Reviving My Blog I

My Blog has Fallen...
but I will Revive It

It has been a sorry state of affairs the last several months with my blog. It all started with the frustrating censorship in China, which got me behind, and then was compounded by the rapid succession of amazing places and countries I have visited. It was just too much at the time to keep up with it all. But, I have not given up hope yet and I will try my best to restore my blog to its former refined and ‘up to date’ status. For starters I figure I owe everyone a synopsis of what has been happening in my travels over the last several months, starting from my last solid blog about climbing in Thailand.

First Taste of CHINA

Once back in Bangkok after our climbing trip to the south of Thailand we set about preparing for our departure to China (Chiang Mai for Kala). Mike and I went through the Chinese Consulate and each obtained a Chinese Tourist Visa in exchange for a sizable amount of cash. However, in the process of getting the visas Mike had some of his second thoughts come to a head, and had a change of heart. He decided that he would rather go home for 2 months to recharge and be with Amy, instead of going to China. I knew he had been contemplating it for a while, but I was still surprised when he decided to go home.

Mike’s decision to go home significantly altered the nature of my own travels. Instead of just continuing on to China with Mike as a team, I would have to proceed alone. The idea of tackling the giant China solo was daunting for sure and gave me some pause, but I stuck to my guns and decided to take on the challenge. Thus, we each ended up going our separate ways. Kala headed off for Chiang Mai to start her Thai Massage classes, Mike headed home, and I flew into the cold heart of China.

I was brimming with enthusiasm when I arrived in China, and was excited for the challenge of it. Arriving late in the evening I found Beijing to be much colder than I had anticipated, and I had to dig out all the warm clothes from my pack before proceeding out the front door of the airport. But, with reasonable ease I found a very nice hostel to base my explorations out of, and soon started adapting to the cold climate (after a seeming endless summer) and vastly different culture. I ended up spending around 2 weeks in Beijing and only managed to scratch the surface of what the huge city had to offer. I went to a multitude of amazing temples, had some truly unique culinary experiences, and made a number of good traveling friends. I really enjoyed my time in the huge city of 10 million.

[Photos from BEIJING]

By far the highlight of my time in Beijing though was getting to see the Great Wall of China and hike along it. I explored the roughly 10 kilometer long section from Jinshanling to Simatai. It was a real treat because I was able to hike ahead of my tour group and get the wall entirely to myself without another soul in sight. One of the things that really struck me was that the wall was often not overly impressive in height or width, but its length was awe inspiring. It was amazing to see the wall twisting and winding its way across the rugged terrains like a giant serpent stretching out beyond the horizon in both directions. The Great Wall really is one of the man made wonders of the world. I also had the good fortune of meeting a couple on the wall that had just finished backpacking along the length of it for some 5,000 kilometers. It had taken them around 6 months to go from the ocean all the way to the far end deep in the Gobi Desert.

[Photos from THE GREAT WALL]

Amazing and Sobering TIBET

After Beijing my next challenge was Tibet, and it proved to be by far the most difficult in terms of navigating an obstacle course of red tape. It took me several days of dead ends and false leads, but I eventually managed to secure both a bogus Tibet Travel Permit and a train ticket to Lhasa. My permit was on an 8.5” by 30” sheet of paper and looked like a copy of a copy of a copy. Only two dates on the sheet were legible to me and the rest was either illegible, in Chinese, or both. The presumable worthless sheet of paper cost me around 400 Yuan. Regardless, I still manage to successfully board the train and rode it all the way to Lhasa without ever having my permit checked. Ironically, once you are in Tibet you no longer need the permit (it is only for going to Tibet).

The train ride to Tibet itself was something of an experience. I got a trying cultural experience thanks to an out of control devil child who kept spitting everywhere and screaming whenever his mom did not pay attention. It was also a highly depressing ride as cruising though the Chinese countryside you could see laid out before you the devastation they have wrecked on the environment. Seemingly every square inch of feasible land has been either terraced into farm pastures, excavated to mine for minerals, or been used for urban development. The only trees I saw were the ones planted in people’s back yards, else wise the landscape was almost completely stripped of them. From an engineering standpoint it was also interesting due to the multitude of long tunnels and rough terrain the train passed through. It is the highest train in the world and reaches an elevation of 16,640 feet (5,072 meters) going over Tanggula Pass before descending into Lhasa.

Once in Lhasa I spent the first couple days getting settled and adjusting to the advanced elevation of the city (11,975 feet or 3,650 meters). Prior to Tibet almost the entirety of my trip had been close to sea level so it took my body a while to adapt to the thin air. During those first days though, I still checked out some of the sights around town and most notably visited the Jokhang Temple in the center of Barkhor Square. The temple is a focal point of Tibetan Buddhism and attracts and amazing variety of colorful pilgrims. I also met a really cool group of hard core travelers in Lhasa who had some outlandish stories about skirting the Chinese rules. They were some of the most interesting people I have met on this trip and had a lot of good advice for exploring Tibet. I spend a number of nights hanging out and drinking with them while trying to figure out what I wanted to do in Tibet.

[Photos from LHASA]

Eventually, opportunity came knocking and helped me make up my mind. A nice gal named Dani from Vancouver asked me to join a trip she was putting together to visit a number of monasteries/nunneries in the region and Lake Namtso. I was tentative at first, but eventually agreed and did not regret it. In the end Dani, Agata and her young son Maciek from Poland, a middle aged Italian guy named David, and I formed the travel group. We hired a Land Cruiser and driver through one of the travel agencies (tourists are not allowed to rent vehicles without drivers in Tibet), and then set off.

We left early in the morning and drove from Lhasa for several hours to Drigung Monastery, which was perched high on the mountainside overlooking an expansive valley below. Drigung is famous for its sky burials, so there was a multitude of predatory and scavenging birds circling above the monastery in a dramatic display of black wings fluttering on the mountain thermals. We spent a couple hours exploring the monastery, its temples, and surrounding village. I also watched a small army of local youth at work hauling massive granite blocks up the steep slope to a construction site. They had some simple but highly effective backpacks that they used to haul the big rocks, which I found clever.

From Drigung we continued on to the even higher Tidrum Nunnery at 14,190 feet (4325 meters) in elevation up another valley. Tidrum was by far the most picturesque monastery/nunnery I have ever seen. It was located right at the junction of two small high valleys. Then just below the town the main valley passed through a tight rocky gorge. The impressive gorge was then spanned by a myriad of colorful and expansive strings of prayer flags. We spent a couple hours exploring the nunnery and interacting with the very friendly nuns. Eventually, we decided to try out the famed Tidrum Hot Spring.

The hot spring were roughly formed with big rock walled pools, thatched screen walls, and a partial roof. What made them most interesting though was the nature in which they were used. They were nude bathing pools with segregated sexes. It was not a big deal, but there was definitely a lot a gawking and commentary amongst the local Tibetans when David and I got in the pool. I don’t think they had ever seen a naked Caucasian in person before. Regardless, once we were submerged in the pool the locals were friendly and got a kick out of playing with little Maciek. The hot water was nice and relaxing, but I got light headed fairly quickly due to the thin air. It was like going to a hot springs on the top of Mt. Rainier.

After our mostly relaxing soak (Dani and some of the local women got a good scare when a big snake accidentally fell into their pool) we decided to find lodging for the night. Unfortunately, the only place that accepted westerns in the area wanted to charge us an outrageous price for some really crappy rooms. Thus, we decided to push on down the road. It was dusk as we headed out and it soon got dark, but we kept going down a long bumpy and winding road through the darkness and after several hours we finally arrived at Reting Monastery in the middle of nowhere. We got in very late, but the monks there greeted us warmly and put us up in the monastery guesthouse for the night.

In the morning we slept in a little bit and just lazed around playing with the two litters of puppies at the monastery. Eventually, one of the monks roused us to start exploring the monastery. We followed him up to an elevated platform on the hillside where a large group of the monks was chanting aloud. It was interesting and peaceful watching them recite their resonating prayers so emphatically in the morning sun. Then we explored the monastery and its numerous temples for a while, before deciding to go for a decent day hike up to the nearby nunnery.

It took us a good hour to hike up to the nunnery, but it was worth it as the nuns were exceedingly nice. They excitedly showed us their inner temple and prayer cave. Then we were invited into their lounge area and graciously offered Yak butter tea. The tea is not bad in small amounts, but I don’t think I would ever drink it by choice. It is basically just Yak butter melted into some hot water. The problem is that the nuns generously refill your cup every 30 seconds and it is impolite not to finish your cup, so you end up drinking lots of the hot buttery liquid until you lips are absolutely coated in butter. The only way out of the cycle it to pound the tea and politely get up before they can refill your cup. The nuns also took a very keen interest in Maciek and followed him around trying to play with him.

From the nunnery we hiked back down to Reting Monastery and then spent a good hour waiting for David to show up before we could hit the road. From Reting we cruised over to a little town just before the turn off to Lake Namtso. We stayed the night there and then early in the morning continued on to Lake Namtso over a high pass and down to the lake whose surface is at a lofty 15,475 feet (4,718 meters). It is the second highest salt lake in the world. The lake was largely frozen over, although the ice still had a soft teal tint to it. With the coming of spring the sheet of ice was buckling, and cracking as it expanded forming cool patterns on the surface. We drove to a big peninsula jutting into the lake and found a nice tin barn of a guesthouse in a little settlement.

Once settled, we decided to walk the long Kora (a path encircling something of spiritual significance) around the big monolith on the end of the peninsula. Along the way Dani and I met two older Tibetan men. Their names were Chong-Mee and Tsong-Pe, and they were 70 and 72 years old respectively (very old for Tibetans). We made friends with them and they invited us to accompany them the rest of the way around the Kora. Using Dani’s Tibetan language guide we managed some basic conversation with them, which was quite interesting. Along the way they also showed us to a very small passage through the rock and instructed us to attempt crawling through it. The idea was that by squeezing through the tight passage you would strip off some of your bad karma. Fittingly, I had to remove most of my material possessions in order to squirm through the passage. It was definite challenging with my wide shoulders, but I made it and had a good bit of fun in the process. I really enjoyed walking the Kora with Chong-Mee and Tsong-Pe. It was the highlight of our visit to the lake.

That evening I climbed up the big monolith on the end of the peninsula for a good vantage point to watch the sunset. The advanced elevation made the climb tiring, but it was well worth the effort as the sunset was amazing. The intense fiery sunset reflected softly on the teal ice painting a beautiful scene for me. By the time I headed down though I was half frozen. However, a brilliant full moon graciously helped light my way down.

In the morning we lazed around and relaxed for a bit before starting back towards Lhasa. Shortly after we hit the road we stopped to check out a small nomad settlement and it turned into a minor disaster. As soon as we got out of our vehicle a little swarm of kids ran over to start begging for money and food. With cute faces all around David and Agata pulled out their SLRs and started shooting away. It was an out of control scene and not one that Dani or I wanted to contribute to so we retreated back to the truck. Unphased, David and Agata continued the photo shoot and David eventually ended up giving one of the nomad family fathers some money for their time. It was depressing to see just how negative an impact tourism can have on native people and their way of life. Unfortunately, David only further encourage the father to teach his children to earn a living begging from tourists instead of living off the land as they have for generations.

After the incident we continued back over the pass and cruised back down paved highway to Lhasa to wrap up our trip. Once back in Lhasa I set about figuring out how to achieve my two remaining goals for Tibet. I wanted to go to Everest Base Camp, and I wanted to climb a sizable peak. I posted fliers around at the different hotels saying I was interested to join an Everest Base Camp trip and then used Google Earth to locate a suitable peak to attempt. The peak I found was just behind Tsurphu Monastery.

[Photos from NAMTSO LAKE]

To get to the monastery I got up early and caught the pilgrim bus there from Barkhor Square. It was a bumpy ride there and due to some confusion the bus attendant ended up taking pity on me and giving me the ride for free. I thought his hand gesture of three meant the fare was just 3 Yuan so I gave him a 5 Yuan note. He accepted it initially with a quizzical look, but then gave it back to me, which confused me. Eventually, I figure out that the fare was actually 30 Yuan and when we got to the monastery I explained the confusion as best I could and paid for the fare. Once at the monastery I checked into the guesthouse there and then scouted the peak from the far side of the valley. It looked straight forward enough and because the bus left at 2pm the next day I decided to go for it that afternoon.

At 11am I set out from the back of the monastery and headed up the peak. I followed a steep large drainage with a scree filled bottom and steep grassy sides. I climbed up it for several hours and eventually topped out on a high ridge. I had covered most of the elevation gain by that point and just had to follow the ridge up to the summit. But, the advance elevation was really starting to affect me and I could only go about 40 steps before stopping to catch my breath. Regardless of my slow labored progress I kept pushing on and eventually reached the summit at 18,196 feet (5,546 meters) at 3pm sharp.

The views from the top were great and very rewarding, but I spent little time on top. My fixed turn around time of 4pm was creeping up and I wanted to get started down before the weather turned on me. From the summit I cruised down to where I had joined the ridge in good time. Feeling more comfortable at that point I decided to take a more interesting route down. Instead of side hilling down the walls of the grassy drainage I continued down the rocky ridgeline. I had fun scrambling down the ridge and encountered a nifty shire and some perched monastery buildings.

By the time I finally got all the way back down the monastery guesthouse I was exhausted and had a substantial headache from the altitude. I got a quick dinner, popped two Aspirin and one Diamox, and then curled up for the night under a pile of blankets. In the morning I awoke to find the valley and surrounding peaks coated in a wonderful blanket of one to two inches of fresh snow. It was a magical scene and made me thankful I had climbed the peak the day before. The steep grassy slopes would have been very slick and treacherous with the layer of wet snow on top.

I spent the morning wandering around and exploring the monastery. I met a whole group of young monks, one of which was studying English and was named Tse Ring Don Dourp. He helped me communicate with the other monks and eventually offered to show me around. He gave me a very extensive tour of the monastery and even showed me the old living quarters of the Karmapa, a special privilege I felt. In exchange I helped him work on and practice his English. It was fun and I was happy to have befriended one of the monks. When it came time for the bus to leave we exchanged mailing addresses and Tse Ring gave me some prayer beads with a little note that said “blessing” on it in English and Tibetan. Before I left Tibet I sent him a letter with a printed picture of the two of us together. I hope somehow to keep up correspondence with him.

[Photos from TSURPHU MONASTERY]

Anyways, on the way back from Tsurphu the bus stopped off at another monastery for a while and I got to see a ceremony involving a bonfire of dried Yak dung (dried Yak dung is the fuel of choice and necessity in Tibet). When I eventually got back to Lhasa that evening I sorted though the responses to my posting and through a lot of effort (due to some room number confusion) contacted a couple from the Netherlands, Boris and Ginette, who were putting together a trip to Everest Base Camp. The next day, my singular rest day between trips, we finalized details and arranged to leave early the next morning. In addition to Boris, Ginette, and me one other Dutch guy by the name of Patrick was going with us.

In the morning our driver, Lopsong, picked us up from the Kirey Hotel and we promptly headed off down the road. It took us 3 length days of driving to make our way from Lhasa to Everest Base Camp, but we got to see a lot of cool stuff along the way. We saw the beautiful Yamdrok Lake, which was melted and a remarkable teal color. Unfortunately, the lake has an uncertain future due to a shoddy dam that the Chinese put on the lake, which may result in it being drained completely. Compounding the tragedy is that the lake is sacred in Tibetan Buddhism. Near the lake we visited Sangding Monastery, which was nice but disappointing because of the callous monks and vicious chained dogs there.

On the long road trip there we also visited the nice down of Gyantse with it towering old fort that we got to explore after it closed for the day. We walked the Kora around Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse. We drove over numerous high passes and got some wonderful views of snow capped mountains. We stayed in the quiet town of Shegar just outside the national park and had to bath out of buckets of hot water because the plumbing in our hotel was broken. We crossed over Pang La (pass) at a lofty 16,896 feet (5,150 meters) and got our first potential view of Mount Everest, but it was obscured by high clouds. We pushed on from the pass and after several hour found ourselves driving up the Rongbuk Valley with a still cloud obscured Mount Everest lording over the expansive valley.

It was midday when we arrive at the tourist base camp (a large cluster of shed guesthouse just 4 kilometers away from and 100 vertical meters below the actual Everest Base Camp) and just after we arrived the clouds magically dissipated above us exposing the majestic fog cloaked summit of Mount Everest at 29,035 feet (8,850 meters). It was spectacular and I instantly felt drawn to the towering giant. Unfortunately, the clouds shortly rolled in again and hid the peak once again. But, I was still ecstatic to have seen if for the first time in person.

Once we got settled and had lunch we all decide to make the short hike up to Everest Base Camp. It was nice to get a good day hike in, but the weather did not cooperate and kept the peak hidden from view with a veil of clouds. The base camp itself was just and unremarkable field of rocks with scattered groups of expedition tents. The climbing season was just starting to get underway so it was not very busy with people yet. However, there was a massive Chinese military camp to support the effort to take the Olympic torch to the summit of Mount Everest in preparation for the 28 Olympics in Beijing.

In the middle of the base camp there was a large concrete outhouse with a warning spray painted on it saying there was a $200 US fine for going higher than base camp without a permit. But, there did not appear to be anyone there to enforce it, so we decided to cautiously continue up past base camp. It was really not a big deal because the terrain leading up to Mount Everest is relatively gentle just following some glacial moraines which extend all the way up to roughly camp 2. We hiked up for another 2 kilometers up to 17,159 feet (5,320 meters) and found some cool lakes in the moraines. Then we heading back down as dusk approached and the temperature dropped dramatically. Back in our guesthut we spent the night huddled under hug piles of blankets.

In the morning we awoke to a fresh dusting of snow, and while the sky was initially cloud filled it soon burned off and gave us some stunning nearly cloudless views of Mount Everest. The peak looked even more impressive in the morning and I spend hours just gazing up at it in awe. I could not help but wonder what it would be like to attempt climbing the monster. I can certainly understand how it draws to people to take such extraordinary risks in a quest to conquer its unprecedented heights.

[Photos from EVEREST BASE CAMP]

Anyways, a little after noon we finally bid farewell to Mount Everest and heading back towards Lhasa. Only a few minutes after leaving the whole valley became enveloped in clouds again making our departure well timed. On the drive back to Lhasa we made a number of other interesting stops, such as stopping to explore the expansive Tashilhunpo Monastery in detail. It took us another day and a half to get back to Lhasa and wrap up the eventful trip to Mount Everest. Once back in Lhasa I spent my last days getting souvenirs and relaxing before flying down to Kunming in southern China.

Reunited in CHINA

When I arrived in Kunming I met back up with Kala who had flown up from Chiang Mai to rejoin me after her Thai Massage classes had finished. It felt like we had been apart for ages and it was wonderful to be back together again. We spent over a week chilling out in Kunming before deciding it was time to hit the travel road again. From Kunming we took the train to Guilin in southeastern China. Guilin is world renowned for its amazing karst formations which tower all around and even within the city. We spent a couple days exploring the rock spires and even climbed one of the taller ones on the outskirts of town. Then we headed a little further south to the town of Yangshuo.

Yangshuo was small and more low key than Guilin, but had the same amazing karst features everywhere. We spend a day there exploring and then spent the evening bartering like crazy for souvenirs before we left China. By the end of the night Kala and I were working like pros. I even managed to barter a lady down from 100 Yuan for a t-shit to just 20 Yuan (less than $3 US) in about twenty seconds. We had great fun and picked up some really cool stuff. I also spent a fair amount of time hassling some street scam artists and thus saved some unknowing tourist from getting ripped off.

[Photos from KUNMING & GUILIN]

The next day we caught a bus back to Guilin and from there boarded an overnight train to Hanoi in Vietnam. Thus, we wrapped up my time in China and Tibet. Looking back I am extremely glad I decided to take on the challenge. Tibet in particular proved to be the single most rewarding and enriching place I have visited on the trip thus far. It was amazing due to the wonderfully warm Tibetan people and spectacular landscapes, but it was also sobering to see the blatant oppression from the Chinese government and the disrespect for the environment. Tibet is without a doubt on my short list of place to visit again someday soon.

Anyways, I know this summary post is certainly long, but I cut out all sorts of amazing experiences and stories just to get it this short so please bear with me. This post accounts for roughly half the time between my last good blog post and today. I will post the remainder in another post in the coming days. I hope you enjoy reading about my adventures in China and Tibet. I certainly enjoyed living them.

As always,
-Russ