In Lhasa Tibet - Part 2

Sunday, 19 October
Up early to catch the 8:40 a.m. T27 to Lhasa, Tibet.
We walk back to the train station from our hotel, trying to get some food along the way: manage to get some porc dumplings, oranges, and a dry bread
we make our way to the special Lhasa train boarding room, and wait with all the others. No Westerners though, except for us. We late realize that all the people in the room are boarding the hard sleeper or seat part, and we go to the soft sleeper. L still feeling sick, with a headache. At this point she's going through the ibuprofin pretty quickly
we settle into our new cozy cabin, home for the next 36 hours!



Our Cozing train cabin
there's a plug in the cabin, so we can plug in our laptop, watch movies, listen to music
we head to the dining car immediately. No one is there, and we eat the western breakfast, which is two eggs, toast and Nescafe. Not too bad, but there's a fly in the tea, the waiter just shakes his head and dismisses it. This sets the tone for the rest of the meals here: the waitress was dour and did not smile - our goal: get a smirk out of her, which I did, of course.
the meals on the dining car were... unappetizing. For lunch we tried the three dishes they offered: fish, chicken, and pork. The fish was boney and cold; the pork was 4 huge unappetizing balls, and cold, and the chicken was mixed with various vegetables, and had that strange taste you find in China, which is some kind of vinegary taste, crossed with expired ham, so every bite means you're wondering if this is off, or supposed to taste like that.
For dinner we eat noodles out of the box, which they sell. We eat these for the next day's lunch too, but by dinner I am hungry and go to the dining car for one last kick at it
I order two dishes: ma po and some chicken dish, both unappetizing, but I eat them
we spend our time playing cards, reading, listening to the R330, reading, staring out the window, reading, watching movies, and reading
All in all it's extremely relaxing and fun, and none of us gets cabin fever


Scenery from the Window of the Train

Monday, 20 October
Wake up after a good night's sleep
During the night it went from incredibly cold to very hot in our cabin; at some points I hear the train chugging slowly; I'm aware that we will be climbing during the night, and will awake somewhere in the mountains
during the night a high-pitched ringing begins, and I realize it's the heating system; I stick my rice pillow over my ears
upon awaking I look out the window to find snow everywhere; I'm in my Keen sandals; we have clothes for cold, but not snow
we all awake feeling a bit strangely and can feel the altitude as an indescribable and unidentifiable physical discomfort, mixed with shortness of breath
despite the height (at this point we are nearing 5,000 metres, which is over 17,000 feet!!!!!) we are on a wide flat grey/brown plane, with mountains all around us. We see donkeys and goats and some yaks roaming, and wonder what they eat, as there seems to be nothing but rock and snow.
The sun is shining brightly, and the sky is blue blue blue.
There may be oxygen being pumped into the train, but it's not sealed and pressurized as stated on the website, and we're not sure what we feel or not.
L has a headache and is not feeling great; kids are fine; I'm a bit weird, just strange, but nothing I can pinpoint
by evening, when it's time to get off, we are all sad to leave our little cabin: we had a great, relaxing time
the Train station in Lhasa is huge and new
As we leave the train L can barely walk: she's dizzy, despite the tylonal, and we have to hold her arm to steady her; kids and I are fine
we are met by our sign-waving guide. it's dark but we see the sign with my name on it
she puts the ceremonial white scarf around our necks, and hustles us off to a waiting car
we are all a bit tired and short of breath
we had spent the day drinking copious amounts of water, and peeing every 15 or 20 minutes. This is the best thing for altitude sickness
as we drive in we pass the lit-up Potola Palace, which takes our breath away - it's gorgeous!!!!! And it's all lit up
We notice a Chinese monument, looking quite new, at the base of the Potola Palace. It was obviously put there to show the Chinese dominance over the area. I point out the monument to my guide, and we understand the tension between the Chinese and the Tibetans
we do not know what to expect, but know it will be a 5 star hotel, but we are figuring 5 star in Lhasa is probably more like 2 stars (3 stars in Xi'an was grungy)
we are astounded to find an extremely nice hotel; our guide tells us it's the nicest one is lhasa, and we believe her



Our hotel room and view in Lhasa, Tibet


the lobby is cold, as they don't heat it; the desk girls are all in long white winter coats. the porter takes our bags to the rooms
the lobby is gorgeous, the halls gorgeous and long, the rooms stunning, with every type of amenity: computer, modern and brand new marble bath with large window looking into the hotel room for a bathroom wall, enabling one to bathe and look out at the mountains; robes, kettle, large tv, and gorgeously appointed.
we all hit the hay, tired and happy to be in this great place


Tuesday, 21 October
i am up early, as I did not really sleep: kept having to swallow, but could not
calmed myself and kept drinking water and peeing, which made sleep impossible.
breakfast in the hotel was good, despite the typical Chinese buffet, which is enough to put you off food all day: tray after tray of fried, boiled, and marinated veggies like mushrooms and celery and garlic and sour cabbage
luckily there is a toast station, whith honey and jams, some soft boiled eggs, warm Tang, tea and some steamed buns
we meet some ladies from Argentina and we discuss Beijing and Lhasa, the altitude (they give us some local herbal miracle pills), Katmandu, etc. They too feel the reign of Americ is over, and the world is now going to be dominated by China and India
our guide meets us like clockwork, and we head out straight to the Potola Palace, which looks extremely high, and which is 4,900 metres at the top. We then find out we are walking to the top! And all wonder if we can make it: L is unsteady and cannot breathe, her headache being helped by Ibuprofin; we 3 are short of breath, and tired, but feel fine otherwise.
We begin our ascent to the top of the palace. It's slow going at first, and L is not certain she can make it. I actually begin to feel good

Portola Palace (home of the Dalai Lama) - standing in Front





Making our way to the top of the Palace

We all meet up near the top, L included. We get water and use the toilet, which is the smelliest to date, with a scary hole and a wire hanging from the ceing to susuped oneself over the hole. Thankfully we only have to pee
The palace is very interesting, and we make it to the top, including L! The view is amazing.
We tour the top, our guide explaining and showing us the Dalai Lama's sleeping quarters; she tells us photos of the Dalai Lama have been outlawed, even in the Palace - people are not allowed to have photos of him (that's the 14 Dalai Lama, the current one; but people may be allowed to have photos of previous Dalais.
our guide also tells us that the money people leave as offering ( and there's much of it) is taken by Chinese officials and used for their own benefit; she is also quite discreet when speaking, as she says sometimes Chinese officials dress in monk robes and walk around, listening to what the guides are saying. Luckily our guide's accent is so strong there is no chance of anyone, including us, understanding her, so she's safe.
at one point the water catches up with me, and I have to pee. we are in the middle of our tour, and not sure where the toilet is, I begin to hunt for one; there are many people in the palace, and many tibetans, all praying to various dalai lamas, offering monehy, etc. We see many different types of people, some with very long black hair and dark skin. Our guide informs me they are nomads. they have a bit of an indigenous people's quality to them, with bright wool woven into their hair, and dark chiseled features
I find the toilet and catch up to our tour, which is almost ending. Caleb then has to go, and he takes off, but somehow he's able to walk right by the stench of the toilet and go all the way down to the bottom, which we are not aware of.
we then spend the next half hour searching for Caleb (a tradition at most cities at one poiht or another)
since he is not above, he must be below, and the guide and I walk down to find him; L and A think he may still be above and decide to wait, despite the fact that he went down before us, and it's impossible to go back without passing us on the way.
the guide asks around and a vendor has seen him go by; she finds him and L & A finally give up and we all rconvene at the bottom of the palace, and head for lunch.
our guide wants to take us to a big restaurant, but we ask her to take us to a local place, al place where she eats, so we go for noodles at her local hang-out. small with young Tibetans, we have the only thing they serve: noodles with Yak meat in a soup. Very tasty. There are two chinese people there, sitting near us, and our guide motions to them, telling us not to talk about anything, as they may be listening
we leave there and walk around the town, which is a large market for the most part, with all kinds of local and tourist stalls all around the area
there is a lot of really cool stuff, but we are all tired and do not have the energy to buy anything or bargain, so we look
there are stalls selling Yak butter and Yak meat, french fried potatoes, and lots and lots and lots of Tibetan beads and prayer wheels and chachkas and clothes. We go into one or two antique stores, and our guide makes a large point of showing us the difference between cheap chinese knock-offs and real tibetan antiques. But the real ones are expensive: 300 bucks for a small (but gorgeous) antique bowl covered in semi-precious stones





Shots aroung Lhasa - the first day out


tired we sit at a road-side tea stand, and have some sweet milk tea. We go to one more temple, which is the lcoal one and right in town, and then head to the hotel
Oh yeah, it's Caleb's birthday!!! We promise him more fun an frivolity on the way, as there's not much of it in Lhasa. But we do manage to go to that big restaurant for dinner, and they do have yak burgers with fries, and chocoloate cake! We order lots of food and cannot eat much of because of the altitude, but it's a fun and memorable day for all of us, and none of us will forget being in Lhasa for C's 13th b-day.
the second I walk into the hotel I'm chilled, and hop into bed. we all get cozy in our robes, and start to jerry-rig a movie screen with external speakers from the room's computer, and proceed to watch Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.
I realize that anytime there is a representation of supreme power in movies, that power is ALWAYS negative and dangerous, thus propelling the myth and fear about the power within and looking within.
that night I am up all night with chills and sweats, trying to stabalize my body. I take a tylenol and sleep for a bit.

Mark