Tibet Found!

5/31 and 6/1

Yesterday, we headed out of Lhasa. Our first stop was Yangpachen hot springs. The hot springs are next to a Geothermal plant and could not have felt more industrial for the Tibetan plateau. According to our guide, the hot springs are supposed to have therapeutic properties, so we couldn't resist taking a dip. We opted for the outside pool, because the inside area was filled with Chinese tourists in newly purchased swimsuits who were busy enjoying the water and smoking cigarettes. The pool was not very clean, but the sulfuric water felt good. Lhasing even joined us for a dip. He was a good swimmer and enjoyed being in the water with us.

After our relaxing time in the hot springs, it was time for lunch. We could choose from the touristy Chinese restaurant or the local Tibetan place. We chose the Tibetan restaurant. After peeling back a heavy blanket, we entered a small dark room where we found some seats amongst the locals. We each received three heaping bowls of momos (small dumplings) in broth. The momos were stuffed with little bits of Yak meat, but who wants to think about that when one is hungry?

After lunch we headed to our primary destination for the day, Namtso Lake (elevation 4718m). Again, the road was paved, which made travelling much easier than expected. Our daily scenery has been mountains, rushing rivers, herds of yaks, sheep, and goats, pilgrims and local Tibetans on foot or motorcycle. We went through no less than 4 checkpoints along the road. I don't believe that a fee was paid, but we were definitely accounted for. In order to reach Namtso lake, we had to ascend to 5,100m. It made the trip not so comfortable at moments. Bummy had heard a rumor that altitude sickness tends to affect people with larger brains, so I think he wanted to prove he had a big brain this day. I think this portion of the trip was especially difficult for him.

We finally spotted the lake, a beautiful aqua shade of blue. Namtso translates to "sky lake." It is one of the highest salt water lakes in the world. Near the shore of the lake is a large tent encampment. Tibetans have set up "shopping malls," pool tables and small restaurants. Many pilgrims walk around the lake and begin their journey at this point. We opted to ride small horses down to the waters' edge for the cost of 20yuan round trip. We took some time to walk along the lake shore and enjoy the beautiful day.

After leaving Namtso, we headed for Damxung, where we would spend the night. On our way down the mountain pass, we had to stop and let the brakes of our Ford Explorer cool. Our guide and driver seemed concerned because we could not find the checkpoint man that was supposed to verify the time we left a certain point on our way back down. If you reach the bottom of the hill in less than the allotted time (30 minutes) you can be fined. It didn't seem to be an issue for us since the checkpoint guard had obviously gone missing for the day.

We spent the night at the Damxung Hotel. I was not feeling well by the time we reached the hotel, so I did not join Bummy and Rainbow for dinner. They reported having a very tasty Chinese dinner. Bummy had a bad headache so he went to the doctor to get more aspirin. Unfortunately, a local person was having a medical emergency so he would have to go back the next morning.

Sound of the night: Birds chirping

This morning after a breakfast of Tibetan bread with peanut butter (the American addition to the meal) we headed out of Damxung. After about 15 minutes on the newly paved road we headed on to a bumpy dirt road which would be our primary source of travel for the remainder of the day. The road wound along a wide river, which had appeared to have fairly low water levels. We stopped to watch some Tibetans cross the river on a wobbly suspension bridge. Lhasing and I were the only two adventurous enough to venture out on the bridge. The Tibetan women passing by would grab on to me tightly as they passed. It was a fun moment with the locals.

Back in the car, we drove and drove along the bumpy road. Sometimes the road's shoulder was less than a foot wide and the river below a long drop down. Thankfully, our driver seemed to be in better health today, so we put our faith in him completely (Did I mention he was vomiting blood yesterday?). After several hours we arrived at Reting Monastery (elevation 4100m). We seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. I finally felt like we were getting a glimpse of Tibet 100 years ago. According to our guidebook, the monastery was mostly destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, but it is the place that the Dali Lama would like to live if he ever returned to Tibet.

Inside Reting Monastery's prayer hall was very dark. The only light came from a few small windows on one side of the building and some 500 vegetable oil candles. There were colorful banners hanging from the ceiling and approximately 40 monks praying. The monks ranged in age and it seemed like many of the younger monks were distracted from their prayers by the visitors. Bummy was able to enter a special chapel that was for men only. After walking through the main prayer area, we visited the Sky Burial area. When Tibetans die, the bodies are chopped into small pieced and left for the vultures. We did not see any bodies, but the area for the Sky Burial is lined with large stones.

From Reting, we were scheduled to visit Ganden Monastery. It was obvious that our driver and guide were not familiar with the area. We stopped often to ask local people how we should go. It became clear that Tibetan use a lot of finger waving and arm gesturing when telling people the way to go. About 30 minutes after descending from Reting, we stopped for lunch. This was another very local Tibetan restaurant. There are not too many people I know who could eat lunch in a place like this....it was dark, people were smoking, I don't even want to think about the cleanliness. We all ordered a bowl of Tibetan noodles (basically the only choice was if we wanted a small or large bowl). The ladies went for small and Bummy ordered the large. The noodles were delicious. They were thicker than spaghetti noodles but light and tasty. The soup included "pork," but I can't confirm the meat type. We finished the meal off with some orange Fanta.

We spent another three hours driving along mostly bumpy, but very scenic roads, stopping frequently to make sure we were going in the right direction. We eventually reached a newly paved road and not long after found ourselves at the base of a mountain, about to turn and drive up. Looking up you could see green stripes criss-crossed the mountainside. These were the guard rails for the road. It was a somewhat scary ride to the top, but Ganden Monastery (elevation 4,500m), perched at the top, was breathtaking. It is my favorite place thus far. The monetary is home to 400 monks, who all happened to be in a meeting today. We were able to visit the main prayer hall, but most of the buildings were closed. Even though we could not go inside, it was amazing to walk around the buildings. The buildings are white, red and yellow and look ornate against the barren mountain landscape.

It took us about an hour to drive back to Lhasa. We were thankful for the newly paved roads, but know that they are only indication of a changing Tibet. Tonight we are staying at the Minsahn Jinsheng Hotel in the Chinese section of Lhasa. It was selected by our travel agent. I am just grateful that our hotel room does not smell like toilet. We headed back to the Tibetan section of town and had a very good meal at the Tibet Cafe. Tomorrow we head to Shigatse on our way to Mt. Everest!

Sound of the night: Lhasa traffic and Tibetan/Chinese disco music.