5 June 2010 10:33pm Kathmandu
Despite the arduous and often unpaved road we encountered along the way, we finally made it to Kathmandu! We kicked our day off early with breakfast at the Sherpa Restaurant next to our hotel. As par for the course in China and Tibet, our order got screwed up and we ended up with two extra plates of eggs. Luckily Keesler and Dee hadn’t ordered, so everyone got food all around!
After breakfast we loaded up our van one last time and set out for the border. We made pretty good time- we actually got there before the border opened. There were a lot of Romanians in line, waiting to cross as well. Dawa had us skip in front of the Romanians, as there were easily 40 of them with tons of crap each. This, of course, prompted an argument between Dawa and some of the other guides. As this was all going on, we met a really nice couple who also lived in NYC. Small, small world. One of the guys gave us their cards, with promises to exchange blogs and meet up in Kathmandu for dinner some night.
We cleared Chinese customs eventually and said goodbye to Dawa, who turned us over to his Nepali counterparts. After departing from Dawa, we had to walk across the bridge that was the border between China and Nepal. This also meant that we went back over 2 hours in time due to the weird, messed up time zones. Same time everywhere in China! We hit Nepali customs, got ourselves all set there, and then loaded up into the van that would take us from Kodari (the border town we entered in) to Kathmandu.
The road was ridiculously bumpy and at points scary. Especially the point where people were working on the road, and throwing rocks from above. Along the way we stopped for lunch. This may not have been a good thing as I became quite uneasy with all the bumping along.
Eventually, the adventure ended and we reached our hotel in Kathmandu. It was perfect timing- Ashok had just pulled up to see if anyone else had arrived. We soon met up with Aya, Martin, and Eugenia, whom we hadn’t seen since finals in New York.
We had quite a bit of resting time, which many of us used to take advantage of the fact that we had wi-fi and full access to the internet again. It felt fantastic to log into most websites again! After internet/resting, we met up with the whole group at Himalayan Java, a coffee shop down the street, to organize ourselves for dinner. They took us to this great restaurant where I finally got to have some real Nepali food! (We stopped for lunch on the way to KTM, but it was kind of gross- it sort of tasted like ashtray.)
After a quite long dinner, we eventually left and made our way back to the hotel. I have at least learned one thing. I do not want to be out after the sun sets- no street lights!
Tomorrow we start our orientation, which means the end of vacation and the start of work. Oh well- that’s why we’re here.
Showing posts with label Tibet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tibet. Show all posts
Friday, June 11, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
"One of you can marry me!"
4 June 2010 11:26pm Zhangmu
One of the most surreal experiences is waking up in a Tibetan tent, going outside, and seeing Mt. Everest directly to your right. Of course, before we could get out of the tent we had to get out from under the 50lbs of blankets our Tibetan ama heaped on us last night. I guess it worked out pretty good, because I was sweating last night but it was freezing out from under the covers.
After getting ourselves adjusted and fed (mmm, store-bought muffins), we headed back out to the actual base camp to see the mountain one last time. Dawa had told us that it's better to go in the morning because it's less windy and cold. Dawa is a liar- it was ridiculously cold and windy! I must remember to write to Columbia- that jacked held up pretty good, I could only barely feel the wind cut through. The mountain of course was beautiful- it was cool to see bits of sunshine peek through and hit the snow. Beautiful, but a little hard to look at due to all the brightness.
We had written postcards to Ellen and Kyrie last night with the intent of sending them after we returned to camp from the base of the mountain. As it was 10:30am and the post office (yes, there is a post office- in a tent!) doesn't open until 11:00am, Dawa called to see if the postman could open up early. Unfortunately, he had left camp for the day and was where we are now. Epic fail. Our intent was to stop at a post office on the way, but that didn't work out either. No matter what, I am determined to send these postcards out before I leave China!
As the post office adventure failed to take off, we left the camp instead. Of course, we made sure to say good bye to our hosts for the night and especially Karma. Dee taught him to blow kisses- adorable. We also got a group picture taken with the family. By far, I think that's the best hotel I've ever stayed in. Where else do they tuck you into bed? I can't even get that at home!
The drive from Everest to Zhangmu was long. And bumpy. And dusty. I think it's a miracle our van survived the journey. I fell asleep a few times on the ride. Mostly it was on roads that we'd already been on (we had to backtrack a bit from the base camp back to the highway), but also because there was nothing else to do, and I felt tired.
Once again we stopped in a small village for lunch, where almost all of us (minus Katie) ordered potatoes for our meal. At least it made ordering easy. There was an adorable, yet stray dog that kept coming in the restaurant. I had to keep telling myself that he most likely has diseases and that I can't touch him. It worked, but those sad eyes got to me. I made sure to at least get a picture of him.
After lunch we kept driving to Zhangmu, which was pretty uneventful except for this one 1km stretch of highway that wasn't finished. There was construction materials on both sides of the 'road', which was basically mud (it was raining) and rocks, very uneven. Also, no guardrails of any sort next to a sheer drop. After that drive we decided to up our driver's tip- he got us through alive!
In another kilometer, we finally arrived in Zhangmu, our final stop in Tibet before the Nepali border. This town is incredibly steep and twisty- the one road basically lies parallel to itself, making multiple sharp turns down the mountainside. We're staying in the Sherpa Hotel, which is amazing. We have absolutely beautiful views, and it opens up onto a rooftop patio, which gives a beautiful view of the town itself. We made friends with some children on the roof, one of whom kept trying to teach Cecilia some complicated hand gesture. I think the girl eventually just gave up.
Soon after arriving and getting settled in, we decided to eat. Each of us got outfitted in our rain gear to go find a restaurant. We didn't have to go far- it was literally right next door. Dinner was pretty good, even though we all ate Western. We also made another new friend at dinner, Teshi, who works at the hotel/restaurant/somewhere. He kept calling out to us 'beautiful girls' and tried to get us to go out with him tonight. Oh, and marry him. Details. We found him again outside, where he gave Cecilia the lovely new nickname of 'Sizzler'.
All in all, it has been quite an exciting journey. I can't believe that tomorrow evening we're going to be in Kathmandu and see the rest of our classmates. First, though, I must go to bed, which may be difficult with all the music that I'm pretty sure is coming from the Sherpa Nightclub next door. Oh, joy.
One of the most surreal experiences is waking up in a Tibetan tent, going outside, and seeing Mt. Everest directly to your right. Of course, before we could get out of the tent we had to get out from under the 50lbs of blankets our Tibetan ama heaped on us last night. I guess it worked out pretty good, because I was sweating last night but it was freezing out from under the covers.
After getting ourselves adjusted and fed (mmm, store-bought muffins), we headed back out to the actual base camp to see the mountain one last time. Dawa had told us that it's better to go in the morning because it's less windy and cold. Dawa is a liar- it was ridiculously cold and windy! I must remember to write to Columbia- that jacked held up pretty good, I could only barely feel the wind cut through. The mountain of course was beautiful- it was cool to see bits of sunshine peek through and hit the snow. Beautiful, but a little hard to look at due to all the brightness.
We had written postcards to Ellen and Kyrie last night with the intent of sending them after we returned to camp from the base of the mountain. As it was 10:30am and the post office (yes, there is a post office- in a tent!) doesn't open until 11:00am, Dawa called to see if the postman could open up early. Unfortunately, he had left camp for the day and was where we are now. Epic fail. Our intent was to stop at a post office on the way, but that didn't work out either. No matter what, I am determined to send these postcards out before I leave China!
As the post office adventure failed to take off, we left the camp instead. Of course, we made sure to say good bye to our hosts for the night and especially Karma. Dee taught him to blow kisses- adorable. We also got a group picture taken with the family. By far, I think that's the best hotel I've ever stayed in. Where else do they tuck you into bed? I can't even get that at home!
The drive from Everest to Zhangmu was long. And bumpy. And dusty. I think it's a miracle our van survived the journey. I fell asleep a few times on the ride. Mostly it was on roads that we'd already been on (we had to backtrack a bit from the base camp back to the highway), but also because there was nothing else to do, and I felt tired.
Once again we stopped in a small village for lunch, where almost all of us (minus Katie) ordered potatoes for our meal. At least it made ordering easy. There was an adorable, yet stray dog that kept coming in the restaurant. I had to keep telling myself that he most likely has diseases and that I can't touch him. It worked, but those sad eyes got to me. I made sure to at least get a picture of him.
After lunch we kept driving to Zhangmu, which was pretty uneventful except for this one 1km stretch of highway that wasn't finished. There was construction materials on both sides of the 'road', which was basically mud (it was raining) and rocks, very uneven. Also, no guardrails of any sort next to a sheer drop. After that drive we decided to up our driver's tip- he got us through alive!
In another kilometer, we finally arrived in Zhangmu, our final stop in Tibet before the Nepali border. This town is incredibly steep and twisty- the one road basically lies parallel to itself, making multiple sharp turns down the mountainside. We're staying in the Sherpa Hotel, which is amazing. We have absolutely beautiful views, and it opens up onto a rooftop patio, which gives a beautiful view of the town itself. We made friends with some children on the roof, one of whom kept trying to teach Cecilia some complicated hand gesture. I think the girl eventually just gave up.
Soon after arriving and getting settled in, we decided to eat. Each of us got outfitted in our rain gear to go find a restaurant. We didn't have to go far- it was literally right next door. Dinner was pretty good, even though we all ate Western. We also made another new friend at dinner, Teshi, who works at the hotel/restaurant/somewhere. He kept calling out to us 'beautiful girls' and tried to get us to go out with him tonight. Oh, and marry him. Details. We found him again outside, where he gave Cecilia the lovely new nickname of 'Sizzler'.
All in all, it has been quite an exciting journey. I can't believe that tomorrow evening we're going to be in Kathmandu and see the rest of our classmates. First, though, I must go to bed, which may be difficult with all the music that I'm pretty sure is coming from the Sherpa Nightclub next door. Oh, joy.
Why do I keep getting all the noodles?
3 June 2010 8:58pm Everest base camp
After a 6-hour car ride along one of the bumpiest/scariest roads ever, we finally made it to the Everest base camp! We're technically 4km outside of the actual base camp, but this is the more permanent setup. There's a bunch of large tents, all with signs outside of them declaring it to be 'Such-and-such Hotel.' Best hotel ever!
The owner's baby is here. His name is Karma, he is 1 year and 5 months old, and he is the cutest little thing I've ever seen! He's become our form of entertainment. Earlier he was playing with a ball of yarn, and then a bowl. He is absolutely too cute.
We went up to the actual base camp to take pictures. It's the closest the Chinese government will let people go if they're not actually hiking the mountain. There's a military checkpoint right before the camp, and everyone has to be registered to go past it. We still had to walk from the bus lot up to the observation area- that took my breath away, literally. Not enough oxygen! I did get some amazing pictures, right before my camera died.
After we returned to our hotel, we cooked up our ramen and settled into more Karma entertainment. I'm surprised he's still up and going! We also had a very fun moment when Dawa started playing 'My Heart Will Go On' on his cell phone. Absolutely hilarious! Also amusing was the fact that every time I reached the bottom of my bowl of noodles, everyone would dump some of their own noodles into my bowl. Gotta feed the bahini!
We're getting a kind of early start tomorrow so we're going to bed, and our Tibetan ama is coming to tuck us all in! So amazing, best hotel ever! However, this also led to the most pathetically nerdy joke ever- "It's like the Borg, but instead of assimilation it's being tucked in."
Also, there is nothing like peeing outdoors at night, with fresh air on your exposed parts at Mt. Everest. Amazing.
After a 6-hour car ride along one of the bumpiest/scariest roads ever, we finally made it to the Everest base camp! We're technically 4km outside of the actual base camp, but this is the more permanent setup. There's a bunch of large tents, all with signs outside of them declaring it to be 'Such-and-such Hotel.' Best hotel ever!
The owner's baby is here. His name is Karma, he is 1 year and 5 months old, and he is the cutest little thing I've ever seen! He's become our form of entertainment. Earlier he was playing with a ball of yarn, and then a bowl. He is absolutely too cute.
We went up to the actual base camp to take pictures. It's the closest the Chinese government will let people go if they're not actually hiking the mountain. There's a military checkpoint right before the camp, and everyone has to be registered to go past it. We still had to walk from the bus lot up to the observation area- that took my breath away, literally. Not enough oxygen! I did get some amazing pictures, right before my camera died.
After we returned to our hotel, we cooked up our ramen and settled into more Karma entertainment. I'm surprised he's still up and going! We also had a very fun moment when Dawa started playing 'My Heart Will Go On' on his cell phone. Absolutely hilarious! Also amusing was the fact that every time I reached the bottom of my bowl of noodles, everyone would dump some of their own noodles into my bowl. Gotta feed the bahini!
We're getting a kind of early start tomorrow so we're going to bed, and our Tibetan ama is coming to tuck us all in! So amazing, best hotel ever! However, this also led to the most pathetically nerdy joke ever- "It's like the Borg, but instead of assimilation it's being tucked in."
Also, there is nothing like peeing outdoors at night, with fresh air on your exposed parts at Mt. Everest. Amazing.
"Hello how much!"
2 June 2010 7:44pm Shigatse
Holy hell I can't take any more monasteries! I'm monastery-ed out! As I'm sure is apparent, we went to yet another monastery today in Shigatse, the Ta Shi Lhun Po monastery. It was fairly small, which was a relief. There was one cool part- a huge statue of the Maitreya Buddha. I believe our guide said it was the largest bronze Buddha statue in the world. I can't remember the exact height, but I do remember that his shoulders are 11m across and his pinky is around 1.8m high, or as tall as an average white man. [Note- Dee actually remembered, my memory is terrible. Thanks, Dee!]
I must say we were in quite the giggling mood this morning. Dawa laughed along with us at some points, but he had no idea what we were laughing about. I'm pretty sure he thinks we're a little crazy. Anyway, the monastery. Before 1959 there were over 3,000 monks in residence. Now there's only 800. The number is so high because this monastery cooperates with the Chinese government. Others don't cooperate as much, which is why their populations are smaller.
After the monastery Dawa dropped us off a ta local market, where we were greeted with the sounds of "Hello how much!" It's surprisingly standard. That, and "lookie lookie, cheapy cheapy!" They are quite insistent. I found it so much easier to deal with seeing as how I only had 20 yuan. Out of nowhere, one woman offered me some jewelry for 5 yuan. It was nice to look around, even though most of the stalls were offering the same things.
Dawa came to pick us up after about 45 minutes. We all started walking towards the van as we were done shopping there, and a bunch of the saleswomen swarmed around us, offering us more jewelry. We tried to pile in the van as quickly as possible and the women still stuck their stuff into the van, trying to sell it to us. Poor Keesler got stuck outside with a couple of women. Once the ones at the van realized we refused to buy anything, they went over to the other women who were still trying to sell stuff to Keesler. Somehow, she made it out of there.
We went to lunch after that, finally at a different restaurant than the one we've been eating at. I had yak noodle soup and garlic naan- I'm pretty sure I'm going to get so fat just off of naan, it's so good! I've been trying to eat more Tibetan food and less western stuff. The total off-ness of Western food here definitely helps me try to avoid it. After this past week and a half, I think I like Tibetan food more than Chinese food. I'm getting really used to yak meat.
We did a little more shopping after lunch, this time at actual shops. There's way less pressure to shop there, even though things are usually more expensive. Nobody really bought anything! I think we just enjoyed browsing without feeling any pressure to buy. After shopping we went back to the hotel to nap. That was so refreshing.
After naptime we had Dawa take us somewhere to get warm stuff for Everest. Once we got to the market, we found out that stuff could be rented at the camp and that we didn't actually need to buy anything. We went to the supermarket instead to get food for the next couple of days. Once we were done, we managed to leave our guides and go out on our own for a bit. We went to the internet cafe to take care of things, and then walked back home, stopping to get noodles for dinner. We have now had a thoroughly enjoyable evening eating bowls of noodles and dubbing Chinese television into English. Not a bad evening of entertainment!
Holy hell I can't take any more monasteries! I'm monastery-ed out! As I'm sure is apparent, we went to yet another monastery today in Shigatse, the Ta Shi Lhun Po monastery. It was fairly small, which was a relief. There was one cool part- a huge statue of the Maitreya Buddha. I believe our guide said it was the largest bronze Buddha statue in the world. I can't remember the exact height, but I do remember that his shoulders are 11m across and his pinky is around 1.8m high, or as tall as an average white man. [Note- Dee actually remembered, my memory is terrible. Thanks, Dee!]
I must say we were in quite the giggling mood this morning. Dawa laughed along with us at some points, but he had no idea what we were laughing about. I'm pretty sure he thinks we're a little crazy. Anyway, the monastery. Before 1959 there were over 3,000 monks in residence. Now there's only 800. The number is so high because this monastery cooperates with the Chinese government. Others don't cooperate as much, which is why their populations are smaller.
After the monastery Dawa dropped us off a ta local market, where we were greeted with the sounds of "Hello how much!" It's surprisingly standard. That, and "lookie lookie, cheapy cheapy!" They are quite insistent. I found it so much easier to deal with seeing as how I only had 20 yuan. Out of nowhere, one woman offered me some jewelry for 5 yuan. It was nice to look around, even though most of the stalls were offering the same things.
Dawa came to pick us up after about 45 minutes. We all started walking towards the van as we were done shopping there, and a bunch of the saleswomen swarmed around us, offering us more jewelry. We tried to pile in the van as quickly as possible and the women still stuck their stuff into the van, trying to sell it to us. Poor Keesler got stuck outside with a couple of women. Once the ones at the van realized we refused to buy anything, they went over to the other women who were still trying to sell stuff to Keesler. Somehow, she made it out of there.
We went to lunch after that, finally at a different restaurant than the one we've been eating at. I had yak noodle soup and garlic naan- I'm pretty sure I'm going to get so fat just off of naan, it's so good! I've been trying to eat more Tibetan food and less western stuff. The total off-ness of Western food here definitely helps me try to avoid it. After this past week and a half, I think I like Tibetan food more than Chinese food. I'm getting really used to yak meat.
We did a little more shopping after lunch, this time at actual shops. There's way less pressure to shop there, even though things are usually more expensive. Nobody really bought anything! I think we just enjoyed browsing without feeling any pressure to buy. After shopping we went back to the hotel to nap. That was so refreshing.
After naptime we had Dawa take us somewhere to get warm stuff for Everest. Once we got to the market, we found out that stuff could be rented at the camp and that we didn't actually need to buy anything. We went to the supermarket instead to get food for the next couple of days. Once we were done, we managed to leave our guides and go out on our own for a bit. We went to the internet cafe to take care of things, and then walked back home, stopping to get noodles for dinner. We have now had a thoroughly enjoyable evening eating bowls of noodles and dubbing Chinese television into English. Not a bad evening of entertainment!
That's a lot of Buddhas
1 June 2010 10:00pm Shigatse
After an extremely long car ride with many stops along the way, we finally arrived in Shigatse. We left Lhasa at 9:00am. I'll admit I was a little sad to leave. We drove on the Friendship Highway from Lhasa, which has some incredible views but is ridiculously scary. The road is two lanes (one in each direction), but it has a ton of hairpin turns going up the mountain, and some places on the road have no form of guardrails whatsoever.
Early on in the drive we stopped to see the stone Buddha, which is a Buddha carved into a stone wall. It is quite impressive. We also passed by an absolutely beautiful lake. At one point we stopped high up to get pictures from there. As we eventually descended, we got to stop by the lake itself. We also saw crazy amounts of sheep and yak, so about every 5 minutes someone would yell "Sheep!" or "Yak yak yak yak yak!," our favorite call.
We stopped in one town along the way for lunch, and passed by a lot of people playing billiards outside. I couldn't believe how many pool tables were just sitting outside on the sidewalk.
Leaving there, we stopped by the Kharola Glacier. The altitude at the stop was 5,560m, or 18,242 feet. It was absolutely beautiful. Soon after the glacier we visited Pachu Monastery, where in one of the stupas there are 10,000 images of Buddha. This monastery was built in the 1400s, and all of the paintings inside are the original artwork- no touch ups have been done.
After a little more driving, we finally arrived in Shigatse around 6:30pm. They got us set up in our hotel, which seems like a 5-star resort compared to our last hotel. It's even got a ridiculously fancy shower! We have one more day and night in Shigatse, and then we're off to the Everest base camp!
After an extremely long car ride with many stops along the way, we finally arrived in Shigatse. We left Lhasa at 9:00am. I'll admit I was a little sad to leave. We drove on the Friendship Highway from Lhasa, which has some incredible views but is ridiculously scary. The road is two lanes (one in each direction), but it has a ton of hairpin turns going up the mountain, and some places on the road have no form of guardrails whatsoever.
Early on in the drive we stopped to see the stone Buddha, which is a Buddha carved into a stone wall. It is quite impressive. We also passed by an absolutely beautiful lake. At one point we stopped high up to get pictures from there. As we eventually descended, we got to stop by the lake itself. We also saw crazy amounts of sheep and yak, so about every 5 minutes someone would yell "Sheep!" or "Yak yak yak yak yak!," our favorite call.
We stopped in one town along the way for lunch, and passed by a lot of people playing billiards outside. I couldn't believe how many pool tables were just sitting outside on the sidewalk.
Leaving there, we stopped by the Kharola Glacier. The altitude at the stop was 5,560m, or 18,242 feet. It was absolutely beautiful. Soon after the glacier we visited Pachu Monastery, where in one of the stupas there are 10,000 images of Buddha. This monastery was built in the 1400s, and all of the paintings inside are the original artwork- no touch ups have been done.
After a little more driving, we finally arrived in Shigatse around 6:30pm. They got us set up in our hotel, which seems like a 5-star resort compared to our last hotel. It's even got a ridiculously fancy shower! We have one more day and night in Shigatse, and then we're off to the Everest base camp!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
No way was I posting this in China
31 May 2010 9:59pm Lhasa
Today was quite the adventurous day! After getting ready and such, our van came to pick us up to go to Potala Palace, which is the residence of the Dalai Lama (except for the current one, obviously). The palace is huge- it has over 1,000 rooms and towers over the city. It's quite imposing. The palace has 2 sections, red and white. The white palace is closed to the public, as it has been taken over by the government. Apparently it currently houses the fire department and police.
It was quite a hike up to the red palace, which houses most of the religious relics and where people are allowed to go. I think this is the first time that the altitude has really hit me. I definitely noticed it tonight climbing up the stairs of our hotel (sad that it makes me short of breath, I know). Anyway, the palace. It almost seemed neverending, the number of rooms we went through. We have an excellent guide, who explained so much to us. I learned almost too much about Tibetan Buddhism today.
As tours are only allowed to be an hour long, we eventually came back down where we met Tony and his associate Tenzen, who was to be our guide for the rest of the day. They took us to a very local place for lunch- apparently foreigners just don't eat there. We had what I think may be the second-best meal of the trip: Yak meat soup with noodles. It was so good, but ridiculously spicy! I ended up having to get a less spicy bowl instead.
We had some brief time to ourselves before we went to Jokhang Temple, which is within walking distance of our hotel. Tony's associate Tenzen was our guide for this, as our regular guide was busy securing border crossing permits for us. The temple was also amazing. It is a functioning temple, although not up to its previous capacity. There are only a little over 100 monks left in the monastery, as opposed to the 3,000 (I think- can't remember exactly) that used to occupy it before the Cultural Revolution. The temple is way smaller than the palace, but Tenzen kept talking about everything so it felt equally as long. One cool part though was that we got to see the ritual for re-doing the floor.
We got to go to the roof, which gave us some good views of the market below as well as Potala Palace. Seeing as how we were all temple-d out, we left to enjoy the next couple of free hours shopping. I picked up some cool stuff. The best part is bargaining. Basically, if you pay the asking price for anything at an outdoor market, you're an idiot. My bargaining skills are far from perfect, but I think I managed quite well. It's much easier when you're not completely in love with something or if you can find it elsewhere- then, you're less likely to settle for a higher price.
After a couple of hours we met back up with Tenzen, who took us to a 'traditional' Tibetan dinner with dancing. It basically just felt like culture on display. I think I would have been ok with it if the dancing were more of a show, and not just an accompaniment to dinner. Plus, they had Chinese food alongside Tibetan food, which doesn't seem very traditional to me.
The food was alright- I thought lunch was better. I did try two new things, though- barley beer and yak butter tea. The beer was eww, but then again I hate beer so that should be expected. It wasn't as bad as other beers that I've tried in the States though. The yak butter tea was interesting- it mostly tasted like super salty melted butter, mixed with a little bit of water. Weird, but not wholly intolerable.
The dancing was very interesting. Their first dance was a yak dance, featuring a man and two yaks (obviously people dressed as yaks). They were pretty crazy, and then started coming into the audience, 'attacking' people. The look on Dee's face as the yak came at her is priceless. The other dances were good, but the yak one sticks out as the most memorable. At the end, the dancers formed a giant chain, dancing around the tables and getting people to join them. Dee was the only one out of our group who would go. I'm still a little gun-shy about spontaneous dancing in public. If I'm dancing in public, I best know what's going on beforehand.
We got dropped back off in front of our hotel for our last night in Lhasa. So, of course we went shopping. Well, I browsed- I'm almost out of cash for the time being. It was still enjoyable to check out everything on our street, as we hadn't been able to explore it much before. As it was getting dark and stalls were closing, I headed back to the hotel to pack everything up and get some rest.
I picked up on some of the history of Tibet/China and the tensions between the two. Our first guide didn't seem to want to talk much about it, stating that as long as people didn't argue that Tibet belongs to China, things were ok. Our second guide was a little more candid. He seemed to have a more negative view of China, many times mentioning the bad changes that occurred after the Cultural Revolution. He also mentioned that more and more, Tibetans need to learn Chinese in order to survive. Soldiers don't speak Tibetan, nor do they want to learn. New Lhasa is dominated by Chinese, and many Chinese tourists come to Tibet. Basically, in order to get a job, Tibetans need to learn Chinese. It's pretty scary to see this cultural annihilation in progress. I think if the Chinese have their way, Tibet will be limited to 'cultural tours' and kitschy items.
Observation: Tibetan food stains do not easily wash out of clothes.
Observation: I'm pretty sure we heard the Tibetan Evanescence on the train.
Today was quite the adventurous day! After getting ready and such, our van came to pick us up to go to Potala Palace, which is the residence of the Dalai Lama (except for the current one, obviously). The palace is huge- it has over 1,000 rooms and towers over the city. It's quite imposing. The palace has 2 sections, red and white. The white palace is closed to the public, as it has been taken over by the government. Apparently it currently houses the fire department and police.
It was quite a hike up to the red palace, which houses most of the religious relics and where people are allowed to go. I think this is the first time that the altitude has really hit me. I definitely noticed it tonight climbing up the stairs of our hotel (sad that it makes me short of breath, I know). Anyway, the palace. It almost seemed neverending, the number of rooms we went through. We have an excellent guide, who explained so much to us. I learned almost too much about Tibetan Buddhism today.
As tours are only allowed to be an hour long, we eventually came back down where we met Tony and his associate Tenzen, who was to be our guide for the rest of the day. They took us to a very local place for lunch- apparently foreigners just don't eat there. We had what I think may be the second-best meal of the trip: Yak meat soup with noodles. It was so good, but ridiculously spicy! I ended up having to get a less spicy bowl instead.
We had some brief time to ourselves before we went to Jokhang Temple, which is within walking distance of our hotel. Tony's associate Tenzen was our guide for this, as our regular guide was busy securing border crossing permits for us. The temple was also amazing. It is a functioning temple, although not up to its previous capacity. There are only a little over 100 monks left in the monastery, as opposed to the 3,000 (I think- can't remember exactly) that used to occupy it before the Cultural Revolution. The temple is way smaller than the palace, but Tenzen kept talking about everything so it felt equally as long. One cool part though was that we got to see the ritual for re-doing the floor.
We got to go to the roof, which gave us some good views of the market below as well as Potala Palace. Seeing as how we were all temple-d out, we left to enjoy the next couple of free hours shopping. I picked up some cool stuff. The best part is bargaining. Basically, if you pay the asking price for anything at an outdoor market, you're an idiot. My bargaining skills are far from perfect, but I think I managed quite well. It's much easier when you're not completely in love with something or if you can find it elsewhere- then, you're less likely to settle for a higher price.
After a couple of hours we met back up with Tenzen, who took us to a 'traditional' Tibetan dinner with dancing. It basically just felt like culture on display. I think I would have been ok with it if the dancing were more of a show, and not just an accompaniment to dinner. Plus, they had Chinese food alongside Tibetan food, which doesn't seem very traditional to me.
The food was alright- I thought lunch was better. I did try two new things, though- barley beer and yak butter tea. The beer was eww, but then again I hate beer so that should be expected. It wasn't as bad as other beers that I've tried in the States though. The yak butter tea was interesting- it mostly tasted like super salty melted butter, mixed with a little bit of water. Weird, but not wholly intolerable.
The dancing was very interesting. Their first dance was a yak dance, featuring a man and two yaks (obviously people dressed as yaks). They were pretty crazy, and then started coming into the audience, 'attacking' people. The look on Dee's face as the yak came at her is priceless. The other dances were good, but the yak one sticks out as the most memorable. At the end, the dancers formed a giant chain, dancing around the tables and getting people to join them. Dee was the only one out of our group who would go. I'm still a little gun-shy about spontaneous dancing in public. If I'm dancing in public, I best know what's going on beforehand.
We got dropped back off in front of our hotel for our last night in Lhasa. So, of course we went shopping. Well, I browsed- I'm almost out of cash for the time being. It was still enjoyable to check out everything on our street, as we hadn't been able to explore it much before. As it was getting dark and stalls were closing, I headed back to the hotel to pack everything up and get some rest.
I picked up on some of the history of Tibet/China and the tensions between the two. Our first guide didn't seem to want to talk much about it, stating that as long as people didn't argue that Tibet belongs to China, things were ok. Our second guide was a little more candid. He seemed to have a more negative view of China, many times mentioning the bad changes that occurred after the Cultural Revolution. He also mentioned that more and more, Tibetans need to learn Chinese in order to survive. Soldiers don't speak Tibetan, nor do they want to learn. New Lhasa is dominated by Chinese, and many Chinese tourists come to Tibet. Basically, in order to get a job, Tibetans need to learn Chinese. It's pretty scary to see this cultural annihilation in progress. I think if the Chinese have their way, Tibet will be limited to 'cultural tours' and kitschy items.
Observation: Tibetan food stains do not easily wash out of clothes.
Observation: I'm pretty sure we heard the Tibetan Evanescence on the train.
Spaghetti tacos!
31 May 2010 7:57am Lhasa!
We finally made it to Lhasa. The train ride was definitely a unique experience, but I think my maximum limit is 48 hours on a train. I was starting to go a little crazy. Yesterday, our train pulled in at 6:30pm and we were promptly notified by an angry train attendant yelling at everyone, I’m assuming, to get off the train. In all the confusion I left my scarf on my bed. I’m so pissed. Hopefully I can find a similar one to replace it, but I doubt it. If all else fails, I might as well try eBay.
Once we left the station we met our tour guide, who immediately recognized us and started waving – possibly because we were the only white people leaving the train station. We had a lovely drive from the train station to Lhasa proper and saw a lot of soldiers everywhere. Our guide warned us not to take any pictures of them or of any military locations – generally a good idea no matter where you’re traveling, but it definitely seems like a good idea here. They look beyond angry, like they would shoot you in a heartbeat.
We finally arrived at our hotel, which is set back in a little plaza. Unfortunately the plaza is off a street full of stalls selling all sorts of goods. We’re going to go broke just staying on our street! There’s a tiny internet café in the plaza that apparently is still running dial-up. Needless to say, internet access is going to be basically zero this week. At the hotel we finally met Tony, who is pretty nice. However, doing math and handling money don’t seem to be quite his thing, as we spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out how much we owed him. I wasn’t doing too well at this point as I was hungry, tired, and upset over my scarf. Finally we got to go up to our rooms. The good thing about the hotel is that the rooms are huge. The rest of it (and it seems to be just my opinion) is pretty dingy-looking. Clean, but just old and dingy.
After some people took quick showers, we went to a restaurant across the street for dinner. It had a whole bunch of different food- Chinese, Indian, Nepali, Western, as well as Tibetan. I ordered a chocolate milkshake to drink, which ended up basically being Yoo-Hoo. Katie, Keesler, and Ceci ordered Indian food, I ordered Mexican (tacos- which were oddly listed under ‘Spaghetti’). Lesson learned- don’t order one country’s food in another country. It just isn’t right.
After such a long day, some of the girls went to use internet but I went straight upstairs to go to sleep. Best sleep ever! Now this morning we’re getting ready to go to breakfast, and then start the first day of our tour at 10:30am.
We finally made it to Lhasa. The train ride was definitely a unique experience, but I think my maximum limit is 48 hours on a train. I was starting to go a little crazy. Yesterday, our train pulled in at 6:30pm and we were promptly notified by an angry train attendant yelling at everyone, I’m assuming, to get off the train. In all the confusion I left my scarf on my bed. I’m so pissed. Hopefully I can find a similar one to replace it, but I doubt it. If all else fails, I might as well try eBay.
Once we left the station we met our tour guide, who immediately recognized us and started waving – possibly because we were the only white people leaving the train station. We had a lovely drive from the train station to Lhasa proper and saw a lot of soldiers everywhere. Our guide warned us not to take any pictures of them or of any military locations – generally a good idea no matter where you’re traveling, but it definitely seems like a good idea here. They look beyond angry, like they would shoot you in a heartbeat.
We finally arrived at our hotel, which is set back in a little plaza. Unfortunately the plaza is off a street full of stalls selling all sorts of goods. We’re going to go broke just staying on our street! There’s a tiny internet café in the plaza that apparently is still running dial-up. Needless to say, internet access is going to be basically zero this week. At the hotel we finally met Tony, who is pretty nice. However, doing math and handling money don’t seem to be quite his thing, as we spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out how much we owed him. I wasn’t doing too well at this point as I was hungry, tired, and upset over my scarf. Finally we got to go up to our rooms. The good thing about the hotel is that the rooms are huge. The rest of it (and it seems to be just my opinion) is pretty dingy-looking. Clean, but just old and dingy.
After some people took quick showers, we went to a restaurant across the street for dinner. It had a whole bunch of different food- Chinese, Indian, Nepali, Western, as well as Tibetan. I ordered a chocolate milkshake to drink, which ended up basically being Yoo-Hoo. Katie, Keesler, and Ceci ordered Indian food, I ordered Mexican (tacos- which were oddly listed under ‘Spaghetti’). Lesson learned- don’t order one country’s food in another country. It just isn’t right.
After such a long day, some of the girls went to use internet but I went straight upstairs to go to sleep. Best sleep ever! Now this morning we’re getting ready to go to breakfast, and then start the first day of our tour at 10:30am.
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