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Published: February 18th 2007
DAY 1
We started our journey to the Nepal border early the next morning. Nima, our driver, came in a spacious Toyota Land Cruiser at 9:30 a.m. to pick up Simon and I, and we went to pick up the other two passengers, Hong and Bora. Simon and I realized that we forgot something, se we went back to the Yak Hotel, which is when Hong and Bora realized that they forgot something too, so we had to go back to their place again! Anyhow, that was the start of our four glorious days together!
Our first stop was Yamdrok-tso (lake), one of the four holy lakes in Tibet. Getting there was an extraordinary feat in itself, with the winding roads along the mountains and the air getting thinner and thinner with each passing altitude gain. The lake should normally be a beautiful shade of turquoise blue, but since it was in the middle of winter, the lake was pretty much frozen over. During warmer seasons, Tibetans pay pilgrimage here, and walk around the lake, which takes about a week. Near the lake, there are lots of prayer flags and self-made stupas. There is another famous lake in Tibet, Nam-tso,
which I REALLY wanted to see but it was iced over and snowed in, so I never got to see it. I might have to come back here during a warmer season to see these wonders of nature.
We stopped over at many other places that day, including a small cluster (3) of homes in the middle of the snowed covered mountains (::how do they get food here?:😊, but my particular favorite was Simu-la, a mountain which at 4,330 meters high, has a river running through the mountains, but the winter condition had frozen it over into a glaze of pure white ice. There was fresh powdery snow all over the region, and I had to climb up a little mound to see it in all of its glory, but once I got up there, the view was like a hypnotic assault to my mind. The air was so pure and fresh, the sky was so transparent blue, and the view was surreal... I could have stayed there forever. The sight was just mind numbing.
We went to a monastery that evening in Gyantse, Tibet's third largest town and supposedly the finest producer of Tibetan carpets. We checked
out Pelkor Chode Monastery and Gyantse Kumbum, which is a large courtyard housing 15 monasteries that are all enclosed in a fort-like wall. The Gyantse Kumbum is considered the town's main attraction, which at 35 meters high, has stunning murals (kumbum means "100,000 images") and a dome on top that has these possessive eyes (of Budda) staring out. The whole monastery seems to be semi-ruled by dogs because they are everywhere! It was so exquisite being in there as the sun was setting and seeing the mountains in the backdrop. Even if I see mountain after mountain after mountain, it's still stunning each time I see it.
We slept that night at Tibet's second largest town, Shigatse (3,900m elevation), which has the best preserved monastery in Tibet. The place we ended up staying at was fairly nice, but the highlight was the heater (first one I've had in Tibet) and the powerful showerhead that blasted warm water! Woohoo!
DAY 2
The next morning, our group fell far behind schedule b/c of breakfast and burning CDs. We had to skip out on seeing the city's famed Tashilhunpo Monastery, although we got to see it while driving past it .
😞 Anyhow, the views that day were not as impressive as the day before because the land was more barren, with dirt mountains and trees. We were going to spend the night at Shegar, but we went ahead farther along to Tingri (4,390m elevation), which is not really a town, but more like a street with some local Tibetan homes and the most unattractive accommodations. The wind speed there was incredibly strong, the air was icy cold and there were wild dogs barking and howling all night. The driver first took us to Everest View Hotel, but it was so shabby that we opted for the Snow Leopard Guest House, which the LP says is the best place in town. Um... yea right! It was the exact same sh!t but colder and more expensive. So we went back to Everest View Hotel and got a four bed dorm room. BUT not all was bad! The phenomenal thing about sleeping in this lonesome town is the spectacular view of the stars! Mamamia! They were sprinkled unsparingly all over the dark, cloudless sky, looking so radiant and alive. Since we were at higher elevation, I think the stars looked even more massive.
I stood outside, freeeeeeezing my ass off for as long as I could allow to enjoy the glory of the evening sky. It was truly mind rattling...stars so close you could touch them. Ahh.. what a sight.
That's where the positives end and back to the reality that we're in Tibet. Hence the concrete freezer (posed as a bedroom) we slept in, and a toilet so frightening that Bora and I
CHOSE to pee outside in the wild rather than tackling the beast, a.k.a. a toilet where if you took one wrong step and fell in the hole, you could end up in the layers of poop clustered in the bottom. Plus, no running water. We all agreed unanimously that it was the coldest and ghettoest place we'd all ever slept in. That is quite a feat! To off-set the freezing temperature, some of us filled empty water bottles with hot water and hugged them in our sleep to warm us up. It is a strategy that I have been doing since Lhasa, and it's incredible how much it can help warm you up (one small bottle on your feet, and a larger bottle to hug, perfecto). It's convenient
b/c the next morning, you can use the cooled water to brush your teeth.
DAY 3
We woke up the next morning, had breakfast, and quickly hit the road. We were so excited that by the end of the day, we would be in a much warmer Kathmandu (capital of Nepal). The ride once again was STUNNING! Woo-wee, the snow-covered mountain ranges and plains that just seemed to go on forever were quite a dream-- almost surreal to see. I keep saying that when I describe the things I see, but really, it's so freakin' amazing. This trip along the Friendship Bridge is really spoiling us! But of course there was the freezing temperature at the super-high altitude of 5,000+ meters reminding us that it was in fact not a dream, but a true natural phenomenon. Our group was a bit bummed that we missed out on going to Everest Base Camp, a result of several factors, but the view we saw this day was enough to rid ourselves of any regret. Everywhere you looked in the 360 radius had monumental mountains or seemingly eternal plush snow. There were prayer flags and prayer wheels here too, another sign to
show the spiritual and holy significance of the area we were in.
The rest of the drive was blinding white, as there was not a place that was not covered in snow. The further down we got, the more it started to snow (uh-oh). We finally reached Nyalam (3,750m elevation), which is 30 km to the border...it looked like a communist town complete with plain, concrete buildings and Chinese flags. We saw that there were buses, SUVs and trucks pulled over. Hmmmm...that's when we smelled trouble. We waited an hour first with no news b/c Nima is a bit mute, and later, Simon went over to the bus ahead of us to get info and found it filled with his favorite type of people-- pissed off Austrians! Since the languages of German and Austrian are a bit similar, he was able to communicate perfectly with them. It was funny b/c Simon would speak with them and translate it to me in English, in which I would translate it to Bora and Hong in Korean, and vice versa, like the telephone game. We found out there was an avalanche ahead and we would have to wait it out. Our group
Prayer flags
A combination of the freezing winds and the high altitude made it so difficult to breathe!(Bora, Hong, Simon and I) walked over to the little town (once again just a street) and had a late lunch. Afterwards, we gathered our stuff from the Cruiser and went to a guesthouse because the snow was coming down harder, and it was obvious that we would not be going anywhere. (The only way out would have been to trek 30 km in that treacherous condition to Zhangmu...um, kinda like signing away your life).
The Austrians were upset and they refused to check into a room b/c there were no heating in the rooms. So instead, they monopolized the waiting area that had the (only) nice warm furnace. Actually, it looked more like a doctor's office because everyone was so solemn and there was one man sick with the flu/cold and another man suffering from high altitude sickness. We went in and out of the room, getting little bits of news every now and then. The positive was that we had really good Chengdu food (woohoo) next door, but the bad news was that the snow was picking up and we would stay for the night in the cold room, with no running water once again. We got
An apple a day...
Stranded at Nyalam and the snow keeps coming! a 3-bed dorm room, and to make best of the situation, we had a slumber party by putting the three beds together to form one large bed, hoping that the body heat would prevent us from freezing over in the night.
When we went to the heated Austrian-dominated waiting room later that evening, we found that the old man with altitude sickness was in high threat, as his face was blue and pale. It was re-ally scary because we were confronted with the possibility that the altitude could be fatal for the man. Couple people from the group were allowed permission from the mayor (how this small street could have a mayor is beyond me) to make their way to Zhangmu, the border town in Tibet/Nepal, that is at 2,300m elevation (they say that even 100m decrease of elevation could save your life). We found out the next morning that while on their way to Zhangmu, they had to turn back based on Chinese police orders because there was a politician coming through, which luckily was the reason why they cleared the avalanche path.
DAY 4
The next morning, we found that the man was in fact still
alive (whew!) and we were able to continue our journey to Zhangmu. Despite the situation, I have to admit that the amount of snow was a spectacular sight and I have never seen such an abundant amount of snow. Some areas along our drive had a meter of snow, and when we eventually passed the avalanche zone, it was like driving past a wall of snow.
The most interesting thing about our 30km ride was the stark contrast in the natural surroundings. In Nyalam and 10 km of the ride, it was a blizzard zone. Then slowly, it turns lush and green, with less and less snow visible on the roads and mountains. I guess it was a blend of altitude loss, but still, it was so bazaar.
So yay! we're in Zhangmu, which is a town clinging to the edge of mountains and winding roads. It's absolutely delightful and amazing to see these building hanging on to the narrow cliffs (probably more so since there were no more snow). We had a quick lunch before crossing the line on the Friendship Bridge, and officially out of China/Tibet and into Nepal. We caught a lift for the 8km
Finally!
Crossing over the line (at least what's left of it) on the Friendship Bridge, from the "Chinese" side to the Nepalise side ride down to Kodari, the border town in Nepal. There was some scary traffic along the way (narrow roads along the edge of the mountain where two large trucks were trying to pass through...all this w/o boulders). We finally made it to Kodari and were thrilled to see the "Welcome to the Kingdom of Nepal" sign greeting us near the customs office. We quickly got our visas ($30) and paid Rs 2000/$30 total for a truck ride to Kathmandu.
The view from the drive itself was so rich and lush... there were so many waterfalls, mountainous farmland and walls of trees and greenery. It was such a spectacular sight. This one day has completely spoiled me as far as the wonders of nature, because I was able to see snow-covered mountains and land, and a short while later, I saw volumous mountains with such life and character.
This experience would not be complete with some more heartache. Our car was a complete piece of crap and an hour into our ride down the winding mountain, our car overheated. Good thing that area had such an abundant supply of water from the waterfalls, because it allowed us to refill
&#*@%&*#%(@#!!!!!
...nearly rolled over the edge while trying to make the car start! the car with water every 100 meters, when the car would fizzle out and die. In order to restart the car, they had this frightening method of rolling the car down the road until the engine started again (not at all fun, considering that we were driving along the winding mountain cliffs with no blockades!). We were convinced by this point that Kathmandu just did not want us to come! Avalanche, cliff side traffic, car problems... arugh! We finally decided to get out of the car and hitch a new ride. We paid our original guy (who knew nothing about what he was doing) $5 to get lost and found another truck on its way to Kathmandu. Bora and I squeezed into the back, while Simon and Hong had first class views from the truck bed, which was all gravy for them until we reached a polluted and rainy Kathmandu.
Well, so we've finally arrived here and we are alive. The amount of culinary delights I've seen in the Thamel area is exciting, and we capped our first night in Kathmandu with fat, juicy pieces of filet mignon (Rs 500/$8!!!) at Everest Steakhouse. Delicious!
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So Beautiful!! WoW!! A Korean restaurant?? crazzzyy