Yakity Yak- Don't Talk Back

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Sorry everyone, this is going to be a long one. Tibet is amazing and there is a lot to say! Be warned...

Getting to Tibet was quite the journey in itself. We were supposed to leave the hostel in Chengdu at 5am for the airport, but at 11:30pm the night before, as we were getting into bed, the people who worked at the hostel ran into our room saying we had to leave at 330am instead. The Olympic torch was coming through Chengdu and all the roads would be closed so it was leave at 3:30 am or not go at all. Needless to say after all that excitement we got about 2 hrs sleep. We arrived at a still closed airport around 4am (our flight was at 7:50) and waited to check in. Finally we checked in, went through really tight security-where they studied our permit for hours and wanded us down- and made it to our gate. It was about 45 minutes till our flight and they started saying stuff in Chinese. FINALLY when someone talked to us in English we found out our flight was cancelled due to mechanical malfunction. So... we had to find another flight.... That was all the info we had! Now finding a new flight is hard enough in America, but imagine it in China! We finally were able to push our way through the crowds and get a written ticket (literally some scribbles on our old tickets) on a Sichuan air flight at 8:20am. Not bad...
We went through security again and rushed to our plane- we got there as they were finishing boarding, sat in our seats and thought all was great!
Then... we sat on the runway for about 45mins while they served breakfast. We still aren't sure if the plane was delayed or that was intended!?

We finally arrived in Lhasa about noon- sooo tired. We cheered up when we received a warm greeting from our Tibetan guide and driver. They put white shawls around all of us as a welcome greeting. The hour drive to Lhasa was interesting. Our guide was in exile in India for 9 yrs and has met the Dalai lama. He returned to Tibet and has been a guide for about 5 yrs. He was wonderful! The rest of the first day yesterday was spent sleeping and doing nothing to acclimate to 12,000 feet elevation of Lhasa. For reference the top of Mammoth is around 11,000 feet. We all had bad headaches and felt dizzy, but just drank plenty of water and slept through it. The next day we were all feeling fine minus stuffy noses. Thankfully, we were able to push the breathtaking Potala Palace back to a day so we didn't have to climb the many steps on our second day in Lhasa.

Our first full-day in Tibet was unreal. We kept pinches ourselves because we couldn't believe we were really in Tibet. We started off by heading to the Barkhor or market area of Lhasa. From there we entered the Jokhang. It is the most revered religious building in all of Tibet and was really an amazing experience. The structure was built in the 7th century, but most of it was destroyed during China's cultural revolution. The Jokhang was rebuilt and now serves as an amazing temple ground where many people come to do a type of pilgrimage. The first images we saw were of old Tibetan men and women praying in front of the temple. They would start standing with their hands cupped and then go all the way to their knees and finally till they were lying flat on their stomach and back up. There were 80+ year old women doing this repeated times. Our guide says they do this till they cannot do it anymore. It was crazy.
The inside of the Jokhang was filled with people chanting prayers and the smell of yak butter and incense. Sometimes the smell was so strong we didn't think we could breathe anymore. The soft murmur of chanting became charming and you got used to the smell. The views from the roof of the Jokhang were equally amazing. You could see the whole Barkhor market and square and really take a look at all the local Tibetan people. Plus the roof had amazing views of the Potala Palace!

After this, we headed to the Sera Monastery. This is one of the three biggest monasteries in all of Tibet. The monastery used to house over 5,000 monks, but now their numbers have dwindled. Especially after the riots in March, most of them were placed in jails and have disappeared. These are only the beginning of the crazy stories we have heard about the Chinese occupation of Tibet. The monastery was quite disappointing as a lot of the building remain closed after the riots. It was very cool to see most of the monks that are still left heading into a meeting. We saw many red robed monks walk by and it was a very surreal sight. Not bad for our first full day in Tibet...

The next morning we awoke and headed to Nobulingka, the summer palace of the Dalai lamas. It was built during the reign of the 7th Dalai lama and was the summer house to the current (14th) Dalai lama before he went into exile in India. The grounds itself were very poorly maintained and the building were ok, but what I really enjoyed was seeing the 14th Dalai lama's palace. It was pretty neat to see where he lived and worked before his exile, especially since he is such a prominent figure in our society. Just as we were about to leave the summer palace our guide asked us to wait a moment while he looked for an older monk. Our guide had gone to school with the old monk's son while he was in exile in India. The son (our guide's friend) was last heard from telling his friends and family by letter that he was going to make the return to Tibet. That was six months ago and nobody has heard from him or seen him since. Unfortunately, the old monk was not around so our guide and him could not discuss these affairs.

From there we headed to the very famous Potala Palace. The Potala Palace was the winter home of the Dalai lamas and the place of business for the Tibetan government before they went into exile. The palace is HUGE and dominates the Lhasa skyline! It really is amazing. The price was a hefty Y100 to get in, but well worth it. We are so glad we saved this till our second day as all the steps to the top combined with the altitude really winded us. There are actually two palaces within the Potala Palace, the red (religious) and the white (political). However, I could hardly tell the difference as there were religious Buddha statues in both places. The most amazing temples with the Potala were the tombs of the previous Dalai lamas. The Potala Palace was first built in the 7th century and then the 5th Dalai lama decided to enlarge the structure and make it what it is today in the 1600's. Therefore, the tomb of the 5th Dalai lama is breathtaking! The tomb is made out of gold and precious stones and went up as high as the very tall ceiling! There is something like 3,000 kilos of gold in his tomb. Plus they say they found a pearl in an elephant brain and that pearl is inside.

Now, on to a little bit about our notice of the Chinese influence of Tibet. Things in Lhasa are kind of crazy, especially because we were there the day the Olympics started and while they continued. There are Chinese guards in the streets with machine guns EVERYWHERE! Our guide says that they are really upping the numbers cause of the Olympics. Everyday we saw trucks and trucks of Chinese military coming in. I guess it reminds me of how I picture Iraq would be with the US troops walking around as people go about their daily lives. Well, except for the bombings! (Not yet at least!) It is just a crazy contrast. From what I have seen, the Tibetans are a loving, peaceful and religious people and the military force in unnecessary. It really opens your eyes to a lot of things. our guide really thought something would happen here during the Olympics and we are happy to be leaving Lhasa they day before the opening ceremonies. We don't venture far from our hotel w/o our guide. He says the safest place for us is in the hotel so we stay there during the night (the sun sets at 9pm!). The problem is, the Tibetans are so kind and nice, but we are advised to stay near the hotel in case something would erupt between other forces. We did see some building that were burned during the riots in March.

In preparation for Mt. Everest, we went to the local Barkhor market to get some beanies and gloves. They were awesome and ridiculous. We even had a local Tibetan woman come up to us and start laughing at us while we were trying them on. With the four of us all set with our cool new woven beanies and gloves, we were ready for the trek to Everest.

The next morning we woke up early and began the long drive the next day. Our first stop on the way was Yamdrok Lake. The lake was pretty disappointing for us. The lake typically is a great aqua blue color, but because our weather was overcast we only saw the blue color at the shore. The rest of the lake was just a normal grey color. On the drive to Shigatse we saw little villages and ruins along the way. There were prayer flags everywhere, paintings on the rocks and Tibetan writing on the hills. Everytime we went into a village to stretch our legs we were approached by tons of Tibetan children. Everytime we got out of the car they would come running up to us with their snotty noses and say, "Allo- Money?" We started saying no, no, no, but then we realized it was a lot more fun to play with the kids. The drive along the Kamba-la pass was awesome. We saw a random glacier along the way with a village with houses made of yak poop- literally yak poop.

We stopped in a little town called Gygantse to see their monastery. The monastery was very old and built in the 1400's. Although it was cool, we are pretty monastey'ied out! They do all start to look the same after a while. The best part of this monastery was hiking up to the top of their stupa. On the way up the stairs we lost Chris and Madeline, but the view from the top was amazing. You could see the whole town of Gygantse. After we left Gygantse, we stopped at a Tsampa making factory. Tsampa is the local food and is just barley mixed with some tea or water. The factory consisted of one local building and a lot of local people hanging around and eating. The local people offered Chris some of their local stew so he sat right down with the Tibetan crew and ate some food. Chris even managed to have a beer belly contest with one of the old Tibetan men. It was really a great moment!

After that we arrived in Shigatse for a good night's sleep before our long drive tomorrow to Everest Base camp. Unfortunately, we did not get a good night's sleep. Right outside our window, the ENTIRE night, were two dogs- loud dogs- humping! I can't believe they went at it all night!

The next morning we were tired, but ready for our drive to Everest Base Camp. There is so much to tell about Everest that I am going to save it for its own blog!

After the long drive back to Shigatse we had a good night's sleep and woke up to head to the Shigatse monastery. It was cold and I was not excited about going to ANOTHER monastery. However, the Shigatse monastery actually surprised me. There were many tombs just like in the Potala Palace and the highlight was a huge 25 meter Buddha in the main chapel. In the Tibetan calendar it was the 10th, which is a holy day. The temples were filled with monks and old Tibetans making their pilgrimage. It definitely made things more interesting.

After leaving the temple we headed back to Lhasa, a five hour drive that was made longer by the giant landslide we encountered along the way. After most of it was cleared we were able to pass, but not before a giant truck got stuck and had to be towed out by the bulldozers. Only in Tibet right?

Our last day in Tibet our guide offered to take us to his hometown and the neighboring village for a horse race. We set out with our guide and driver early in the morning to head 1 hour outside Lhasa to a small village. We first went to our guide's house. A small concrete house with a roof made of sticks and plenty of farm animals around. Immediately we were offered tea. Since my first experience with yak butter tea didn't go so well, I opted for sweet milk tea which was kind of like a chai. The taste was different at first, but I got it down. After my glass was refilled for the 10th time I think I came to like it. We got a tour of the house which was actually pretty big. Our guide’s brother, who was jailed after the March riots, had hand painted many of the rooms and they were amazing. Our guide's brother, his wife, and his mother and father all live together in this house. Not to mention four children when they are not at boarding school. After a meal of potatoes, bread and cheese we gave the family the fruit basket we had made and went down to the horse races. Our guide later told us they do not know how to eat all the fruit we brought them!

The horse races themselves were pretty cool. We were definitely the only white people there, since the police wouldn't have even liked it if we were in this small village. Tons and tons of people were staring, but we got used to it and everyone welcomed us with a smile and a broken "hello." After we caught a glimpse of the horses and their riders, complete in traditional Tibetan costumes, we sat down in a small family tent for some more food. The food consisted of peppers, potatoes, rice, bread, cheese with sugar and some more milk tea. Our guide's sister-in-law kept refilling our tea and food even if we said no. I guess no is not an acceptable answer and we ate until they said we were full. Then all the men sat around the tent and played this dice game. Our guide sat down with me and taught me how to play. I ended up winning, but did not really understand the game or how it was actually played. I just rolled the die and the guide moved my pieces. After a few long hours, the races actually begun. They started with the decorated horses and riders just racing down a small strip of dirty. A few wild horses almost ran over us and some other people on the way. Then after a few runs, they began to bring out the bow and arrows. The riders would shoot a small target with the arrows while riding these horses extremely fast. They did this about 8 times each. I'm not going to lie- I got a bit bored with the whole thing! Plus, I kept worrying that the arrows that missed the target were going to shoot through someone! Then the awards were given out to the most accurate riders and they began a trick contest. This was actually pretty cool. The riders would ride down the dirt path and lie down on the horse or get off and back on. I thought it was the most entertaining part of it all. Everything finished around 5pm (the rain began to come in) and it was back to the family tent for more tea. This time they offered us some barley beer. Beer made out of fermented water and barley. It tasted like a mix between vinegar and nail polish remover- however; it kind of grew on me! At this point though I was anxious to get back to Lhasa so I could watch the women's gymnastics team finals! We were running later than I thought and was hoping to get back to Lhasa in a hurry. Well, the Gods did not shine down on me since our car broke down. Well, it didn't actually break, but we had to put it in 4WD to get out of the mud at the horse races and then once on the highway the car would not pop out of 4WD. We stopped in some small town after numerous attempts to fix it on the road and our driver and guide started to undo the tires. We thought this was a great time to grab a beer so we did. Two hours later we were on our way back to Lhasa. So here we are- tired, but loving Tibet. We leave early tomorrow AM to discover the rest of China.

Tibet was an amazing experience and I have learned so much about this country. I have much to say about it politically, but we feel that we cannot say it until we leave China. I will be editing this blog when we get to Vietnam so that I can say more candidly how I feel about the Tibetan situation.

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Photos

Barhkor Square from the top of the Jokhang
You can see Potala Palace in the background

The current Dali Lama summer residence
He would go here in the summer before he went into exile

The valley on the way to Shigatse
Near the Kamba-la pass

Yamdrok-Tso
It should be teal blue... but it's not!