Day 16: Lhasa Sights

Our guide & driver tag team met us at the hotel this morning at 9am. Today was to be mostly sightseeing around Lhasa with the Potala, Sera Monastery, and a convent all on the menu. I struck me how religious of a culture it must be considering pretty much all of the major landmarks are, well, monasteries and convents.

Most of the guide books you read warn of the Potala being a bit underwhelming once you are inside, especially considering how majestic it appears from the exterior. It has a pretty dominating presence over the city, the largest building on the highest point. You can see it from anywhere in the surrounding plane as long as you”ve got a relatively unobstructed view. As the books say, though, the interior is less thrilling. Don’t get me wrong – there is much to see: astonishing numbers of buddhas, stupas, tombs, paintings, etc, but the rooms are generally tiny and less than 20% of them are open to view. I guess the exterior view just sets up tremendous expectations. I was able to get a fantastic panorama from all of Lhasa from the roof. If you look closely, right in the middle you’ll notice the tiny core of Old Lhasa, with the new Chinese influenced “New Lhasa” being rapidly built out around it.

(If you’d like a full res copy of this, let me know via the contact page.  Original is too big too post ~10000px by 2000px)

Next up was a short drive to north Lhasa to see the Sera Monastery. This was interesting and a bit more active as it is still a functioning monastery and less of a museum. Monks milling about everywhere, some praying but most working on the various buildings around the compound.

After lunch we visited an active Buddhist convent near the Jokhang. This time we got to sit in on a group chant/prayer session in the main temple. A hundred or so nuns sat lining the rows of padded benches in front of the main buddha figure with intricately bound scripture books in hand. For each verse, one near the front would lead off the group with the rest quickly following along, joining. Another nun near the back would sound a giant gong to signal the end of each verse.

Outside in the courtyard we sat and watched two nuns cut up yak meat with unnecessarily large cleavers. Two poofy cats circled about at their feet, and occasionally the nuns would flip a piece of meat to the cats with the knife.

In general the courtyard and quarters were remarkably well kept. A great variety of flowering plants circled the area in front of the temple and flower pots lined the hallways.

Later that evening we had another excellent – and outrageously cheap – dinner at the Shambahla. Try the momos.

Another round of photos in the gallery.

More coming soon…

I haven’t forgotten about this…work has been nuts lately.  The final couple of installments coming soon…

Day 15: Sheep Traffic Jam in Samye

After loading our stuff into the back of the Land Cruiser we made our way slowly through the village, dodging cows, yaks, and various other animals. We were making decent time until we hit a traffic jam of sheep. Apparently some local farmer was taking them on a field trip somewhere. There were hundreds of them crowding around the car on all sides baaaahing and jumping on top of one another. We inched the car forward and they would generally get out of the way.

We made our way back to the trail towards Lhasa, this time a slightly different route that would result in more trail time but an overall shorter drive. Local people were finishing building the trail with shovels as we drove, and occaisionally we’d encounter groups of people building bridges over streams. The majority of these bridges weren’t completed though so we ended up fording most of them. We only got stuck briefly once when our driver was attempting to pass a cow on a sandy section. The cow stopped and stared at us as we worked to get the truck free.

Back in Lhasa we went to the Nam-Tso for lunch again. The food here is good and the place is relatively clean. Even with the weak U.S. dollar one can get a huge meal for two for $8. It’s fun here to order and guess which item is going to come out first. They will serve each item as its ready rather than serving appetizers first or waiting for all of the entrees to be prepared.

After a nap at the Shambhala I went to find their yoga and fitness area. The facility consisted of two very small rooms in a building a couple of doors down that contained some rudimentary yoga and weight equipment. We had been trekking a lot and getting plenty of exercise, but I was badly in need of some gym time. I was pleasantly surprised to find that weight training at 12,000 ft. wasn’t noticeably more difficult than at sea level.

Later on we went for a walk around the streets of Lhasa and ended up on the west end of old Lhasa at the Potala Palace, about a mile from the Shambhala. It was nearing dusk but there was still a numbe rof people mulling about in the courtyard, taking photos, or praying. This massive open space – with its richly storied history – seemed eerily empty yet beautiful. It reminded me of standing in Red Square in Moscow.

Day 14: Jokhang and Off-Roading to Samye

This morning I awoke before dawn to the sounds of a group of women chanting Tibetan prayers outside our window. Hearing this for the first time is interesting, the cadence is not like anything you’d hear in the western world. It’s not quite as interesting the 9325th time, but eventually you learn to tune it out, or at worst, get some earplugs. Much love to the Tibetans for persistence though.

I made my way up to the roof to watch the sunrise and order us some breakfast, and found one of the innkeepers watering the stone floor. She claimed that they do this every morning to keep the place clean and cut down on dust. Interesting. Perhaps the best part of sitting on a rooftop in Old Lhasa at sunrise is watching all the locals’ dogs wake up start running around. While few people keep dogs as pets here, the ones that do seem to keep them on the roof for some reason.

Our guide swung by around 9 for a visit to Jokhang Temple. It’s only a couple blocks from the Shambhala so we set off on foot, passing the still-chanting women from earlier. En route we were quickly absorbed by a lively praying crowd of Tibetans. They walk clockwise around the temple a number of times before entering to pay homage to the various buddhas within. This, of course, placed us directly in the path of the droves of trinket vendors that lined the traditional prayer route. I found it an unfortunate contrast…profit versus worship. Many were going through their prayer ritual on the stone-lined square in front of the temple.

Inside was the main chamber with several buddha’s and stupas, which were being fiercely protected by a number of seriously domesticated looking house cats. Several rooms branched off from there, each containing a number of additional buddha’s, yak candles, and prayer books. The worshippers were directed through a specific gated path to each area of the structure where they would pour their offering of yak butter into the candle pool. More interesting architecture was up on the roof…the complete monks’ quarters from the original design.

After a phenomenally awful dining experience at the Lhasa Kitchen, we loaded our gear into the Land Cruiser and set out for Samye. This required a 4 hour drive southeast of Lhasa, half of which is paved. With a Land Cruiser that had seen better days and a borderline narcoleptic driver it wasn’t exactly a relaxing adventure. Rocks, dirt, sand, streams…we utilized a bit of everything as a driving surface. Upon our arrival in Samye, our guide realized that the Samye Guest House where we were supposed to stay was booked full, always a fun thing to hear after a 4 hour drive to the middle of nowhere with dusk rapidly approaching.

We backed the Land Cruiser carefully out of the guest house grounds and set out to find another place to stay. While contemplating going back we found a small family run guest house near in the village surrounding the monastary. The guest rooms weren’t bad but the bathroom was a fucking disaster. Seriously. Looked like the inside of the septic tank of a slaughterhouse. And I’ve seen some seriously bad bathrooms in my travels and have become pretty desensitized. We didn’t have much choice though since our driver was comatose and refused to go anywhere else. We each popped some precautionary Immodium that we scored from Michael the Australian back in Namche. Anything to try to prevent encounters with that bathroom.

The monastary itself was very interesting. The main building was framed by a series of stupas in different colors, all of which was enclosed by a large circular stone wall. Cows, goats, and yaks grazed in the open grasses between the buildings. We hung out here until sunset and then headed back.

Be sure to check the gallery for over 60 pictures from today.

Day 13: Kathmandu to Lhasa

Today we got an early start to ensure we had enough time to make our Air China flight to Lhasa.  Diamond picked us up at dawn…hopefully enough time considering how excessively inefficient the KTM airport can be.

Due to the political instability here there are military guards everywhere at the airport.  Guys with guns check your passport and boarding pass or reservation before even allowing you into the building.  Better safe than sorry I suppose.

After the necessary 5 security checkpoints we were off to board the plane, sort of.  A group of people in the boarding line in front of us was loaded onto a shuttle bus to make the 40 foot journey across the tarmac to the plane.  After the first group the guy loading the buses must have realized how retarded it was to shuttle bus people 40 feet and just let us walk it.  When we neared the plane, yet another security checkpoint awaited us.

The Lhasa airport is a stark contrast to Kathmandu.  Exceptionally clean and efficient, and generally pretty empty.  Kathmandu and Chengdu are the only connection points in and out of Lhasa so there is never much of a line for security or check-in.  Perhaps in this instance the Chinese influence in Tibet has paid off.

Our guide and his driver were waiting for us just outside the final customs checkpoint.  Dead quiet outside…a nice change from the hustlers outside the terminal in New Dehli and Kathmandu.  The first thing you notice when outside in Lhasa is how bright the sun is.  Even if its cold, the sun shines bright.   We piled our stuff into the old Land Cruiser and set off for the hour long drive into Lhasa.

I was a bit surprised that Lhasa overall was much cleaner and less polluted than Kathmandu.  The entire city, from the people to the drivers, and even the animals walking around seemed a lot more chill.

Our driver took us to the House of Shambhala, which is located right in the middle of Old Lhasa, just a block or two from the Jokhang Temple.  It’s a funky little place with only about 10 rooms situated around a small central common area.  Apparently an American ex-pat owns it but its operated and managed by local Tibetans.

After settling in we went out to explore.  Soon we found the Jokhang area with its large open square complete with Chinese military security cameras and endless market stalls with trinkets galore.  Whatever you wanted, you could find it here.  T-shirts, blenders, shoes, Chinese medicine, yak cheese, scarves, Chinese pop music cds, etc.

Day 12: Spending a day in Kathmandu

Today was a day of sightseeing around Kathmandu to fill the time left by our early arrival back from the Khumbu. We found our guide, “Diamond” (his English name) polishing his car outside the hotel in the morning sunlight. He was to be our guide for the day and was very excited to show us his city.

The first stop was the bustling Durbar Square near the center of the city. It’s a collection of stupas, open squares, and temples filled with locals coming and going, praying, singing, etc. Tons of energy in the air with random chants and Nepalese songs breaking out. Traditional Nepalese music and yak candle smoke emanated from the various structures on all sides. Right in the middle of the main square, 6 huge cows just stood there chilling out, eating grains that the locals would drop for them. I guess they lived there along with hundreds of pigeons.

Diamond showed us one temple in particular that was full of impressive carvings and figurines, all of which were hundreds of years old. This was right next to the sacrifice area where they wacked a buffalo the previous day as part of a festival offering.

Next up was Swayambhunath Stupa, aka The Monkey Temple. This is a large stupa in western Kathmandu that earned its nickname from the large population of monkeys that like to hang out in the surrounding trees. They weren’t kidding, monkeys everywhere. We almost ran one over on the way there. Inside the compound there were countless Buddhas and a few monks milling about. Of course, there were also a bunch of vendors with tables set up trying to hawk their trinkets near the exit. It was entertaining to watch the monkeys piss them off by toying with all their wares. Since this was one of the higher spots in the valley, I was able to get this panoramic shot of Kathmandu…

After a drive all the way to the other side of the city we visited the Boudhanath Stupa. This is apparently the largest stupa in the world and is surrounded by ring of shops that protects it nicely from the hustle and noise of east Kathmandu. Diamond took us into an art gallery where we watched several artisans doing various works. The shop keeper explained the process to us and told us about the stories told by each work. Interesting stuff.

Tons of pics from today so be sure to check the gallery.

Day 11: Lukla to Kathmandu

We awoke to the sunrise just before 6 a.m. Keypi was supposed to wake us at 5:45 to pack but appeared to be running late. A few minutes later a loud knock came along with “hellloooo….good morning!” I opened the door to see a bleary-eyed Keypi and thankfully a clear sky behind him.

“Good Morning…looks like clear sky today. Good for flying.”

“Not too cold either…”

“We’ll be ready in 10 minutes.”

We sat in the dining hall eating oatmeal and watching the first planes of the morning arrive. The airstrip at Lukla is literally on the side of a mountain; a short section of pavement that the local kids play volleyball on after all of the landings of the day are complete. Seeing the planes arrive is fun, but the takeoff is even better. As I watched, the pilot of a small twin otter aircraft maneuvered the plane as close as he could to the stone retainer wall, applied the brake, gunned the engine, and let ‘er rip at full throttle. Never seen someone powerbrake a plane before but I guess there is a first time for everything.

After breakfast we made our way into the makeshift Lukla airport and waited for our plane to arrive. The planes only stay on the ground for as long as it takes to deplane the arriving passengers and board the departing passengers. It’s not unusual for a plane to only be on the ground for 10 minutes. In the ‘terminal’ I met a particularly chatty New Yorker who had been trekking since June.

Before long it was our turn. Plane arrived and the ground crew got the passengers and cargo unloaded as quickly as possible. The Nepalese military had soldiers stationed all around the airport, watching the runway and helping direct the plane around the tarmac. I was thankful that our flight was nearly empty. When trying to gain speed before falling off a mountain I figure the less weight the better. We loaded up, the pilot backed up to the stone wall, and revved the engine. I watched the tarmac blur past as we taxied and lifted off with little runway to spare.

Arriving back in Kathmandu was a bit of an awakening after being in the mountains for over a week. The bustle of motor bikes, rickshaws, and car horns awoke my ears while the rampant pollution found its way to my eyes and lungs. I have a hard time breathing here in the valley, at least when out among the traffic in Thamel. The Shanker was full of westerners getting ready to set off on various expeditions, much busier than 10 or so days before when we had left.

Next up was a trip on foot down to Thamel to meet Sagar. There was much to discuss and many details to work out for the next leg of the trip…Tibet.