Tibet

A trip to Tibet is a lifetime experience. It takes about a year of meticulous planning, not only to decide the places to visit but the process of getting permits for different parts of Tibet is also lengthy. But once the formalities are completed and lands in the country, it’s no doubt a place with lots of promises and interests. We formed a group of 13 and worked with a travel agent in China to finalize our itinerary for three weeks. We arrived at Xining by air, took the train to Lhasa over the highest altitude railroad, visited several Monasteries, travelled Everest base camp from Chinese side, explored the area of Kailash and Mansarovar in those three weeks. While we rented a bus for our journey Lhasa to Lhasa, we stopped at places of remote areas to take breathtaking photos, enjoy the profound beauty of nature that perhaps only exists in that part of the world.

While we stayed in Xining for one day to acclimatize the altitude, visited Qinghai Lake which is about three hours from the town by a rented bus. The lake is of salt water, perhaps a salt deposit at the bottom of the lake makes the water salty. On the way to the lake, we saw mountain peaks, sometimes laden with snow. Then halfway on the journey we saw nomads with their yaks and sheep. The area of each nomad family is marked with fenced off boundaries. Read more

We had our lunch at a roadside restaurant, tried yak meat with rice. After lunch I rented a bicycle (60 Yuan) for 1 hour and 40 min and travelled around the lake. There are many statues of different gods around the lake. One Buddha statue is situated in the water of the lake.

Next day we left the hotel at 12 noon for Xining railway station. The rail system is very well organized, huge signboards with well-marked platform numbers and directions.

The train journey from Xining to Lhasa is an unforgettable one. It departed at 2:01pm from Xining and arrived Lhasa next day at 11:14am. During its course, it travels one of the most difficult terrains in the world, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, featuring amazing natural scenery. Xining is located at 2200m altitude while Lhasa is at 3650m, the train travels 1956km from Xining to Lhasa and reaches the world’s highest railway station Tang gula located 5068m above sea level. It reaches this height around 12 to 1 am at night and oxygen is sprayed inside the cabins through tubes for passengers. Around 7am in the morning, it reaches Nagqu railway station at 4500m altitude. Along its path, after Golmud station, the train starts its steep climb up to the heights of the Tibetan plateau, zigzags 1142km across the Kunlun and Tang gula mountain ranges. 550km of this length is built on frozen earth, the longest of any of the plateau railways on Earth. The railway line is designed for 100 km/hr. in frozen earth and 120 km/hr. on non-frozen earth. Construction of the Golmud- Lhasa section commenced on Jun 29, 2001, and test runs were on Jul 1, 2006.

On arrival at Lhasa railway station, we went through police verification for necessary permits and then met our local guide Pendron at the bus station. She is a local Tibetan lady speaks good English and works as a guide for foreigners visiting Tibet. Interestingly we found a Nepalese restaurant close to our hotel who served Indian food for our dinner.

Next day we gathered at the lobby at 9:30am to walk for the Jokhang Temple. It is located at the center of old Lhasa, built in Tang Dynasty (618 – 907). The Tang dynasty was characterized by economic prosperity and great progress in politics. During this time, China was considered the cultural and political center of the world. King Songtsem Gampo (617 – 650, the 33rd king of Tibet) was the leader of the Tubo (Tibetan) Kingdom. He actively promoted Buddhism in that region, and under his reign, Tibet achieved great progress in social innovation and realized the value of Tibetan culture. To promote friendly relationships with the neighboring countries, he successfully married Princess Bhrikuti of Nepal and Princess Wen Cheng of the Tang Dynasty. When the two wives arrived there, each brought a statue of Jowo Sakyamuni. During this time, most people lived in tents, though there were a few palaces. To house the Buddha brought by Princess Wen Cheng, King Songtsem Gampo constructed the Little Jokhang. Jealous of her, Princess Bhrikuti asked Gampo to build a Jokhang for her as well. Therefore in 647 the giant complex (25,100 square meters) was built. In the central hall on the first floor, sits the alloy cast statue of the twelve-year-old Sakyamuni, brought in by princess Wen Cheng. At that age, he was still a prince, and the statue was heavily decorated with gold and precious stones. The temple is also listed by the state council as one unit of the important cultural relics to be specially protected.

From here we visited Ani Tsamkhang Nunnery which is located at the southeast of the Jokhang temple. Songsten Gampo used to meditate at a natural cave in this location and recited prayers to reduce the danger of flooding by the Lhasa River. Thus, the nunnery was named Tsamkhung which means the meditation cave. In the fifteenth century, Kujor Tokden, a close disciple of Tsongkhapa, started to establish the nunnery. During the beginning of the twentieth century, the venerable Lama Pabongka and Tampa Choedrak, the ninetieth throne holder of Ganden Monastery, enlarged the nunnery to its present size. The youngest nuns are sixteen. The young women live on the ground floor and the older people live upstairs. The nuns are poor, dependent on alms given for their prayers, and on manufacturing goods for sale. Their work includes sewing, weaving, and making handicrafts. They also have a small workshop where they print religious texts. The nuns also run an inexpensive outdoor restaurant, which is busy at lunch time, serving bowls of noodles and dumplings.

Next day after breakfast we travelled for 20 minutes by bus to Drepung Monstery. It is one of the six largest monasteries of the Gelugpa School (Tibetan Buddhism) and is located at the foot of the West Valley Mountain (Gyephel-Ou-Tse), about 10 km from Lhasa. It was built in 1416 by Jamyang-Choje-Tashi-Palden, a disciple of Tsongkhapa. Over ten thousand monks resided there before liberation, making it the largest monastery in Tibet. It has six main temples: Ganden Phodrang, Tsochen, Ngakpa, Losaling, Gomang and Dyeyang. The main relics in these temples are the image of Maitreya, Yamantaka, Mitrukpa, Sutra-Kangyur with golden letters, thangkas silk scrolls which are very precious and are rarely seen in the world, various gilded statures, thangkas, Buddhist scriptures and countless other cultural relics. There are three monastic colleges for the study of philosophy and one for the practice of Tantric Buddhism. The main textbooks used in the three philosophical colleges, were written by Tsongkhapa and his two chief disciples. Also used are Panchen Sudak’s documentary, documentary records of Gomang-Qunkeen-Mjemyang-Shipe and the fifth Dalai Lama’s documentary records. The monastery covers an area of over 200 thousand square meters. Read more

After Drepung Monastery, we travelled to Sera Monastery in the afternoon. Sera Monastery was founded by Jamchen Choje Shakya Yesh who was a disciple of Tsongkhapa in 1419. Sera monastery has an Assembly Hall, three colleges, and thirty-three houses. The monastery’s construction covers an area of 114,964 square meters. It is the second biggest monastery of Tibet. Located at the foot of Tatipu Hill in the northern suburb of Lhasa City, Sera Monastery is one of three famous monasteries in the city, along with the Drepung Monastery and the Ganden Monastery. It is dedicated to the Gelugpa or Yellow Hat Sect, a branch of Tibetan Buddhism, founded by Tsong Khapa. Jamchen Chojey, one of Tsong Khapa's disciples built it in 1419 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The monastery was named Sera which means wild rose in the Tibetan language, because the hill behind it was covered with wild roses in bloom when it was built.

The monastery is magnificent and covers an area of 114,946 square meters (28 acres). Its main buildings are the Coqen Hall, Zhacang (college) and Kamcun (dormitory). Scriptures written in gold powder, fine statues, scent cloth and unparalleled murals can be found in these halls. Colorful debates on Buddhist doctrines are held here and these employ a style distinctive from those at Lhasa's other famous monasteries.

Here we witnessed a rare event – debating among the Lamas of the monastery. The Gelugpa or Yellow Hat Sect of Tibetan Buddhism studies Buddhist doctrines using a step-by-step process. As a part of their study, lamas must participate in debates to further their comprehension and proceed to more advanced levels of study. The debating traditions in the Sera Monastery are unique among the three famous monasteries in Lhasa. Lamas usually have debates in the special debating field from 3 p.m., Monday to Friday. The debates usually last for about an hour and a half. In a battle of words, they supplement their efforts by using a variety of gestures including clapping their hands, pushing their partners for an answer, or plucking their prayer beads to win the virtue of the Buddha. For a clear view of this unique event, an early arrival is recommended.

Next day after breakfast we visited Potala Palace. Each visitor has an allotted time slot to visit the palace to ensure that every visitor can enjoy the palace before it closes. The tickets mention the entry and exit times and they must be followed. We had 2.5 hours in total- out of which only 50 minutes were for the inside of the palace. Photography or video recordings are not permitted inside the palace.

The palace was the residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India during the 1959 Chinese invasion. It is now a museum and World Heritage Site. The palace is named after Mount Potalaka, the mythical abode of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. It was built at the time of Songsten Gampo in the 7th century. The 5th Dalai Lama started its reconstruction in 1645 after one of his spiritual advisors, Konchog Chophel (died 1646), pointed out that the site was ideal as a seat of government, situated as it is between Drepung and Sera monasteries and the old city of Lhasa. The main construction is divided into two sections: the white palace and the red palaces. It has thirteen stories with 115.7m height and mainly consists of living quarters, chapels, tomb stupa chapels, and monk dormitories.

Next day we left Lhasa at 9am by bus for Gyantse. The bus journey went through some breathtaking scenery. We stopped in four places on the way, mostly on the side of Yamdrok Lake. It’s a freshwater lake but the color of the lake water is just aquamarine, on the backdrop of white glaciers. Tibetans do not fish, bathe or go swimming in holy lakes. This is because water burials are common practice in Tibet, special attention must be given while travelling in Tibet. We also saw wild antelopes but could not take pictures. At one place we saw huge Tibetan Mastiff dogs, so adorable, we got some pictures with the dogs at a cost of 10 RMB, a primary way locals benefit from tourism. After spending almost, the whole day in the bus, we arrived at Hotel Yeti at 7pm. It is a nice compact hotel owned by Nepalese people. The next morning, we had puri and potato curry for the breakfast.

Next day morning at 9am left the hotel and travelled 20 minutes by bus to Gyantse Monstery (Kumbum Stupa). It is a 32m high chörten, with its white layers trimmed with decorative stripes and crown like golden dome. The inside is divided into six floors, each floor has its own chapels. Then we travelled to Shalu Monastery. We arrived around 1pm, had a basic lunch and spent two hours in the monastery. The monastery of Shalu, approximately 40 kilometers from Shigatse, was founded in 1040 A.D. by Chetsun Sherab Jungne. At the suggestion of Buton Rinchen Drub (1290-1364), the monastery was expanded and elaborately decorated by Kunzang Dragpa Gyaltsen in the early 14th century.

Then we went to Tashilhunpo monastery. It is one of the Six Big Monasteries of Gelugpa (or Yellow Hat Sect) in Tibet. Also called the Heap of Glory, it is located at the foot of Drolmari (Tara's Mountain), Shigatse. Founded by the First Dalai Lama in 1447, the monastery's structure was expanded by the Fourth and successive Panchen Lamas. Covering an area of nearly 300,000 square meters (3,229,279 sq. ft.), the main structures found here are the Maitreya Chapel, the Panchen Lama's Palace and the Kelsang Temple. Tashilhunpo is the seat of the Panchen Lama since the Fourth Panchen Lama took charge in Tashilhunpo Monastery, and there are now nearly 800 lamas. Here we saw monks chanting; they used drums and different musical instruments.

We left hotel Gesar next day at 8:45am; traveling towards Saga where our destination was Sakya Monastery. It was about a three-hour bus drive. This monastery has a long history with India. When Bakhtiar Khiljee attacked Bengal in 12th century, Buddhist monks moved many scriptures (Puthi) to this monastery. It also has the statue of Tara that Atisha Dipankar brought from Bengal. Here we saw few scriptures written in Devnagari/Bengali fonts, perhaps a few hundred years old.

We left the monastery at 5pm for Everest Hotel, Shegar. It is a journey of steep rise in elevation. At some point we crossed 17218 ft with rugged scenery on both sides. Here is the sign of a post that says ‘Entering Everest Base Camp National Park’. After about half an hour we got a view of Everest peak though it was almost covered with white clouds and hazy in bare eyes. We arrived hotel Qomolangma (Everest) at 8pm and had dinner with eggplant and rice. Read more

Next day we left hotel Qomolangma at 9:30am for Rongbuk, the core area of the Qomolangma National Nature Reserve, the Tibet side North Everest Base Camp. The drive was through high altitude with desert land but well-maintained curved road along the mountains. We reached a spot at around 16000 ft where we could see the peaks Lhotse, Everest and Shishapangma from left to right. We arrived Rongbuk at 2:30pm, there is a walking trail of 4km that goes from here for a better view of Everest. But one must have the climbing permit beyond that point. The rooms at Rongbuk are very basic in nature and on sharing basis. We shared the room with others in our group, there was not much space in the room after four beds are laid. The common toilet is located outside in an open area with four sidewalls, it was filthy and dark; a powerful flashlight is a must at night. Our location altitude was 16258 ft, and it had the dinner vegetable, thukpa. We used sleeping bags at night but could not sleep well due to the cold and the wind.

We had the full view of Mount Everest at sunrise next day at 7am. However, the sky didn’t stay clean for a long time, soon white clouds covered the peak. We didn’t miss the opportunity to take a few photos, but soon we had to come back to the kitchen. The weather outside was not very friendly, high wind with chill. We had our basic breakfast (eggs and pancakes) at the kitchen, and then we started for saga enroute to Peiku Tso lake. We reached the lake at 5pm and then arrived at the West Post Hotel at 9pm. After changing, went for dinner and had rice and fish at a Chinese restaurant. The fish was a silver carp from Brahmaputra.

Left Saga for Lake Manasarovar after breakfast. The road is full of Rocky Mountains and wild animals. We saw Khang which is smaller than horse but larger than a pony. They live in the wild with Himalayan Antelopes. We also saw antelopes, which were grey in color and lived on small bushes, moss that grew on dry mountains. There are also small villages where nomads live with their sheeps and yaks. We had the first view of Manasarovar at around 6:15pm; it is located at an altitude of 15052 ft; few nomad families were selling some local stuff by the side of the lake including dry fish from the lake. Soon we arrived at the rest house where we had bookings. However, it did not look good to us, power supply was very poor, shared accommodations and the toilets are about few minutes’ walk outside. We decided to spend the night at Darchen where a better hotel was available; it is about 40 minutes’ drive from the lake.

Next day we had a trip around the lake Manasarovar in an Eco-tour bus. Though the name of the bus is Eco; the condition is very basic with broken seats and lack of maintenance. Total time of the trip was three hours; started around 9:30am along the bumpy nonmetallic road.

We saw the source of Brahmaputra though it was dry at that time. There was also an area, which is fenced from public. This area is for birds to breed, we saw bar-headed goose, ruddy shelduck with their nests and chicks. We did not stop here, thinking not to disturb their natural habitat. We arrived the only restaurant at Manasarovar where the trip is completed. Here we had our lunch and after lunch went to the lake at knee-height depth. The bottom of the lake is full of stones and mud, sometimes slippery. From there I looked at Kailash peak, it was a lifetime experience. Around the sunset, we left the lake and returned to hotel Himalaya Kailash at Darchen. It is a very good hotel with most of the modern amenities though the cost is on the higher side.

Breakfast at Hotel Himalaya is very much Tibetan in nature, full of different vegetables and rice cooked in the Tibetan way. After breakfast we took a bus that dropped us off at a place where we began our journey for Dirapuk, the first halt for the kora around Kailash. The place is about 4km from the hotel where the Yamdwar is located. There is a saying that once you cross the Yamdwar, don’t look back. The walk to Dirapuk is not tough, we started walking from Yamdwar at 12:15pm and reached the hotel Shishapangma at 4:30pm. Many of us rode on the horseback. I walked few kilometers to the temporary tent where we had lunch and then rode on the horse. It was very cold once the sun goes little west and at the same time, we had snowfall. After reaching the hotel we had some hot tea that really refreshed all of us. The rooms are 4 bed occupancy, toilets are outside the hotel in open land. Flashlights are necessary for going out at night. We met a group of 79 pilgrims from India who occupied the entire first floor of the two storied hotel. The group had their own cook who prepared Khichuri and papadbhaja for all including our group.

In the evening our group had a closed-door meeting with our tour guide Pendon and local guide Tobla about our risk on continuing the kora for next day. Tobla mentioned that the road is still full of slippery ice at the Dolma La pass which is at 18490 ft and there are every possibility people will fall, may even fall into the pits, there is actually no road but a narrow space to pass. It would not be possible for many of our group members to cross that pass. Most of us decided to stay back. Eventually, Pendon managed to get rooms for us at hotel Himalaya at Darchen which was not booked as we thought to complete the Kora.

Since most of us are not going for Kora, we decided to go straight to Mount Kailash which is known as Charansparasha. It is actually walking straight towards mount Kailash, climbing through a glacier. It provided us stunning view of the peak, we went up to an altitude of 17284 ft, we all more or less felt the effect of oxygen deficiency over there. We didn’t proceed further, came back to the hotel. Our porters were ready to come down, however, and the Indian group prepared dahlia for breakfast. We all had dahlia for breakfast and then started to come down. We arrived at the hotel Himalaya at 4pm, went for dinner at Yokohama restaurant and some shopping around the small town.

We had a rest day at the hotel next day waiting for the people who went to complete the Kora. They came back around noon, shared their experience; the trail was slippery after the peak of Dolma La on the downhill side. We had both lunch and dinner at Yokohama restaurant, the lady cooked dal, eggplant curry in the Indian way with Indian spices and the taste was amazing. We didn’t expect such food at Darchen, we all had a great time.

It is a Tibet travel diary in photography. We travelled the place in a group of 13 for three weeks and covered many famous monasteries, Everest Base Camp at Rongbuk and finally Kailash-Manasarovar. Our journey started from Xining, took the highest altitude train to Lhasa. Then travelled few remote places on the earth, visited nomads in most difficult terrains that remain frozen in most part of the year. Our highest point on the hiking trail was 17284 ft, spent nights at very basic facilities under cold and lack of oxygen. However, all of us were able to keep ourselves healthy with a well-planned itinerary for acclimatization. Enjoyed exotic Tibetan food like Tsampa, Thukpa which are generally not available in our known social life.

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