Before continuing with my side of the story, check out Doug's blog and find out about our tour together from his perspective:
http://www.dougsbigadventure.blogspot.com/
After finishing with Tashilunpo, we hopped back into the car for a semi smooth ride to Gyantse. Although most of the route seemed like we were off-roading, the Chinese government probably made road construction in the Himalaya a priority. The 2008 summer Olympics are going to be in Beijing, and a point of contention is the flame route as part of the pre-Olympics festivities. The latest is that the route was going to include a climb up Everest or to the base camp. This has been looked down upon by the Tibetans as a ploy to make China seem as though it has taken Tibet under its wing. What a perfect place to have so many people from around the world come to celebrate international sportsmanship; where an unarmed nun was shot by a Chinese guard last October as she was escaping over the border. Let me know if you want to see the video of the shooting as I might still have it.
Sometimes through my journey I wondered if what was before my eyes was actually real or just another ploy by the government. Case in point, a few of the monks at Tashilunpo were wearing "Beijing 2008" pins on their robes. Were they wearing them because they wanted establish a good relationship with Chinese tourists, because they were excited about the Olympics or were they told to wear them?
Arriving in Gyantse was heaven as our room was so much like a western hotel room, I had to take a picture of it. Clean sheets, clean pillow cases and a clean comforter in a huge room with a wooden floor made Loes break out with some of her Dutch dance moves. We had a few "splash downs" or mini dance parties with our iPods during our 5 night stay together.
Loes works as an English teacher to little monks at the Manjushri Buddhist Learning Center near Pharping which is about 45 minutes away from Kathmandu. She and I discussed our knowledge about the Tibetan culture and tried to figure out how we were going to tell the other group members of their wonderful decision of choosing a Tibetan tour group versus a Chinese one. Most don't realize that Kathmandu is the best place to get such a group while many of the members just wanted the best deal. Not only did we stay in Tibetan run guesthouses and hotels (for the most part) but we were also able to eat at mostly Tibetan run restaurants. We both felt like this was a great way to support the culture that is slowly dwindling.
While some other group members weren't too happy with the outcome of our TG and losing a day in Zhangmu, I would consistently try to remember what was written on my correspondence with Sonam: "Note: Budget trip is required of budget clients, there is no place to complain and refund if trip not happen good as expected of clients." Basically, it's important to stay flexible in Tibet.
Tashi led our car (which always seemed to arrive first) to a great Tibetan restaurant in Gyantse. We were lucky that we only had to wait about 30 minutes for our food to arrive as that was the fastest yet for our large group. The night before, those few who weren't sick went out to eat. Doug ended up waiting for two hours for his food to arrive and saw a rat run across the floor. It seems as though the European mentality of taking the proper amount of time to socialize during a meal and digesting the food was spread by Marco Polo as his fame was through out the land on brightly colored signs for hotels and eating establishments named after him.
Meals were always a great time with this group. Learning about different cultures has always fascinated me and the education continued at every moment. Simone is a younger version of Roberto Bernini but also a Renaissance Man with a talent for writing, photography, and painting. He can now swoon American woman with his new lines that Doug taught him, but I eventually gave him the female perspective about what would actually work in a bar. My advice was to stick to the Italian and say what ever he wanted as most Americans, who aren't immigrants or have lived in another country, only know one language; English. As long as he spoke in Italian or English with an Italian accent, girls would fall at his feet.
It was embarrassing for me to only know one language as these poor people in our group were struggling so hard in English to communicate with me and each other. At least they knew where to start. If I were to go to France or Italy, I would have to be quiet (yes, it’s hard to believe) for a few months while listening to learn. I wished we began foreign languages earlier in our education in America. There are many people in Nepal who know four or five languages, as that was probably necessary to get around. We are so spoiled by having the world know our language.
Doug is a child psychiatrist with a love for gear; kayaking, trekking, cycling, traveling, photography - whatever it was, he has the stuff for it. It was fun to talk to him about cycling, drugs, the FDA, the American education, how foreigners probably perceive American travelers, and the issues previously discussed with other people on the tour. Having two other Americans who feel as similarly as I do about the way we are perceived by the rest of the world was calming as I worried that there would be a obnoxious drunk of a traveler with us chanting "America is the best country in the world and every where else is crap" or something to that effect. That is quite an exaggeration, but I've seen a Navy Master Chief Petty Officer diver pull a stunt on a plane from Florida to San Diego as he asked for more liquor and argued with the flight attendant. Having someone like that representing the US was such a small chance, however, as only 20% of our population has passports and only 10% has traveled outside of the country.
During some point in the week, I told a few of my fellow tour group members about my accident. I've been on a little mission since my accident of telling people the story and finishing with how they should use me an example to their children; of why they should wear a helmet and how lucky I am to be back to normal, alive and not in a coma or paralyzed. Tom mentioned that he was stopped several times in the US on his bike tour by people asking why he wasn't wearing a helmet. At the time, I didn't know Tom that well so I didn't want to be too overbearing but I think I eventually got my point across to him and the others, that would listen. I guess helmets aren't that big of a deal in Europe as so many people ride and don't drive compared to the US so they might not worry about accidents as much.
After lunch, we went to another monastery. Although I was intrigued by monasteries, I'm not a believer of the Buddhist faith. Like all religions, I do respect it for its values and traditions. With every place that we went, I enjoyed meeting the people that were there; from the lamas (monks) to the pilgrims, I always felt welcome. Well, maybe for the most part. The true lamas are too nice to ask for money as Tsedo's friend, Dorje, had told me that there are men who dress up as lamas to regulate the money coming in. From the entry fee to the photography fee for each chapel (there could be up to 30 chapels per monastery) someone was always watching your back to make sure pictures weren't being taken without payment.
The monasteries are a beautiful place to visit where I believe the true Tibet shines. From the beginning through that afternoon in Gyantse, whenever I would make eye contact with a Tibetan and say "Tashi Delek" to them, I would receive a warm smile with eye contact and a greeting back, 99% of the time. Maybe in those areas that we visited, those people were used to foreigners so they were used to it, but it seemed genuine to me every time. From listening to the lamas chant to having children who were ahead of me in a chapel clockwise circle path or Kora show me how to pay respect to the Buddha, I felt a kinship with the values of Buddhism.
While we were waiting for the rest of the group to get through the monastery, Tsedo surprised me in Gyantse as he was giving a private tour. It was so wonderful to see a familiar face in a foreign land. We made plans to hang out later that evening and I met up with him and Dorje in town. I learned that evening that Tibetan guides (Chinese or Tibetan) have to take a tour guide test where they are quizzed about what they can tell their clients and what they can't.
Apparently, tour guides can not talk about anything political and are under continuous scrutiny by undercover Chinese government agents who pose as tourists. Imagine giving a speech with an electric shocking device attached to your face that would activate every time you said the wrong statement. This isn't literally what happens, but that wouldn't be fun. The thought of this made my military time very significant to me as I served for the freedom of speech in our country, among other rights we take for granted. These tour guides are constantly patrolling the area with their eyes for Chinese spies and we don't even blink when we read a blog, newspaper article or internet op-ed piece on how much of a flaming idiot we elected to the Presidency, who supposedly up until the Presidency didn't travel outside of the States. (Also, it feels great to be able to write that knowing I'm permanently free from the military in eight months, where as if I were still active, I would have to curtail my own opinion in a forum such as this.)
The next morning we left for Lhasa, the place I had been waiting to visit for since viewing a picture of the Potala for the first time in January of 2006.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Notes from Tibet - Part II
Never having been in a hostel or in a dormitory type setting for sleeping arrangements outside of the military, I didn't know what to expect in for our accommodations beside what Tsering had told me. The first three nights were planned for us to stay in Tibetan guesthouses. Our room members (my car plus Tom) climbed up the 4th floor to get settled before we went to dinner. There were six beds; a wooden frame with a stiff, yet slightly soft mattress topped with a folded comforter, blanket and a pillow. Being a bit of a germaphobe I never used the dirty linens. Tsering gave me so much guidance that I brought a sleeping bag, travel pillow and silk liner which gave me solace among the smell of urine wafting from the open hole toilets and dirty sink in the shared bathroom. This was the first hole with foot grips that I used since Kuwait. It's tough for western girls to aim considering how spoiled we are with toilets that capture everything, but I was very proud of my regained skill. The 10' x 20' room with a window over looking the street fit all of us with our stuff and Tom's bike.
Tom was almost half way through an around the world trip on a reclining bike. By the time he met with the group, he had cycled 16,000 km from Germany through western countries of the Middle East, down the east coast of Africa and then flew to south India where he headed Northeast until he arrived in Kathmandu. He had already been through the US; he started in Alaska and cycled south to LA. Tom planned on continuing through China to Beijing once our tour was over, then flying to Korea and Japan to cycle through those countries. He is planning on meeting his girlfriend in South America and then cycling up the western coast of Africa to finish. It was quite an eye opener to meet someone who was doing it rather than just talking about it and Tom is the perfect candidate as he is quiet, calm, laid back and very intelligent.
Lonely Planet (LP) travel books have such a strong hold on the market that there were at least five of us in the group that had the Tibet edition, if not the Nepal one as well. Unfortunately, because many of the food and sleep establishments were labeled in Mandarin, we ended up having a hard time exploring new places that weren't mentioned in the book. To play it safe we went to one of LP's recommendations: a Tibetan place. Thinking that Chinese cooking and their over use of monosodium glutamate (MSG – an artificial derivative of salt) could be avoided in a Tibetan place, I ordered some traditional Tibetan soup. My logic was very wrong as I could immediately feel the effects of the poison and discovered that Tom would be our group leftover "bottomless pit". If there was any worry about the starving kids in Africa and the guilt from throwing away food, Tom would solve the world's anguish. Tibetan cooking along our well traveled route was so greatly influenced by Chinese cuisine that I had to resort to eat curry dishes or just plain rice many times.
After a slightly awkward dinner of prolonged silences because of our quick run through of the usual initial conversations and slight exhaustion from the day of heat, I went back to the room to take a hot shower. Not knowing when I would be taking a shower again, I splurged the ten Yuan ($1.43) for a private shower room with a table to rinse the nasty Plebe (USNA freshman during the boot camp phase) smell from the day.
Day Two - Zhangmu (2300m) to Zhamgmu (2300m)
When we woke up and went to breakfast we were introduced to our morning usual for the next seven days: coffee or tea with a fried egg and toast or a traditional Tibetan bread that is slightly similar to an English Muffin. Breakfast was included as part of our tour, and it was certainly budget. This is where my nutritional experiment started to completely go off of the track, as I've eaten more wheat in the second two weeks of August than in the past six months.
Over food, we were disappointed for a second time as we would have to stay in the small town of Zhamgu the entire day because we finally were cleared through customs but had some blocks for our future road travel. Amid much confusion, we found out we would have to check out of the hotel, put our stuff in the car and wait until 11:00 pm to leave from Zhamgu to get to Nyalam. There was construction on the "Friendship Highway" and we could only travel over a certain portion of the road between 1 am and 4 am. Since nothing will ever compare to the insane work hours I kept in the Navy as a ship driving officer, I didn't think that this would be a big hassle.
Tom, Doug, Simone and I spent most of the morning walking around the continuous slight hill of a road town, discovering the Chinese version of Tibet as I received many photography lessons. The fog set in the evening before and the sight of many lines of prayer flags covering the sky over the street made me feel welcome. The day went by quickly between getting used to the unpredictable rains and the sight of two recently cut Yak heads on the road while the meat was being divided on a cart close by.
Day Three - Zhangmu (2300m) to Shigatse (3900m)
Around 11:00 pm we left Zhangmu to make up for our lost day. Tashi, our driver, was a rough rider with skill, like the drivers in Kathmandu. The late night escapade brought me back to the sand dune tour I took in Dubai, UAE, of 2001. The air was taken out of the tires before we entered the hilly, yet smooth playground. Land Cruiser drivers must take great pride in their jobs as a video of the trip would be a great ad for Toyota to illustrate what these vehicles can handle. Tashi had to get us through very rocky and tight roads in the dark while avoiding other cars and construction hazards. It was a tough ride that kept us awake along with the constant alarm of the horn. We arrived in Nyalam (3750m) at 2:00 am and rushed to bed in another guesthouse to wake at 7:00 am and continue our drive to higher elevation. I was very impressed by the lack of complaining over the choppy ride and lack of sleep, as everyone filed quickly from the guesthouse to the cars in the morning; it was so military like, I smiled.
The sun had risen by the time we left Nyalam and we were in one of the most beautiful areas of the world. The Tibetan landscape that I had been exposed to by the photos on a computer screen at AHF came to life within the first half hour. Filled with excitement, I couldn't sleep and just looked out the window. I took one for the team and as victim of my long legs by sitting in the middle seat in the back, so I had a hard time getting the photo shots that I wanted and many times had to ask Simone and Candace to move or ask Simone to take my shots for me. The really good pictures of Tibet on my camera were taken by Simone. We drove through Gutso and stopped in Tingri (4390m) for breakfast.
We passed Everest on the way and the mysticism of the mountains that had been described to me by many, finally came alive. I can now appreciate why people love the mountains as much as I love the sea. Tibet reminds me of the ocean when the sky is clear as almost every gathering of water reflected the pristine clouds and bright blue sky flawlessly. When the USS FLETCHER was off of the Horn of Africa, we were sailing at about 3 kts one morning, when I took the watch on the Bridge to find that the water perfectly reflected the sky; the horizon didn't have a defined line and the sky and ocean seemed to go to infinity.
The Tibetan teahouse visit was very rewarding as I saw a smokeless stove and witnesses a woman eating tsampa for the first time. A smokeless stove is a big deal in the remote areas of the Himalayas. Many people in remote Nepal live in caves where their food is cooked over fires and the smoke suffocates all who reside in the cave. AHF has a project named ISIS that replaces these stoves with a locally made smokeless stoves, adds light to the cave with solar panels energized LED bulbs and helps to maintain hygiene by building latrines. The before and after pictures in the reports on this project are amazing and seeing a similar product was gratifying.
Tsampa, a Tibetan food staple, is roasted barley placed in a bowl to be rolled by hand into a ball when mixed with yak butter, milk or water. "Kundun" is a good movie about the 14th Dalai Lama that has a scene of a family eating tsampa. Since then I was intrigued to see it in person and I was able to get a few live action shots of a woman going through the motions. While the drivers ate momos (dumplings) and other traditional Tibetan food, we quickly ate our fried egg, traditional Tibetan bread and a thin flour pancake that looked and tasted incredibly similar to a tortilla. I find those small semblances across the ocean in different cultures so ironic. A cat lived in the teahouse and sauntered on the stove. Candace called the cat, "The cleanest animal in Tibet" which could be true as every animal we saw from dogs to a kitten in Tibet was mangy, sick and tired.
We headed back on the road to make it to the high pass at 5220 m. Tashi, our driver, was very experienced and told me to get out of the car slowly as he observed all of us for symptoms of altitude sickness. Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) can be fatal if not detected immediately as fluid builds up in your lungs or brain or both. Being very sensitive to altitude as I would get a headache, dehydrated, and winded at 5,000 ft in Tahoe and Denver, taking a medicated precaution wasn't an option.
Tony had been car sick most of the morning because he sat in the farthest rear seat. Then Candace wasn't doing well with the constant bumping motion and altitude. While I found it hard to breath at the high pass, the pressure change began to affect my head. Once we left the high pass, we stopped at a police checkpoint to get our passports and visas checked again. Ada was the first to throw up and I was somehow surprised yet relieved of how helpful and understanding almost everyone was in the group. Having an insecurity about being sick in front of others because of the military unspoken idea that being sick or hurt shows weakness, I was worried that because of my altitude sensitivity I would need to find someone to take care of me. Oddly enough, I still felt that way a bit after the accident when I had to relinquish control to Angela and my mom for three weeks because of my brain and shoulder injuries.
We stopped in Lhatse for lunch when I sat down with an uneasy stomach and a headache to a Sprite. I took one sip, got up to walk outside to get out of the smoky air, came back in to go to the bathroom and found a garbage pail by our table. While everyone else was waiting for their food, I was getting rid of my breakfast violently next to the table. The embarrassment that had crept in to my head dissolved immediately as the eaters asked if I was able to sit instead of crouch at the pail, and consoled me. Although I felt as though I would have liked to have eaten, the plain rice I ordered wasn't appetizing. I gave my Sprite to Tom and went outside to buy three bottles of water.
In the car, I kept the bottle top off as I would take a sip every minute and my body felt as though it had been dehydrated for days. It was then that I realized I should have been shoving water down my throat that morning more than what I drank. Simone became sick that afternoon on our drive, so Doug was the only one who didn't get sick, ever.
We arrived in Shigatse that evening to a nice hotel. Loes and I decided to be roommates and I went immediately to bed in a normal hotel with an Asian shower (no tub, no stall, no curtain, just a shower head). Loes was my nurse as she got me cracker biscuits and made sure that I ate them along with some of her aspirin. We were supposed to stay in Nyalam over night on the second day and I'm grateful that we didn't as I would have been very sick for 48 hours rather than 24 hours.
Day Four - Shigatse (3900m) to Gyanste (3950m)
The next morning we went to our first monastery, the Tashilhunpo Monastery, which was a nice reprieve after three days of waiting, driving and vomiting. There were many Chinese tourists at this popular monastery which was a rude awakening to the culture. Getting through a doorway was like getting off of the 9ax MUNI bus in San Francisco where physically fighting the crowd is the only option to make the exit before the doors close. Chinese people aren't to blame, as it's just a difference in our culture. Paul from the Lhasa School for the Blind mentioned that Chinese travelers can take tourist etiquette classes for when they visit western countries which might save them from dirty looks in the States.
Second to the Dalai Lama is the Panchen Lama who used to reside in Tashilhunpo. When it was time for the most recent Panchen Lama to be chosen there was some debate on how the last one died, as many suspect he was poisoned by the Chinese. Choosing the next lama after the soul is reincarnated is a detailed and painstaking process. Here's the short version: an oracle gives some clues to direct the detective party who then find a few boys or just one who meets the criteria. In "Kundun", as a boy His Holiness the Dalai Lama (HHDL) had several objects laid out in front of him to chose when asked which ones were his. To choose the new Panchen Lama, messages were sent secretly from this monastery to HHDL's government in exile in Dharmasala, India. When the Tibetan Buddhist community found their new Panchen Lama, China also found a Panchen Lama. Rumor is the real Panchen Lama is in captivity in Beijing while the Chinese figurehead resides in Shigatse with little respect from Tibetans as the puppet of the Chinese government. Both are a waste as the real one hasn't received a true Tibetan lama education and the fake is living without purpose. While HHDL's picture is banned in Tibet, the fake Panchen Lama's picture is everywhere.
As the days moved on, the walls that we build around ourselves to be ultra polite to the other group members began to crumble and our true personalities started to shine. Hank, Doug, Candace and I had conversations about socialized medicine, Hillary Clinton, global warming and GW on our way back from the monastery. The entire tour was a cultural education for me; not only were Doug and I able to teach Simone slang words and phrases but I learned how much America affects the world's economy. There are so many things that we have an effect on in other countries and we don't even know about it. It frustrates me to no end of how small minded of an education we receive on post WWII history and our America-centric (Candace's word) news programs that focus on the country, state or city news with very little international news except for Iraq. It got to the point that I only watched Current TV the last few months on the posh cable package that Gary had in our house. Living in San Francisco, living with Gary and meeting the people I have been lucky to befriend have really opened my eyes to this issue. As I write this I wonder how many of you feel the same.
Tom was almost half way through an around the world trip on a reclining bike. By the time he met with the group, he had cycled 16,000 km from Germany through western countries of the Middle East, down the east coast of Africa and then flew to south India where he headed Northeast until he arrived in Kathmandu. He had already been through the US; he started in Alaska and cycled south to LA. Tom planned on continuing through China to Beijing once our tour was over, then flying to Korea and Japan to cycle through those countries. He is planning on meeting his girlfriend in South America and then cycling up the western coast of Africa to finish. It was quite an eye opener to meet someone who was doing it rather than just talking about it and Tom is the perfect candidate as he is quiet, calm, laid back and very intelligent.
Lonely Planet (LP) travel books have such a strong hold on the market that there were at least five of us in the group that had the Tibet edition, if not the Nepal one as well. Unfortunately, because many of the food and sleep establishments were labeled in Mandarin, we ended up having a hard time exploring new places that weren't mentioned in the book. To play it safe we went to one of LP's recommendations: a Tibetan place. Thinking that Chinese cooking and their over use of monosodium glutamate (MSG – an artificial derivative of salt) could be avoided in a Tibetan place, I ordered some traditional Tibetan soup. My logic was very wrong as I could immediately feel the effects of the poison and discovered that Tom would be our group leftover "bottomless pit". If there was any worry about the starving kids in Africa and the guilt from throwing away food, Tom would solve the world's anguish. Tibetan cooking along our well traveled route was so greatly influenced by Chinese cuisine that I had to resort to eat curry dishes or just plain rice many times.
After a slightly awkward dinner of prolonged silences because of our quick run through of the usual initial conversations and slight exhaustion from the day of heat, I went back to the room to take a hot shower. Not knowing when I would be taking a shower again, I splurged the ten Yuan ($1.43) for a private shower room with a table to rinse the nasty Plebe (USNA freshman during the boot camp phase) smell from the day.
Day Two - Zhangmu (2300m) to Zhamgmu (2300m)
When we woke up and went to breakfast we were introduced to our morning usual for the next seven days: coffee or tea with a fried egg and toast or a traditional Tibetan bread that is slightly similar to an English Muffin. Breakfast was included as part of our tour, and it was certainly budget. This is where my nutritional experiment started to completely go off of the track, as I've eaten more wheat in the second two weeks of August than in the past six months.
Over food, we were disappointed for a second time as we would have to stay in the small town of Zhamgu the entire day because we finally were cleared through customs but had some blocks for our future road travel. Amid much confusion, we found out we would have to check out of the hotel, put our stuff in the car and wait until 11:00 pm to leave from Zhamgu to get to Nyalam. There was construction on the "Friendship Highway" and we could only travel over a certain portion of the road between 1 am and 4 am. Since nothing will ever compare to the insane work hours I kept in the Navy as a ship driving officer, I didn't think that this would be a big hassle.
Tom, Doug, Simone and I spent most of the morning walking around the continuous slight hill of a road town, discovering the Chinese version of Tibet as I received many photography lessons. The fog set in the evening before and the sight of many lines of prayer flags covering the sky over the street made me feel welcome. The day went by quickly between getting used to the unpredictable rains and the sight of two recently cut Yak heads on the road while the meat was being divided on a cart close by.
Day Three - Zhangmu (2300m) to Shigatse (3900m)
Around 11:00 pm we left Zhangmu to make up for our lost day. Tashi, our driver, was a rough rider with skill, like the drivers in Kathmandu. The late night escapade brought me back to the sand dune tour I took in Dubai, UAE, of 2001. The air was taken out of the tires before we entered the hilly, yet smooth playground. Land Cruiser drivers must take great pride in their jobs as a video of the trip would be a great ad for Toyota to illustrate what these vehicles can handle. Tashi had to get us through very rocky and tight roads in the dark while avoiding other cars and construction hazards. It was a tough ride that kept us awake along with the constant alarm of the horn. We arrived in Nyalam (3750m) at 2:00 am and rushed to bed in another guesthouse to wake at 7:00 am and continue our drive to higher elevation. I was very impressed by the lack of complaining over the choppy ride and lack of sleep, as everyone filed quickly from the guesthouse to the cars in the morning; it was so military like, I smiled.
The sun had risen by the time we left Nyalam and we were in one of the most beautiful areas of the world. The Tibetan landscape that I had been exposed to by the photos on a computer screen at AHF came to life within the first half hour. Filled with excitement, I couldn't sleep and just looked out the window. I took one for the team and as victim of my long legs by sitting in the middle seat in the back, so I had a hard time getting the photo shots that I wanted and many times had to ask Simone and Candace to move or ask Simone to take my shots for me. The really good pictures of Tibet on my camera were taken by Simone. We drove through Gutso and stopped in Tingri (4390m) for breakfast.
We passed Everest on the way and the mysticism of the mountains that had been described to me by many, finally came alive. I can now appreciate why people love the mountains as much as I love the sea. Tibet reminds me of the ocean when the sky is clear as almost every gathering of water reflected the pristine clouds and bright blue sky flawlessly. When the USS FLETCHER was off of the Horn of Africa, we were sailing at about 3 kts one morning, when I took the watch on the Bridge to find that the water perfectly reflected the sky; the horizon didn't have a defined line and the sky and ocean seemed to go to infinity.
The Tibetan teahouse visit was very rewarding as I saw a smokeless stove and witnesses a woman eating tsampa for the first time. A smokeless stove is a big deal in the remote areas of the Himalayas. Many people in remote Nepal live in caves where their food is cooked over fires and the smoke suffocates all who reside in the cave. AHF has a project named ISIS that replaces these stoves with a locally made smokeless stoves, adds light to the cave with solar panels energized LED bulbs and helps to maintain hygiene by building latrines. The before and after pictures in the reports on this project are amazing and seeing a similar product was gratifying.
Tsampa, a Tibetan food staple, is roasted barley placed in a bowl to be rolled by hand into a ball when mixed with yak butter, milk or water. "Kundun" is a good movie about the 14th Dalai Lama that has a scene of a family eating tsampa. Since then I was intrigued to see it in person and I was able to get a few live action shots of a woman going through the motions. While the drivers ate momos (dumplings) and other traditional Tibetan food, we quickly ate our fried egg, traditional Tibetan bread and a thin flour pancake that looked and tasted incredibly similar to a tortilla. I find those small semblances across the ocean in different cultures so ironic. A cat lived in the teahouse and sauntered on the stove. Candace called the cat, "The cleanest animal in Tibet" which could be true as every animal we saw from dogs to a kitten in Tibet was mangy, sick and tired.
We headed back on the road to make it to the high pass at 5220 m. Tashi, our driver, was very experienced and told me to get out of the car slowly as he observed all of us for symptoms of altitude sickness. Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) can be fatal if not detected immediately as fluid builds up in your lungs or brain or both. Being very sensitive to altitude as I would get a headache, dehydrated, and winded at 5,000 ft in Tahoe and Denver, taking a medicated precaution wasn't an option.
Tony had been car sick most of the morning because he sat in the farthest rear seat. Then Candace wasn't doing well with the constant bumping motion and altitude. While I found it hard to breath at the high pass, the pressure change began to affect my head. Once we left the high pass, we stopped at a police checkpoint to get our passports and visas checked again. Ada was the first to throw up and I was somehow surprised yet relieved of how helpful and understanding almost everyone was in the group. Having an insecurity about being sick in front of others because of the military unspoken idea that being sick or hurt shows weakness, I was worried that because of my altitude sensitivity I would need to find someone to take care of me. Oddly enough, I still felt that way a bit after the accident when I had to relinquish control to Angela and my mom for three weeks because of my brain and shoulder injuries.
We stopped in Lhatse for lunch when I sat down with an uneasy stomach and a headache to a Sprite. I took one sip, got up to walk outside to get out of the smoky air, came back in to go to the bathroom and found a garbage pail by our table. While everyone else was waiting for their food, I was getting rid of my breakfast violently next to the table. The embarrassment that had crept in to my head dissolved immediately as the eaters asked if I was able to sit instead of crouch at the pail, and consoled me. Although I felt as though I would have liked to have eaten, the plain rice I ordered wasn't appetizing. I gave my Sprite to Tom and went outside to buy three bottles of water.
In the car, I kept the bottle top off as I would take a sip every minute and my body felt as though it had been dehydrated for days. It was then that I realized I should have been shoving water down my throat that morning more than what I drank. Simone became sick that afternoon on our drive, so Doug was the only one who didn't get sick, ever.
We arrived in Shigatse that evening to a nice hotel. Loes and I decided to be roommates and I went immediately to bed in a normal hotel with an Asian shower (no tub, no stall, no curtain, just a shower head). Loes was my nurse as she got me cracker biscuits and made sure that I ate them along with some of her aspirin. We were supposed to stay in Nyalam over night on the second day and I'm grateful that we didn't as I would have been very sick for 48 hours rather than 24 hours.
Day Four - Shigatse (3900m) to Gyanste (3950m)
The next morning we went to our first monastery, the Tashilhunpo Monastery, which was a nice reprieve after three days of waiting, driving and vomiting. There were many Chinese tourists at this popular monastery which was a rude awakening to the culture. Getting through a doorway was like getting off of the 9ax MUNI bus in San Francisco where physically fighting the crowd is the only option to make the exit before the doors close. Chinese people aren't to blame, as it's just a difference in our culture. Paul from the Lhasa School for the Blind mentioned that Chinese travelers can take tourist etiquette classes for when they visit western countries which might save them from dirty looks in the States.
Second to the Dalai Lama is the Panchen Lama who used to reside in Tashilhunpo. When it was time for the most recent Panchen Lama to be chosen there was some debate on how the last one died, as many suspect he was poisoned by the Chinese. Choosing the next lama after the soul is reincarnated is a detailed and painstaking process. Here's the short version: an oracle gives some clues to direct the detective party who then find a few boys or just one who meets the criteria. In "Kundun", as a boy His Holiness the Dalai Lama (HHDL) had several objects laid out in front of him to chose when asked which ones were his. To choose the new Panchen Lama, messages were sent secretly from this monastery to HHDL's government in exile in Dharmasala, India. When the Tibetan Buddhist community found their new Panchen Lama, China also found a Panchen Lama. Rumor is the real Panchen Lama is in captivity in Beijing while the Chinese figurehead resides in Shigatse with little respect from Tibetans as the puppet of the Chinese government. Both are a waste as the real one hasn't received a true Tibetan lama education and the fake is living without purpose. While HHDL's picture is banned in Tibet, the fake Panchen Lama's picture is everywhere.
As the days moved on, the walls that we build around ourselves to be ultra polite to the other group members began to crumble and our true personalities started to shine. Hank, Doug, Candace and I had conversations about socialized medicine, Hillary Clinton, global warming and GW on our way back from the monastery. The entire tour was a cultural education for me; not only were Doug and I able to teach Simone slang words and phrases but I learned how much America affects the world's economy. There are so many things that we have an effect on in other countries and we don't even know about it. It frustrates me to no end of how small minded of an education we receive on post WWII history and our America-centric (Candace's word) news programs that focus on the country, state or city news with very little international news except for Iraq. It got to the point that I only watched Current TV the last few months on the posh cable package that Gary had in our house. Living in San Francisco, living with Gary and meeting the people I have been lucky to befriend have really opened my eyes to this issue. As I write this I wonder how many of you feel the same.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Still Stalled
Although I have most of my Tibet tour written, I think it's irrelevant to post the information until that portion is up which is still on Candace's computer.
Note to self: bring a portable USB flash or thumb drive on travels.
Note to self: bring a portable USB flash or thumb drive on travels.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Stalled
After working hard all day yesterday during my first bundh in Kathmandu, "Notes from Tibet - Part II" is stuck on Candace's computer as the wireless went out at the hotel last night as I was finishing. I hope that she can get it sent to me soon!
After a long day on the bus, I arrived in Pokhara. I love the heat but the humidity is making my well designed haircut worthless as it stays up all day.
Thanks for tuning in as there is more to come.
After a long day on the bus, I arrived in Pokhara. I love the heat but the humidity is making my well designed haircut worthless as it stays up all day.
Thanks for tuning in as there is more to come.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Side Notes II
Back in Kathmandu. Blogger comes up in English, so I can read the comments now.
Knowing that I am long winded, I won't be offended if you skim my entries. At least you're reading this entry which is much appreciated.
I will add much more about my Tibet trip tomorrow.
Knowing that I am long winded, I won't be offended if you skim my entries. At least you're reading this entry which is much appreciated.
I will add much more about my Tibet trip tomorrow.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Notes from Tibet - Part I
While sitting in the back of a store in a room that is a combination of a bike tour shop and a dorm room, the rain patters against the window as thoughts of this amazing past week sprint through my head. Never before have I been more grateful to all of my friends because they couldn't come on a private tour of Tibet with me that I put together over e-mail with Tsedo's friend's tour company. Adamant to get a Tibetan tour guide, I signed up for a budget tour that began in Kathmandu with six days of driving to Lhasa through the southwestern portion of Tibet. Because August is the high tourist season in Tibet, all the other tours were booked with this agency.
Before I go on about my trip, I will make many references to the "peaceful liberation" that was granted to Tibet from China. To avoid confusion and to save me time, please check out wikepedia or something of that nature on Tibet in case you don't remember what happened between the 1950s and today.
I saw Tsedo quickly in Kathmandu when he warned me that I might not be able to leave for the tour because the Chinese embassy closed until further notice and therefore, was not giving out visas. Some protesters had flewn a "Free Tibet" flag on the Everest base camp and the Chinese government put a lockdown on visas. Tsedo's friend who was my travel agent, Sonam, met with me the day before the tour and luckily, things were going smoothly with my visa.
Day One - Kathmandu (1500m) to Zhangmu (2300m)
On Saturday morning, August 11th, Bruce put me in a cab and I met Sonam in Thamel, Kathmandu where he led me to a bus for the tour. I quickly started a conversation with Loes (pronounced Luce), a girl from Holland, and Simone, a guy from Italy. Then two others got onto the bus and I started a conversation with them; a father and daughter, Doug and Candace, who were traveling through Nepal and Tibet before Candace begins her semester abroad through Cornell in Kathmandu. Immediately, I felt at ease with these strangers which was inviting as I wasn't sure what to expect for my first group tour.
A few others jumped on to the older bus with carpeted ceilings and we finally left the parking lot so we could stop by a few places to get the paperwork we needed to travel in Tibet. It's a logistical hell to get through all the hoops and I'm sure that as the clients, we didn't see half of the effort that our tour guides put into it. Through the 90% humidity and 90 degree temperature, the only a/c available came through the wide windows as we whipped up the bumpy and unpaved road to the border. Most of the ride was along a road that either followed the edge of a gorge or hill, or there was a river many yards below. I wondered many times if we were going to get a flat or go over the edge first. To signal our approach to a bend in the road, the driver would honk which combined with some upbeat Hindi and Nepali music made the long distance go by quickly.
To spend the time wisely, I pulled out my camera and manual to continue to learn how to use my new digital SLR. Immediately, Doug and Simone asked about my camera and I was delighted to learn of their lengthy experience. My first lesson occured with in the first hour of the ride from my professors.
Arriving at the border in Zhagmu in the evening, we had done the best we could to make it up in time before the cut off time of 6:00pm. I hired my first porter to carry my bag up the hill after there was much fighting over it on the bus. These kids are desperate to make money in an area where two children were using the street as a toilet, not just a urinal. We went to the departure area on the Nepali side and had our passports stamped, then we had to cross a bridge to have our visas checked along with our passports. Our guide on the Nepal side briefed us that we could take pictures up to a red line, and afterwards we would get in trouble with the Chinese guards. Hank, from Holland, didn't see the red line like the rest of us, and was asked about the pictures he had just taken. We then had to go up another hill to our Land Cruisers where we dropped our baggage and picked our car companions for the next four days. Our group joined another group that had come up earlier that day to sit at the border upon arrival. Simone, Doug, Candace and I hopped in along with Tony, from Singapore. We then took a ride up another rough hill to get our passports stamped and visas checked again.
The US military probably taught the Chinese government the "hurry up and wait" mentality as we had to wait in line for our passports and visas to be checked for a half hour. We were then told by our Tibetan side guide (I'll call him TG) that we had to go through customs. As we waited on yet another line, our passports were collected and then we were sent away. Our tour was TG's first tour as a guide and he was only able to communicate with us in broken English. I found out later from Tsedo's friend, also a tour guide, that tourism has exponentially increased in Tibet these past few years so the more experienced guides were assigned to the higher end tours, thus we received the novice. While I did feel bad for him, it was frustating for us to not be able to understand him when he wasn't too sure about what was going on. Amid much confusion from the inability to communicate with TG, we checked in to a guesthouse and went out for dinner because the border had closed for the evening.
By that evening I had met everyone on the tour. Here are the players:
Simone - Italy
Loes - Holland
Doug and Candace - US
Kris and Jan - Germany
Tony - Singapore
Yolanda and Lola - Spain
Hank and Ada - Holland
Tom - Germany
Rosa - Spain (Canary Islands)
Tommy and Mike - Finland
Rob and Charlie (female) - England
Michela and Alessandro - Italy
Before I go on about my trip, I will make many references to the "peaceful liberation" that was granted to Tibet from China. To avoid confusion and to save me time, please check out wikepedia or something of that nature on Tibet in case you don't remember what happened between the 1950s and today.
I saw Tsedo quickly in Kathmandu when he warned me that I might not be able to leave for the tour because the Chinese embassy closed until further notice and therefore, was not giving out visas. Some protesters had flewn a "Free Tibet" flag on the Everest base camp and the Chinese government put a lockdown on visas. Tsedo's friend who was my travel agent, Sonam, met with me the day before the tour and luckily, things were going smoothly with my visa.
Day One - Kathmandu (1500m) to Zhangmu (2300m)
On Saturday morning, August 11th, Bruce put me in a cab and I met Sonam in Thamel, Kathmandu where he led me to a bus for the tour. I quickly started a conversation with Loes (pronounced Luce), a girl from Holland, and Simone, a guy from Italy. Then two others got onto the bus and I started a conversation with them; a father and daughter, Doug and Candace, who were traveling through Nepal and Tibet before Candace begins her semester abroad through Cornell in Kathmandu. Immediately, I felt at ease with these strangers which was inviting as I wasn't sure what to expect for my first group tour.
A few others jumped on to the older bus with carpeted ceilings and we finally left the parking lot so we could stop by a few places to get the paperwork we needed to travel in Tibet. It's a logistical hell to get through all the hoops and I'm sure that as the clients, we didn't see half of the effort that our tour guides put into it. Through the 90% humidity and 90 degree temperature, the only a/c available came through the wide windows as we whipped up the bumpy and unpaved road to the border. Most of the ride was along a road that either followed the edge of a gorge or hill, or there was a river many yards below. I wondered many times if we were going to get a flat or go over the edge first. To signal our approach to a bend in the road, the driver would honk which combined with some upbeat Hindi and Nepali music made the long distance go by quickly.
To spend the time wisely, I pulled out my camera and manual to continue to learn how to use my new digital SLR. Immediately, Doug and Simone asked about my camera and I was delighted to learn of their lengthy experience. My first lesson occured with in the first hour of the ride from my professors.
Arriving at the border in Zhagmu in the evening, we had done the best we could to make it up in time before the cut off time of 6:00pm. I hired my first porter to carry my bag up the hill after there was much fighting over it on the bus. These kids are desperate to make money in an area where two children were using the street as a toilet, not just a urinal. We went to the departure area on the Nepali side and had our passports stamped, then we had to cross a bridge to have our visas checked along with our passports. Our guide on the Nepal side briefed us that we could take pictures up to a red line, and afterwards we would get in trouble with the Chinese guards. Hank, from Holland, didn't see the red line like the rest of us, and was asked about the pictures he had just taken. We then had to go up another hill to our Land Cruisers where we dropped our baggage and picked our car companions for the next four days. Our group joined another group that had come up earlier that day to sit at the border upon arrival. Simone, Doug, Candace and I hopped in along with Tony, from Singapore. We then took a ride up another rough hill to get our passports stamped and visas checked again.
The US military probably taught the Chinese government the "hurry up and wait" mentality as we had to wait in line for our passports and visas to be checked for a half hour. We were then told by our Tibetan side guide (I'll call him TG) that we had to go through customs. As we waited on yet another line, our passports were collected and then we were sent away. Our tour was TG's first tour as a guide and he was only able to communicate with us in broken English. I found out later from Tsedo's friend, also a tour guide, that tourism has exponentially increased in Tibet these past few years so the more experienced guides were assigned to the higher end tours, thus we received the novice. While I did feel bad for him, it was frustating for us to not be able to understand him when he wasn't too sure about what was going on. Amid much confusion from the inability to communicate with TG, we checked in to a guesthouse and went out for dinner because the border had closed for the evening.
By that evening I had met everyone on the tour. Here are the players:
Simone - Italy
Loes - Holland
Doug and Candace - US
Kris and Jan - Germany
Tony - Singapore
Yolanda and Lola - Spain
Hank and Ada - Holland
Tom - Germany
Rosa - Spain (Canary Islands)
Tommy and Mike - Finland
Rob and Charlie (female) - England
Michela and Alessandro - Italy
Side Notes
A few things to answer some questions and provide some quick info:
Returning to the US on September 10th. Leaving for Kathmandu tomorrow, August 20th.
Everything on Blogger (this website) is in Mandarin while I am here in Tibet, so I might not be able to read your comments until I get to Kathmandu or possibly back to Bruce's house ~ Sept. 5th. If you want me to respond to your comments sooner, please send me an e-mail. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Sending out the pictures and posting them on the blog when I return. The internet is so slow here that I would spend an entire day just waiting for them to download.
Returning to the US on September 10th. Leaving for Kathmandu tomorrow, August 20th.
Everything on Blogger (this website) is in Mandarin while I am here in Tibet, so I might not be able to read your comments until I get to Kathmandu or possibly back to Bruce's house ~ Sept. 5th. If you want me to respond to your comments sooner, please send me an e-mail. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Sending out the pictures and posting them on the blog when I return. The internet is so slow here that I would spend an entire day just waiting for them to download.
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