Arrival in Nepal - October 26

Artemis looking over the canyon at the border crossing

The Tibetian border did not open until 10am and we were only about 5 km away however we still arose early as we were told there will be a line-up and a rush to get through.


Line-up of trucks goes on forever

After breakfast our driver drove us down the crowded canyon about 4 km. but then had to dump us out as there was traffic blocking the way up and down and he had no choice but to turn around before getting completely stuck. Artune, our guide walked with us to the Tibetian border crossing where many other tourists and guides waited for the doors to open.

While waiting Mark struck up a conversation with an older man who suddenly appeared on his mountain bike.

He was saddled up with all the necessary gear and we could hardly believe that he had ventured on that crazy canyon road by bike. We found out that he had not only traversed from Lhasa but from Germany, he had biked his way through up to Mongolia, down through China, into Tibet and was now heading into Nepal. He seemed unfazed by his adventure but the rest of the tourists and us were amazed.

The border finally opened at 10:20 (the Chinese officials informed the anxiously waiting groups that they had complete some cleaning before opening the doors). It was incredible to us that a border crossing is not open 24 hours. Trucks parked along the roadway in both directions of the border have to sometimes wait sometime 2-3 days or more before actually getting through.

Luckily for us we had a very aggressive and well organized guide. She managed to push us up to the front and get us through with little problem. We bid her good-bye at that point, and turned to the flock of young men waiting to assist all the confused tourists to the Nepalese border and beyond.

We were convinced by one young fellow who then led us to the Nepalese border to obtain our Visas. Luckily we had brought along a number of passport photos which we presented and were quickly issued entry. At the point we were informed that we would have to walk 2km to where the taxi was located. It was amazing the degree of recovery once at this lower altitude and although we were not at our healthiest we all managed to strap into back pack mode and proceed down the windy steep road.






Once we were walking we realized why walking was the only choice. Trucks were parked on every inch of the roadway blocking all traffic completely. We had to weave our way between trucks and people along the narrow canyon roadway. We tried to avoid having to walk anywhere on the edge of the canyon but at one point when we came to a waterfall flowing over the roadway into the canyon at least at ankle depth and we were presented with a rickety bridge crossing, there was not much choice.
I choose walking through the water. The others ventured across the bridge quickly crossing and not looking below at the daunting 30m or so drop.


Weaving between the trucks

It was amazing to see people living on the steep edges of the canyon who serviced the truckers and tourists. Living a mountain goat like existence these people had small stores fronts jutting out into the side of the road while their living quarters dangled over the edge of the cliff on stilts.


At one point we saw three could not have been more than 2 year old sitting alone about a foot from the edge of this canyon drop playing. I could barely look. Although being the cautious western that I am I looked around for parents or for any concerned locals. Not a one.

The young man escorting us dashed up ahead as soon as he was able to get any opening, he rode a motorbike. Then he would suddenly appear again, retrieve one of our backpacks and head back down. At one point Caleb disappeared down the hill on the back of the motorbike and then Artemis. That was definitely a hi light for them. I on the other hand had to quickly release any fears and just go with the flow.



There are some accidents I guess

We arrived to a small 4 door car boasting as our taxi. We and our four bags all squeezed in and headed towards Khatmandu. The road in Nepal was somewhat better, meaning paved in most areas. I think after the Tibet road experience not much will come close. The ride was long twisting through the mountainside. We could see Tibet as one side of the canyon is Tibet and the other Nepal.


Buying snacks along the way

We stopped for our first Dal Bhat meal at a roadside restaurant. Dal Bhat is a large tray of an assortment of curries either Vegie or Meat. We opted for veggie. With your dollop of rice and using your right hand, you scoop up the curries and plop them into your mouth. Dal Bhat is one price, eat all you want. The continually return with refills of any of the curries or rice. Washing this down with beer we were totally satisfied. Caleb and Artemis try and eat anything now and when the food is good, eat a lot of it.

We arrived in Khatmandu mid afternoon. Entering the city we were struck with chaotic traffic, cows and goats wandering along the roadsides, people trudging through the dusty roads in flip flops and the incessant noise of honking. The Nepalese people are unique. They are a mixture of Indian, Tibetian and Chinese. Some people look obviously Indian or Chinese or Tibetian while many others are mixtures of all three.
Lianna

On the Road to Nepal - Part 4

Loading up in our Toyota for the trip to Nepal


Fueling up at the local Tibetian gas station

The car is a cream Toyota Land Cruiser, pretty much identical to every other Land Cruiser in Lhasa, of which there were plenty.
We loaded up, Lianna was moderately better with the drugs, and happy to be leaving for lower elevation, despite the fact that it will take us 2 days to get there.
The land cruiser is comfortable: Mark and driver up front, then Lianna and either Artemis or Caleb, and then the guide. The last kid would be in the way back, where there was s bench and our baggage. Quie fun and comfy, especially since there were no seatbelts.

We were driking water like crazy which meant pissing like crazy. Every half hour at the very least, and usually more like 3 times an hour. On the first pee stop just out of the city of Lhasa, there were two ladies with blankets laid out and cool stuff for sale, so we bought some, and so it went. We drove a long day though, and did not arrive in Shigatse until 6-ish. Our hotel was ample, but compared to the previous one, which was stunning, it was a let down.


Stopping for lunch at a roadside restaurant



Artune(our guide) and the driver taking a break while we take a pee

For dinner went to a good local place that spoke English, was clean and had a menu with variety. We had curries and rice. After we ordered, a couple of white guys began singing happy birthday. We chirpped in. He offered us some of the cake, which we kindly accepted, as it looked great. There was a cherry tomato on the top of it too!

Then back to the hotel and early bed for an early rise, as we had a rough day ahead -luckily, we did not know how rough. Hehehehehehe.

Friday,
Up early and breakfast at hotel at 8:00 a.m. Fresh fried eggs, fried potatoes for the first time in a long time, some toast, and milky coffee. Guides eat with us, and we are on the way by 8:30 a.m.

The road starts off easilty enough, paved and flat. Most of Tibet has been like this: paved flat roads solidly placed in a large sweeping valley. The landscape is grey/brown; buildings come right up from the earth, as they are made of the same clay as the ground, with farmers using the earth to make bricks for their houses. So wherever there is a little village, the houses match the colour of the earth.





We pass farming communities in the middle of nowhere, far far far from each other, and from any city or town. Some have electrical wires; many use these funky tractors which are a cross between a sewing machine and a hot-rod lawn mower. With these they climb the steepest road, pulling a trailer usually packed with items and people. I don't know how they get supplies, but my hunch is a supply truck must service this road, as it's the only road, and all of the towns we can see are off of it.



On the way we pass:
-Mt Everest! We can see it perfectly from the road at multiple points. It is stunning as it rises above even the surrounding stunning mountains.


-herds of sheep, goats, yaks and cows


-nomadic people packing their yaks and moving on


-farmers beating their wheat crop, separating the wheat from the chaff
-road crews living on the edge of the road, working by hand, without the use of any type of machine
-some cars also going between Nepal and Tibet, transport trucks, small towns with many people.




We stop for lunch at a guest house at the end of some small town. The guest house is basic, but the restaurant cozy, with other westerners and their guides. There is a large dung fire in the middle of the room heating water and heating the room. Around the edges are comfy sofas covered in colourful thick blankets, and the ceiling is painted.


These westerners are not as friendly as others - usually we start talking immediately, but one group is Russian, and they are stand-offish, and the other is French; it takes them a while to warm up but they eventually do - one guy is cursing the fact that he has not received his food while others eat. I respond to him in French, and he makes his way over and we chat in English, talking about Nepal and Kathmandu. We end up meeting this guy over and over, and enjoy their company.

We have some sheep bones and cut the meet away with a knife - this is an appetizer, given to anyone. We have some yak meat and tatoes, as per usual. As we're eating a large group of Slavs from Slovenia show up. They are staying in the guest house, with their outdoor toilet comprised of a slit in the concrete and a pile of shit below - and not too far below either. There is a little metal half-door. That is the only toilet.

Artemis and Caleb befriend a kitten. The owner tells her she can take it home if she wants. She almost does!




Going through a pass over 5000m, its cold!

We take some photos of Everest and surrounding mountains, get some shots of some local kids, and are on our way. The guide tells us we can't have someone in the back, as they check around here - although there won't be any army checks like the previous day. She also says we have 108 Kms of bumpy road ahead - and she wasn't kidding.

Our driver wears white gloves no matter what

The road immediately turns to gravel. This goes on for hours. We go over two passes, each over 5,000 metres, go through one river; take a short cut down a mountain, as the winding road seems too long and finally we get to a town. The town is built on a sheer cliff which plunges probably 1000 metres straight down. There is one small road, and the houses are situated on it, with most of their structure on the cliff. One wrong move off the road, and you are gone over. The road is busy and full, with many people walking around. Kids play by the cliff, nonchalantly sitting on the edge. It's a part of life for them, and they think nothing of it. We, on the other hand, are terrified. And so begins the final 30 Kms to the border town.

The road begins as a windy cliff road, but nicely paved, and compared to what we've been driving through, it's first class, despite the limitless drops and chasms. We wind our way merrily along until the road turns back to gravel. And then we reach an army checkpoint. At this stage we are in much lower elevation. The mountains have gone from grey/brown to lush green, with waterfalls everywhere. The road is in good repair, with spots being built and others being fixed, but it has been good - until the check point.

It's an army checkpoint and our guide and driver go out and come back some minutes later. They inform us that the road may be closed and we may have to drive to a point where the bridge is out, and then walk 5 Kms to pick up another Land Cruiser on the other side (and its starting to get dark outside). We all sorta look at each other, hoping we did not hear what we just heard, and hoping it was not true, because once we pass that military check point, all hell breaks loose!!

The road goes from great, to, well an Indianna Jones adventure ride in Disneyland, with it falling apart as you drive it, and obstacles coming at you. The road is still extremely high, extremely narrow and extremely winding, with many workers on the edges. Some have pitched tents hanging over the road, and that's where they live. Others are heaving and pouring and shoveling and moving stuff. The road is cramped. It's falling apart as quickly as they can build it, with avalanches a standard obstacle. Huge transport trucks and dump trucks are on the road as well.

Two dump trucks make their way around a corner, and we can see bamboo holding up the road they are driving on, with nothing else below but a bottomless drop. We all hope the driver will let them go over that part before going on ourselves, but no go. He's right there with them. There's a huge waterfall which has been hitting the road, wearing it away. So in response the Chinese have built a little roof, trying to divert the water off the highway. Of course the road is still soaked and muddy, with erosion making it even more narrow than other parts. We go through it and our driver stops right in the middle of the muck. He revves the engine, and then gives it hard, and we claw our way out of the muddy pass, looking at the broken pillars which had been holding up the waterfall roof, but which have been replaced with bamboo sticks.

We continue our drive, passing hundreds of trucks parked on the side of the road. At one point we get to a single lane area, because they have dumped piles of dirt along one of the lanes. We meet another van going the other way. No one wants to give way. Our driver tries to pull in among the mounds of dirt which take up the other lane. He basically gets stuck. As we're doing this a herd of goats passes us by, and we will meet them again down the road.


As our driver tries to get unstuck and out of the dirt piles, other trucks and cars start to line up behind us. At one point a Chinese official in his landcruiser and 3 other accompanying cars comes down, and basically tells the truck facing us to move, which he does. At this point we are unstuck, move ahead and let the convey of 4 Chinese official SUVs go speeding at full speed down the road.

We follow them, honking our way through the goat herd, and then wending our way down down down the mountainside, over avalanche piles, through streams, around narrow corners without guard rails and any visible bottom, until nightfall, when we arrive at another one of these crazy towns that is built on the cliff of the pass.


It's a strange border town, with trucks parked along with side, and with single lane traffic only, there are people walking around, restaurants, hotels and shops. We get to a grungy hotel, which cost almost as much as our 5 star gem in Lhasa, and head down the road to eat. We pass an open gate between two buildings and I look through: it's a straight drop down, with the lower part of the town visible way way down below. No one is hungry. It's 9 p.m., we are the only ones in this weird restaurant. Artemis orders a pepper steak!!!! We take a chance on a tomato an cheese pizza. Both end up horrible. We head back to the room and try to sleep. We have only a 13 Km ride to the border, which is a nice thought.

Artemis won't sleep in her room with Caleb because of 2 huge spiders I have to kill. She sleeps with Lianna in our room. I cannot sleep because of the spiders. L cannot sleep thinking about the fact that our building is on a cliff. When I get up in the night, my jaw is so tense, it's been clenched so hard, I fear I may break it.

Not one shower in Tibet for Mark, Artemis, Caleb!! Lianna took one.
Mark

Lhasa to Nepal - part 3

Wednesday, 22 October
Wake up feeling weak and cannot move. I think I've cuaght the flu. Lianna and kids go out and I stay in.
Caleb (C) returns mid-afternoon with fatigue. I'm relieved as I'm feeling like hell, and have run out of acedamenophine AND ibuprofin. So I have no drugs. C goes to the hotel pharma, but it's closed. He's fatigued and goes to lie down; I lay there in delirium. By 2:30 p.m. I'm feeling like death. I phone C's room and beg him to go across the street to see what they have. He comes back a few minutes later, distraught because they forced him to have a doctor come to the room. I am relieved.
Doctor ckecks this and that, tells me my oxygen is low and I need a transfusion. This is a phrase he's written in a book of phrases he has, with set things that he says: "You need a transfusion", and I respond, "Blood transfusion??!!" and he says "Yes. Transfusion." So we spend the next few minutes with him fiddling with the computer so he can get to Google translator and type in some stuff in Chinese and translate it with Google Translate. Good idea, but he played with the computer for 10 minutes or more, as I lay dieing.
I say no to the transfusion. I draw the line at blood.
He can't get the computer to translate, and next thing I know there's a Chinese woman in the room. We're not sure who she was or why she came, from the hotel is my hunch, but hard to say, as she sat there playing solitaire on the computer while I got my transfusion. So for the next 10 minutes or more, he tries to translate, then calls another doctor. I speak with him: "Your doctor says you need a transfusion."
"A blood transfusion? Does he want to give me blood?"
"Yes, he wants to give you a transfusion to help you."
"Yes I understand that, but what is he going to put in me? Is it blood?"
"Your doctor says you need a transfuion to make you better."
"OK, thanks."
I give him back the phone, and I ask this guy what he will be putting into my veins. He finally realizes what I want, and shoes my some vials of liquid. Little glass viles which you break the top off of. Then I wondered if he was going to just give me a shot, a needle, which I felt more comfortable with, rather than the thought of having a shunt in my arm. He flipped through his black book and showed me the phrase: "Intravenous is not intramuscular". So no go. He wants to shoot me up right in my vein.
I agree.
Now he's all excited. Gets his mixtures and potions going, puts his IV-holding contraption together, and gets the shunt into my arm (they have to remaket that word). It hurts but I live through it. I also get a large canister of oxygen next to me with tubes of it blowing up my nose.

Mark with Intravenous in his arm - to cure Altitude Sickness

Of course I'm still not convinced that this is altitude sickness, as I feel distincly cold and flu-like. But I let him do his thing, as I also found out that Tibetan pharmas don't sell western drugs and I feel just awful.
Then within minutes of this treatment, I begin to feel better. Midway through the drip the doctor could not help himself and shot in a mixture of "Chinese herbs" into my IV back. It's a golden brown coloured liquid, and I swear I can feel camphor at the back of my throat.

The doc and this lady stay in the room the entire 60 minutes or so of the drip. When the IV is done, he gets another huge plastic syringe filled with a clear liquid and soots that right into the small part of the shunt, directly into my vein. This takes about 5 minutes. I've been watching "Henry Poole was Here", thankfully, to keep my mind off of things. Don't really recommend the movie.

When he gets ready to leave, I say thank-you to him in Tibetan. It's taken me two days to learn the word. I say it, "Tochena," and he looks at me blankly. Again I say it, and he shakes his head. I must be saying it wrong, so I get the paper I walk around with in my shirt pocket, and show it to him, "Tochena". Then I realize he's not Tibetan, he's Chinese. I say thank you in Chinese: "Che-che", and he now knows what I'm talking about. So we realize he's Chinese, and we later find that he's an army guy who's been in Tibet for 10 years. And then I think in 10 years the guy has NEVER heard of the word "thank-you" in Tibetan! He had no idea what the word was, even when the woman from the hotel explained it to him, in Chinese. It's then that I realized the Tibetan people are seen as "indigenous" people, something to be pushed aside. Basically what we did. So when we see it being done by others, we react with moral outrage.

The kids and Lianna are out exploring a monastery. After Caleb gets back then Art and Lianna do a little shopping but come back soon.

Lianna develops a bad headache whichs gets increasingly worse as the night goes on. She uses one of the 2 cans of oxygen that come with the room. My tank is empty, and we both spend the night wondering how we'll get our next fix of oxygen or ibuprofin or acetamenophyne. L ends up going through both cans, but without much success.


Tibetan babies wear open bottom pants - no diapers here.


Lianna, kids and Artune (our guide) having tea outside the monastery.


Thursday, 23 October
I actually awake feeling quite good. My body is so confused though, or I am so confused about what state my body is in, or I can feel all the states that my body is going through: at some points I feel like I'm recovering from the flu; but then I think I never had the flu, so why am I feeling like this; and at other points I'm simultaneously hot and cold, uncertain as to whether I want to remove my jacket or do it up. My chest had begun to produce a bit of phlegm, and I was coughing up stuff, but I thought it was my lungs clearing out at this high elevation.

L is in agony by morning. I go down to breakfast ready to beg other tourists for western drugs. I gather my coffee, toast, and order a fried egg, sit down and wait for tourists, of whom there are none at the moment.

I feel quite good, and eat hardily. Enjoy the hot coffee with warm milk.

I spot two white people, gather the courage and ask them for Ibuprofin. The woman is in her early 30s, from Brazil, and quite concerned. She gets her bag out of the jeep (the driver does) and she gets her medicine sack, and pulls out some extra-strength Advil gels. She also gives some western anti-altitude drugs you take two in the moring and two at night. We've taken loads of these by now, from everyone. No go. Hahahaha!

L wants to leave. OK, so now Artune, our guide, has to get us a car and a driver. We need a 4x4, as this truly was off-roading!! Ultimate off-roading.

I find out that tips are welcomed, meaning it's done, as it wasn't done in China. Also want to see what I can actually get at a pharmacy, in terms of western drugs.
As the kids and Lianna get ready to leave, Artune and I drive around looking for a Bank of China, but they misunderstand, and keep brinGing me to the "Agricultural Bank of China", not realizing that this is different from "The Bank of China".
Finally find one and it miraculously gives me Chinese Yuan from my account back home.

I also spot a pharmacy and we go to check it out. It's a dark, greenish small hallway with a stairs leading up. Two people sit at small desks with some papers on them and a light. They wear what were once white smocks, but have become a study in greytones, from some very strong dark shading to a light dusting.

The guy is not helpful, but my guide is a pit bull, and so he pulls out his Chinese/English book of worldwide drugs. I look up Ibuprofin in English, and there's the Chinese translation. He reads it and says "This?" I look back and check the word. "Yes." He says OK, they have. But we have to go upstairs to get it. That's the dispensary. How much? Expensive he says. But he does not know the price. I look up acetamenophyne, and it's there. "This?" he says, pointing to it. I check it carefully. "Yes." He looks at my guide and tells me that is very dangerous and he does not recommend it. I then look up acytasilikacid (sp?) and point to it. He shakes his head, does not recommend it. Very bad for you. I tell him not to worry about it. In Canada you can buy it at a gas station.

I tell him I want both the Ib and the Acet. He tells my guide he recommends only one. "Can I get 2 though?" My guide asks him. He says you can, but he doesn't recommend it. She finally loses it on him, and yells something in Chinese along the lines of, "Just give him both!" He very churlishly writes them both down on a dingy little script book made of newsprint and we go upstairs to the dispensory, where a girl whirled around in a grey smock opening plastic bottles with pills, and pouring them into little oragami pill holders made of office paper. The Ibuprofin was 2 dollars, and the acetamen was 15 cents for 20 or something along those lines.

We then zipped back home, where all were packed, said good-bye to and tipped our driver from Lhasa and said hello to Kasa, our trusted driver to the Nepalese border.

Part 4 coming up ...

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

Beijing to Nepal - Part 1

Beijing to Nepal Summary
(Cant seem to get any pictures uploaded today. So frustrating.)

Leave Beijing Friday, 17 Oct, on the 8:24 p.m. train to Xi'an
Arrive Xi'an Sat, 18 Oct., at 8:40 a.m.

See the Terracotta Warriors, walk around Xi'an

Sleep in Xi'an

Sunday, 19 October
Up early to catch the 8:40 a.m. T27 to Lhasa, Tibet. We walk to the train station from our hotel.

Beijing to Nepal Lianna's story
What a crazy a wild adventure we have been on over the past week. Tibet was much more of a physical roller coaster than I would have ever imagined. From arriving in Tibet and disembarking from the train until we were at the lower altitudes of Nepal, I have never experienced such physical difficulty. Tibet is located 4000m above sea level. There is much less oxygen. Realizing this, we thought the slow train ride to the higher altitude would make it easier for the transition. As soon as I got off the train I was immediately hit by the inability to breathe. I could barely walk to the vehicle. The night was restless and my head began to ache. I took ibuprofen and that helped me sleep.

The next day was busy going to the home of the Dalai Lama, Portolo Palace and another monastery in the city. In order to reach the top of Portolo Palace we had to walk up stone steps, hundreds of them. It almost killed me. Mark and the kids seemed to be doing much better but I had to stop every 20 steps or so to gain my breathe and let my head calm down from the aching. The rest of the day was slow, resting often. The evening was Caleb’s Birthday at a cool restaurant that even served chocolate cake and then watching a movie of his choice “Raiders of the Lost Arch”.

The next day I woke up feeling much better. Although I still had problems breathing my head ache had calmed down. Mark on the other hand was slowly getting sick, experiencing fluish like symptoms. The kids and I went out to another monastery where people are blessed to have a long life. There were many families with children, all getting blessed by a monk who would place a red splosh of paint on their foreheads whereupon they would bend down and stick their heads into a dark hole which is where I assume one gets officially blessed. Our tour guide explained details about the workings of the monastery but her English accent was very strong at times, it was not always easy to decipher.

Caleb was very tired by early afternoon as he had not slept the night before, another symptom of altitude sickness, insomnia. Artemis and I headed off to the market returning to the hotel mid afternoon to find Caleb waiting in the lobby for the doctor. He had wantd to go out and find some drugs but they would not let him leave the hotel.

The doctor checked on Mark who was now getting worse and worse. The doctor perscribes, in his broken and very limited English that Mark get a blood transfusion. Ha Ha Ha. Not going to happen. Finally after about 15 minutes we figure out he means intravenous. So Mark does it and is then better after 2 hours.

At the same time I was experiencing more of a headache. By the evening it was stronger so I took some oxygen which seemed to calm it down so I could sleep a bit. However by the morning I was in great pain. My whole head was ready to explode and I was having problems seeing clearly. Mark was much better so he went downstairs to see if anyone had some western drugs to calm my headache, as we had run out of everything we had. He came back with a motherload. I took some advil and some other Chinese drugs for altitude sickness. My headache was so severe though, Mark was not 100% yet and Artemis had thrown up the night before so we decided it was time to leave.

Our guide was able to find a car and driver to leave a day earlier, so we packed up and left for Nepal. The drive was going to take 3 days so I wanted to get started earlier than later. Not to mention that in order to get to Nepal one has to go over 3 very high passes of over 5000 m before even reaching Nepal. And to top it off 150km of the drive was on gravel roadway and about 50 of the last km involved winding down a very steep gorge on a gravel path half built, in the process of building, landslides all over the road including waterfalls raging over the road, animals crossing in herds, barely wide enough road for 2 cars. It was terrifying to say the least. We held our breathes and relied heavily on the skill of our driver. At one point we arrived at a river. The road had collapsed. There was a one ton truck half stuck on the land and half in the swiftly moving river. Workman were trying to hall the truck out. Did this at all phase our guide and driver? Not really. They processed to locate a spot in the river where we might be able to cross. The first try not successful, getting us almost stuck in the river. The second try, he guns in through and we make it. After this part of the adventure, the kids put their books down and were on high alert.

The drive was visually amazing however and I guess I managed it because the car was so noisy I couldn’t hear my head pounding. I had also taken some Brazilian high altitude pills the night before and in the morning. When I woke the next day my fingers and feet were numb, I was not seeing straight, my dexterity had completely gone and I was having problems breathing. I held off on all the drugs this day as I knew we would eventually be in Nepal at lower elevations.

Although I thought Tibet was worth the journey, I was very glad to get to lower elevations. Once in Nepal I could breathe and I once again felt like myself.
Lianna

Wednesday Shopping in BEIJING

Catching some lunch before shopping

16 October, Morning (well, it is here anyway),
Thursday in Beijing, and we are leaving tomorrow. Been here over a week, and have had a marvelous time! Yesterday went back to the Silk Market, where they sell all the knock-offs and clothes and anything you can imagine. We had all written out what we were going to get - Caleb needed a jacket for Tibet, Lianna still wanted sandals!!! She's been looking since... May? Artemis, another Juicy bag, and I wanted some Mao T-shirts and T-shirts with the communist star in the middle. So off we went, but upon arrival realized we were all hungry.

So we walked around a bit. There was a Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurant, serving up woodfire roasted chicken and playing Kenny Rogers music. We passed on that, moving around, but finding ourselves at a corner, looking around with no restaurants in site. A woman across the street motioned to me that we were looking for food. I said yes, and she pointed to a doorway in the middle of a building. Looked like... nothing. So I took the bait and went over the looked in: a small room with some tables, clean, with many middle class Chinese.

I noticed in the middle of the table there was a hot plate, and realized it was the type of restaurant that serves a boiling soup base, and you order stuff to put in it and cook it right there. So I called over the troops, and we went in. The waitress didn't speak any English, but was very good at using sign-language, pointing to the menu, and communicating using Chinese at the same time. Luckily all the menus in Beijing have photos, which makes ordering much much easier. So we ordered a bunch of things, including some kind of meat, and another type which looked like... chicken. It all came and it was all great, and we had a great lunch, enjoyed by all, and all for 15 bucks.


One glimpse of shopping area

We then went to shop, which we did. We bargained like pros, and got right down to the bone. L & C got themselves 3-in-1 jackets, with fleece linings and wind/water resist outers, for 22 bucks. Artemis got herself another Juicy bag, for a hundred!!! Yuen, which is like 16 bucks. But way too high. She has to go back to bargaining school. She also got a T-shirt (fancy one with sequins and a large image, by some hip designer) for 50!!! Yuen, and our target price was 10. Hmmmmm. She loves them anyway. Dad got T-shirts! Mao, another revolutionary hero (not that Mao is: he is hated by some, and loved by others), and the communist star: 7 for 140, which is 22 bucks. L finally got her sandals. A Chinese brand, not a knock-off. They're made in the US. Just kidding.

C also got a great zip-up sweatshirt, which he did great on, getting it for 40 Y, and two T's for 45, which is great. All the girls in the market commented on his bargaining ability, and on how cute he is! There are mostly girls working in the market, and many are quite young, like early teens. One yesterday was 14. Oh yeah, we also got 12 DVDs for viewing on the trip, for 1.50 each (CDN). Then back to the hotel, freshened up, and off to the Chinese Acrobat show.

Bloody Cabbie took us for a ride, but we got there. The show was charming and delightful. The theatre was run-down, there were many Chinese tourists, as well as some Westerners. We all had a great time. Was like being at a village festival.

Famished after the show we looked for a restaurant, and happened upon a Korean bbq type place, with a place in the middle of the table for hot coals and a grate. There was a chimney above it. We looked through the menu, avoiding the dog, and sticking to beef, lamb and chicken, and of those just the parts we're used to, not the brains, genitalia, etc. It was great fun, and great food. We all partook in some beer, except for Artemis, who stuck to Sprite. Full and content, we went home and all passed out. Beijing's been great.



Checking out new stuff in hotel room


The next part of our journey begins Friday, when we take a night train to Xi'an. We arrive in the morning, drop our bags at our hotel, and then head off to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. Spend the night, then embark the train to Lhasa Tibet. We will spend all day, that night, and the next day on the train, and arrive in Lhasa that evening around 8, where we will be met by our guide, taken to our 5-star hotel, and begin our 4 day tour of Tibet. After that our guide and private jeep will take us to Nepal, where it turns out Lianna's cousin (whom we saw at the wedding, Nicholas, around 20) will be as well! So we'll meet up with him. Stay tuned.
Love Mark