6/6/07
After another (delicious) Chinese breakfast of dumplings and rice porridge, we piled into our trusty Land Cruiser and headed to Gyantse (elevation 3950m). Gyantse was a short hour drive from Shygatse on mostly paved roads. It made for a good start in the day.
When we arrived in Gyantse, the hotel we were supposed to stay at was full for the night. We were somewhat relieved because the hotel had a pile of old bed frames and mattresses out in their courtyard and they didn't look too dream inspiring. We then set off on our mini-tour of Gyantse trying to find a hotel that fit our budget and cleanliness standards (these two things appeared to be diametrically opposed). There was talk of trying to drive back to Shygatse for the night or moving on to Lhasa, but we finally settled on the Jianzang Hotel. Fortunately for Bummy, the hotel we found offered a TV with an English speaking channel. He is actually back at the hotel watching English language Chinese television now.
After lunch at the Yak Restaurant (where Bummy successfully ordered a cheese pizza), we wanted to explore the Rabse Nunnery. It was clear that our driver and guide were not familiar with this place and they did not want to take us there. We heard a variety of explanations: it is not on your itinerary, we will get fined if we go without permission, the roads are very bad. Fortunately, one of the women in the Yak Restaurant spoke English and let us know that we could easily get there by taxi. So, we left our guide and driver behind and hopped in a taxi.
The nunnery turned out to be not far from the center of town. The taxi driver dropped us off under a mass of prayer flags and it was a short walk up hill to the heart of the nunnery. It was clear that this place was not considered one of the main tourist attractions in Tibet. We were not greeted by a ticket collector or signs telling us how much it will cost to take a picture, but instead we were met by a group of curious nuns. Our first encounter happened when we entered a small chapel filled with a very large prayer wheel. Rainbow and I were busy circulating around the prayer wheel and Vivek was attempting to capture it on video, when a very sweet nun jumped in and walked around the prayer wheel with us. She and her friend were very interested to see how our video camera worked. The nun enjoyed watching the playback of herself on the video camera.
When we entered the main prayer hall we were again greeted by curious nuns. One of them asked me to take a seat next to her as she and another nun worked on drying some bowls. Before long we were surrounded by nuns curious about our camera and video recorder. I let one of the nuns take a few pictures with my camera. They were especially happy about the instant results they could enjoy. At one point I took a picture with a group of nuns and one of them grabbed some of my hair and put it on top of one of her friend's head (all of the nuns have shaved heads.) It reminded me of a picture or two I have taken with my dad! They were quite funny and friendly. It was clear from our visit that the nuns don't see too many Westerners. It felt wonderful to be able to connect with them so easily.
Since the nunnery was so close to town, we decided to walk back to our hotel. We had some Jasmine tea on the rooftop our hotel until it was time to meet Lhasing. He would take us to the Pelkor Chode Monastery. This monastery was similar to many others that we visited, but
but the main attraction was the Gyantse Kumbum, a 35 meter high chorten or stupa. As we entered the stupa, the sky began to turn dark and it was clear that we had about 15 minutes to make it to the top before it began to rain. Each level of the stupa includes several chapels with Buddhas and murals, but we walked by most of these quickly to make it to the top. From the top of the chorten we could see the entire town of Gyantse, most of which is circled by an old fortress wall. We could also watch the thunderstorm approaching in the distance. You could see the water falling in dark streams from the sky. We made it back to our car just in time to keep from getting wet.
Bummy and I grabbed our cards, ordered more tea, and enjoyed the rainstorm from the top of the hotel roof. We were hoping the rain would last through the night, but the storm moved through quickly and we had sunny skies by dinner time.
Dinner in Gyantse was a serious disappointment. Our guidebook stated that the Restaurant of Zhuang Yuan had sweet and sour chicken that was "legendary." We made the assumption that legendary implied famous for good reason, but we were sorely mistaken. We should have known better because none of us have seen a chicken since entering the country. This was the worst and most expensive meal that we have had during our trip. We had to go back to our hotel and order some additional food. I think we are all ready to send our resumes to Lonely Planet for the next Tibet update.
I just had a slightly strange encounter with a man sitting next to me in the Internet cafe. He asked to see my Tibet book, so I happily lent it to him. He was quick to point out that the Dalai Lama wrote the preface to the book. He then waved his finger across his neck (as if he was performing a decapitation) and then pointed at me. He did this a couple of times. It was a little strange. He asked to see my book again and I told him, "no." He tried to tell me that he was a teacher, but I don't know too many teachers that gesture in this way. Even the Internet cafe manager came over and gave him a look to leave me alone. So on that note, I had better sign off. We head back to Lhasa tomorrow. I am sad that we are coming to the close of our adventure.
Showing posts with label Pelkor Chode Monastery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pelkor Chode Monastery. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Friday, June 1, 2007
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.
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.
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