Advertisement
Yak and owner
Yak in chinese translates as "Cat Cow"Day 110 - 113
Tibet (Part II)
The morning of April 28th, we said our goodbyes to Lhasa and made our way to the city of Gyantse, 255 kilometers south of Lhasa via the Gangbala Pass which reaches 5,000 meters above sea level. Along the way we passed the sacred Yamdrok Lake "Turquoise Lake", which was just stunning and completely deserving of the nickname. The color of the fresh water lake was a pristine turquoise that glistened under the sun's rays. We also passed the Kharola Glacier that our guide told us has been diminishing a rapid pace along with a man made lake created by Chinese for a hydro power dam.
We got into Gyantse which is also known as the "Heroic City" due to its part in played in the British Invasion in 1904. In the town is the Kumbum and Pelkor Chode Monastery. The Pelkhor Chode monastery was impressive, but we don"t really have pics to share with anyone since they were charging outrageous prices for the right to take pictures. And it wasn't just one flat fee, there was a 200 RMB charge for each room. Kind of ridiculous. We did sneak in a few
Lake Yamdrok Yamsto
One of the sacred lakes also known as "Turquoise Lake" photos, but Steph got caught by one monk but luckily left her bag in the van and just pulled out her pockets and said "no money, sorry". The Kumbum is a tall 6 story mandala that has handfuls of little chapels inside with pilgrims walking in and out of them reciting prayers under their breathe. It also offered a gorgeous view of the city below.
From there we headed to Shigatse, which we arrived in just before dusk. Luckily, our guide talked to the monks at the Tashilunpo Monastery to give us a quick tour of the main sights. The monastery an is important place in history for it is the seat of the Panchen Lama (second in ranking after the Dalai Lama). It holds the remains of many of the previous Panchen Lamas and most importantly the 10th PL. Around the alters it is common to put a picture of the Panchen Lama that came before and after the one that just passed away. We all rolled our eyes when we saw the picture of the current 11th Panchen Lama which has been "appointed" by the Chinese government after the original Tibetan boy (and his family) went "missing".
This current PL lives in Beijing rather then in Tibet at this monastery.
The monastery grounds is an expansive area with many winding streets which could have easily taken up a whole day to explore. But we had to quickly move from chapel to chapel, hall to hall, temple to temple as the monks were preparing for their evening prayers. Then complex boasts that it holds the largest bronze Buddha in the world. But again, we don't have pictures of this massive Buddha because the fees were just enormous. They were actually laughable prices - 125 RMB ($18) for photos for just one room in the monastery. Each room varied in price. If you wanted to bring in a camcorder it would have cost you around 7,800 (RMB), yeah that's over $1,000! Craziness!
Later that night Steph got to talk to her guide -Se - about life in Tibet. He told her about the riots a year ago in Lhasa, the propaganda they are forced to say during their guided tours and his feeling about Beijing hosting the Olympics. She was really surprised at how open he was about his feelings. Steph let him know the information received
Prayer Stone Piles
each pile holding a prayer of the creator. in the west about Tibet and the general feeling of Americans on the Tibetan issue.
The next morning we made our way to Everest Base Camp. It took us most of the day and only stopped twice - once for lunch (where we met a Florida Gator alumni of all people) and then at the Rongphu Monastery, which is the highest monastery in the world. A good portion of our day was spent on security checks along the road. During one check, they had us give in our passport according to country. We were last and apparently there was a "problem". The guard took our passports and went to another building. We then wait about 10 minutes and he came back and nodded that everything was okay and handed us our passports. Apparently some Americans recently climbed Everest and left a "Free Tibet" flag on the mountain so they are cautious to let Americans in without a proper background check. We thought they might hit us up on the debt that America owes China - which would have meant we were goners since we don't have a spare billion dollars lying around.
We had a choice to stay
Moinbas' Home
at the foot of a glacier. in a guesthouse at the monastery or in the tents closer to the base of Everest. We all decided to stay in the tents and it was such a good decision. They were huge and really warm thanks to a fire of yak and sheep dung. We all ate dinner and sipped on jasmine tea all night. There are only 5 people allowed to each tent (this helps spread the wealth apparently) so we all split up and it was the two allies (us and the UK'ers) in one tent. But before we went to sleep for the night, we got to see one of the most amazing sights in our lives - the night sky above the camp. Words nor pictures can describe the sky and stars. With about zero percent light pollution, it was absolutely stunning. The two of us stood out in the freezing cold, with our heads back, staring up at the sky trying to find all the constellations. G even saw a shooting star while Steph thought she saw some really cool flashing star but realized it must be a satellite, which still impressed her. All the money and the sickness we had to go
Man made lake
Built by dams for hydro power. through in Tibet was worth it for just this moment.
We were literally tucked into bed by our host family under multiple blankets and a yak pelt. Steph slept like a baby but poor G had a horrible night sleep and kept waking up feeling like she was suffocating under all the layers. The next morning we both woke up with a splitting headache and chose not to walk with some others to the 2nd base camp a few kilometers up the road. We stayed in the tent around the fire, eating pancakes and hard boiled eggs, waiting for our paracetamols to kick in. Eventually we felt okay enough to venture to the second base camp, but decided to take the van. Although it would be cool to say we walked, it was just not possible (I know some might be disappointed in us, but just walking is unbearable when every second you feel dizzy and like you are suffocating). We actually ended up meeting the others at the top of the trail and had to wait again for another security check. We could only go to a certain marked area - after that it was $200 more to
Pelkor Chode Monastery
over 40 chapels on 4 floors of the stupa. go further and then its $70,000 to climb the mountain.
But we had made it, we were at 5,200 meters and the closest we were going to get to Everest (Mt. Qomolangma). It was surreal to be there standing right in front of it before our very eyes. We have come so far and seen so much in the past months and this was such a great reward.
We left camp around 11AM so we could make it to the Nepal border by 7PM. We made the long, winding trip back to the main highway and then onto the "Friendship Highway". But were not sure what kind of friend would give you such a crap road as a gift. It started out okay but then were stopped due to ongoing construction on the road. The guides were originally told that we couldn't be able to pass the construction till 9PM (it was 2PM at the time), but after some hard negotiating for about an hour they let us through. Then at times the road was blocked by barricades and we had to just off road it in the dark - no street lamp lights - and just follow
Inside Pelkor Chode
beautiful fabrics and gong. old tire tracks until the road was apparently now okay to drive on. The poor driver had no idea where to go at times and lost the old tire tracks "trail" and the guide had to help him out and point him the right direction.
Once we got onto the forested part of the Himalaya (it was dark, so we only knew it was the forest part because our guide told us) it was all downhill. The roads were incredibly narrow and there were a ridiculous amount of trucks going the opposite direction. Our van stopped a few times and the driver kept throwing water on the tires. We thought nothing of it, but then we stopped for a while and found out that our brakes weren't working. It was midnight at this point and we were 15k out of the border town we would spend the night in. We waited for about an hour and just when our guide called for taxis our brakes began to work again. It was a little nerve racking going down the steep mountains with so-so brakes, but we eventually made it to our hotel by 1AM.
To be honest we still
Ancient Prayer Wheels
at Pelkor Chode Monastery don't know the name of the town since between the 11 of us on the tour we each had 3 different itineraries. But it was a typical crap border town. Our hotel was less then desirable but it was only for the night, so after a huge spider scare, we settled into bed. The next morning and got to the spectacular forested part of the Himalayas. We got some food and then boarded the bus once last time to get to the Nepal border. But once again construction was being done on the road, so the bus couldn't go any further. So we had to get off and walk the last 2K downhill with all our bags. But the temperature was already significantly warmer then the Tibetan side so it wasn't that bad of a walk, especially with such amazing scenery.
We went through border control, with no issues this time, and then said goodbye to our beloved tour guide and crossed the bridge into Nepal.
Will post pictures and the blog about our 5 day unplanned stop in Nepal soon.
xx
S&G
Advertisement
Tot: 0.128s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 15; qc: 68; dbt: 0.0616s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Pea
non-member comment
Base Camp
Genevieve: This trip is just so unbelievable! I am so amazed you made it to the Base Camp of Mt. Everest~ What a life experience. This, I would want to do~ Not sure if I could do it with the altitude, but certainly would be up my alley to do! So thrilling and just totally amazing! Wow!