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We have now made it all the way to Kathmandu in Nepal. Continuing on from the last blog, we stayed in Lhasa for a further couple of days and visited the The Jokhang where Buddist pilgrams will travel from all over to do the Kora. It is a strange sight to see hundreds of people circum navigate the temple while others drop to their hands and knees to pay homage and pray. Whilst we were there, workers were compacting a new dirt floor and what was amazing was how they sing and stamp their feet to a rhythm whilst working.
The Military presence here takes a bit of getting used to but on the up side it does make you feel safe.
Then we went to see where Dali Lama 5 to 14 used to live (Dali Lama 14 now lives in Nepal as the Chinese government have declared him an outlaw and you cannot mention his name or else you face punishment yourself). His palace, the Potala Palace, has 999 rooms. You would think that they would add just 1 more to make it a round 1000, but I guess they like the number 9 here. The Dali Lama's 5 to 13 are buried here in solid gold 'stupas'. Dali Lama 5's Stupa was 2.5 ton of solid gold and gem stones.
We then saw the Drepung Monestary, where the Dali Lama's 2 to 4 are buried. More solid gold stupas and buddha's.
Next stop was the Sera Monastery, home of the debating monks. A few months ago the riots in Tibet were led by these monks. As a result of this many of these monks have now 'disappeared.' The ones that are still here spend their afternoons debating and teaching Buddism to each other. It was very entertaining to watch as when they make a point they like to clap their hands loudly and give the occasional slap around the head to a novice monk to help him understand?!?!
After walking into a darkened temple, heavy with incense, monks sitting, chanting, while a drum beats... pictures of people half eaten by birds, giants wearing the skins of humans (with head still attached) as capes, Gods walking on the corpse's of men, lots of blood and skulls covering the walls, statues of ugly giants with swords and skulls hanging around their neck... we had found the temple dedicated to Buddha hell!!!
In preparation for Mt Everest we bought some extra gear and some Oxygen too... the air is a bit thin at 5500m above sea level. The altitude in Lhasa was 3650m above sea level and I was not feeling that great there and still had another 2000m to ascend to. We decided to start taking the altitude sickness tablets. I was orginally going to try and not take them but I really wanted to feel normal again. Traveling by bus for several hours per day had already seen us go through mountain passes over 4500m and I was feeling constantly queasy (AJ has also been getting constant headaches due to the altitude). We had been advised to try and drink 3 Litres of water per day and found this to be quite tough requiring constant toilet stops! One thing I found out was that a Yak cant go below 3000m otherwise they get altitude sickness too!
When arriving in Tibet I never expected it to be so arid. There were rivers flowing through the valleys but the place is still a desert. No trees, no green fields, the air was so dry. My skin felt 10 years older despite having to moisturize twice a day. AJ kept on teasing me about my red nose!!! Wind burn, sun burn and cold air had given me a nose to rival Rudolph the reindeer!!!
We passed some sky burial sites. The Tibetans don't bury their dead. Instead they chop the dead body up into little bits and marinate the chunks so the birds will come down and eat it! They then paint ladders on the hill side to 'help the spirit of the deceased ascend to heaven.'
A 7 hour bus ride later and we arrived in Gyantse, home of the Panchen Lama. There's more than one kind of Lama! I had only ever heard of the Dali Lama's, but apparently there are several kinds of Lama's. To help us acclimatise to our new altitude of 4000m we climbed up a very steep hill, very slowly, to see the fort at the top. After the 15 minutes required to catch our breath the view was amazing. A walk through the old part of town showed us how the Tibetans used to live. Very dirty and smelly. Apparently this part of town only got electricity a few years ago. We saw the home of the Panchen Lama, more Buddha statues, and chanting monks. I still cant get over the sight of a monk in Nike shoes listening to an Ipod!!!
Next town, Shigatse. We descended 100m which should have helped with the altitude sickness... no it didn't. The tablets are helping but it is still hard work walking and the sun is intense up here. We visited the Monastery Tashilumpo and walked the Kora with the pilgrims, spinning the 100 or so prayer wheels lining the way. I got a 1 inch rusty nail stuck in my shoe (didn't pierce the skin) and an old Tibetan couple rushed over to help with a pair of tweezers but AJ had already saved me from possible tetanus. I also had an old Tibetan woman help me down the stairs... yes that's right, an 80 year old Tibetan woman helped ME down the stairs... she didn't ask for anything but I felt generous and gave her 1 yuan, (10 pence). 10 pence is a lot of money here!
Then it was onto Sakya at 4280m. We visited Monastry Gompa. This was the last town with electricity and hot water for the next 3 days. When evening set in and it was time for a nice long hot sower there was NO HOT WATER... AJ managed to drain the last of the hotels warm water into his bath so for that I made him boil the kettle 15 times so HE could get enough water to wash MY hair! Ha Ha!
We awoke at stupid o'clock, think it was 4am but my brain didn't start functioning for another few hours. We set off on a 9 hour drive to Rombuk Monastery Guest house. We reached 5000m above sea level, standing at the highest monastery in the world. No one bought us the Yak ride to Mt. Everest Base Camp for our honeymoon gift... thanks guys... AJ and I had to hike up to bloody Everest Base Camp! At the beginning our whole group joined us for the walk. 1 hour into it and I was feeling sick and AJ had a headache from the altitude and cold wind. 5 of the 9 people in our group gave up and opted for the bus the rest of the way. We hiked on to Base Camp. I was the only girl who managed to hike the whole 3 hours from our accommodation to Base Camp. I know what your thinking, a 3 hour hike, how is that hard? I can shop non stop for 9 hours and still do more if the shops didn't shut. Well when you are at nearly 5500m above sea level, only have half as much oxygen in the air, the temperature is below freezing, about -10°C in the sun, the wind is howling down the Valley and every step you take is an effort, your appetite vanished days ago and the food is not that great, this hike was the hardest I've ever done.
Spending the night in the Guest House up there was an experience as well. We slept in very cold conditions with 5 layers of clothes on and 5 blankets also wrapped in a sleeping bag. During the night, we had to find a place to go to the toilet outside (find a patch where no-one else had been basically)! The views of the Mountain lit by moonlight were amazing and complimented the peeing experience.
We said farewell to Everest and took a 12 hour bus journey to the border of Nepal... a town called Zhangmu. The drive was interesting and the road we took had only been half finished. Zhangmu was a town perched on the edge of a ravine and it is here that all trade goods travelling in either direction (most Chinese goods to Nepal) are unpacked from Chinese trucks and repacked into Nepali ones, hence chaos and traffic jams are a permanent feature of this town.
Our last day took us from Zhangmu to Kathmandu again by bus. Kathmandu is pretty hectic... very busy and loud! We said goodbye to our group and are a little weary about pending another 14 nights in this city. We have already had to change Guest House as the one we had booked had no hot water and was a dive! Now we are a little more comfortable and at least have hot water. We haven't done much since arriving here... we visited Monkey Temple but that's it.
Having major difficulties uploading any photos but will try again soon. Connection is pretty bad here, but we are safe and alive which is the main thing!
Love to all,
Lee-Ann and AJ
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