Our last day in Lhasa...

we picked a good one :) The weather is lovely and the place is crowded with Tibetan pilgrims for the Saga Dawa celebrations....we both have noted how different town feels between the Chinese holidays (first week of May) and the Tibetan holiday today. Night and day. Anyway, we have done most of our last minute errands and we are heading back to pack the luggage and bikes up for our morning departure.

We woke up early and walked the Jhokang kora with throngs of pilgrims and we also made it over to the Jhokang this afternoon to observe the festivities. They had put a cloth cover over the courtyard and the monks were all seated on cushions laid in lines on the courtyard pavement. There was a very special monk/lama/abbot that had his place on a raised platform across the back of the courtyard and he seemed to be leading the chanting that the monks were doing. People, and other monks, walked through the lines of seated monks handing out money an there were veritable piles of offerings lining one edge of the courtyard - biscuits, fruit, boxes of food all mounded up. There were many thangkas hanging around the perimeter of the courtyard and the biggest ones were across the back. It was thronged with people as well. What an experience!

For lunch A had her last taste of Dunya's steamed vegetable momos with special chili sauce and I had my last tuna sandwich and salad until I arrive back in the UK (these things are very very rare in India :) We are looking forward to riding at least some of the Friendship Highway as we make our way from Everest Base Camp to Kathmandu...we can hardly wait!!!!!

We don't know what the internet situation will be like over the next week (which is about how long it will take us to get to Kathmandu) so bear with us and don't worry - we will be fine :) If we do get some access we will update you as we go along.

Later!

Videos!

Hey, I sorted the rotation thing :) I have to convert to Avi and then use a shareware tool to rotate it...but don't worry, it's worth it :)

I have fixed the Walk Sign...
click here to see the walk sign

and the Ganden prayer flags...
click here to see the prayer flags

A new one (I know, you didn't know I forgot not to turn the camera :) - a bird diving in the water at Namtso...
click here to see the bird diving

and some old ones that I have cut/converted to be much smaller now that I have a tool :)

Crocs in the water...
click here to see the crocs in the water

Crocs fighting over food...
click here to see the crocs fight

and the Kathakali dancers...
click here to see some dancing

Let me know if there are problems :)

Tashi delay :-)

As promised...photos from our "6 months on the road" dinner :) This is the starter....


...and this is K attacking the starter before I can even get the camera out :-)


Needless to say...we never got photos of the mains because we finished them so quickly!

On to Namtso photos!

We had a great trip to Namtso lake despite having to get a bus there - we would have loved to have ridden (it would have been very hard work) but the Tibetan Mastiffs were perceived to be too much of a leg chewing threat. Hearing the dogs howling and barking all night when we actually arrived at Namtso it was a very good thing that we did not ride - more on that later :-)

We had hooked up with a couple from the UK - Zach had been away from home for four years and Imo for one. Although much younger they were well travelled and knowlegeable and great to be around. The bus that we had taken was a Chinese tour bus and we were the only non-Chinese speaking people (although Zach and Imo had a decent amount of Chinese under their belts having spent six months teaching English in China). Most of the people on the bus were on a day trip and we were on a two day trip - we were to stay overnight and catch the bus back to Lhasa the next day. The bus journey took four hours to reach Namtso and those that were going back the same day would only get one hour there before they had to return - we were glad that we had decided on the two day trip as the weather was lovely and the scenery beautiful.

The route took us along the Qinghai - Lhasa Highway and also followed the railway line that we had travelled in on. The road travelled up and up into valleys, gaining height the whole time. We were surrounded by mountains that had been blasted to make way for the road, the lose rock left behind had potential for landslides, occasionally metal mesh kept it captured as a preventative measure. We looked up at large vertical rocks that were precariously balanced above us, threatening and casting shadows down the slopes. Mountain peaks accompanied us, occasionally capped with snow. Rivers snaking their way down valleys varied from torrents and rapids to dried up washes, the water (or chu as it is known in Tibetan) transparent and clear or a mirky brown in colour from the mud that was being swept downriver. I would watch it flow over the grey and mauve rocks and pebbles as we passed by in the bus. Eventually I pulled out my MP3 player and K and I listened to music, I with my eyes shut as I tried to catch up on some much needed shut eye, sleep did not come but euphoria entailed from the music.

Our first stop was at some prayer flags in the shape of a pyramid that were placed in honour or offering to the heighest mountain in the area - Mount Nyenchen Tanglha (7111 metres). The view was spectacular and it was no surprise that this area had been chosen to celebrate the mountain. The range also seperated the road we were taking from the valley where Namtso was located. Everybody jumped out of the bus and took the necessary collection of photos in commemoration. Local Tibetans who had gotten wise to the timing of the arrival of the tourist buses tried to get yuan by posing for photographs. They hassled tourists who would have once oblinginly fed this habit whom now found it more troublesome and shooed the pushy people away or tried to take photos without getting the Tibetans in their shot.



Eventually we turned off the highway and headed up towards Namtso, the bus moved slowly, we could also see other buses ahead that were also challenged in their ability to make it up the twisting steep road. We came to a pass at 5190 metres, at the top the bus parked up to allow us to take in the view. More Tibetans greeted the tourists, this time they held baby goats and dogs in their arms in hope of gaining a better opportunity in having their photo taken and thus earning yuan. Nobody wished to take up the opportunity, the posers became pushier as a result but still had no luck. Snotty nosed children in dirty clothes put their hands out and asked for money, I refused as everybody else did. The people here were obviously poor, perhaps they were nomads, judging by their dress some were tribal too, still their desperation for money was not catered for as people kept their money close. One girl patted my trouser pockets and begged me for a photo or some cash. I had no camera on me and my money was secretly stashed away. I could see that she had a need for my yuan but I do not want to support this trade. After my saying "mei you" (not have) many times she eventually stopped her persistance. Now her attention turned to curiosity as she checked out my earrings and the ring on my finger. I pulled a few faces and a boy nearby mimicked them. Seeing that her nose needed a clean I gave her a pocket tissue that was scented with rose, I demonstrated to her to smell the scent, she did so and happily placed the tissue safely into a pocket, smiling at her reward but not blowing her nose. She took my hand. A boy arrived holding a kid goat, seeing that I was not going to take a photo he also became curious of me. I petted the goats head and said "ahh", he copied my speech over and over again. Very soon it was time to get back to the bus...



Going over the pass Namtso came into view. A beautiful blue lake, it is the highest salt water lake in the world, the sea water having been pushed up high into the sky when the Himalayas were created millions of years ago. It is also surrounded by mountain peaks over 7000 metres high which create a beautiful backdrop. The road took us past wide expanses of land that were dotted with nomadic tents and grazing livestock, the dreaded dogs lay resting in the sun...

We arrived at Tashi Dor Monastery, and the small "village" set up for tourists right next to it, right on the edge of the lake. We easily found a tent to stay in for the night and went about walking the two nearby hills - some rocky outcrops near the lake.

We breathlessly made our way up the slope - at just under 4800 metres the lake is positioned 1100 metres above the height of Lhasa and any climb up was incredibly strenuous. These chaps had the right idea, lying around was far easier! We quite liked their out turned straight horns :-)


Looking down at the campsite from atop the hill, yikes, it takes my breath away looking at it again :-)


We spent some time talking to Zach and Imo at the top of the hill whilst we had some much needed rest. We shared travel stories in particular and enjoyed the beautiful view.


Zach looking lively before the climb up the hill :-)


Prayerflags overlooking the lake.


The lake views were amazing from this high up.



We eventually skidded and slid our way down a steeper hillside in order to get to the lake edge. At the side of the lake there was a mound of snow, K took great pleasure in hurling snowballs at our companions who had not yet seen the snow pile and were taken by surprise as a result :-)


Crazily the others took off their shoes and socks and stood in the freezing water - not for long though :-)


We could not resist skimming some stones across the waters surface, the pebbles underfoot were the ideal shape and just beckoned to be bounced.


We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Tashi Dor and taking in more views of the lake, occasionally seating ourselves and talking further about our exploits.

The Couple Stones as they are named which are seated across from the chapel.


The chapel: We did not go in, it was busy with faithful pilgrims who had travelled from afar. In fact many of the pilgrims were interesting to see, their dress vaired greatly. Many were decorated with coloured braids in their hair, some had gone a step further and had placed circular silver discs (like large, old Chinese coins with the square in the centre) into their plaits. Many wore dark coats with sleeves which were twice as long as their arms, the fabric would hang down almost to the ground and would swing as they walked. This extra length of cloth is essential in keeping ones hands warm and is quite customary. Many of the pilgrims were walking the kora, others were tirelessly prostrating and lying flat on the floor, in this manner they would circumnambulate the nearby hillside that shadowed the chapel. Some of the older pilgrims had bent backs from many years of labour, still they chanted mantras and span their prayer wheels, their disability did not deter them from gaining more merit. I did not get any photos of the pilgrims, my lense would require that I took photos close to them and out of respect I did not want to stick a camera in their faces. Instead I preferred to say my hellos and move on.


We sat near the area for ritual bathing and watched a gull dive for food (there are no boats on the lake, we assume that it is because of its holy status).


Further views of the beautiful lake.



Mount Nyenchen Tanglha from the opposite side of the lake.


The inside of our tent. You can see the stack of duvets that each person had in addition to a sleeping bag - it was THAT cold at night...but the cover worked and we spent a very toasty night in the tent :-)


A view of the campsite. In the background you can see tents similar to that which we stayed in. The tent on the foreground is in the typical style of the nomadic tents.



Sunset at the camp. Here you can see a Tibetan with the long sleeves.



Overnight we heard the howling and barking dogs - in the morning K and I both admitted to one another that in the night we had both needed to go the toilet however neither of us would brave the three minute walk to the facilities due to the ferocity of the dogs that sounded like they had been let off their leashes to guard the nomadic tents.

The next morning K took a short walk and watched the sunrise.



Soon I joined her and we took a walk around the kora of the nearby chapel and hillside... Maybe we need the extra merit too :-)

The Namaste rocks, so named because their shape resemble the hand positioning for greeting in India.


Other views from the kora.





After the walk we were starving so we went and took breakfast at the Tibetan tent restaurant where we had our dinner the previous night. The people there were really friendly and were happy to see us again. We watched a man make Tibetan yak butter tea in a long and narrow wooden butter churn. The stove was fuelled by yak dung, luckily the skinny metal chimney stack sucked the smoke out of the tent. All the time water was boiled in a large kettle which was constantly refilled, the hot water was placed into nearby thermoses for later use, this was continued until the stove burnt out and was certianly an efficent method in making the most out of the heat.

My ankle had swollen from again from walking on slopes the previous day, we had the idea of putting my foot in the cold water in order to reduce the swelling. The early morning water which had not yet been warmed by the sun was almost too cold, I could only manage to put my foot into it for ten seconds before it became unbearable.


We saw a Chinese tourist (who we later invited us to drink tea with her when we waited for the bus) from our tour bus who motioned to us that we should look at the following rock paintings, although we are not sure of their originality...


We had an amazing time at the lake, it was very peaceful and it was great to get away from the city :-)



When it was time we went out to find the bus from our travel agency. We were under the impresion that we would stop at the hot springs on the way back and we knew that part of the package was a free lunch. The bus quickly filled with the Chinese tourists that were on their day trip out and soon we were on our way. The bus ride out was beautiful - it was nice to see the scenery going in the reverse direction and we spotted a group of cyclists that were riding to Namtso (supported by a jeep, they were not riding loaded bikes). We soon stopped for lunch at a CHinese restaurant and we all piled out, filled 5 big tables and consumed the many plates of food that were delivered (only one dish was without meat!). Not long after we noticed that the Chinese tourists had departed and were getting on the bus! We didn't have more than 15 minutes at the restaurant. We kept wondering where the hot springs might be as our crazy bus driver seemingly raced back towards Lhasa, driving in th emiddle of the road, honking his horn at all traffic and only occasionally slowing for the bumpier sections of the road (our backpacks fell out of the overhead bins TWICE due to the erratic driving!). Soon we were quite close to being back in Lhasa and the bus pulled in at Hope-Long Industries...a place for animal husbandry. Hmmm...not exactly what we were thinking the hot springs would be called :-) It turned out to be a Chinese medicine/pharmaceuticals type place with all manner of dessicated things that were being ground up and made into pills - frogs, caterpillar fungus, long centipede type bugs and even ewe embryonic material was being made into capsules! Scary! There were several Chinese tourists that were very interested in this sort of thing and several of them came back on board with small bags containing their purchases. We stopped at two more of these establishments (we were not invited to participate, even if we wanted to, as it was all presented in Chinese) before we became a bit fed up and abandonded our tour bus for a public bus for the last few kms ride into town. It is very strange that the Chinese tourists would spend an entire day on the tour bus for an hour at a very beautiful lake, a quick lunch and a couple of hours at the pharmaceutical companies....why did they bother going all the way to the lake?

Anyway...we had a fabulous trip that not even a twisted end to our bus journey could dim. It was well worth it!

Goodnight and thanks for reading :-)

We are back from Namtso and it was beautiful!

We ended up on a Chinese tour bus, which was fine for the ride up but the ride back today was a bit of a challenge...more later :)

We have some great photos, we had some great conversations and we have also spent our first night at abut 4800m - it was very very cold - my watch thermometer said it was 4C (39F) this morning and that was INSIDE the tent! The place provided some super warm blankets and we spent a toasty night inside our sleeping bags. We saw some beautiful stars last night, but woke to clouds.

We have just had some dinner and we are knackered! Altitude really takes it out of you and we did a lot of walking while we were up there. We are off this very minute! to the youth hostel for a hot shower and we will probably read our books until we fall asleep :)

Tomorrow we go to the Nepal Consulate and we will get our visas...

Later!!!!

Woohoo!!! We are going to Nepal :)

It's not that we don't like Lhasa...we really like it here, but it's time to move on. We have been frustrated with permits and guides and finding people to travel with and we have finally got it all sorted! We met a very nice French fellow while we were perusing the boards and the four of us (me, A, the Frenchman and his German girlfriend) hooked up later this afternoon, talked about what we wanted to see on the way to the border and then approached several agencies. We selected the best offer and booked it - we depart on the first of June on a 4 day trip to the border, taking in Everest Base Camp.

While we were finishing up our booking another couple, from the UK, came into the agency looking to go to Namtso on a two day trip...this is also something we have been wanting to do. We hooked up with them and chased down a trip and we are off to the lake tomorrow morning, heinously early. We will be offline for a couple of days but we will be back with more photos :)

Now we must go get a shower!!!! (the hot water is only on from 7pm to 6am) and get our stuff packed to meet our fellow travellers tomorrow morning at 6:15!!!!!

P.S. to celebrate 6 months yesterday we had ice cream and cake in the afternoon and then we treated ourselves to a really fabulous (but not expensive) dinner at a French restaurant. We shared the 8 Treasures salad (which was like a mezza) and then A had a vegetable au gratin and I had a ground pork stuffed tomato and we washed it all down with Great Wall red wine. It was delicious and reminded me of home....

Goodnight!

I was determined to walk the kora around Ganden before our departure from the area having read that the views were spectacular. With much gusto and enthusiasm I stomped back up the hill to the monastery in order to walk before the arrival of pilgrims and tourists. From our campsite we had already seen a row of monks walk the kora at sunrise and had heard singing carried in the breeze from the direction of the monastery.

Just before I started the kora I looked back to view the campsite below - I could not see K or the bikes at all, we had dismantled the tent already and as a result there was no sign of our presence at all from such a distance.


I walked along winding paths, sometimes rocky, sometimes hardpack, either way they were well trodden and worn. Sometimes the paths would fork, one would trail off to a small shrine or juniper burner and then would join back up again, at other times the path that split would dissapear down or up the mountainside, no doubt to another important shrine or rock.


The views from the kora of the surrounding valleys were amazing. Jutting peaks in the distance stretched out as far as the eye could see, few were snow topped now that the weather was warmer. I had the place to myself and all that I could hear was the sound of the early morning chirping birds and the occasional breeze through nearby shrubs.



Sometimes I lost the path, this was worse when I reached a dead end at a cliff edge. There were so many prayer flags in the area that I could not see a path onward and decide to head down the mountainside a little. As I headed down I realised that I was leaving the high kora and starting to head down towards the valley, doing a U turn a climbed back up to the clif and eventually managed to find a steep stone staircase hidden by a web of prayer flags which I had to brush my way through.


I surprised a large hare as I walking, it was the largest hare that I had ever seen and I watched it run down the mountainside and dissapear from view.


Looking at the road which we had climbed the previous day from part of the kora.


Finally I made my way back to the front of Ganden. Stall sellers recognised me from the day before (my bike horn had created curiosity as well as our achievement of riding up) and cried "hello" and waved, congratulating me on having done the kora.


I then headed back to the campsite quickly having walked the kora and thus created luck for our future journeying (or for mankind, or for the Tibetans.... ;-)

Everything was packed up at the campsite, K was lost in a bookworld so I sat down to rest for a while and slather on the sun cream in preparation for a day in the saddle under high altitude rays. We gradually moved the bikes and gear down to the rocky pilgrim path which we were going to ride down in order to head back to Lhasa. As I picked up the last few items (my helmet and camera bag) I descended from the campsite thinking how great it was that we had found such a cool spot and that neither of us had injured ourselves (the latter being a bizarre and unusual thought indeed). As thoughts go moving on to something else as quickly as you have thought them, mine proceeded to think of ants in my helmet and that I should warn K about hers. All of a sudden within seconds of all this happening, I found myself hurtling my helmet and gloves through the air as my ankle twisted sideways on a rock edge and I banged my knee and back into the sharp rocks surrounding me. The pain was excrutiating (I had many years ago twisted my ankle very badly) and I lay on the floor uncomfortably amongst the rocks rolling around in agony unable to make a sound. K who was very close by and had her back to me did not see any of this happen, I could see her but could not communicate. Finally, I managed to weakly say something like "help" or "fell" (neither of us are sure which) and K ran over to my aid. She administered the necessary first aid to my bleeding knee, bruised ankle and damaged ego (the star that she is) and I eventually felt strong enough to move on. We decided that we should continue on with our planned route down the rocky path rather than back up to Ganden and down the tarmacked road that we had ridden up. We were both desiring some offroad action and my ankle did not feel as though it would hinder us, besides I am better on two wheels than I am on my own two feet...

Looking down at the rocky path that we were going to follow down to the valley floor. After the corner the path dissapeared from view and we did not know what would be on the other side.


Looking back up towards the campsite and part of the descending path which we had just ridden :-)


The path started fairly smoothly but very quickly deteriorated into steep rocky sections that were unrideable due to the amount of luggage that we were carrying in our panniers.

Here I am enjoying one of the easiest sections with a smoother surface :-)


For the most part the road was very narrow and there was no margin for error on our part.


There were sections were it would have been too dangerous for us to even attempt to ride due to large chunks of rock which covered our "path" and we would have to carefully maneuvre the heavy bikes and luggage on foot. Using a techinque by rotating the bike on the back wheel by pulling a little wheely using the back brake we could position the bike over the easiest of the rocks, dabbing the front and back brakes accordingly would prevent the bikes and our kit from rolling away downhill and dragging us behind.



Here I am having a rest after a successful navigation of an incredibly steep and rocky section which by any account of responsibility and containment of self control I would not have ridden. Alas, the terrain presented itself to me and having spent some time over the last hour getting used to the handling of the bike offroad whilst laden, I found that I was back to my normal devilish self and unable to ignore the challenge of riding some scariness. It was great, I feathered the front brake whilst picking my route, I rolled the front wheel over large rocks and kept my weight shifted back whilst I ensured that I pressed down on the bars enough to compensate for the light front end because of the luggage on the back. There was a drop to the right hand side which had not been a very good deterent either and I found myself descending on the edge of my panniered skill and it was all very good, life giving, adrenaline fuelled fundido :-) :-) :-)


K was a ROCKSTAR too. Occasionally she would go first but for the most part I rode up front judging the rideability of the terrain - it being my forte. I do feel as though this was an oxymoron on her part though because we all know that I lack any sense when it comes to offroad rockiness, having a want to always ride steeper and rockier and push my skills to the edge :-)



It was certainly steep in places and we would have to keep our eyes on the road - occasionally we would be able to catch a glance of the awesome view surrounding us.


It's ok K, just grit your teeth and bare it, your mother will be proud :-)


Sensibly I did not encourage her to ride this part...


"Eagle Eye" K spotted this lizard on a rock. Soon there were many scurrying between rocks around us, I was on a particulr steep section of downhill when one ran in front of my bike and I just managed to avoid squishing it...


Looking down into the valley which we would eventually descend into. Even though we had already spent an hour or so descending we still had a long way to go...


The trail continued down...


I was much happier (and so was my ankle) riding the bike than walking it (no surprises there) and soon after a few hours of descending the strain was beginning to take it's toll on my ankle and I was feeling that it was getting weaker. I informed K that I was at a point where I could no longer walk and that we would have to reach the end of the rocky section sooner rather than later. We had just descended down an incredibly steep section of rocky switchbacks and I was at the end of being able to maintain my sure footing. Five minutes later as we descended into a rocky wash, once again pushing the bikes my ankle finally gave way and I fell into a heap on the floor with the bike on top of me. Again unable to speak, K came to my aid lifting the bike from me. She got my shoe and sock off and had my foot elevated within moments of me finally being able to let go of my foot. We were concerned that I may have broken my ankle but upon closer inspection we agreed that I had badly sprained it. She pulled out a roll of tape from the first aid kit and made a support over the top of my sock. I was OK to ride but could not push the pedals too hard. K got my bike up to a rideable section and we soon joined a smooth dirt road. Soon spotting a mountain stream I stuck my foot into it in order to reduce the swelling, this helped immensley. We watched a worker irrigate a field and redirect a stream as we sat in the sun and I soaked my foot. Eventually we got on our way again and joined the main road. K took up the front and we pacelined it back to Lhasa with me getting a free ride on her slipstream.

We were both exceptionally tired after our few days of riding and have spent much of the last few days recovering with me trying to rest my ankle as much as possible...I'm sore, but I will be back on two wheels in no time :-)

We had an amazing trip with some exceptionally good riding despite having to push the bikes on occasion :-)


Thanks for reading!