Tibet: The roof of the world

Some things we experience in life cannot be expressed in words. There are unspeakable; especially in a language other than your native one. I will try however to transfer the feeling of how it is to travel at the roof of the world. It is certainly not an easy task.

It took several days, five in particular, to reach Lhasa from Kathmandu. The first part of the trip, from Kathmandu to the Tibetan border, was relatively boring. The only really interesting thing was some landslides blocking our way. The previous night, a strong monsoon rain moved a land mass from the mountain down to the road and the nearby village. We had to wait for the road to clear while looking at buses and trucks trying to get out of the mud. Lucky enough, we managed to move on and reach the border. The Chinese control was very strict. No pictures of Dalai Lama, no Tibetan flags, nothing related to Autonomous Tibet or Dalai Lama in general. Even my precious guide Tibet Lonely Planet had to be returned to the agency in KTM because there is a preface written by Dalai Lama. Using my spy skills I photographed the pages of the guide I needed to have with me… At the border they checked my camera too but wisely enough I had just inserted my second memory card in. Pheewww…

After living the border behind, we crossed the Himalayas from the south side to the north in Tibet on the ‘Friendship Highway’. For four hours we were driving in a huge gorge, lush green with waterfalls and with the clouds low enough to touch them. We reached our first stopover in Nyalam and slept in a guesthouse. Next day we continued on a totally different landscape. Tibet is not just remote, it looks like another world. The mountains are spectacular, the glaciated valleys are wide and the horizon is vast and empty. No houses, trees or towns mark the landscape. In this infinite land, the mind reaches out to the horizon. Yaks and people move like tiny ants. We’ve seen 2-3 cars per day on the highway crossing our way. We stopped in high passes and took photographs; all of them, bursted with prayer flags as well as with nomads selling artifacts. In one of them we could -barely- see the Everest peak as some clouds were blocking clear views. We stand at the roadside and contemplate it at a distance of around 80 km. On the same range, snow-topped peaks included the neighboring Lhotse at 8501m, Makalu at 8463m, Cha Oyu at 8153m.

Tibet_Crossing the Himalayas

Tibet_Crossing the Himalayas2

Tibet_High altitude desert

Tibet_High altitude desert2

Tibet_Everest north side

Tibet_Easy on the Friendship Highway

Tibet_Tong-La high pass

Tibet_Kharol-La glacier

Tibet_Kharol-La and local nomads

On the way to Lhasa, we stopped at few small towns to sleep over, visited monasteries and passed through amazing lakes and landscapes. Tibetan people look so different than the Nepalis. They live in higher altitudes, working hard at the bared inhospitable frozen earth but it seems hopeless trying to scrape a living from this barren soil. Under the blue heavens, the whole weight of the universe seems to press down upon them. Development from the Chinese brought insignificant change to the Tibetan people living at the plateau. Other than electricity and some administrative changes nothing really improved the life of Tibetans and it seemed to me that they live the same way as they use to 150 years ago. Despite the harsh environment they live in and all difficulties they are smiley and happy. Very friendly and happy to discuss many things with you (in Tibetan) :)

Tibet_Villagers on the Friendship Highway

Tibet_I think we are lost

Tibet_Enjoying the local beer

In the monasteries, the atmosphere was sacred. Tibetan Buddhism is an ancient religion, so rich in culture and arts. All monasteries we visited were colorful painted with amazing detail. No photography was allowed in the chapels (unless you pay 10 yuan per chapel) but we manage to sneak a few. We were lucky to see the monks’ assembly at the Tashilunpo monastery, the largest -Gelugpa sect- monastery in Tibet and the seat of Panchen Lama, the second highest ranking after the Dalai. The monastery is a town in itself. It took a whole afternoon to wander around with the smell of yak butter to burn hundreds or even thousands of candle lights. I felt I was in another world while trying to find similarities with Mount Athos region in Greece, a sacred land too full of Greek Orthodox old monasteries prohibited for women(!).

Continuing to Lhasa we crossed another high pass, Kharol La, on altitude of 5560m., the highest altitude I ever been. My walk around was light and my breath short. A glacier was just above us but the cold was bearable. Nomads were selling local artifacts and some women were asking for money to be photographed. An out of this world scene…

Yamdrok Tso, the largest highest water basin in the world, sacred for the Tibetans, was another breathtaking landscape in its serenity. At an altitude over 5000m a huge turquoise lake lies between the glaciated peaks, calm and easy. The Tibetans regard all water as holy and looking at the lake, it is understandable. The camera was on fire taking at least 50 photos of the lake views in an hour to cross it. The landscape thereafter to Lhasa included cultivated land and the lush patchy colours of the fields were a feast for the eyes after four days of driving through dry brown desert. A sense of civilisation came as we were approaching Lhasa with more cars and tourist buses, better roads and more people walking across the highway. After five days crossing the Tibetan plateau we reached Lhasa.

Tibet_Monks at Tashilunpo monastery

Tibet_...and their boots

Tibet_A big stupa at Palcho monastery

Tibet_With a monk at Palcho monastery

Tibet_School kids at Tamalung

Tibet_Amazing Yamdrok-Tso

Tibet_Amazing Yamdrok-Tso2

Lhasa is a holy city in itself for all Tibetans. Today, is a modern city (of Chinese standards) capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). It lies on a valley at an altitude of 3600m it is one of the highest capitals in the world. Chinese influence is everywhere however Barkhor, a Tibetan neighbor, is still original with only Tibetans living amongst the alleyways. I was amazed to see Tibetans living in a city; they were not much different from those living in the dessert. We hanged around the city for 2-3 days. Jokhand temple, a religious center for all Tibetan pilgrims, was just a five minute walk from our guesthouse. Hundreds of local artifact sellers were shouting ‘Lookie Lookie, cheap cheap!!’ So funny! So nice, they were all so touchy, wanted to attract you to their stall, one of same as all of the others.

We also visited Potala Palace, a World Heritage Site of enormous scale built on top of a hill in the Lhasa valley. Breathtaking views from the palace and the palace itself. The sight of the palace from below was just unforgettable. I was waiting for years to see this and it was all worth it! Photography inside was prohibited with no yuan exchange. We seen some huge Buddha statues, tombs of previous Dalai Lamas and the private rooms of the current one, now self-exiled in Dharamsala, India.

Lhasa_Mighty Potala Palace

Lhasa_Mighty Potala Palace2

Lhasa_Mighty travel in Tibet team- Nektarios_Alicia_Erin_Thiago

Lhasa_Barkhor square

Lhasa_Looking for new sunglasses

Everest peak (middle)_ the top of the world

Political situation in Tibet is sensitive, and is something I wouldn’t like to discuss in this post. It’s a long discussion which I will be happy to discuss it in person rather in this blog. My travel companions, Erin(Cuba), Thiago(Brazil) and Alicia(Australia), have had interesting ideas and opinions and we had some really good talks about that. All three were such good fun and I feel very lucky I experienced Tibet with them. Throughout the trip, we had gone through difficult times. Accute Mountain Sickness (AMS), of a light form, plus headaches, motion sickness from the bus, diarrhea, dry lips and more was affecting us all (hmm, maybe except Thiago who was previously traveling in Mongolia and China). I, personally, had difficult times but despite all this I really enjoyed the whole experience. It was once in a lifetime experience and I would recommend it to anyone who seeks high altitude adventure with a big hit of cultural and religion aspects.

Now in Kathmandu, I am organising my return to London in few days. Time has gone so quick; it feels like a single camera click. I am sure it will take me few days to adapt back to the -western- city life. I am happy everything went perfect in these two months and I now have my energy stash fulfilled to continue back in the harsh world where I belong. In my last days here, I have a strange mixed feeling, kind of sad leaving behind a place I love which I now feel comfortable to be and a gentle happiness that I have done something good for the rural indigenous Himalayan people. Moreover, the trip in Tibet was the adventure I was after and I feel complete I have accomplished what it seemed a dream few years ago.

Peace ‘n’ Love

Nektarios~