After departing from Shigatse, Tibet’s second biggest city, we drove for approximately 4hrs until we reached Sakya Monastery. This monastery was significant due to the fact that it is the oldest monastery in Tibet and survived the Cultural Revolution. The monastery follows the Tantric sect so over the next hour we wondered around the various dark and grim chapels full of protector deities and more chanting monks.

Once back on the road our drive was full of magnificent scenery. As we approached the Himalaya everything turned to high altitude desert where nothing seemed to subsist except for some nomadic families and their yaks. We crossed some extremely high passes including one which was 5248 metres high, that’s higher than any mountain peak in North America excluding Alaska! Passing by some more small village outposts we came to our lunch stop where we were informed by our guide that we would be arriving at Everest Base Camp in the dark.

The road to Everest diverts off the newly paved Friendship highway near the town of Tingri and turns into a awful gravel trail which seems to turn into nothing at all. Our first views came as we stopped for a rest and Everest could be seen forcing its way into the sky. Some snotty nose children came running up to have a look at the foreigners and hopefully sell some of the fossils they had collected in a large bag. The children’s hands and faces were severely weathered like that of the elderly and its clear that this land takes its toll on those who live here.

Our Landcruiser continued to bounce its way up and down mountains and streams for another 2 hrs or so before coming across another vehicle which had some bad news for us. The monastery had been booked up and the only other option for staying in their area was a overpriced upscale hotel which was out of budget for our group and vacancy was unknown. The news was upsetting to our group who now had to face the reality that we might have to turn back without getting an up close view of Everest which we had traveled all this way to see. Our decision was made to carry on to base camp and deal with consequences when we got there.

The light was fleeting fast and when we arrived, Everest could still be made out due to its purple hue from the setting sun. Some pictures were snapped and we were crossing our fingers that we wouldn’t have to sleep in the car at 5200 meters elevation. The staff at the hotel agreed to let us sleep in the restaurant but at a non discounted rate as I’m sure they knew we didn’t have much of an option. Once the 60 or so guests finally left the room, our group set up for a nights sleep in the restaurant and planned to wake up early for sunrise.

Mike and Martin were up first as they had planned to walk the 7km to Base camp in the dark but Lianna and I woke up a little later opting to take the easier option of driving just in time for sunrise. The morning was frigid and as the the wind howled our fingers froze trying to take pictures of the iconic mountain but was worth the pain to view such an amazing site. Strangely the 60 or so other guests who occupied the other rooms were no were to be seen. Once the Chinese military guard arrived we were allowed to get just a little bit closer to the giant and got to hang the prayer flags we had purchased in Lhasa just for this purpose. Once we couldn’t stay outside any longer it was time to tuck in for tea and pancakes in the lodge where we had slept that night before then a bid farewell to the tallest mountain in the world.

Our next day was planned to drive to the border and cross into Nepal early the next day.

The Chinese government collects a 40 Yuan fee per person to take pictures of the lake from the highest viewpoint, but since we were told it’s impossible to know where that money goes, we opted to take our pictures 2 minutes down the road for free. The money grabs didn’t end there though, once we got out of the car there were big Tibetan Mastiffs lying around and we kept being hassled to take a picture of them for a fee until we finally left. The pictures of the lake alone do it enough justice.

We then stopped for lunch in a small town where I got to play with a little puppy the whole time which was hard to leave.

When we got to our town for the night, Gyantse, we went to check out the local monastery which has a Tantric side to it that we hadn’t witnessed yet. The Tantric monasteries are interesting because there is a much darker side to them that you might not expect in Buddhism. Here monks do an eerie chant that accompanies their drumming in order to summon the protector’s (scary looking guardians) which protect the monasteries and Tibetan people. Without this chanting the protectors grow lazy and fall asleep. Tantric monasteries are known to the Tibetans as they teach a much more powerful practice of Buddhism where in the past monks had the ability to fly and banish demons.

Today we had another early start because we needed to get to Shigatse in time for our guide to get our Everest permits. On the way we stopped to see a local man creating barley flour the very traditional way of using river water to turn wheels to turn the barley into flour. He was a character covered in flour with a huge smile, still practicing this less common and less profitable method which is on the verge of dying because most flour is now factory made. Once we arrived in Shigatse we visited a Monastery with Tibet’s largest Buddha, and witnessed a group of young girls “whistling while they worked” by singing songs to the beat of their tools they used to stamp down a homemade concrete. Shigatse Monastery only holds roughly 100 monks even though it is another one of the six most important monasteries in Tibetan Buddhism. This is because due to tensions between the Chinese government and the religious order, they limit the amount of monks allowed to attend thus keeping the numbers to a fraction of what they used to be before the Cultural Revolution.

Alleyways are shared with an endless number of vendors selling everything from relgious artifacts to tacky english t-shirts shouting whatever English they may know as we walked by.

After we snaked our way through the maze, we ended up at Jokhang Temple where piglrims prostrate themselves infront of, from sunset to sundown, sometimes doing this for over a year traveling from Eastern Tibet. Continuing along a more modern street, we catch of first view of the Portala Palace towering over the citizens of Lhasa below. After a few snaps shots it was time to tuck into a manic little restaurant selling tea and noodles with yak meat. We each ate for 35 cents a piece.

Our afternoon was spent touring Sera Monastery where in the afternoon the monks gather to debate the philosophy of Buddhism. One monk will argue his point and then drive his point home with slap of his fist into an open palm, while the others, seated on the ground try to rebuttal.

Our next morning began early again for me, when the alarm went off at 630am. Martin, a member of our group and I had planned to photograph the Portala Palace, previously home to the Dalai Lama, at first light. A few hours later and it was time to head back to the hostel for breakfast and meet our guide for our day tour.

Unfortunalty our original guide, Lobsang had to deliver the disappointing news that he was unable to continue with us as his permit had expired and the government was delaying his renewal. So we met our new guide, Namgaye and we were off for our first stop, inside of the Portala Palace.

After some initial confusion and almost missing our appointment we made it just in time and payed the steep 100 yuan entrance fee. Everything in China has an entrance fee and its often hard to gauge whether or not it is worth it, some with a low fee are amazing others with high fees are disappointing. Portala did not disappoint. The next hour was spent wondering around the inside of this magnificent building exploring the rooms previously used by the Dalai Lama and the many Buddhist icons within.

After a quick lunch our second stop was to the Jokhang Temple which is known as the most important Buddhist temple in all of Tibet. The interior was unbelievably decorated with the star attraction of the most important image of Buddha in Tibet. Legend has it that a Stupa rose up in the center of a lake and it was this even that to the monastery being built on top of it. The tour was enjoyble due to the importance of Jokhang Monastery and it was quite different from the monasteries we had previously visited.

The train from Xining to Lhasa leaves in the evening so that the boring scenery passes by while you’re asleep, and when we woke up we were on the Tibetan plateau. The set-up was a cubby with 3 beds on each side. This time we were with our 2 Tibet travel companions and had the 6 beds to ourselves, so we could sit on the bottom during the day to play cards and eat, then retire to our respectable beds to sleep.

For me sleeping on a train isn’t very hard because 1. I don’t move around a lot in my sleep, and with only a skinny little bed I think that is a big factor, and 2. The movement of the train tends to lull me to sleep, and along with some David Gray to listen to I was out like a light. The problems began the next morning for me.

The train climbed to about 5,000 meters before dropping back down again to roughly 3,500 meters in Lhasa. The 4 of us in our ‘Tibet group’ started to feel slightly light headed, but my light headed-ness quickly turned into a migraine. Thinking all we needed was some food we all ate our Mr. Noodle style noodles, and a half hour later I suddenly ran to the toilet with a hair-tie. Away went all my noodles, but I felt instantly better. As soon as I got back to my bed the train started to descend and we all started to feel more human.

Departing from our train we were amazed at how modern the train station was. The train station (and railway to Lhasa) is only a few years old but it was still a strange thing to see in Tibet. The drive to our hostel through 6 lane streets with colourful lights flashing everywhere had us all a little wide eyed, but thankfully we passed all of that and entered the old Barkhor area which has a much more traditional feel. We entered the doors of Rama Kharpo Hostel (The White Goat), and after a cup of tea we didn’t move again until breakfast.

Lobrang Monastery is one of the 6 main monasteries of the yellow hat sect of Buddhism on the Tibetan Plateau, but unfortunately it is only a shadow of its former self after the Cultural Revolution when the area was basically an entire city of monks and pilgrims. Today, some of the main buildings were left intact while others were rebuilt as late as 1986. After talking with our tour leader, many aspects of monastery life seem to have survived and receiving an education in astrology, philosophy, and medicine is still a viable path for the monks.

Lianna enjoyed the tour as this was her first Buddhist monastery and was awestruck by how a religion could incorporate and create such beautiful artwork into their religious studies such as the yak butter sculptures which take over 3 months to prepare just to melt in the sun.

Afterwards, the three of us wandered into a small Chinese restaurant for lunch and found something instantly recognizable on any Canadian Chinese menu, sweet and sour pork which was extremely delicious especially after our unpleasant experience the night before. We had discussed sharing a taxi out to Ganjia Grasslands that morning in order to split costs as the sights were far apart and a driver would be needed. Tibetan Overseas Hotel offered us a driver for 300 yuan (45 USD) but after speaking with another traveler we learned it was much cheaper to hire a taxi driver from the street and work out a price. Some careful haggling was attempted and after a minute or two we had a happy-go lucky driver with no English but great attitude and even shared some of his lunch with us.

Our first stop was to a small cave complex where pilgrims lower themselves into a network of tunnels set amongst some beautiful cliffs alongside a river. After reading about a Dutch traveler who fell to his death entering one of the tunnels and not having a very good torch we decided against venturing in too far.

A short drive up a hill and we arrived at our second destination Trakkar gompa, a small monastery built above a tiny village overlooking the vast Ganjia Grasslands. All homes were built in Tibetan style and purposely built to look out over the hillside. A short climb and we arrived at the monastery which at first glance appeared empty but a few moments later some monks greeted us and we were treated to a show of two young monks with rope splayed along their robe, practicing some unknown religious dance in the courtyard. The dancing only intensified once the cameras started clicking and the boys continued to perform until beat red in the face while the older monks seemed fascinated with the images that were captured. When the dancing finished the monks faces lit up with excitement when they saw the video I had recorded. Unfortunately, the rest of the monks at the monastery were occupying the main section so we could not enter but their resonating chants only added to the atmosphere.

Our final stop was to the unique walled village of Bajiao which was originally a Han-Dynasty village but now was occupied by Tibetans. We climbed the wall which offered superb views of the valley to one side and the rustic village on the other. We strolled through the alleyways carefully avoiding the local dogs (Tibetan Mastiffs which resemble Angry Newfs) and greeting the friendly locals except for two very, very young children jokingly acting out the sign for kiss my ass, strange. Our taxi driver had entered the city to let us know it was time to head out but Ben was nowhere to be found. 20 minutes of driving around the city and we finally found our missing person.

It was clear today had been an exhausting day as the conversation back to Xiahe was replaced by silent starring through the window.

Our next morning began early for me as I had set the alarm to go off so I could catch the sunrise over the mountains while Lianna caught up on some sleep. After climbing half way up a hill a young yak stood its ground and quickly ran towards me.

Yaks being a famously unpredictable animal initally I was quite nervous but this was just a baby and clearly it just wanted a play mate. After giving him a good scratch I continued up the mountainside when I ran into a German guy who had climbed the entire mountain and said the views were amazing. I spent the next few hours huffing and puffing my way up the mountain until I reached the top and he was right the views were amazing. The sun was melthing the frost on the ground producing that eerie mystical look over the mountains making the scene feel surreal.

After heading back and having breakfast with Lianna we rented some rickety old bicycles from the hotel and decided we would bike to Sanke a small village 45 minutes from Xiahe. The weather was perfect for a bike ride but unfortunatly after seeing such dramatic landscapes the day before the small valley and run down village wasn’t impressive like we had hopped. Their were even cheesy tourist yurts placed on the grasslands which spoiled the atmosphere.

The rest of the day was spent lounging around and getting our bus ticket for our next stop Tongren or Repkong in Tibetan before we head back to Xining.

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