Tashi Delek!!! From the Roof of the World!!!

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It's been a great 2 weeks... Adventure, passion, mysteries and a whole lot of keiyan-ness... Not forgetting to mention that I only showered 6 times... Although the sight-seeing could have been better (damn the avian flu at Samye), what's important is that there had been a brotherly awakening among the 5 of us. Sounds kinda wrong but heh... it's just you...


CHENGDU, A HOME AWAY FROM HOME

It all started in the capitol of Sichuan, a lovely smog-filled city of the famous 麻辣火锅... Or rather, it all started in Sim's Cozy Guesthouse (all thumbs up!!!), a budget hostel ran by a lovely couple with more-than-willing-to-help staff... A home away from home so much so that while we were struggling in the Tibetan highlands, we were always looking forward to returning...

Well, the first day was quite uneventful apart from the fact that we tried to find this restaurant (永发老面馆) recommeneded in one of the brochures. You know, since it's the start of the trip and we were feeling fresh and dashing, we decided to take up the map and venture into the city by foot. And It took us a better of 3 hours... It is far and what's more, the place changed it's name (永记汤圆面馆)... But that was undeniably, the first Tommy moment (and Wes the tri-athlete kept losing focus and got distracted by meat buns)...

We visited the Panda Base on the second morning and was marvelled by all the inactivity going on... Never knew a Panda could be so... lazy (for the lack of a better word). They would just sit around on their backs and wait for the attendants to throw them the bamboo shoots. And they would even settle for stripping the bamboo shoot itself (even when fresh leaves are close by) just so long they don't have to shift... I mean, just give them the TV and they'll be top-notch coach potatoes. And I really never understood how they got posters of the pandas in active poses all over the place. I guess they must have used motion sensing cameras... Somehow, it reminded me of this corny old Kit Kat advertisement where the panda would dance around when the tourist turned his back to have a Kit Kat... Lol...

Dinner was at this restaurant near our place and they served 麻辣火锅 in buffet style, where you get to pick from a wide assortment of sticks skewered with all kinds of food (each stick going at 0.10 rmb!). It's something like 乐乐串... Anyway, we had a 鸳鸯火锅 and the 麻辣 was damn powerful... Within a few minutes, our tongues lost all sense of taste and our lips were swelling as if they were sausages... Heh...

We went for a Sichuan opera show after that that was simply mesmerizing. And it was absolutely value for money (Sim has a discounted price of 90 rmb per person because he managed to cham shiong with the theatre... truly Singaporean). There were many varieties of performances such as Sichuan opera, an Erhu performance, 杂技, a puppet show and the highlight which was the Sichuan 变脸. The performers changed their masks so fast and so proficiently that it was like magic. Even the puppets could do it! Heh... Good thing we filmed the segment. Now we can slow down the playback frames and try to uncover their trade secrets...


LHASA, NOT SO MYSTICAL AFTER ALL

Aargghhhh!!!! The pain... Make the pain go away...

That's high altitude sickness for you. Your head will throb like it's going to explode and you cannot stay in a crowded enclosed space for too long because the air is so thin that everyone is competing for oxygen. Well, that might be stretching it a bit but it really felt like that... We had to stay in our room (Pentoc Guesthouse) to struggle with the pain... How tragic...

Yexin and I were the first to go and we concussed on the couch while the rest settled our itinerary with the travel agent. Then it was Jax who submitted. Wes and Stanley were the only ones who were ok... For now... At 3500m above sea level. Well, because of that, we couldn't do much but rest for the first day (and it only got dark at 9:00 pm!). Anyway, we went to have supper at this Snowland Restaurant and had cakes at half-price after 9:00 pm! Just like Secret Recipe, Tibetan style.

Damn those noisy buggers... When we finally fell asleep, the city decided to come alive. There were construction going on, people talking and singing and the irritating chime of the trishaw... What a headache.

Anyway, we visited the Potala Palace the next morning. Apart from the steep walk up (with the many breathless pants and heart palpitations), the place is magnificent. The architecture is very unique and the entire place is filled with religious chapels and stupas. It's a good thing we visited the place because we became more aware of what the Dalai Lama is all about since that was his winter palace. And thank goodness for public goods, we need not hire a guide to explain... Bloody leechers... I Love it...

Later in the afternoon, while the others (lazy bums) decided to take a nap, Jax and I decided to visit the Jokhang Temple, which was a five-minute walk away from our guesthouse. Unlike the Potala Palace, the temple was filled with Buddhist dieties and was dedicated to Shakyamuni, the present Buddha (it's interesting to know about other religions, it's called understanding). We even saw this tourist group donate gold dust to the temple, of which the monks used to touch up the face of one of the giant gold statues (and they got to take photos... otherwise it would be prohibited... those monks really know how to make a business). Too bad I got no photos... Then again, since it's a budget holiday, I'm also not to keen to splurge on gold dust...

We met up again after that to take a look at the Barkhor Street area, festering with both touts, who try every means to lure you to their stalls, and beggars, who probably work in organized syndicates (and as irritating as persistent MLM pushers). The stalls sold many items, from the religious to the pure fashion. They were prayer wheels, musical bowls and cowboy hats. We even managed to venture into the Muslim Quarters of the city, which had a totally different atmosphere. It was ike in another city apart from the fact that the people still looked the same (but with different clothes).

We whacked the cakes at Snowland Restaurant again for the second night and also had Momo, which is, in essence, Yak meat dumplings. Well, Yak meat tastes like beef to some but it felt more like lamb. Anyhow, it's still meat and to us carnivores, that's all that matters... Yumyum...

After spending 2 days in Lhasa, it's actually just like any other city and all the mystery shrouding Tibet is not that mystical after all... You know, before I went there I thought it would be like stepping into another dimension where everything is maintained in its pristine origins. I really didn't expect to see a fast food outlet... Oh well... But it is still a magnificent place that is absolutely religious.


SNOW!!!

We took a day-tour to Namtso Lake (纳木错) on the third day that we were at Lhasa. It is the tallest salt-water lake in the world and is gigantic (probably can fit a few of our little island nation) and pilgrims would spend up to 20 days to circle the holy lake once. And it isn't exactly a piece of cake with the cutting winds and the whopping altitude of 4718m above sea level. Hardy locals... Got to admire them...

Even before we reached the lake (a few hours ride), we were driven to a height of 5190m above sea level enroute and it was freakin' snowing!!! It was really spectacular to see the snow-capped peaks and all the white but it was even more marvellous to know that just a moment ago, the temperature was like Singapore's... I mean, variety of sceneries couldn't be better or more convenient in any other part of the world (and it is summer mind you).

At the lake, tents had been set up to handle the flow of tourists and there were shops, restaurants and a horse/yak riding service. There were also pool tables (apparently a national sport... there were everywhere). The view is awesome... You can see the blue waves crashing onto the rocky shores with the winds sending ripples across the lake's surface and the snow-capped mountains in the background that contrasts the cloudless blue sky. But it was bitterly cold. And at such a great height, everyone's hearts were pounding in their heads... except for Lama Stan, who had defied all laws of mountain sickness and became the pride of our group.

On our way back to Lhasa, as part of the tour, we were sent to a Tibetan medicine hall and a Tzi Bead (天珠) shop (at the Tibetab Museum). Well, I guess the tour guides have to earn whatever they can... But we did buy the Tzi Beads because the manager gave us student prices (from 200 rmb to 50 rmb!!!) on account that we reminded him of his son, who is a uni student in a foreign land... That was what we were told by the employees anyway...

Since it would be our last day in Lhasa (for the next few days), we again visited the Snowland Restaurant (Cakes! Cakes! Cakes!) and had Yak steaks this time... We were really worried about the trek we were about to commence so it was kind of a last good meal (potentially of our lives) sort of thing.


LAMAS, YAKS AND MOUNTAIN SICKNESS

Excitement was in the air as we set off for Ganden Monastery with Lhundup (our guide) and our cook. We were about to embark on the famous Ganden-Samye trek, where pilgrims roam... But before that, we got to tour the Ganden Monastery, a massive settlement built atop steep slopes (took us 20 minutes to go up by vehicle)... The monastery is central to the Gelukpa Sect of Tibetan Buddhism and the architecture and significance of the place is really something that we are not able to appreciate completely. But good thing the view is fantastic... It was a kind of consolation...

The highlight was when we decided to take the Lingkhor, or the Pilgrim's circuit, around the mountain that circles the monastery... It was basically a precarious walk along steep cliffs and narrow paths and we could fall into oblivion any minute. But the view was... Well, nothing can describe it...

Too bad in the end we did not take the trek because apparently, Samye had been hit by the avian flu on the very morning that we were about to begin the trek. So it's really a heng suay issue... Really pity the people who are already on the trek for 3 days because they probably have to turn back. Then again, I think those who have reached are far worse since they may have to be quarantined... God loves us...

The agency arranged for us to go on another trek, which they claimed to be the VIP trek. Didn't really know whether it was true or a scam to cover up compensation issues. It was dodgy at first since we were not even sure where we were heading but we were told it was the Shok-Zaxo trek (with the highest point at 4700m above sea level).

For the next 4 days, we were embraced by Mother Nature herself, scaling her tall peaks and trekking her low plains (sounds wrong but whatever). The wind was strong, it was cold and the sun was frying us to crisp but we prevailed in the thin air... And good thing the Yaks (and horses after 2 days) were there to carry our stuff or we would have taken more than a week. And the scenery is... again I am lost for words. But it was as if we could touch the sky and pick the stars... You'll definitely have to take a look at the photos...

Even though the air was thin and all of us, apart from Lama Stan, had throbbing headaches (even the great Yakety Yex did not escape), the fresh cool air was enough to dispel our woes... And thank goodness our cook is competent and always whip up good dinners at the end of the day. It was Shangbala (Paradise) although the nights were like eternity...

It was like a dream gone past when we finally reached the end of our trek. It was definitely a pity but absolutely a once-in-a-lifetime experience... We were burnt, tired and starving but filled with a sense of accoplishment and brotherhood. Even though there was a possibility that we have been cheated, we still enjoyed ourselves tremendously and the Tommy Rover score was at 80-60-30-1-0 (Jax-Wes-Yex-Ding-Stan).

We returned to Lhasa via mini-bus and it was a relief to be moving without lifting a limb... And incidentally, there is a Tibetan song with a catchy tune with lyrics that goes:

"Lau Du Dio... Lau Du Dio..."

How reminiscent...


THE BUS RIDE FROM HELL

Air ticket: 1600 rmb

Bus ticket: 500 rmb

Any sane person who wants to save money would have chosen the cheaper alternative and so that was what we did, even though it's 2 hrs vs 2 days (we had time to spare but no money). Then again, that same person must also have been very ignorant to have made that choice, as we found out soon enough as we made our way back to Chengdu...

The bus itself has the exterior of a coach but it looks like a storage rack on the inside. The seats (reclined to a 135 degree angle) were double-deckered and there isn't much space to stretch out our legs. We were also given an old blanket of unknown origins each to fight off the cold (no a/c). Well, try to picture the early 1900s when our ancestors took a boat to 南洋 and you're halfway there...

Surprisingly, the trip itself took us to many different types of scenery like snow-capped landscapes, rolling plains and even the vast desert but we were all too tired (not from the trek) to take any photos or appreciate the beauty of it all. If only humans could hibernate... Anyway, the bus drives day and night, stopping only for erratic meals at shops that makes a 黑店 seem mild in comparison. And it takes great effort to sleep but we did... Zzzz

Bus driver: 下车! (native Sichuan accent)

Bus driver: 吃饭! (native Sichuan accent)

Bus driver: 尿尿了! (native Sichuan accent)

That was what woke us up, like raw recruits, at midnight in the cold Tibetan air as the bus made its first meal stop... And it ain't for supper.

And it would not have been so bad if it isn't for the festering smoke, thanks to local communal efforts... When one of them wakes up and lights up, the rest follows and yet they don't have the decency to open the windows even when there's the 'no smoking' sign right at the front of the bus staring straight into them. There are the toilets in rural China too... Definitely not for the weak-hearted. In one of the cess pits, I even saw a maggot wriggling in the crap like a desert nomad welcoming the first spring rain. Gosh, it's disgusting... Wes couldn't even muster enough courage to enter and Jax had to hold his kaipo for 3 days! Speaking of which, the bus broke down a couple of times and had to undergo repair on the move at different towns. And when it was finally fixed, the bus had to top up water more than it needed diesel...

So we were delayed by more than half a day but it was still a damn good experience if you ask me... Really tested our mettle and resolve but we vowed never to take such a ride again unless we really really have no choice. Haha...


All in all, Our highland Tibetan adventures had been really an eye-opener and definitely worth the S$1.7k (after much haggling and hardships). Given another chance, I will definitely go back to finish what we left out. And there will be high altitude sickness all over again... Damn...