When you travel, it's the people that make a place special. Tibet is no exception. We found the culture, traditional clothing and devotion to religion fascinating. Of all the places we have been to around the world, it was the Tibetan people who touched us the most. The language barrier prevented us from talking with the majority of them, but that didn't stop the communication. As we visited areas of Lhasa, particularly around the Johkang we were continuously smiled at. … [Read more...]
Sera Monastery Monk Debates
Sera Monastery sits on the outskirts of Lhasa. At one time it had a population of over 5000 monks, but now houses only a few hundred. The Chinese government has imposed restrictions that limit the number of monks allowed at each monastery in Tibet. Sera survived the cultural revolution with light damage, but most of the five colleges that were hosted on the site were destroyed. … [Read more...]
Nam Tso, A Hauntingly Beautiful Place
Nam Tso is an important pilgrimage site. It is one of three lakes considered to be holy and sacred by the Tibetan people. This huge body of pale blue water is back dropped by mountains with hints of purple tones. It's a surreal setting that looks like something you would see in a water colour painting. The drive from Lhasa to Nam Tso takes about four hours. We booked our vehicle and driver with two young girls from England. Unlike our last trip in Tibet, this one went off without a hitch. We had no flat tires and no break downs. … [Read more...]
A Bit About Tibet And It’s People
Tibetans are deeply religious people. Buddhism permeates every facet of their lives. Traditionally the people were in three different segments of society. The nomads, the farmers and the monks and nuns. All of them leading very different lives, but all sharing the same deep faith in Buddhism. This was a land where little change occurred for centuries. Now more change has happened in the last 50 years than in the 500 years previous. Communities consisted of clusters of homes on large areas of agricultural land once owned by the largest monastery. Until recently such communities were effectively … [Read more...]
Qinghai Tibetian Railway, The Highest In The World
The Most Challenging Railway Ever Built The thoughts and process for planning this railway have been in the making for five decades. It has been very controversial because of the extreme conditions of the land on which it is built on. It also crosses areas with some of the most delicate ecosystems on earth. Great measures had to be taken in the building of the track. 4/5 of the track spans over frozen earth. They had to find ways to divert the heat so it would not thaw the ground. If this happens the track would buckle from the temperature fluctuation. The conditions of cold and high … [Read more...]
Shigatse And Our Return to Lhasa
We're Staying In Lhatse Again Our driver had supposedly fixed the tire or replaced it, we're not sure. We were now on the return trip from Everest and starting to head back towards Lhasa. We had hoped to make it all the way to the larger town of Shigatse today so that we didn't have to stay in small and dingy Lhastse again. We left too late though, we reached Lhatse at about 7pm, it was too far to carry on to Shigatse. We decided to fork out some extra bucks and stay at a larger hotel that the town had. Finally some water to wash in, hurray! Our Truck Has Broken Down Again, You've Got To … [Read more...]
Standing In Awe At Everest Base Camp
Up To Everest Base Camp By Horse Cart Where you are dropped off at Everest is 8km's downhill from where the actual base camp is located. There are two options for getting up to the gravely road to base camp, either walk or take a horse cart. Vehicles are no longer permitted to drive on the road. At this extreme altitude and in the freezing cold we were not about to make the 16km round trip by foot. There were a row of horse cart drivers lined up in turn waiting to take people. The men all had long hair done up in a thick braid with a bright red scarf tied around the top of their head. … [Read more...]
Sakya And Lhatse
Our First Of What Would Be Many Flat Tires We had noticed upon arrival in Gyantse that the front passenger tire had a big bulge in it. We pointed it out to the driver and he motioned that he would change it. He does not speak English, so communicating on the trip has been challenging. It turned out that all he did was switch the tire from the front to the back. We were only 10 minutes or so outside of Gyantse when it blew. We were stopped in front of a small Tibetan farm along side the road. We were there for about half an hour while the driver put on the spare tire. A lady came out from the … [Read more...]
The Stunning And Sacred Yamdrok Tso
Yamdrok Tso (Tso meaning lake in Tibetan) is one of four holy lakes in Tibet. The lake was our first stop on our trip to Everest Base Camp, but it could easily be done as a day trip from Lhasa. It's located 110km southwest from the capital city. Devout Tibetan pilgrims circle the lake in a walk that takes approximately one week to complete. Though its a sacred lake to the Tibetan people it is seen as a natural resource to be commoditized by the Chinese government. A hydro-electric dam has been created and because the lake does not replace it's water naturally predictions say it will be … [Read more...]
Exploring Lhasa
Arriving In Lhasa We took a one and a half hour flight from Zhongdian to Lhasa. We saw some great scenery from the plane. There was one huge mountain sticking up well above the clouds. We think it was Namche Barwa mountain at about 7756 meters high. We started to descend and could see small villages in the valleys below. Then suddenly the mountains opened up into a huge desert like plain. The Lhasa airport was very modern. We got our bags and went outside to catch the bus into Lhasa. We could see beautiful mountains in every direction we looked. The airport sits about one and a half hours … [Read more...]