The Roof of the World

Setting out

2009-02-19T02:52:00.000-08:00

Leaving our city of origin, Nanjing, on a bright winter day

A dusty landscape greeted us the further inland we went

The Chinese hard sleeper train, economic and comfortable.

The standard meal for sale on every Chinese train.

Hour by hour the terrain changes, sometimes very quickly.

After 25 hours we begin to approach Xining

On the platform in Xining, a city surrounded by sizable mountains. Elevation about 2300m, 2 kilometers higher than sea-level Nanjing.

The first sign we were meeting Tibetan culture - Tibetan transcriptions of Chinese signs. Notice which language is printed the largest!

Leaving the Xining train platform.

Our first glimpse of the local Xining street scene. There were many different ethnic groups mixed together, a truly diverse Chinese city. Races include the Han Chinese, the Hui minority, Tibetans from two different regions, Mongols, and Xinjiang natives from the west.

Our hostel, on the 15th floor. Lete International Youth Hostel.

Our view of Xining.

What better way to cap off a 25 hour train ride than to sample the local donkey? The donkey was in fact much more delicious than the dog.

Sunset over Xining.

The Qinghai-Tibet Railway

2009-02-19T02:00:00.000-08:00

At the Xining train station, we met our first up-close Tibetans heading home for the upcoming Tibetan New Year. (The Tibetan is the one on the right of course!)

Taking this railroad between Lhasa and Xining was one of the absolute highlights of the trip. It is hailed as the highest-altitude train in the world.

The train leaves Xining at night, so as to hide those untidy nuclear testing grounds in the nearby countryside.

Daybreak falls over the Tibetan plateau, elevation about 4000m.

One quickly realizes Tibet is simply all.. mountains.

And plenty of snow in some areas.

There are some wide plains as well.

It took a lot of searching, but there are indeed blue skies in China!

Some small friends were looking for distraction on such a long train ride (another 25 hours!).

Eventually dusk started to settle in.

The sun made its descent behind the ever-present hills in the distance.

Destination: Lhasa train station

Around Lhasa

2009-02-19T01:30:00.000-08:00

Lhasa is the cultural capital of Tibet. The city's elevation is 3650m (12,000 feet).

Barkhor Square - the home of Tibetan Buddhist's most holy site, the Jokhang Temple.

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims arrive each year to worship at the temple, many prostrating themselves on the ground while reciting mantras.

Our views from the roof of Jokhang.

As seen from in front:

The former home of the Dalai Lama in the distance, Potala Palace.

Even local personnel take in the beautiful view.

All day long people walk in a clockwise circle around the temple to perform a holy circuit, called a kora.

Due to riots last year, China stepped up security all of the city. Riot police like the one on this roof stand guard over the whole city.

;

Some candid shots of pilgrims:

Don't miss the local cuisine - yak meat. Order it fresh, by the half carcass..

Or the full carcass.

At such high elevation, there isn't as much atmosphere to shield the blazing sun.

We found some time to visit the outlying 'river,' mostly dry during the winter months.

The Chinese section of town looks very.. Chinese.

On a separate day we toured the Potala.

Lhasa as seen from above. The haze over the city is not pollution, in fact, but incense from the thousands of daily devotions.

When it comes to carrying children, some lengths of cloth cord is enough to do the trick.

At the base of the palace are a line of large prayer wheels. Spin each one to offer the prayer text embossed on its surface.

As expected, they do have Tibetan Terriers in Tibet.

Cross terrain

2009-02-19T01:00:00.000-08:00

We spent a day on the road to Gyantse, taking in some beautiful mountain sites.

The typical whitewashed countryside house whizzed by our Land Cruiser.

Within a few hours we were climbing up to about 4000m elevation.

Destination of the day: Yam-drok Lake, one of the highest lakes in the world at 4400 meters.

The views of nearby snow-capped mountains are breathtaking.

Very few friends were out and about that day. We tried to strike up conversation with this one, but he appeared too lost in reflection to be of any diversion.

We broke from the lake to head up into the mountains even further.

Winding our way back down we again found some beautiful reservoirs.

Gyantse - Shigatse - Sakya

2009-02-18T05:40:00.000-08:00

Gyantse - A small but beautiful countryside town

Standing on the large stupa of the main monastery.

Children are never shy here.

Wandering along the local alleyways.

Is that really (*sniff*) what it smells like it is?

Then on to Shigatse - former capital of Tibet

The main monastery boasts 600 current monks.

Prayer flags waving in the outlying terrain.

Finally Sakya - another important spiritual center of Tibet.

Children caring for children - a ten year old has his 4-month brother strapped to his back on a chilly day.

A peek over the roof at a local house.

The typical local restaurant - your choice of raw yak meat jam, yak meat dumplings, or noodles, with or without yak meat.

The road to the peak

2009-02-18T05:00:00.000-08:00

Getting to Mt. Everest proved just as interesting a process as the destination itself.

The gate to Everest Nature Preserve, sitting at a pass about 4500 meters elevation.

We caught a first glimpse of the peak of Everest from afar.

Some interested locals stopped by to say hello. Our travel companion on the left isn't a tall person to begin with, by any means.

This is the only place you can buy tickets into the Everest National Park.

It sits alongside the only street in this town - New Tingri.

The town itself is already at high elevation - 4400m. The sun blazes bright without the usual amount of atmosphere overhead.

This was the most comfortable 'hotel' we could find. There was a stove providing heat to the common room.

This place was replete with a typical common washroom ('wash' figuratively, since there was no running water we could find in the building whatsoever)

For your personal accommodations, extra layers are recommended!

Mt. Everest Base Camp

2009-02-18T01:20:00.000-08:00

We departed early and traveled a few hundred kilometers over bumpy terrain, but it was worth it.

A mystical morning watching dawn break over the highest peak in the world.

With our rock-throwing friend in perspective, there is still a good ways to go to base camp.

Sun starts to reach the distant slopes.

We made our approach in our Land Cruiser up the rocky valleys, the only passable driveway to Everest on the Tibetan side.

The last man-made structure to pass before Base Camp, Rongphu Monastery, the highest elevation monastery in the world.

The views of Everest from here are spectacular.

The end of the line: the view from Everest Base Camp. No further progress allowed without climber's permits.

Climbing 10 meters high never felt so difficult..

Everest Base Camp #1, in all it's glory. There may have been an army representative inside one of those metal shacks, but all was quiet here on a clear January morning.

The closest I'll probably ever be to the Everest's peak. Probably..

It was so much drier than I imagined it would be 17,500 feet (5400m) high in January.

Then came time to say goodbye. We drove back to the point where we watched sunrise, greeting a full view of the Himalayas in daytime.

An unforgettable sight.

On the outskirts

2009-02-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

On our last day of travel we left the larger town of Shigatse, setting out into the dusty countryside.

Destination: A remote village some hundred kilometers away.

The village did boast a local monastery, staffed with 12 monks who were from the outlying areas.

We made a visit to one of the local families.

Inside are sparse but functional accommodations.
I still don't know how they built a dirt floor on the second story.

Outside in the courtyard children liven up the afternoon.

Out by the neighbors' house: don't throw it away just because the yaks don't want it!
Because timber is always scarce, locals dry manure out on the walls and then fire it up for heating and cooking.

On the winding road back to Lhasa, everyone was detained by several standard checkpoints.

This monk carries not only a heavy spiritual load.

By the end of the week, we all felt pretty much the same way as our guide.

Every single peak in Tibet is unique. One lifetime could never exhaust the potentialities.

I look forward to the next encounter.