Monday, October 15, 2007
Paving a Path to Tibet
All we wanted is to get to Tibet.
Well, guess what? It's not so easy as you might think - Permit requires 3 days preparation, talking to the Chinese embassy in Katmandu is useless... they are simply the undisputed kings of the by-the-book beucracy. More hurdles? - only groups are allowed to enter and commute in Tibet, crossing the border took ~30 hours! and you allowed in only after they check your fever, pesticide spray your bags...
We were so happy to have finally enter Tibet, to find out that the first 50km are open solely during nighttime...
Seems like the Chinese are not particularly interested in people visiting Tibet. and for a good reason (more to come on that).
After surviving this 'via dolorosa', our multi-national group (Romanian, Korean, Japan, Swiss, German, Slovakian, Australian) with our nice Tibetan driver called 'Yampi', steered our Jeeps along a muddy dirt road (some flashbacks from other famous 'death-roads' in India and Bolivia), driving through mountain passes up to 5200M and crossing the (literally) breathtaking Himalayan mighty peaks with the famous Mt. Everest at 8810M.
No, we weren't lucky enough to see the actual Everest peak as it was up the skies covered with clouds, but is was impressive as is. We all felt the elevation - low oxygen results with headaches, heavy breath, noxious, few vomited and nearly fainted... Nights are freezing, strong sun at daytime, accommodation is basic and toilets are the worst ('bul-pgiaa').
The nearly 1000Km road (called the 'Freedom Highway') goes between sporadic nomadic villages with authentic mountain people, and spectacular moon-like sceneries of high desert, low on vegetation, rich on water - endless waterfalls and the turquoise 'Yamdrok Tso' lake, colorful Buddhist monasteries and the Himalayan snowy peaks as a perfect background setting.
Among our group was Stelian, a professional National Geographic photographer, with his top-notch equipment - we got friends and managed to see him in action.
Yom Kipur fast went fine (not much of an appetite at this heights anyway) and we finally arrived to the chanting heart of Tibet, Lahsa.
Well, guess what? It's not so easy as you might think - Permit requires 3 days preparation, talking to the Chinese embassy in Katmandu is useless... they are simply the undisputed kings of the by-the-book beucracy. More hurdles? - only groups are allowed to enter and commute in Tibet, crossing the border took ~30 hours! and you allowed in only after they check your fever, pesticide spray your bags...
We were so happy to have finally enter Tibet, to find out that the first 50km are open solely during nighttime...
Seems like the Chinese are not particularly interested in people visiting Tibet. and for a good reason (more to come on that).
After surviving this 'via dolorosa', our multi-national group (Romanian, Korean, Japan, Swiss, German, Slovakian, Australian) with our nice Tibetan driver called 'Yampi', steered our Jeeps along a muddy dirt road (some flashbacks from other famous 'death-roads' in India and Bolivia), driving through mountain passes up to 5200M and crossing the (literally) breathtaking Himalayan mighty peaks with the famous Mt. Everest at 8810M.
No, we weren't lucky enough to see the actual Everest peak as it was up the skies covered with clouds, but is was impressive as is. We all felt the elevation - low oxygen results with headaches, heavy breath, noxious, few vomited and nearly fainted... Nights are freezing, strong sun at daytime, accommodation is basic and toilets are the worst ('bul-pgiaa').
The nearly 1000Km road (called the 'Freedom Highway') goes between sporadic nomadic villages with authentic mountain people, and spectacular moon-like sceneries of high desert, low on vegetation, rich on water - endless waterfalls and the turquoise 'Yamdrok Tso' lake, colorful Buddhist monasteries and the Himalayan snowy peaks as a perfect background setting.
Among our group was Stelian, a professional National Geographic photographer, with his top-notch equipment - we got friends and managed to see him in action.
Yom Kipur fast went fine (not much of an appetite at this heights anyway) and we finally arrived to the chanting heart of Tibet, Lahsa.
Back in Nepal
Summer holidays arrived again – time to get back on the roads…
This year, in a kind'a spontaneous honeymoon, we decided to visit the mysterious Tibet - leaping over between Amman (great Humus), then Delhi (hot Chapatti and sweet Chai) to finally arrive to Katmandu, Nepal.
Being our 2nd visit to Nepal, not much have changed in the past decade. This beautiful piece of earth, a Disneyland-like country with all the hiking-gliding-rafting-banjying activities, aside to extremely poor people, human-riksha, hungry children, homeless and badly crippled beggars that simply tear your heart apart.
We’ve placed ourselves in the heart of the Thamel, next to the good-old Pumpernickel bakery, Everest Steak-house and the famous “swissa’ agency, and decided to take the outmost of our forced waiting-for-a-Tibet-permit and go out to explore the evergreen Katmandu valley.
A local bus (aka ‘chicken bus’), small, crowded and smelly as always (well, we did ride on the bus roof with 360 degrees of view and fresh air…), took us to Sundarizal, where a not-so-easy endless climb up to ~3000M have started, but still the tiny little villages along green rice terraces up the hill were absolutely rewarding on our way to a charming mountain village called Nagrakot, overlooking the Everest peak.
Going back, we accidentally found ourseleves in a town called ‘Boudha’ – a noisy place build around a huge Stupa (a Buddhist temple), where the locals are circling 108 clock-wise rounds (one per each of the 108 Buddhist Gods). We were also lucky enough to be in the midst of a women festival called ‘Fez’, which is all about finding a good husband and warship him. Women are dressed up in red-green-yellowish dresses, paint their hands and dance on the streets.
Tomorrow we head towards the Tibetan border.
This year, in a kind'a spontaneous honeymoon, we decided to visit the mysterious Tibet - leaping over between Amman (great Humus), then Delhi (hot Chapatti and sweet Chai) to finally arrive to Katmandu, Nepal.
Being our 2nd visit to Nepal, not much have changed in the past decade. This beautiful piece of earth, a Disneyland-like country with all the hiking-gliding-rafting-banjying activities, aside to extremely poor people, human-riksha, hungry children, homeless and badly crippled beggars that simply tear your heart apart.
We’ve placed ourselves in the heart of the Thamel, next to the good-old Pumpernickel bakery, Everest Steak-house and the famous “swissa’ agency, and decided to take the outmost of our forced waiting-for-a-Tibet-permit and go out to explore the evergreen Katmandu valley.
A local bus (aka ‘chicken bus’), small, crowded and smelly as always (well, we did ride on the bus roof with 360 degrees of view and fresh air…), took us to Sundarizal, where a not-so-easy endless climb up to ~3000M have started, but still the tiny little villages along green rice terraces up the hill were absolutely rewarding on our way to a charming mountain village called Nagrakot, overlooking the Everest peak.
Going back, we accidentally found ourseleves in a town called ‘Boudha’ – a noisy place build around a huge Stupa (a Buddhist temple), where the locals are circling 108 clock-wise rounds (one per each of the 108 Buddhist Gods). We were also lucky enough to be in the midst of a women festival called ‘Fez’, which is all about finding a good husband and warship him. Women are dressed up in red-green-yellowish dresses, paint their hands and dance on the streets.
Tomorrow we head towards the Tibetan border.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
