A Walk in the Clouds

Upon arriving at EBC, we quickly dropped off our things at our yak tent and headed out for a hike to the actual base camp where the climbers set up their camp. It began to snow on our way up, and I was freezing despite wearing 6 layers on top (heavy weight thermal, technical shirt, sweater, puffy vest, down jacket, waterproof windbreaker), 2 layers on bottom, and 3 pairs of gloves and socks.



It's only a 4 km hike, but it usually takes about 2 hours due to the altitude. It's just so much harder to breathe, and everything feels like an incredible effort. Well, unless you're a yak, in which case you practically prance up the mountain with 100 lbs of rice strapped to your back.



Luckily, I acclimatized pretty well, and we managed to make it there in a little over an hour. We had to register (again!) at the police checkpoint, and then I was finally allowed at the top!



It started snowing during our hike, and the snow was coming down in earnest when I got to the top so I rushed to tie on my prayer flag before my fingers froze and I also caught a glimpse of the climbers' tents.





It had been a while since I last felt my fingers and toes so we hurried back to the tourist base camp. Of course, this is when the storm decided to break. Just my luck. Only a light mist remained, which gave a dreamy look to the landscape. It was just so beautifully ethereal, and it was hard to believe that it wasn't just some Hollywood backdrop.



Back at our yak hotel, we dashed off some postcards to send from the world's highest post box and discovered that the toilets were even worse than what we had encountered thus far. Some good advice: just go behind a yak. They're pretty docile so they don't mind much, and their large size provides ample coverage for privacy.

We hunkered down in our tent for the night and it wasn't too cold as long as they kept feeding yak dung to our fire. It got pretty smoky in there so it was difficult to breathe, and the air outside at the campsite was even worse. I would've put up with the smoke for the warmth of the fire, but they put it out when it came time to sleep. The wind sounded like there was a freaking hurricane outside, and I just prayed that I didn't need to go outside to pee in the middle of the night.

I had a rough time sleeping as I had pretty bad insomnia and a racing heart rate from the altitude. On the plus side, I was awake to see Everest at the buttcrack of dawn before anyone else was awake.



It was the coldest I've ever been in my life - and this is from a girl that survived three Michigan winters - and I rushed back to the tent to get some piping hot tea. Everyone else had gotten up, and we packed our things and were soon on our way to Zhang Mou, a trading city at the border of Nepal. Unfortunately, we had another four hours of off-roading, and we got stuck a bunch of times in particularly difficult terrain.





The drive was relatively boring, and the landscape was quite desolate except for the occasional nomad and his yaks.





The weather was mercurial, snowing one minute, raining another, but we managed to make it into Zhang Mou. The drop in elevation was amazing - all of a sudden, we started seeing trees and plants, and it went from being dry and arid to wet and humid. Unfortunately, this meant lots and lots of flies, and we fought a losing battle to keep them off our dinner. Disgusting.

Zhang Mou itself sucked. It's a soul-less trading town, and our room at the hostel was a horrific experiment in seeing how many different kinds of mold could grow in one room. We had put up with a lot of crappy conditions, but this was just beyond the pale, and we negotiated with our guide's agency to move across the street to the much cleaner hotel across the road. 

Thank goodness we would cross the border into Nepal the next day.

On the Road Again

The road to Everest Base Camp (EBC) definitely wasn't easy. We left Lhasa on Wednesday morning, and it wasn't until late afternoon on Saturday that we arrived at EBC. We were taking the southern route through the country, and our journey was hampered by constant stops to register at police checkpoints where they would check the permits for our guide and driver and our passports. God forbid that Tibetans be free to travel within their own country.

We drove all day and spent our nights in increasingly run-down hotel/ hostels in Gyantse, Shigatse and Shegar, and we learned quickly to stop expecting toilet paper or heaters or bathtubs/sinks that didn't leak gallons of water. The villages were usually tiny and looked abandoned. It's entirely possible that there were more stray dogs than people.



Since this is Tibet, we visited several temples along the way, such as the Palchoi Temple, famous for its Kumbum Stupa.



Off in the distance, we could also see the famous Gyantse fort.



We also checked out Tashilumpo Monastery, but my guidebook warned that some of the resident monks were stooges for the Chinese government and we should watch what we say. We resorted to speaking pig-latin and gibberish to each other to vent - that part was actually pretty fun. =)

Our last temple of the trip was Sakya Monastery, which is different in that it is painted black to symbolize power. There were more pilgrims than tourists for once, but we couldn't look around much as the monks were in a hurry to close up shop so they could eat lunch. I guess meditating makes you hungry.





The food we ate along the way took some getting used to, and some of us never did. B took to the yak and ordered yak sizzlers at every meal. Apparently, once you go yak, you never go back. I subsisted wholly on the cup o'noodles that I had stockpiled from the supermarket in Lhasa, and N ate just plain rice for every meal. The food hygiene definitely wasn't the best, and quite a few of the restaurants we went to had cats randomly roaming around in them.



Tibet isn't the best place to be beset by stomach troubles as the "bathrooms" leave a lot to be desired. It usually consisted of a few flimsy planks set over a pit, and I think the lowest point was when you looked down and could see stray dogs sniffing around the pile of poo. For reals. The better alternative is to go in the wild, and you'll probably have a better chance at privacy in the open air than in the communal bathrooms. And I learned never to go anywhere without my trusty roll of tp and hand sanitizer.

N was hit pretty hard by altitude sickness, along with pretty much everyone else we met, and we popped into a Chinese medical clinic to stock up on rhodiola extract (cures anorexia and internet addiction as well as altitude sickness, go figure) and cans of oxygen. I also picked up some ginger extract to snort since I had picked up a pretty bad cold in Lhasa that I just couldn't shake. Btw, that ginger extract was amazing at clearing up sinuses!

After battling the increasing cold, altitude, and tumultuous digestive tracts, we finally caught our first glimpse of Everest. We stopped for quick photo ops, and I also got to chase some goats in an attempt to stretch my legs and acclimate to the change in elevation.



It was another four hours and 70 km of off-roading before we actually reached EBC. Along the way, our car was requisitioned at one of the police checkpoints to deliver bags of rice to the officers at base camp. Not like we offered, but I got the feeling we also didn't have much of a choice.

With rice in tow, we finally arrived at our yak tent hotel (yup, you read that right), and our view of Everest made it all worth it.

Roadtrip to Everest Base Camp

On Wednesday morning, we all piled into our Landcruiser for our epic cross-country roadtrip to Everest Base camp.

First stop - Yamdrok Tso. It was astonishingly blue and absolutely beautiful.

I managed to enjoy the view even though we stopped at the Khambala pass, which is at 4,800m, and I was feeling a wee bit lightheaded from the altitude. I guess it's a popular viewpoint as the locals were ready and waiting and came at us pretty hardcore with trinkets and photo-ops with yaks and Tibetan mastiffs.

I was pretty surprised at how aggressive they were and tried to steer clear - the salepeople, not the mastiffs. The dogs were remarkably well-behaved and would've given a supermodel a run for their money judging by all the poses they were throwing on command.

We hopped back into the car and drove down to the lake's shore, where more photo-ops abounded. I couldn't resist taking a picture of a teeny tiny goat, and I got to hold it in my arms - I want one!



The lake is considered to be sacred and the shore is surrounded by small cairns meant as offerings. We also spied several yaks, and one was just relaxing in the sun and calmly munching on his own poo. Nice.
 

We had hours more to go, and no opportunity to speed on the boring bits as there are speed checks everywhere. We had to check in at the stops, and they would know how fast we were going judging by the time between stops. Big Brother on major steroids. Sheesh.

Anyway, we made another stop on top of the Karo La pass, which is at 5,010m, to check out the glacier. It has shrunk significantly in the last 10 years, which is a bit worrying.

We also stopped to check out a dam that was built about 20 years ago. A village used to reside there and it had to relocate to the hills after the government decided that a dam was necessary to provide electricity. In any case, the water was an incredible color.

We also saw loads prayer flags tied all along the way. Pilgrims usually tie them at significant places such as high passes and bridges. The constant wind keeps them moving, and their bright colors look cheerful against the severe landscape of Tibet.

We finally stopped at Gyantse, where we were staying the night. The town looked pretty much abandoned, and dinner was another blah affair. I was just grateful that our room had a working heater and extra blankets - I didn't know then that it would be the last time I would feel warm for a while...

A Palace For All Seasons

We woke up bright and early on Tuesday to visit the grandaddy of them all, the Potala Palace.

It's THE temple of Lhasa to see and be seen in, and although it has been converted into a museum, pilgrims still faithfully walk the circuit around the palace.

We were huffing and puffing while making our way up the steep incline leading to the Palace, and our guide tried to distract us from the pain by telling us funny stories about the "naughty" sixth Dalai Lama, who is also known as the Romantic Dalai Lama. Apparently, he liked to write poetry and visit the local bars to chat up the ladies, even in the middle of a blizzard (they found his tracks in the freshly fallen snow). I bet he had some good pick-up lines - I'm guessing that "I'm the Dalai Lama" probably figured in at least one or two of them.

Once we were inside, we viewed the magnificent tombs of the 5-13th Dalai Lama, which were made entirely of gold with some bronze and encrusted all over with precious stones and jewels. We also got a pretty good view of the city, and it made me a bit sad to see the modern buildings that have sprouted up in recent years. Pretty damn ugly.

After lunch, we headed over to Norbulingka Palace, also known as the Summer Palace, which came to be my favourite. The place was relatively empty of people, and it had the most trees and greenery we had seen thus far.

It also had a residence that was built by the current Dalai Lama, and that made me a bit sad as it's unlikely that he'll ever occupy it again during his lifetime. It's bizarre that his name and his picture is forbidden in a building that he built and used extensively. The  walls of the main living area depict the history of Tibet, and that was also saddening because the history ended in the 1950's with the Dalai Lama's meeting Chairman Mao.

We saw what we needed to see, and I was ready to leave Lhasa as we were embarking on our roadtrip the next day. I really enjoyed the city, but it was difficult seeing how circumscribed the Tibetans are in their own country. The Chinese military frequently stop them to check their ID and go through their phones to see if they have anything incriminating i.e. picture of the Dalai Lama. They can't hold any public jobs if they don't speak Chinese. They can't travel to other parts of their own country without a special permit. Even foreigners are forbidden to possess anything pertaining to the Dalai Lama or flags of any country other than China. This is no way to live. I'll say it now because I couldn't say it then - Free Tibet!

Tashi Delek from Lhasa

Disclaimer: None of the opinions I express about Tibet and my experience is due to my guide or his agency. I formed these opinions on my own, and they should not be attributed to anybody else.

We woke up in plenty of time to get to the airport for our flight to Tibet. Four became three as S was flying on to Japan so we said our farewells. Once the security agent realized that we were going to Tibet, they pulled us out of the queue and escorted us to a "special" security area where the check was extra tight. We cleared security without any problems, and we arrived in Lhasa airport after a quick stop in Chengdu. Lhasa is at 3,570 meters (11,710 ft), and I immediately felt the change in altitude - my fingers and toes started to tingle uncomfortably and would continue to do so for the next three days.

Our guide, Tse, greeted us with white scarves that he placed around our necks.  He explained that in Tibetan culture, people exchange white tokens when they first meet someone to show that they come with a pure heart. Why did we have a guide? We didn't have a choice. China requires non-Chinese foreigners to have a guide the entire time we're in Tibet, and we also needed permits for every part of the country we visited on top of the Tibeant permit we had to obtain before we could even buy a plane ticket to Lhasa.

It was an hour's drive before we arrived in Lhasa and were dropped off at our hotel, Shambala Palace, which strangely enough is owned by a former New York lawyer. The hotel is located in the preserved Tibetan Quarter, and the area was a bit of a maze made more confusing by the fact that everything kind of looks alike.

The hotel had some interesting touches:

The door to our room...

Prayer beads hanging about...

Our stone bathroom...

Yak curtain around the bed... hm, never seen that before...

But the best part was the view from the rooftop...

We had a chance to settle in before our guide's partner, Dhon, picked us up to take us out to dinner at a shoe store/restaurant. Buy shoes outside and then come in for a bowl of nice yak noodle soup! We didn't buy any shoes, but we did have yak noodle soup along with some sweet tea, which is a black tea mixed with yak milk and sugar. If you couldn't tell already, the yak is a pretty important animal to Tibetans, especially in their cuisine. The yak turned out to be really flavourful, and we had no problems finishing our noodles.

No, I didn't dine with demons - he doesn't know I keep this blog, and I'd like to respect his privacy.

We returned to the hotel for a good night's sleep, but the combination of altitude and the freezing cold made that pretty impossible. Our hotel room turned out to be long on charm but short on heat - the teeny tiny heater turned out to be pretty useless.

We started out the next morning with a simple breakfast of yak yoghurt with muesli and honey, some fried eggs and toast smeared with yak butter, and I washed it all down with coffee with a bit of yak milk. The yoghurt was light and a bit tart, and the yak butter was slightly sweet and much tastier than cow butter.

Breakfast was followed by a short walk to the nearby Jokhang Monastery.

The first thing I noticed were the pilgrims prostrating themselves outside of the monastery.

Some of the pilgrims had mats and others wore tough aprons with wooden panels attached to their hands. They were of all ages, in many different forms of dress, but they were all prostrating themselves repeatedly in front of the monastery.

Other pilgrims walked in a clockwise circuit around the temple. Some were also prostrating, but many were just walking with prayer wheels or prayer beads in hand.

There was also a massive queue of pilgrims waiting to go in to be blessed by one of the oldest Buddha statues ever. As tourists, we were permitted to bypass the queue and once inside, we saw the famous yak butter lamps that illuminated the temple. The pilgrims had jugs in hand that were filled with vegetable oil to add fuel to the flames. The pilgrims that weren't filling the lamps were placing money on every available surface or waiting patiently to touch their head to the Buddha's knee.

We wended our way up around the monastery and headed to the roof for magnificent views of the city, including Barkhor Square right next door and the Potala Palace in the distance.

Later that day, we visited Sera Monastery to see the famous debating monks.

The monks pair up, and one acts as the questioner (standing up) while the other responds (sitting down). They can debate on the same topic for 2-3 hours, and the questioner has a range of motions that he displays to the answerer. The most common movement is raising your arm with the elbow bent to symbolize the sword of wisdom. Slapping the arm down against an open palm symbolizes the sword cutting through ignorance.

We headed back to the car after watching the monks for a while, and we came upon an unexpected treat. I heard singing voices, and I followed the sound until I reached a group of labourers working on top of a roof in the traditional Tibetan way.

The workers dance in formation, armed with a stick attached to a large stone as they sing. The use the stick to tamp down the floor in rhythym to the song that they are singing. A few of them waved and called down and we exchanged greetings - theirs in English, and ours in Tibetan. It was lovely.