y10 and almost our lives"
How Simon summarized our ride in a ricksaw from Barkhor to the Potala there will be worse to come).
I stayed the first night with an Aussie couple at Pentoc Guesthouse, which was "Author's Choice" in my LP guide. Well, either the author was on drugs or bribed to write that load of BS, because when I woke up the next morning and inspected the bed, I found that there was not a single place that did not have a disgusting stain on it... pillow, gray stain:: blanket, brown stain:: sheets, pee pee stain. #&$(&#%&$#*! It gets better! So I decided to take a shower and wash myself of the sin. Four minutes into my shower (that was practically located outdoors in the freezing Tibetan winter cold), the water turns ice cold! $%&$#*@#*%$! So I waited, because usually, it should turn back warm. Well, 10 minutes later, I could barely feel my body! Then the Aussie girl came in, and I told her there was no hot water, so she told the manager, and minutes later, the warm water is back on. After two minutes of semi-warm water, ice COLD water yet again! $#*$*@$*#! So the Aussie gal put on her clothes and went back out to complain. Minutes later, the warm
Four's company
with Simon, and the "Dutch girls," Caroline and Lolla. water was on... then the water completely STOPS! I had to wipe the remaining soap off my body with dribbling water... that is until the water turned scalding HOT! #$(&#$(*$#(*($#@! So I had to splatter water on me to finish the remainder of the torture session I would dare not refer to as a shower.
I checked into the Yak Hotel (heaven!) following breakfast and spent the rest of the day being lazy and acclimatizing to Lhasa’s altitude of 3,700 m/12,100 ft (even walking up 10 flights of stairs left me winded and gasping for breath!). I met a guy who had fainted in a bus because of high altitude sickness, so I was not taking any chances. The poor guy had just arrived into Lhasa and was flying out the next day... he spent more time on the train getting to Lhasa, than the duration of his time in Lhasa! Some of the symptoms of acute mountain sickness (AMS) are headaches, short breath and trouble sleeping. On my second night, I had the strangest, wildest dream! In short, I was Bart Simpson-- causing trouble, yellow, spiky hair and all! Nuts! But it also might have been because of
The Potala in all it's glory
minus the Chinese flag in the front the malaria pills I was taking.
I met anther traveling buddy, Simon, who also happened to be German! I think this will develop into some strange trend. Anyhow, we were the perfect, lazy mix. We went on our own cafe tours, drinking juice, coffee, tea, lassi, beer, Great Wall wine and eating like 5 meals a day (2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, and 1 dinner), from one establishment to another. We kept bumping into these two Dutch doctors, who were just fantastic people, and we had great dining/drinking evenings with them, laughing the whole night while making fun of Simon (just kidding Simon!). After two days of this fatass lifestyle, we switched gears into high productivity.
One creepy thing did happen during our bar hopping escapade. One night, Simon and I went to a hole-in-the-wall bar, that looked more like a family's living room, that sold us red wine that was cold and in an opened bottle (classy). As the night progressed, a big group of Tibetan regulars came in and started their night with beer and singing. One guy came over and poured us some of his beer, and Simon and I said we were German and Korean.
Then with his non-existent English, he sign-languaged this creepy message to us, that included shooting himself in the head with his hand in a gun-like form, making a heart sign with his hands, doing the decapitation motion (index finger across neck), and a writing motion, among others. Simon was somehow able to read through the mumbo-jumbo that the guy was saying: China is killing Tibet of its culture so we should go out there, write about it and tell the world. He kept on doing those motions over and over again, only to stop to pour us or bring us more of his beer. Getting very creeped out, Simon and I were going to leave when all of a sudden, the guy starts freaking out and pointing at me, and motioning that I was Chinese and I would rattle him out! He totally freaked out in a state of panic, and when I tapped him and said my common phrase, "No, I'm not Chinese," he freaked out even more. Well, that was enough for us to read the message, RUN!!!
Aside from acclimatizing and eating, I did see some of the brilliant sites in Lhasa. We checked out the
"F.U. We're sick of tourists!"
I don't think he meant that :( famed Potala Palace, which I knew the image of, but knew nothing about prior to my visit. It was built in 1645 under the fifth Dalai Lama and was the official home of the Dalai Lama, until the 14th one went into exile to India after a failed uprising in 1959 against China's invasion. I read a bit about Tibetan Buddhism and the Dalai Lama (what else to do with 48 hours in the train?) and I will share my limited, but hopefully correct, understanding of it all. The Dalai Lama (translated to "ocean" "guru," a.k.a., spiritual teacher) is considered the supreme head of Tibetan Buddhism as well as the Tibetan gov't, and he is thought to be reincarnated when he dies. So after he dies, his reincarnation is found and from the time he is a baby, until he is of age to take position, he is trained and educated by lamas to be the next Dalai Lama. So far, there has been 14 Dalai Lamas, but the last few had very short life spans due to political issues and assassinations.
The absolutely stunning thing about the Potala is that it's able to be seen from many parts
of Lhasa, so it carries and emits such a massive and powerful presence over the city. The first view of it is such a breathtaking experience, as well as each time I re-saw it.
Inside the Potala, there is a potent, heavy, aroma of yak butter (gag!). Visitors come and add yak butter to the pot that is already lit (looks kinda like a huge pot of candle, except it's butter). It's quite nauseating because every room has yak butter burning away. Inside the Potala, we saw the study room and the principal chapels of the Dalai Lama, as well as the elaborately ornamented and jeweled shrines of past Dalai Lamas. It's so colorful and vivid in there and the decorations are nearly hypnotic. The downfall about visiting the Potala is that the Chinese gov't made the entrance to start counter-clockwise, which goes against the Tibetan Buddhist belief that monasteries are to be entered clockwise.
A strange thing happened that day. As usual, Simon and I got hungry, so we went into the cutest restaurant, with the most yuckiest interior (and an even yuckier menu we later found out). Anyhow, this restaurant was carved inside a part of
the mountain that had the Potala on it, so it felt really authentic...we just had to go in! We went inside and found out that the menu was pointless because all they were serving up were Tibetan noodle and Chinese noodle, which we ordered one of each. I took one bit... and BARF! Ok, not literally on the table, but it was sooooooo terrible, like rotten, doughy, fuzzy cardboard...if even such thing exists! And it had the creepiest mystery meat that I think I even saw Simon eat. Anyhow, I ate like 4 noodles and could not force even one more down. A minute later, a shoe-shiner came in, and he saw that I pushed the bowl aside... then he gave me this look, like "can I eat that?" But I was kind of embarrassed to acknowledge it at first because it's just so strange to give someone your leftover scraps. But he signaled the message to me, and Simon and I were both like, "Sure, sure, here..." I thought about it for a while after, and thought it was so sad. But I'm not sure if I should feel sad about it. Should I feel nothing, because of the
"one man's trash is another man's treasure" mentality? Hmmm.. quite strange.
We also had the luxury of checking out Drepung Loseling Monastery, which at one point was the largest monastery in Tibet with over 10,000 monks. It looked a bit like an old seaside town in Greece, though I've never been, because it had white structures, rooftop walkways, stone steps, and narrow, winding alleys. There were sheep’s here, there, everywhere, so it was quite amusing. My camera battery failed me shortly after I got there, so I have only a couple pictures of the monastery.
Randomly at a restuarant, I met some Koreans who were looking to share a Land Cruiser ride from Lhasa to the Nepali border. In order to get to areas outside of Lhasa, the most easiest way is to hire a Land Cruiser for X-amount of money, and split the cost with other travelers. So usually, there are postings at guesthouses of people looking to share the ride. Anyhow, I was planning on going to Nepal through a Land Cruiser, so Simon and I got lucky when we found two people to join us for our ride, the day before our departure. We paid
for a tour along the way to the border, including a stop near Everest Base Camp, and so we paid Y3,500, which broke down to about $115 per person.
After all that was settled, I went to Jokhang Monastery, a key center of Buddhist pilgrimage, only to find that it was closed. 😞 So I ended up doing the pilgrim circuit around the Barkhor Square, which surrounds the Jokhang, and had a nice, long, exhausting afternoon of just absorbing the massive amount of chaos, culture, life and passion. Since most Tibetans consider it as the most sacred and important temple in Tibet, there were many pilgrims praying and prostrating respect in front of the temple and it was quite astounding. There were some people prostrating around the entire circuit. I can't find the words to describe being in Lhasa nor summarize the essence of the things I saw, heard, and smelt, but it was such a tremendously enlightening and eye-opening experience. It was a blessing to have been here.
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joanne bomb diggities kim
non-member comment
germans rock!
grace, your entry was very interesting and informative, i guess when it comes to writing blogs your ramblings comes to good use! your pictures very beautiful and i guess your himalayan climbing trip starts soon? i'm happy and so jealous that you are on this wonderful trip! (more jealous then happy, i say 60% jealous 40% happy or maybe even 70:30 hahaha. Love you and be safe!