The Roof of the World - Tibet

LHASA:


We arrived in Lhasa on Thursday, Oct 12, after a wonderful journey on the new train. Lhasa lies at an altitude of 3650m, which means most people get altitude sickness when they arrive. We were lucky, because parts of the southern silk road are quite high too, so we managed to feel just about ok. We did nothing much for the first two days of being there anyway, just in case :)

Lhasa is a beautiful city, with an impressive heritage of thousands of years of mysterious and spiritual history. In the Tibetan language, Lhasa means "The Land of the Gods", and is the center of Tibet's politics, economy and culture. We stayed in Lhasa about 10 days, doing a few day trips here and there, but mostly just enjoying the Tibetan culture and the vibrancy of the city.

I managed to get really sick a few days after we arrived - not altitude sickness, but stomach cramps. It was awful, I could barely move from the pain. Martin had to take me to the local hospital, which was a treat in itself! The whole place looked deserted when we arrived, and it was only after about 20 minutes walking that we discovered other forms of life!! The halls of the part of the hospital that was being used were full of screaming patients, some hopping around with broken legs/ankles just waiting to be attended to. I don't remember that much of the hospital visit as I was in so much pain, but basically they did blood tests and checked my oxygen levels, blood pressure etc... and then after all that they weren't sure what was wrong. Eventually after about 4 different doctors checked my results, they came back and said that I have some form of gastroenteritis (like Martin and I had before in Taiwan) only this time I wasn't vomiting or having diarrhea. They put me on a course of antibiotics and painkillers and that was that (after giving me a painkiller injection in my ass!!).

In Lhasa there are many temples and monasteries to see, and we by no means saw them all. We spent some time enjoying the views of the Potala Palace, chief residence of the Dalai Lamas in the past. It's really impressive, but we didn't pay to go in as we were told it is rather over-run by Chinese police.

The Potala Palace.


The temple we enjoyed the most was the Jokhang Temple, spiritual heart of Lhasa and Tibet. It's located in the middle of Lhasa, at the Barkhor Square. The temple was constructed by King Songtsen Gampo starting in the year 639, and has remained a center of Buddhist pilgrimage for centuries.

We were determined to follow the pilgrims when we went there, so queued with them for over an hour to get into the main temple (other tourists push past and wave their entrance tickets to get in first!!). It was so interesting to see all the pilgrims walking the 'kora' (circumambulatory walk around the temple) and watch them in their daily devotions.

Pilgrims prostating themselves before the Jokhang


Barkhor Square facing the Jokhang Temple


On other days in Lhasa, we spent lots of time wandering the streets and bargaining for things at the Barkhor Market. I bought some lovely Tibetan jewelry and otherwise gazed wistfully at all the other divine things I wanted!! Being budget travellers we have to watch the pockets :)

Market stalls



NAMTSO LAKE:


Namtso Lake is the highest salt-water lake in the world, at 4718m. It's known as one of the most beautiful lakes in Tibet, and has been a popular pilgrimage destination for centuries.

We had to wait for 3 days before we were given the OK to go because at this time of year there's a lot of snow around and often the mountain passes are covered and cars can't cross. There's also the danger that we could get trapped at the lake for days, so a lot of tour operators won't do the trip. Luckly we were eventually told that we could go and our group of 11 people all squashed into the minivan excitedly! It's about 260km to the lake from Lhasa, and it gets colder all the way out. We all got out at the snowy pass (5190m) and were immediately struck by the cold. The wind was really strong too, so we only managed about 10 minutes up there, which was lucky as I was dizzy from the altitude as soon as I stepped out of the bus!

Our gang at the mountain pass before the lake - 5190m.


The lake was stunning, rimmed by snowy mountains and hills, and we spent a lovely 2 hours there enjoying the views. Martin even managed a toe-dipping session, but I was too chicken.

Beautiful Namtso ("Holy Lake" in Tibetan)



GANDEN MONASTERY:


Ganden is one of the 'great three' Gelukpa university monasteries of Tibet, and lies on Wangbur mountain, about 50km from Lhasa. The monastery was almost completely destroyed during the Chinese 'liberation' of Tibet, but since the 1980s, a small part has been re-built and is in use today.

To get there via public transport, we had to queue up for the bus with the pilgrims at 6:30am. After about an hours drive, we arrived at the bottom of the mountain and were told that we had to walk the rest of the way up because there was construction work on the road. Yikes, at an elevation of about 4500m, its pretty hard to hike up mountains!! I had quite a bit of trouble getting up to the monastery, even falling over from dizziness at one point, but it was all worth it in the end. The monastery, although very dilapidated, is beautiful and the views are gorgeous.

Ganden Monastery


Yak-butter candles


Martin and I enjoyed walking around the monastery and the hills around it, even though I have now decided to never follow Martin down a mountain path... it doesn't lead to good things!!!