From Tibet to Kunming

Hello!

This is getting to be a bit of a habit us bumping into each other like this. So how have you been?

Me?? Well, as you know I'm faffing around in China and generally poking my nose into other people's business. I was in Tibet last week you know? Yes, it was quite nice but pretty different to China.

In fact, whilst it's part of China officially it's really quite different culturally, even after over 50 years of Chinese rule. Seeing the Chinese flag flying seems to be awfully out of place because the people look different, they still use their own language (despite Chinese efforts to wipe it out) alongside mandarin and their culture seems to be a million miles removed from the Chinese. Having said that, it's not all good. The hygiene there is even worth than in China and they seem to be completely averse to washing. Some of the people in Tibet, especially outside Lhasa haven't washed for ages (I think I read somewhere that they take a bath once a year) and so they have a particular fragrance that isn't overly nice. It's not totally surprising though because in my week there I didn't manage to have one hot shower. I had plenty of cold showers but considering that they don't seem to have heating either then it was a fairly uncomfortable week.

Anyway, when I was in Chengdu my airport taxi guy picked up two other people from other hostels on their way to Tibet - once was a English woman who'd started travelling after her partner had died and had been on the road for 8 months and the other was an American/South Korean guy who lived in Tokyo. We got chatting and when we arrived in Tibet we decided to hire a 4x4 and driver to take us to Everest Base Camp in Tibet (there are two base camps - one for the north face in Tibet and one for the south face in Nepal - I was meant to be trekking to the Nepalese one but of course it was cancelled). So we paid our money, met our driver who spoke no English and checked out our Land Cruiser which had no seatbelts and had 4 tyres that may have once had tread but certainly didn't now. Our driver was happy enough to drive us there and most of the other Land Cruisers looked pretty similar so I decided that we wouldn't get a much better option.

I spent the rest of the day at the Potala Palace which I found pretty dull but I'm not a Buddhist and so didn't have a clue what it was all about, and walking around generally experiencing Lhasa. It's quite a place. They have no issues whatsoever about begging for anything so they're always pestering you and there were loads of pilgrims prostrating themselves in front of the Potala Palace and while walking round the Jodphur Temple. It's a very holy site for Buddhists and they believe that if you walk clockwise round it a number of times then you'll be healed of some of your ills or you'll increasing your chance of reaching nirvana or something- I didn't really understand it. But they were well into it with their prayer wheels and chanting and sliding along the ground and stuff. I'm not making fun of it but it did seem a little odd. However, the whole reason for me to go travelling is to see how other people live and experience their culture (and not just to get 6 months off work - although that's nice too).

I had a headache from the altitude (Lhasa is around 3700m) but by the time the driver picked us up at 7:30am the next day it'd gone. We set off for a place called Shigatse where we would stop for lunch. The drive was very pleasant along a nice smooth road with some fantastic hills and glacial rivers although it was a bit cloudy and we were a bit worried that it would be like this all the way to base camp (or EBC as I'm now going to call it). EBC looked like the same distance again from Shigatse and I couldn't quite understand why it would take 4 days to get there and back on such a smooth road when we were making so much time but I was soon to find out.

We had lunch and jumped back in the car to go to a place called Latse where we scheduled to spend the night. The road was a little bit worse but nothing major and we got there around 5pm. Eager to make as much time as possible, our driver asked if we wanted to spend the night in Tingri which would make the journey quicker the next day. Apparently it would take 2 hours so after checking the maps and things we decided that we would since there didn't look like there was much in Latse.

At this point the road appeared to cease to exist and we spent two hours driving through what can only be described as a muddy building site and quarry where they seemed to be doing constant work on the 'road' which was just a track that had been flattened through the mud. At one point there was a traffic jam behind a lorry which had left the road and got stuck in a muddy ditch, blocking the road. Somehow we managed to squeeze past and be on our way but a little further down there was another lorry which had completely left the road and rolled over onto it's roof. There was nobody around so it must have happened a while ago and the cab looked intact so I guess everyone was OK. Still, I fastened my imaginary seatbelt and felt much safer.

The road was like this all the way to the Qomolangma National Park (Qomolangma is the Tibetan name for Mount Everest) where we reached 5200m and continued like this until we descended to around 4200m and to Latse.

When we got to our appointed hotel (which didn't happen to be in Tingri but in a place called Shegar - long story but we were basically misled by our crafty driver) we were taken to this room which could really only be described as filthy. I had no doubt that we would be sharing the room with various other rabid and diseased occupants and while I would have stayed there if we had no other choice, we left to find another hotel. We found one that was happy to rip us off since they were basically the only other deal in town. But it was OK, if rather cold (in fact it was freezing cold) and I slept in my clothes that night. Of course, there was no heating or hot water - oh how glad I was to experience the authentic Tibeten way of living.

The next day we paid an extortionate sum for our breakfast and then set off to EBC. The weather was fantastic and the sky as clear as could be. The road itself was spectacular. We basically drove up a never ending series of hairpin bends until we reached the top of this hill, again around 5200m and as we drove round the corner at the summit we saw Everest majestically towering over all the other mountains in the vicinity. It was dramatic and it was breathtaking - what a fantastic view and what an exceptional mountain. It had the familiar stream of snow blowing from the summit (apparently because the summit just manages to peak into the jetstream) and was surrounded by other snowcapped peaks (including the 4th and 7th largest mountains in the world). Of course, I went camera crazy and shot loads of pictures and a little video too. The fact that you just drive round a corner after being surrounded by brown dusty hills and are then faced with this incredible view makes it all the more spectacular. We jumped back in the car exhilarated and keen to get to EBC.

Unfortunately our driver somehow managed to get into some kind of race with one of the other Land Cruisers and took off down the mountain in pursuit of the guy. He managed to overtake him on one of the bends but then the other guy came off the road and tanked straight down the hill, missing out the road for a bit. Our driver found this to be an excellent idea and followed suit as his passengers all explored the upper-range of their voices with various involuntary squeaks and screams - much to his amusement.

In all honesty, it was great fun and I didn't feel that scared - he was actually a very good driver and tyre tread wouldn't have been much use on this terrain anyway since it was just a dusty track. All the same, I was quite glad when we stopped for the loo and the other guy got away.

The bad side of the trip was that it was a bit of a tourist trap and they used as many ways to get as much money out of you as possible. From the inflated hotel prices to having to buy a permit to leave Lhasa, a permit enter the park, a permit for a vehicle to enter the park and then having to take a bus instead of your car to the Rongbhuk Monastery (the highest monastery in the world, just 6km from EBC and where there was a guest house where we would be spending the night) - it was all designed to get as much money out of tourists as possible.

Anyway, we piled on the tourist bus for the 45 minute drive to the monastery but by this time the cloud had come in and view wasn't so great and it was getting pretty cold. When we arrived we got a room at the guest house (which, if I may be so bold, was a dump and exceptionally cold) and dumped our stuff. The guesthouse was clean but draughty and the lights came on and went off whenever the owner decided - much like in a prison. Of course there were no showers and there was no heating either. By the way, Michael Palin in his book 'Himalaya' said that the toilets at the guest house were the worst he's ever used and while I don't have the experience he does, I'd have to agree with him. Let me just say that you had to be careful where you stepped and I'll leave it at that.

Getting to base camp was yet another way of getting money from us since you could walk it (not a great idea when you've just arrived at 4900m but not impossible - I was actually quite keen but my partners weren't) or you could get a donkey cart (the so-called 'Eco Bus') for a fiver. We chose the latter and my goodness if it wasn't the most painful thing I've done in China. The cart jarred and bumped its way up the road sending the contours of the road up my spine - I tried not to scream but I couldn't be sure as my body was starting to shut down with the pain. I took it like a man though and didn't cry. I was very glad when we arrived at base camp though.

Now, everybody told me that base camp was a dump and they were spot on. Base camp is a dump. I didn't exactly expect hotels with swimming pools and restaurants and stuff - in fact I expected it to be barren with just a few tents, but it was full of souvenir sellers and stupid little tea houses in big tents and stuff. A little further on were the small tents of the various expeditions that were either planning to tackle the mountain or were on it at the moment. It wasn't a let down, since we got a fantastic view of a (cloudy) Everest but I was distracted every now and again as I had to slap a few touts trying to sell me junk.

It was great to be there though, even if I did cheat by driving there but after a while we were ready to go down so we got back into our donkey pain device and made our way back (although we jumped out before the end and walked the last 2km because it was just too painful!).

At bedtime I put on all the clothes I had, strategically wrapped myself in all the blankets I could find and prepared for a very very cold night. In the end it wasn't too bad at all except that I needed the toilet during the night but couldn't unravel myself enough to get up and couldn't summon the motivation to get out into the cold so I just waited until morning.

The next morning I woke up with a cracking headache - presumably from the altitude and general tiredness but once I was up and had drunk loads of water it started to disappear - just as well because I felt pretty dreadful. I was up early though to see the sun rising on Everest and what a sight it was. The monastery had a fantastic view of the mountain so I took a walk and took loads of photos - aren't digital cameras great???

It was time to leave though, so we waited for the bus and when it arrived we were herded on cattle along with the other tourists back to our waiting Land Cruiser and driver (and let me just say what an impressive vehicle the Land Cruiser is - it took so much punishment and didn't miss a beat at all).

Once back in the car our driver took off again and we made out way back to Shigatse where we were due to spend the night. At one point we encountered a Land Cruiser that had crashed into a lorry (at low speed) and was blocking the road. On one side was a cliff going up and on the other was a cliff going a long long way down to the river below. At the side of the road were some concrete blocks stuck into the ground to stop traffic plummeting to their doom. If it was a normal country then they'd just move the vehicles, perhaps taking a few photos but of course in China/Tibet it's never simple and they had to wait for the police to arrive (which would take hours since we were seriously in the middle of nowhere).

However, our clever drivers (and by this time there was a tailback of Land Cruisers) decided that if they demolished the concrete blocks then they could squeeze by so they set to work with tyre irons breaking the blocks to pieces. Our driver would be the first to try and get by so I surrepitiously liberated my passport and essentials from the car so that if he plunged to his death I would still have my passport and might even get a few exciting pictures too!

Unbelievably though, once they'd demolished the concrete blocks (an impressive achievement) the lorry driver jumped in and reversed his lorry out of the way and they pushed the Land Cruiser out of the way too. Don't ask me where the logic was because I don't have a clue. We were very very perplexed. I think they just wanted to break some stuff up and that was a good excuse for them to do it. Who knows?

The rest of our journey to Shigatse was uneventful and I had a lovely cold shower in a lovely cold room in an extremely cold town. But I felt clean and even managed to have a cold shave so I looked a bit more human.

The next day was on the nice smooth road back to Lhasa where I got a room in a youth hostel with no hot water and no heating. I'd started to get used to it by this point so it was no great hardship. I was ready to come back to China though so the day after I booked my flight to Kunming and did my souvenir shopping - buying all sorts of weird stuff.

So my impressions of Tibet? Well, Lhasa isn't really very Tibetan - there's a massive Chinese influence there but the Barkhor area, around the Jodphur temple is still quite Tibetan, even if it is a tourist trap. The rest of it is a bit of a ghastly Chinese import so best avoided. As for the rest of Tibet that I saw, it's very beautiful and less touched by the interfering Chinese (take a look here for more info on Tibet and the Chinese http://www.atc.org.au/ - naturally the site is banned in China). The scenery is incredible although there isn't much greenery. Hygiene isn't at the top of their list of priorities so you see absolutely filthy people but the country is so dusty and hot water so scarce that it's not great surprise that they've given up on washing. Also, the country is just so tough to live in with extreme weather and difficult farming that they're a very very tough and hardy people.

Anyway, I'm in Kunming now which seems really very nice - probably the nicest city I've been to in China. It's very green, not too big and not to crowded and with lots of comforts for me! I'm here for a few more days and then off to Xi'an.

Hope you're all well and keep the emails coming - it's great to hear what you're all up to.

All the best,
Gregor