Never realized how great life is at sea level - Tibet (Part 1)

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Day 104 - 109
Lhasa - Tibet

So we really lucked out with sharing our train cabin with two really nice Chinese guys. They were on a tour 14 day trekking tour of Tibet with a handful of other people. The first night we chatted with them and even learned how to play a Chinese card game (that we have now forgotten because it was very confusing with the language barrier). We taught them an easy card game, the Israeli one - Yennif. And before no time it was time for bed and we settled in for the night. Since there was no one smoking in the cabin or hallways and just a few stops throughout the night, we each slept pretty well and continued to lay around till about 11AM. There was seriously no reason to get up, nothing much to do really. We filled our day with playing card games, singing old Nate Dog and Bone Thug songs, watching movies on Steph's ipod and listening to Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington on G's ipod. We did try to venture into the dinner cart, but it proved pretty useless as no one really cared to help us out and everything on the menu we tried to order the man just shook his head side to side in reply. We could have a fried egg but not a boiled egg......and they tried to charge us $2 for one fried egg, so we just said forget it and walked out. This is where the guys in our cabin really helped us out - they gave us boiled eggs they had brought, green tea and apples. We had brought some fruit, cup-o-noodles, chips and cookies, but it was such a nice gesture of them as they must have seen that we were eating very sparsely and pretty unhealthy except for the little bit of fruit we had. Somehow we managed through the first 24 hours and looked forward to getting the next 25 hours over with.

The next day, April 24th, we woke up to a drastically different scene out of our window. We were definitely getting closer to Tibet as the landscape was flat and barren with snow-capped mountains in the far distance. We had started to feel just the slightest bit of altitude sickness. If we moved around too much, we did start to feel slightly out of breathe, but were surprised that it wasn't worse since we were currently on the world's highest train ride. The day spent like the other, playing cards, listening to ipods, reminiscing about all yummy food we had eaten in Shanghai just a few hours ago.

Around 9PM, our train arrived in Lhasa and we were greeted by two guides from the travel agency- Keltse and Doorje. They greeted us with the traditional Tibetan kata (white silk scarf), which is a symbol of welcoming in their culture. Keltse had been a guide for the past 5 years and Doorje had been training to be a tour guide for the past year. We waited for four other people to arrive on the 9:30PM train and chatted with them - well mostly Keltse as Doorje was very very shy and barely spoke anything the entire trip. We learned our usual things that we try to know in each country we go to. "Hello" - pronounced tashi delek. "Thank you" - pronounced took che che. And how to count from 1-5, which is pronounced chick, knee, some, shee and na (of course the above is all just phonetic spelling).

The other 4 eventually showed up and we all head to the hotel. The two of us got a quick bite to eat since we hadn't really had warm substantial food in two days and slept like babies that night.

The next morning, we met the rest of the people in our tour group.

Sarah & Gavin (UK) - they had been traveling around eastern Africa and central Asia
Rach & Nick (AUS) - travelling Southeast Asia for the past 9 months
Ben & Yoshi (JPN) - just started their travels of Asia and India
Jan (HOL) - simply on a two week holiday from work and decided to check out Tibet
Alex & Natasha (RUS)- a young married couple that has been studying Chinese in Beijing for the past year

We all set out for a tour of the famous Potala Palace and decided to walk there since it was only a 15 minute walk and we all wanted to see the city in the daylight. The main street was well kept with very traditional looking Tibetan architechure, but our guide warned us that pictures of the city streets were not permitted (however, we did sneak in a few). The police presence was extremely prevalent and often 4 police men were stationed on random corners on the lookout for something. Most of the locals were dressed in their traditional attire which didn't seem put on like we had seen in China or other south eastern countries. They weren't showing off for the tourist, just simply going about their day. We did get a couple of stares but they were all friendly and usually followed with smiles.

The Potala Palace is just one of those places that you read about and see in movies but never really think you're going to get to see it for your self. It felt surreal standing in front of the massive complex. Our guide said it was okay to take pictures now, so we all snapped away. Our photo opportunities came far and few between while inside the palace and we were only allowed into certain rooms in certain areas. It was very controlled and tho Dali Lama thing was swept under the table by simply saying, "when the current Dali Lama flew to India". But the bits we did see were pretty impressive with hundreds of thousands of Buddha statues, intricately painted murals and walls of hand written scripture prayer books. The palace also requires a quite difficult amount of steep steps that definitely left us winded and out of breathe at times.

The whole group went out for lunch and all tried the famous Tibetan butter tea which tasted liked melted salty butter. Steph thought it was less then desirable while G who didn't think it was greatest thing in the world either, but could bear to take a few more sips.
After lunch we rejoined our tour guide and headed to the Jokhang Temple in the center of old city. There were many pilgrims in front of the temple bowing all the way done to the ground in respect the holy site. But perched above the square where the temple is located were police on the roofs of nearby buildings keeping an eye on everyone. We walked around the inside and listened to our guide give us some history about the temple (which we now kind of forget - sorry). This is when the altitude sickness started hotting us.

We all went our separate ways after this and a few people from the group were heading to a nearby mosque. But the two of us started to not feel so well - G especially. So we did some light browsing along the many souvenir stalls set up in the square and went back to the hotel for some rest.

The next, both of us woke up with excrutiating headaches. Completely unbearable ones that make you inmobile with pain and dizziness. Both of us also had a horrible nigh sleep, with bizarre dreams and restless, achy legs. We stayed in that morning and opted out of going to the Sera Monastary. We thought we might be well enough to sight see after lunch but it wasn't to be. We felt just as horrible as we had in the AM even though we had started taking our altitude sickness medicine. Our guide Keltse was kind enough to stop by and see how we were. He gave us a little oxygen pump to help us with our shortness of breathe and headaches. It did work, but only temporarily. Eventually in the late afternoon, Steph made it out go to a nearby bakery to get her chocolate fix and the post office to mail some postcards. G wasn't able to get up till dinner time and even then could barely stomach any food. The girl (Venchi) working at the hotel restaurant recognized us from the first night and chatted with us for a bit. We told her of our horrible day and she said when she first moved here from China she too got sick and that we should just take it slow. We then casually commented on her two lovely red and turquoise bracelets, so she took them off and handed them to us!! We felt so bad taking bad for literally taking them off her wrist, but she insisted. It was such a nice gesture. Even though, the two of us are not fond of the Chinese take over of Tibet, we can't say they are all bad people. Venchi was just such a lovely person!

It was a rough day and night, but we were determine not to miss the next day's trip to Namesto Lake.

In the AM after another night of tossing and turning (and aching legs, must be because of poor circulation?), we woke up early to join the group in the bus. However, on of the guys on the tour - Jan - had fallen severely ill (possible pneumonia) and had decided to stay back and see a doctor. While we waved goodbye to him, we greeted a new person - Hiro (JPN) that was going to travel with us the rest of the way.

We boarded the bus for a five hour trip north to Namsto Lake, which sits at 4,718m ( 15,500 ft) above sea level. The lake was still frozen for the most part but it was still an awe inspiring sight to see. The lake is just massive with snow capped mountains in the near distance. Lined up along the shore were Tibetans with yaks that tourist can pose on for a few yen. We decided not to spend the money but realized that a yak is really a cross between a cow, a cat and a hippie. They were all decorated with earrings and tassels and had dreads in their thick fur. They were definitely giving the water buffalo in South East Asia a run for their money in the Cute Animal Department.

Breathing was a definite task, we had to practically remind ourselves to inhale and exhale. We took it really slow and rested on some rocks along the shore. It was just absolutely freezing. We were definitely not prepared clothes-wise for the cold even though we had long johns on and fleeces. It was just bitter cold and windy. Two Tibetan kids came up to us to ask for money - which they do by holding out their hands and saying "money" while two lines of snot roll down their nose onto their lips. As been our policy over the last 4 months, we don"t give to beggars.But they were really cute kids, so G had some gum and offered it to the kids. We played with the kids for a bit but it was mostly them just waiting for us to give them money.

Near the lake are two huge rocks aptly named "Couple Rocks" that had thousands of stones stacked in a pile with the "Om madi padme hum " prayer/ mantra carved into them. There were also the famous colorful Tibetan flags flying high from the top of the rocks and scattered all throughout the hills and mountains. Before we knew it, it was time to go. We all got back into the bus and took turns using the little oxygen tank as we all were suffering from the altitude.

Once back into Lhasa, the two of us went and got some gloves so we would be better prepared for the weather at Everest Base Camp. We also stopped by our local hotel restaurant to say goodbye to our waitress friend - Venchi. While in town we found 2 bracelets for 5 RMB each so we bought her those to replace the ones she gave to us. She was so overwhelmed and thankful and made us promise to come back to Tibet. We told her we hoped one day we will and that we'll be sure to stop by again if we do.

That's it for Part 1. We"ll post Part 2 soon which will include our greatest feat yet - Mt. Everest!

xx
S&G

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Photos

Butter Tea
Jugs containing butter tea made from yaks milk.

Tibet Plateau
View around hour 47 of our train ride.

Potala Palace
Residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled.

Windows and Balconies
of Potala Palace.

Prayer Wheel
spinning it will have the same meritorious effect as orally reciting the prayers contained within.

Jokhang Temple
The first Buddhist Temple in Tibet - located in Barkhor Square.

Inside Jokhang
View from the monks quarters.

Tibetean Boy
His cheeks were windburnt and his nose full of snot.

Yak skull
With the inscription Om Mani Padme Hum - a mantra.

Windows of Lhasa
decoreated with bright colors and white valances.

Comments

[Mamma Jean]

wow
Can't wait for part 2!