December 3, 2011
Tourism in Tibet is always a bit unstable. Three months ago, no foreign tourists were allowed in the region, and now you may only enter if you come with an organized tour. I decided now was the time to see Tibet, since who knows what the future will hold. At first, it was hard for me to readjust to being around people, having spent so much of the last three months alone. I was so used to only paying attention to people talking when they are speaking English (because that’s how I know someone is talking to me) and the rest of the time just observing. Mealtime the first couple of days was really overwhelming for me. I think I heard more English in the first day of this trip than I have the whole rest of my travels. Luckily, I had a fabulous roommate, a nice and friendly Dutch girl named Marieke and I slowly reentered the verbal world.
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| Me and Marieke on the way to Lhasa |
Overall, my adventure in Tibet was fabulous. I really enjoyed seeing the countryside (flying straight into Lhasa just wouldn’t be the same), all the monasteries, and the Tibetan people. I felt in Tibet how most Texans must feel in Colorado—cold and short of breath. Tibet is much more what I expected of the Himalayas than the parts of Nepal I visited. Almost the entire region is over 12,000 feet, much of it barren in the winter. I spent most of the drive thinking, “Oh my gosh, how does anyone sustain life out here?” The short answer is they don’t. Most Tibetans are farmers or nomadic, and during the wintertime they migrate to Lhasa.
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| Typical Tibetan landscape |
Day One: Kathmandu to Neyalam
I’ve always thought that US Customs was pretty intense—turns out it doesn’t hold a candle to the customs process trying to enter China through Tibet. Before we arrived at the border, our guide told us that if we have anything about Free Tibet (even as simple as a Tibetan flag) or the Dalai Lama (even a guide book with a picture of him in it), there was a good chance we would be turned away (especially if were American, apparently we’re trouble makers). In addition, customs officers will confiscate anything else they deem “threatening.” I had a book of speeches by the Dalai Lama that I had to leave in Nepal and then a CD of Buddhist chants I had purchased was confiscated because the title had the word “Tibetan” in it. All Lonely Planet guides in my group, China or Nepal, were confiscated because the maps inside are label the boarder “Tibet” instead of “China” and there is some mention of the political instability in the region. Wowzer. My whole group of 17 made it through without much problem and I was very pleased to have a guide to herd us through the process.
Since customs takes so long, we didn’t see much of Tibet the first day. The terrain is identical on either side of the boarder but you can immediately tell you are no longer in a developing country. Paved roads are the most amazing things in the world. Or maybe second to hot showers.
From the boarder, we drove up to the valley rim, then to our guesthouse in Neyalam at 10,800 feet.
Day Two: Neyalam to Lhatse
This was a big driving day—we drove over two huge passes, many small clusters of houses (villages?) and had Everest views most of the day. All Tibetan houses have the exact same design. They are concrete, painted white, blue and red (always in the same pattern). The white symbolizes compassion, the red, wisdom, and the blue, peace and protection. On a corner of the roof, each house has a pole of prayer flags and each Tibetan New Year they put a new set up.
The two passes we drove over were 15,150 and 15,744 feet, which really put the whole 14er thing in a new perspective. I was in prayer flag heaven in Tibet: the tops of the passes are just covered in them. It’s gorgeous and kind of a nice parallel to the Continental Divide signs at the top of Colorado passes.
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| love. |
Oh yeah, and then there was Everest.
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| Everest is the big one on the left. |
The second night we stayed in Lhaste at 12,150 feet. I had a miserable time acclimatizing. I guess my body’s oxygen threshold is somewhere between 8,850 feet (Fraser) and 12,150 feet. And I remember just enough about HAPE and HACE to completely freak myself out. It was a rough night.
Day Three: Lhatse to Xigatse
Day Three was a nice mellow three-hour drive to Xigatse, the second largest city in Tibet sitting at 11,700 feet. You drive through kilometer after kilometer of barren land, and then all of a sudden there’s this huge city! Xigatse is the home of the Tashilumpo Monastery.
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| No pictures inside Tibet monasteries |
Before the Cultural Revolution, Tashilumpo was home to 4,000 monks; today there are about 500. Some highlights about Tashilumpo:
- The Monastery is well known for having one of the largest Buddha statues in the world, sitting at 36 meters tall.
- There are a ton of temples and such around the monastery, each housing different deities. There are statues of compassionate Buddha, long life Buddha, wisdom Buddha, etc, etc. Our guide attempted to explain why there are so many deities in a zero-theistic religion: Tibetan Buddhists believe in a divine power that is mostly internal (our guide estimated 80-90% of divinity resides within us) but they use the different Buddha statues as a way to “charge up” when they need help in an area. He used the example of himself: “If I was wanting a long life, I would go to Long Life Buddha and say “Oh Buddha, help me see the path to longer life.” But Buddha would say, “Stop smoking you dummy.” So you see, the different Buddhas can help us in weak times, but we have to take the steps ourselves too.” Heehee. I liked our guide.
- Our timing was wonderful and we were outside the assembly hall as the monks were all called to assembly. At first, I thought I would feel like we were intruding but the monks were just as interested in us as we were in them. The monks weren’t allowed anywhere near the women (as our guide said, “monk see a pretty lady and maybe he forgets about wisdom seeking”) but especially the younger monks seemed to get a kick out of putting on a show for us. It felt a lot like a boarding school, just instead of intellectual growth, the focus is spiritual growth.
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| Little monk trying to hit the hat off the heads of other monks using his cape. |
Day Four: Xigatse to Gyantse
We drove a short two hours to Gyantse, at 11,850 feet. Gyantse has another monastery, the Pelkhor Chode, which I don’t really remember, and the Kumbum Chorten fortress, which was closed renovations.
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| Pelkhor Chode |
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| Kumbum Chorten |
Day Five: Gyantse to Lhasa
This was a big driving day, eight hours to Lhasa at 10,950 feet. We went over two passes, the higher of which was 15,030 flanked by a 21,670 foot mountain and a 18,708 foot mountain. We also drove around this really gorgeous turquoise lake and the Kharola glacier.
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| One of the passes |
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| 18,703 feet taller than me. |
Day Six and Seven: Lhasa
Lhasa quite an emotionally conflicting place. When you first drive in, the Chinese elements are completely overwhelming. I felt like I wasn’t in Tibet anymore; most of the city seems like just electronics stores, restaurants and autoparts shops. The Chinsese influence continues to be quite disturbing as you walk around the more historical parts of Lhasa (the middle, around the Barkhor Square area near Jokhang—China has just build all around old Lhasa): the military presence is more overwhelming in Lhasa than when I was in Russia. On every corner, there are men in full camo with machine guns watching the crowd. Then you look up, and see the cameras on every corner. And look up further and see the snipers positioned on the rooftops. It’s terrifying.
But, on the other hand, Lhasa is also an aw-inspiring place to visit, because in spite of 60 years of Chinese oppression, Tibetan culture is still palpable. All over the city, both the modern and historic parts, you see Tibetans circumambulating and spinning their prayer wheels and even prostrating the last few kilometers to Jokhang. The resilience of the Tibetan sprit is undeniable.
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| Camera... |
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| Snipers. |
You can’t take pictures inside any temples/monasteries in Tibet, so the pictures are kind of lack-luster, but we spent two days sight seeing in Lhasa. We saw Potala Palace, the Jokhang temple, the Drepung Monastery and the Sera Monastery. The other hard thing is that the Chinese government very closely regulates the information our guide could share with us, so I always felt like I was missing half the story. Not that I can ever remember the history facts anyways. I linked to Wikipedia in case anyone is more of a history buff than me.
Potala is what I am sure you all picture when you think of Lhasa. Potala was built by the 5th Dalai Lama in 1645, and actually contains two different palaces: the red palace, an area for spiritual study for the leaders of Tibet, and the white palace, for secular uses, both living spaces for spiritual leaders and government activities. Much of the guts of the Palace were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, but the building itself was saved by international intervention. I actually didn’t really like visiting Potala, because it was like bumper car tourism: each day, the Palace is visited by around 5,000 people and was jam-packed the day we visited. Though December is the off-season for tourism, it is the peak season for religious pilgrims (since they don’t farm in the winter). Each pilgrim stops in front of each deity to make an offer, either small sums of cash or butter to add to the butter lamps. Our guide was allowed to weave in and out of people and cut lines with us, which just made me more uncomfortable with the situation.
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| Potala Palace |
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| Yak Butter Lamp |
Jokhang Temple:
Jokhang is the most sacred Buddhist temple in Tibet and most Tibetans make a pilgrimage there regularly from the farthest reaches of the region. As a result, the place was packed and the lines were huge. Again, I really did not like cutting the lines with the tour group. Jokhang was built by a Tibetan king around 640 to honor his two wives—one from China and one from Nepal, both of whom brought Buddha statues as part of the dowries. The statues were housed at the Temple until the Cultural Revolution. My favorite part of this visit was getting to see the prostrators from the roof of the Temple. I haven’t been able to learn exactly what they are doing, the guide just responds, “praying,” but it is amazing to watch.
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| Prostrating outside Jokhang |
Drepung Monastery:
Drepung used to be the biggest monastery in the world and home to 7,700 monks, but now only holds a few hundred (only 40% of the monastery buildings remain). There have been a lot of major protests here and the monastery is often closed. This was the last place we visited—I think I was monastery-ied out and spent most of the time looking at the pretty painted rocks and people watching. 
Sera Monastery:
Sera was my favorite thing we visited in Lhasa. A good chunk of the monastery was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, and it now houses only about 500 monks compared to the 6,000 that used to live there. Sera had some great sand mandalas on display and an old-style printing press for Buddhist sutras. But the best part was visiting the debating courtyard. For two hours every day, the monks gather and quiz each other on the topics they are studying, from Buddhist philosophy to science, history or geography. I have no clue how the practice developed, but it is quite the dramatic process. A monk or two sits on the ground (the student) and another monk stands above him (the teacher, but apparently they take turns). The teacher then yells loudly at the student, and when it is the student’s turn to respond, the teacher smacks his hands together violently and stomps the ground. If the student responds correctly, it continues; if not, there is another set of complicated and violent looking gestures that follow. I think this is how I will TA my classes in grad school. 
From Lhasa, I took a 45-hour train ride to Beijing, so I guess technically I was in Tibet for 8 days, but then I would have missed the
Brad Pitt reference.
