Train to Tibet - Lhasa

The train journey to Tibet is the highest in the world. They actually have to pump oxygen into the cabin to offset the effects of altitude sickness because it peaks at about 3000 meters. The journey was going to take us about 48 hours so we decided to splurge and get a 4 berth cabin between us. It turned out to be well worth it, 2 days of hocking and spitting would have been tough on the nerves.

Even with the preventative measures you could feel the air inside the cabin getting thinner. I woke several times at night gasping for air and there was a smattering of a headache. The pressure was building.

The view out the window was savage though. It was looking like Mongolia mark two. The peaks and mountains were unbelievable as we started to enter the Himalaya's.

We got to Lhasa at about 5.00 in the evening and headed straight into the Tibetan side of town to get our accommodation. We ran into Karla, from Mongolia, on the street and arranged to catch up with her later on. Also met the Polish guy from Beijing, Martin, it was all by chance and it turned into a good evenings craic. It funny when you're trekking like this and meet people you've met before its like meeting up with your best friends.

We went to bed that night about 9.30 and found sleeping extremely difficult. Waking up constantly and the dreams were absolutely bizarre. We slept until about 11.00 the next morning with bags under my eyes, HOW???

We'd been advised to spend our first day doing as little as possible. Walk very little and at a deliberate slow pace. So we spent the day trying to sort out our trek to Base Camp. We strolled around for about 2 hours or so and it was like we'd been walking for miles. Fatigue just hits you suddenly, and on this day I had to go home to bed about 5.00. I started to get stomach cramps and an ear ache, alarm bells are ringing! We have been told that it will take us about 3 days to get acclimatised. Its weird, but there is little or no preparation that you can do, it affects everyone different, fitness has nothing to do with it.

People living at these altitudes have adapted and developed significantly over the past few thousand years. They have dis-proportionally large chests and lungs, this increases their ability to produce oxygen giving red blood cells by more than a third. Now you know why a fella from the lowly drumlins of Cavan was having such a hard time!

Tibet's story in a nut shell is as follows. They were once as feared as the Mongols and occupied large parts of Nepal, and Yunnan in China. They were fearsome warriors but as the 20th century rolled in and their outdated fighting methods made meant they were ripe for the taking. In 1906 the British in trying to extend their territory from Northern India slaughtered 1300 warriors in a single battle

In 1951, things got much worse. The Chinese, rejuvenated under Chairman Mao, decided to "liberate" Tibet. The Chinese representatives in Beijing presented Tibetan representatives with a Seventeen Point Agreement which affirmed China's sovereignty over Tibet. The agreement was ratified in Lhasa a few months later. China claimed to be liberating the largely serf population of Tibet. The Chinese became increasingly more oppressive as time wore on. In 1959 a Tibetan rebellion was savagely put down. All their leaders, 100,000 or more, including the Dalai Lama fled for safetyand most of their cultural and religious sites were destroyed. It is though that up to 1.2 million Tibetans have been killed either directly or indirectly since the occupation began.

The Chinese for their part cannot understand the ingratitude of the people. They claim that have vastly improved the infrastructure of the region with roads, hospitals, schools, roads etc. This maybe so but the Tibetans asked for none of this.

The Dalai Lama has labeled the occupation as "cultural genocide", and once you've been to Lhasa you get to see exactly what he's talking about. Lhasa is split into 2 sections, the Chinese section and the Tibetan section. The Tibetan section is being dwarfed as more and more Chinese converge on the area. The government there are alleged to be offering grants to people to re-locate there. The same train we took is the main vehicle for this. It is very systematic, very Chinese and unfortunately proving very successful.

The people themselves are fantastic. The majority of whom were good humoured, smiley and looking to help. They were inquisitive of us, but not in a bad way. The Dalai Lama is revered in the country and it is illegal for a Tibetan to have a picture of him. A few people had shots of him and showed them quietly and discreetly to people. But you had to be careful, there are spies everywhere and you could end up in a lot of trouble, but that would be nothing to the trouble the local would get into. Lhasa is full of activists and when we were there one of the main temples was closed off. This was due to some trouble after the Dalai Lama was given a Nobel Peace Prize. There was apparently a demonstration and the army was called in. I understand why the activists are doing this kind of stuff, but the misery they bring on the locals means that the they are doing more harm than good.

They are an extraordinarily spiritual people, good natured and are being systematically tramped into the ground while the rest of the world looks on. There is too much money to be made in China so the governments of the West will continue to turn a blind eye.

Lhasa's Tibetan quarter has some really nice old fashioned squares with one of the main ones serving as a point of pilgrimage for a lot of locals. They circle the small monastery within the square for hours every evening. We went down a few times because there is a small market down there. Very lively spot and a great place to meet up with the locals.

The main focal point of Lhasa is the Potala palace. It is a huge Buddhist Monastery where the Dalai Lama used to reside during the winter and is now little but a tourist attraction. It was quite sad to be moving around the headquarters of the exiled leader. It dominates the Lhasa skyline as it is built into a large hill on the outskirts of the old Lhasa city centre. Once inside you are directed to the top floors and all around there is quite a strong military presence. The walk up is a bit of a lung buster though. Inside it is beautiful with all the chapels and shrines immaculately preserved. Outside is very interesting, pilgrims walk the perimeter of the palace and repeatedly bow to the palace. They do so by lying flat on the ground and rubbing their hands on the ground. This is done repeatedly for hours on end.

Across the road from the Palace is probably the ugliest communist statue you are ever likely to see. There is a giant Chinese flag at full mast and this is patrolled by army officers. People thankfully pay very little interest to it, but where it is situated is to serve as a constant reminder as to who is in charge.

We were hanging around and the girls were taking pictures when they were approached by some locals. They were very interested in having photographs taken with us. The had a camera with them and we got into a shot or 2. I was wearing a pair of sunglasses at the time and when I took them off there was a collective gasp from the group and they all gathered around for a look at my blue eyes. Apparently blue eyes and red hair was too much to take in. Very funny.

We were leaving Lhasa the next morning for the Everest Base Camp push. It's a really heart wrenching city and you leave it with with a lot of sadness.

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