Tibet I Can!

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Our first day on the road to Everest, as I shall call this, was pretty much…yea you guessed it…on the road. I do have to say I am wildly impressed with the paved road situation for the most part and with the fact that I have berry service! So while I may not be responding to your emails in a timely manner as I am too busy admiring the scenery, I certainly do enjoy reading them so please keep sending!

We were in the car for 10 hours today…well…total travel time from Lhasa to Gyantse was 10 hours, which could have been done in probably less than half, but with the pit-stops for us…smoke breaks for the drivers…and the requested picture stops…it took a really long time. On top of the fact that I learned one of the roads had construction so we went a different route which took doubly long. Obviously I was in shot-gun looking at a map to make sure I knew where we were going…I was partial tour guide as well for our 4WD as our driver doesn’t speak English…so I’d point out things along the way and read out what they are.

I’ve also definitely made a name for myself among some of the group as resident photographer and resident “this girl can eat”. In Gyantse I had to order a second meal because it just wasn’t enough food. I really can’t help it that I have a healthy appetite! I think I will spend more money on food than anything else, but I guess that is just par for the course for me…

The only real sight-seeing we did today was Yamdrok-Tso, which is this magnificent turquoise colored lake. We drove up to Kamba-la pass at nearly 4800 meters, which all along the way we passed by bikers…not the motor kind but the ones with athletes on them…how impressive they were biking up this massive curvy road to the pass… Anyway, this lake is one of four holy lakes in Tibet, which many pilgrims make their way to in order to circumambulate it. I guess they circumambulate a lot….this particular round about takes seven days! I also sat on a yak at the top to get a picture…that was neat. Oooh and we took a group photo and our guide told us all to jump! Now those of you that know, the jumping thing has been a thing for a little while now among me and my college friends. I was so excited that I was reminded about jumping, although a little sad that I had forgotten and not taken any pictures like this in Bhutan…so anyway, I have been jumping now at most of our stops….just cause its fun and you know when you look at the picture you smile…yes you do!! Don’t lie. So I saw the shot of the group photo with everyone jumping (no it was actually NOT on my camera)…but anyway, I was the sole person whose feet were off the ground…everyone else just raise their hands…it’s a really funny photo if I do say so myself!

The rest of the drive was alright…we had an hour or so of bumpiness and we did pass by some sand dunes oddly enough in Tibet. I guess there is a huge wide range of landscapes here…

As an aside, while some of the bathrooms may be the vilest squat toilets you have ever entered, I do have to say there is a certain appeal when you find a spot outside with an amazing view…maybe I’ve said too much so I’ll just leave it at that.

We woke up Monday morning to visit Gyantse Dzong, a 14th century fort….in Gyantse. We had great views of the small town from the top and the Gyantse Kumbum. Kirsty, Adriana and I skipped out on the Kumbum and decided to venture off into town and down some side streets to the farms to watch the locals in harvest season. As we were leaving, some young children approached us for money and food and we’ve been told many times not to give them anything…it only makes the cycle worse of them asking others for stuff. Anyway, a banana was given to one of the kids and just a few minutes after she left, another little girl approached and wanted a banana. There were no more and she was throwing a fit!! One of the guys had a plastic bag full of banana peels that he was throwing away and I guess the girl thought that there were bananas inside and after much ado of trying to tell her that it was trash, she got the plastic bag. After a few steps, she looked in the bag and realized it was just peels and she chucked the bag at the car and came back demanding a banana. Once she realized we didn’t have any she dropped the “you’re a bastard” and stomped away! How does this little girl who speaks broken English, at best, know a word like that! Wow…it was certainly something to watch!

We then made the trek to Shigatse. Well, not really a trek…a two hour car ride to the second largest town in Tibet. Kirsty and I made our way to Tashilhunpo Monastery. Instead of going inside, we headed for the kora, which is the walk around the monastery (clockwise). This particular kora has prayer wheels around the entire thing essentially and I think Kirsty and I spun every last single one of them. It took as a good hour and a half to do it…mind you we did stop to take some pictures along the way. We then headed into the old town, which has been kept away from Chinese influence for the most part. As we walked around looking for things to buy, every person there would shout out “helloooo…looky looky, very cheap”… yes we know…and with bargaining you basically start at one ¼ of what they are asking and stick to your guns…they will come all the way down to that. Also near the tourist market was a meat market…so many headless sheep hung from hooks…it was a sight! And all of their heads were in piles on the ground…even an odder sight. I also saw one of the many stray dogs that had picked up a sheep leg that had been severed…the dog proceeded to take it to a comfy spot and started chomping away on it like a bone…YUCK

We ran into children leaving school on our way back to the hotel. I had a random thought about the backpacks…does anyone remember in middle school and high school when there were certain styles that were cool when wearing backpacks…like for a year or so it was just on one shoulder…and then the next year it was on both shoulders but the straps were loosened to as loose as they go to hang down past your tush. And then to wear it normally???? Anyway, that was my thought…I know it happened in new jersey, but I guess we are an odd batch! Back to the children…it was bizarre, after we took their pictures they asked us for pens…it was quite odd and we had no idea why?! We let it go, but found out later why they did (keep reading). Went to dinner with a few people from the group…it was average so I went back to the lunch place on my own to get something else. Much happier after…you know how I get when I haven’t eaten…or enough.

I have to say, and I’m not sure if I have mentioned it, but I bought a fabulous sweater in Lhasa for under ten bucks…its so practical and I love it. I couldn’t believe how inexpensive it was…its definitely something that would be sold in anthropologie for like 88 bucks. The other cool thing was that I was walking around somewhere and a Tibetan asked me if I bought here in their country…I thought it was neat that they recognized it.

The next morning we went to Tashilhunpo Monastery. It is here that we had the ah-hah moment for the pens. Inside where many of the older pilgrims leave donations, is a place where the younger children leave pens, hairclips, etc as a token for good luck, especially in their studies and exams. Separately, the monks really take pride in the monastery. They were cleaning nearly every corner…polishing the floor…I should have them come to my apartment…its much more manageable than the massive monastery! For lunch, I had two. While the others did the kora that I had done the day before I went to get something to eat. When im hungry im hungry. Need. Food. Now. I also picked up some everest postcards to send from base camp when I get there, which oddly enough were very difficult to find.

I have to say, I am disappointed in the fact that professionalism is not a commonality in China. The drivers besides from being nuts on the road (with one getting a flat tyre several times cuz of his carelessness), were not that great. There were times when we couldn’t find them…they took their sweet ass time with eating and taking cigarette breaks…and we would have to stop with them to get gas. Now I don’t mean to be whatever, but come on…they had ALL day to get gas when we were at the monastery, why on earth should we have to wait 25 minutes so they can do their job. Also, I don’t like the music they play…it stays in my head when they listen to the same crap over and over again (I was actually humming it on my way up to everest)!! And if I turn it off, he then whistles it…really gets under my skin. He seems like a nice guy, but when he doesn’t speak any English and doesn’t catch my looks when we are unhappy…well then I’m unhappy!! Anyway, the drivers are almost the only complaint I have, so I have tried the mind over matter approach and now its just amusing.

Our next stop was Sakya…we drove through the Tropu-la pass at 4950. I was pretty impressed with the hotel, minus the fact that we couldn’t get hot water…but we had heated blankets and mini bar!! I was definitely entertained by this. A few of us took the last few hours of daylight that we had to do a kora around the hillside. We walked to Labrang Shar, a small temple where we met a number of really nice monks who then took us and showed us the way to the Rinche Gang Nunnery…it kind of reminded me of a camp social where the boys go to the girls camp). I was also amused by the fact that the nuns pulled out glasses and a few cans of pepsi to share with the boys. Overall, the late afternoon was a really great experience with both of the monks and nuns. There were so interested in us as we were in them and trying to make conversation.

Conversation at dinner with Mike and Mitesh definitely teetered on the side of going too far, but it was well worth the fun and the laughs! It was also Mitesh’s birthday so we had a little party. And by party I mean group dinner and cake and I split my first beer with Mitesh. I’m pretty sure that altitude has an effect.

My neck has been god awful…minus the average beds (and the awful blind massage in Lhasa) I think we figured out that it was my camera. That thing is HEAVY and I wear it on just one shoulder. So ive switched to wearing it around both shoulders…like around my neck but further down so there is no weight pulling down. I have a terrible neck and back problem as it is, and this was just awful. It has been getting better I will say.

My hair on the other hand, well…wow. I know I like to try to fit into the culture but I think I am doing too good of a job…my hair especially when offered uninviting showers (if there are any) has become completely unruly. Its kind of fantastic how I certainly resemble a Tibetan in that sense.

We woke up to drive to Everest…. YIPPEEEEEE! Our first sight of her was at Pang-la pass …5,120 meters…along the Friendship Highway. On our way we got stuck by a flat tyre… the first of many. The driver of the first car was a little nutso. I guess which explained the fact that he had gotten 2 flats during the journey.

I am kind of amused by the fact that everyone really seemed to get into and enjoy the jumping photos. I have to say it does add a little bit to the mundane scenic/ tourist photos. You know you smile a little when you see it!!

I swear the kids here are a little much…they all ask for money or toothbrushes or pens, etc. They attack the cars when we pull up and then they chase after the cars when we leave.

Later on we reached base camp!! It was an incredible drive there. The whole day was enjoyable. When we arrived I went for a walk..just to check out the area and try to get closer to base camp. I was stoked to stay at everest base camp in tents. We had a great tent set up for the ladies when we arrived but when we actually went to claim it the Tibetan owner had allowed a Chinese group to have it. As you can imagine, I was NOT happy especially since we were hiking up to base camp the next day (and they, as we saw later on, were taking up the effing horse buggies up). Anyway, long story short, I put my foot down with Puskar, our guide, and said hell no I wont go. A few minutes later he came back to say that it was more than just the beds but a much deeper issue of the long Tibetan-Chinese feud. It would have been simple for the owner of the tent to tell the other group you need to leave but he just couldn’t go against what the Chinese wanted. And it wasn’t just us in the tent anymore, our drivers came in and everyone was yelling and screaming at each other. Once Puskar made it clear that it was a rooted issue, we got up and left. None of us were thrilled to sleep in the other tents on the floor the night before a big day and it was already 10PM.

So the sleep was TERRBILE. And I don’t think it had anything to do with the floor, it would have happened anyway. It’s the altitude. I slept what I thought was a good nights sleep (and many of you know, I can wake up several times during the night and I am definitely an early riser) so when I was up for 20 minutes I decided to look at the time. Wanna know what time it was. 12PM. Seriously???!? I had six more hours to get through? OY, talk about wishing the hours away that night (speaking of oy, Mitesh appears to have taken a liking to the word and uses it to get people’s attention…I think he thinks it’s a Tibetan word or something, and the funny thing is, it works)…I would sleep maybe another hour and a half if I was lucky in several spurts. Finally 6AM rolled around and I couldn’t have been happier to wake up everyone else. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep so that was somewhat comforting. Oh and I caught myself saying something I will probably never say again… “I need to get the batteries out of my bed” - meaning, Puskar told us it would be a good idea to sleep with our camera batteries as the cold does not allow them to be at top performance, sort of like storing them in the fridge to slow down the reaction and make them last longer, so I slept with my batteries to keep them out of the below freezing temperature. I was happy when they started up the fire in the tent…that is, until I realized that they were using yak paddies (aka: shit of the yak) as fuel to burn…let me tell you…not the smell you want getting into your clothes and when you’re about to eat breakfast!

It was still pitch black out. And I don’t think you could SEE more stars. It was absolutely magnificent. When was the last time YOU brushed your teeth with galaxies in sight and shooting stars. It made all of my bitterness from the sleep and the night before disappear. Just sighed, smiled, and rinsed. Lovely. Also, when was the last time you were able to choose your own spot for the bathroom with a view of everest in sight. Purrrrrrrrrty.

So because of my neck I have been popping advil like candy…well I guess that’s not really a good comparison since I don’t eat candy…I guess I’ve been popping advil as much as I have been eating…yea, thatll work. Anyway, I really wanted to avoid the meds if I could, but it has just been quite painful…chalking it up to the altitude. And another thing….there were two nights that I got up in the middle of the night to eat! I really have to chalk that up to the altitude! I don’t think I have EVER done that. Ha. Also, with the altitude came NO mosquitoes!! It was amazing…you know how I HATE them as much as they love me.

The hike up to base camp, wasn’t all that difficult, but when you throw in, yes - the altitude - it certainly makes it tough. I threw on so many clothes…ski tights, long underwear, 2 pairs of leggings, a t-shirt, turtleneck, fleece, sweater, vest, rain/wind jacket, big socks, hat, gloves, scarf, bandana for the face…I was bundled (and slightly cold)! But as soon as I exerted any energy to hike up a hill, I was boiling and completely out of breath. After about 2 hours, if that, we made it. Wooooo!!! it was so rewarding! To see nothing in front of Everest except the land of its base…I will never be closer. I really wanted to touch snow, but alas, there was none…and I REALLY wanted there to be red tape there…like at a finish line of one of my high school track races (with me obviously winning). Next time.

I was so excited to mail my postcards!! We got back down from base camp and I went straight there. You can get a stamp that says Mt Everest something or other and its less than a buck. The Chinese tourists also didn’t help their cause of me caring for them as they just cut in front of the line (and it was a pretty obvious line and the office was a little box essentially). Just no regard for anyone around them, and maybe its just a Tibet thing…not sure. Anyway, I then realized I could get a stamp in my passport and you better believe I did…that was just a “tad” bit more expensive, but worth it!

I think I finally have gotten a handle on my packing…so while I still have a lot of stuff, I know how to pack it. I also think I am going to ship a box home…I know I have too much stuff and there is laundry in most places I am going so I will just do it more often. It will be easier in the long run and certainly easier on my neck and back!

Side note, I don’t think electronics were meant to work at high altitudes…thank goodness nothing happened with my camera, but the laptop and ipod went a little screwy. They are fine now, but they liked to make funny never-heard-before noises in the higher altitudes.

So the climb to everest was THE longest day EVER. Not only cuz I didn’t sleep the night before and got up at six to start hiking, but we had like 11 hours in the car afterwards to drive. We had 3 hours on a god-awful road to Tingri…and im not even sure if I can call it a road. During lunch at Tingri, I walked around. I couldn’t believe this little town. They have the most amazing views of the Himalayas. I also came across the carcass of a dead dog. Nothing like that to ruin your appetite. Ill spare you on the details. After lunch at Tingri we drove through La Lung-la pass (5124m) and Tong-la pass (5120m). Such a beautiful panoramic view of the Himalayan range. It was incredible the weather we had to be able to see so much. You just had to sigh and take it all in. The timing was also great as a monk arrived with some offerings that he was throwing up into the wind. Made for some great pics.

We passed through Nyalam which was a big town and quite dirty. Glad we weren’t staying there, but then had another couple hours drive when it was getting dark on a fully construction filled road. We were losing altitude quickly and the drop offs on the side of the road were massive. Wasn’t thrilled with our drivers so I held my breath for a few hours. Also, it is supposed to be a beautiful drive with lush greenery and waterfalls and the like and cuz it was getting dark we didn’t see much. Oh well. I trust it was there. However, there was actually one point when I was entertained by our drivers. They all slowed down, mind you, on the wrong side of the road, to drive under a waterfall that was landing on the road…apparently this was a good spot to get a car wash!!! I guess with all the dust from the off roading they needed it.

We finally arrived in Zhangmu, a town in Tibet and within walking distance to the Nepal border…after being stuck in a gridlock with trucks trying to make it up a small road with other yet other trucks coming in the other direction. It was terrible and it was probably an hour or so of waiting and when we finally drove through, we went another two minutes to the hotel. We were right there!!! And it was downpouring! Zhangmu is a very wet area…hence all the waterfalls and lush greenery. AND we were now down to 2300m. The hotel was crap, but manageable. The next morning we had to get up early to go through immigration. I literally walked over the border which is pretty cool. I also hired a porter, or a 17 year old boy, to carry my bag for 3 bucks. They were all fighting for it. It was kind of sad that it was only 3 bucks that they were striving for. So at last, and sadly, I arrived back in Nepal.

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Comments

[erika]

how amazing!
what an incredible experience...and of course your pictures were great. i loved reading this! tomorrow is my last day of my travels and it has been amazing...bethie, wish we could have met up but i will keep up with you through your very detailed blog. love and miss ya. -eri