Saturday, October 16, 2010
12:51 AM

Top of the World!

One. Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Chengdu. I spent the night before having a bit of drinks and playing Mariokart at Cheryl's place till about 3am, so by the time I finished packing, it was already 4-ish. I had to catch the 8.10am bus in order to get to Shenzhen airport in time for my 12pm flight. To my shock, I woke up at 8.24am, and was terribly late for my bus in Wanchai. I brushed my teeth, skipped my breakfast, swung myself onto a cab, and was in time to get the ticket for the 9.10am bus. Fortunately they could check in for me, so I got my seat on the plane in advance, and only had to worry about getting my backpack on the flight in time.

Instead of an impressive 80 min they mentioned on the brochure, it took us a good 2 h to reach the airport. That's because the customs was crowded and Shenzhen traffic was horrible. Just when I thought I was at risk of not getting my backpack on the flight, or even missing the flight, the lady beside me was screaming at the driver to hurry to the airport as her flight was due at 11.40am, and she was too late for the check-in. Instead of feeling pity for her, at that moment, I felt a sense of relief - at least there's someone later than me…

I reached 40 min before flight, and so I ran towards the First Class check-in for the much shorter queue, in the hope they could help me check in considering I'm so late, but was rejected. So I ran to the oversized counter, and fortunately everything went smoothly. So much for rushing; our flight could not get clearance from Chengdu air traffic control, so our departure was delayed by 1.5h, which meant X and H had to wait at the Chengdu Airport for me.

Too bad we weren't able to explore Chengdu properly, but merely had a shower at Sim's Cozy Hostel, ate Sichuan rabbit stew and made our way to the train station. Instead of the bedbug-infested and stained beds we were half-expecting, our soft sleeper compartment and toilet were new, clean and comfortable for 4. This was utter heaven compared to the hard sleeper which was filled with relatively wealthy Chinese farmers smoking and playing cards, and hell in the hard seats. This is pretty hard to explain. Firstly, 46h in the hard seats seems pretty unfathomable. Secondly, the moment I stepped within 5m vicinity of the compartment, I could smell the stench of rubbish. Then I saw liquid coming from an abandoned trash bag, and then some scattered rubbish blocking the way. There were many people - mostly not sitting still, children were running around, and some squatting in the aisle. It was smoky so I couldn't see through the whole compartment. They looked like farmers and they had their sacks of fertilisers and other stuff all around them and along the aisles. Some were cutting their nails, and perhaps others were picking their noses. This was the ultimate culture shock, and I captured all these in my memory for just 1 second and left with no more second of stench and ugly sight.

46h didn't seem like such a long time after some chatting, eating, reading, ipod, movie and photo-taking. The train took us to Shanxi, Xining, Golmud and Lhasa, was built very recently in 2007, had an awesome theme song for its completion called 天路, is the highest railway in the world, with highest altitude of about 5,000m above sea level!

Three. Lhasa. After 2 days on the train, we finally reached Lhasa. There were mountains surrounding the train station, the sky was very blue, the air was cool, the sun was shining and we were 3,500m above sea level. All seemed so surreal.

Our guide Tsering was there to pick us up. He gave us each a white scarf to represent good luck and welcome in Tibetan culture, and brought us to a budget hostel which costs 25yuan per person. It was not the best hostel I've ever seen in China, but it was a traditionally-decorated one. The toilet was the drain kind, without doors, while the showers were also pretty open, with only short partitions.

Dinner was at the LP-recommended Tashi II where we had bobi (just like popiah), momo (dumplings), fried noodles with yak meat, and brownies.

Four. Lhasa. It was our first to a monastery in Tibet, at 2 small ones, Gyume Tantric College and Meru Sapa Monastery. And there were going to be more to come.

Barkhor Square was really what I expected - markets, souvenirs and many tourists. But it's also really more than what I expected. Barkhor was crowded with their locals, rather than tourists, and they circumambulate the Jokhang temple every morning. Many of these locals would be seen prostrating every few steps, and some seemed very weary from walking miles and days from another village. The market was also selling stuff for the locals - yak butter, yak cheese, spices and Tibetan snacks.

Every local queuing to get into Jokhang will be seen holding a thermos of yak butter. The candles in the temple are fuelled by yak butter, and filling it up with the oil is like an offering. The temple was a little dark, with rows of cushioned benches in the centre (atrium) for the monks' assembly, as well as curtains hanging from above. On the sides there were plenty of chapels which we found hard to enter as they were packed with Tibetans. Each of these chapels is extremely small. You had to bend a little to enter as the entrances were a little short. There would be candles in the middle of room, and you would circumambulate it. These chapels display statues of Sakyamuni, its disciples, past Buddha, future Buddha, Tsongsen Gampo (first king of Tibet to spread Buddhism), Tsong Khapa, past dalai lamas, taras, protectors, etc. And these would repeat after a while. You would put your head at the legs of these statues, and perhaps offer 1jiao on the altar. There was a distinct smell in the chapels as they are so claustrophobic and filled with the overpowering yak butter smell.

Lunch was at a local teahouse, Tsering's favourite, which served Tibetan noodles with hardly any meat (just 4yuan!), and yummy Tibetan sweet milk tea (just 5jiao!).

We headed to Sera Monastery, which featured similar statues of worship as Jokhang, as they belong to the yellow sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Monks were debating in the courtyard, and they had their way of clapping to indicate if the answer was correct. All the answers seemed to be correct and we were expecting a more formal and centralised debate.

Five. Lhasa. I am really not a big fan of Tibetan food thus far, but I felt my low expectations had caused them to be pretty acceptable. So we wanted to try tsampa, and asked Tsering to bring us out to try it. He said restaurants don't serve tsampa, so he brought us to his cousin's place. It smelled pretty fragrant - roast barley grounded into powder. You add in yak cheese, sugar and some butter milk, stir a little and eat it. Honestly it's just powder and butter tea, so it's not very tasty, but very good experience sitting in a local house with Tibetan-styled furnishings.

Went to Drepung, supposedly the biggest monastery in the world, before heading to Potala Palace which is said to be one of the most well-constructed buildings in the world. The climb looked tougher than it really was, but then every step was still pretty tiring considering we have thin air up there.

Six. Lhasa. Headed to Namtso Lake. Very beautiful blue, but wind was so strong it seems like a beach with waves. Usually not supposed to be so. The sky was pretty cleared up so we could see the snow-capped mountains in the background.

Tibetans believe that your wish will be granted if you hang up the colored flags like that.

Toilets in Tibet are horrible. In the public toilets you had to pay 1-2yuans, so you’d think you’re getting decent toilets. Most were individual cubicles with deep shit holes dug, so you could see shit piled up high from eons ago as you peed. You can now imagine the stench. I just had my Brazilian, so that made squat pissing messy in the sense that the pee flows everywhere instead of a straight line (in case you didn’t know, it matters!). Most had sinks, but none had working taps, so H’s disinfectant was absolutely our life saviour. In the end, I was so well-trained I peed just twice or thrice a day, but each time in high volumes as I drank a lot of water to prevent worsening of my AMS. I could hold my breath and be out in less than 2 minutes, not even making an effort to ensure my pants were zipped before I was out, to avoid spending a second longer inside.

So much for my love for Tibet – the major reasons for me not ever going to live in Tibet would be (1) the toilet, (2) food and (3) the yak smell. But I still love Tibet for its (1) hospitable people, (2) the grandeur of the nature and (3) the romantic culture.

Seven. Lhasa. Yamdrok lake azure blue, very blue and oddly shaped. But it was so high up my head was throbbing so hard.

Our original plan from then on was to travel to EBC to see the Himalayas. This meant that we would spend 180yuan on the entrance fee, travel a long distance with little or no view of the Himalayas most of the time, and may risk disappointment by bad weather and thus not seeing Chomolangma at the EBC. So our guide gave us another option of travelling to Old Tingri instead. There, we will avoid the entrance fee, and enjoy the view of the Himalayas for most part of our journey. However, we decided to go on with our original plan and take on the risk, for face’s sake, the experience of staying in a Tibetan tent, and the chance to be close up with Chomolangma.

Eight. Shigatse, Gyantse, Lhatse. We reached the former capital of Tibet, Gyantse, where there were many heritage buildings under preservation. It was a quiet and beautiful little town, perfect to take a relaxed walk in. The best part was when our guide asked a man whether we could enter his house to have a look. It was very colourful, Tibet-styled furnishings inside, simple and clean, and we saw the women making cloth with the weaver machine.

Lhatse is such an insignificant town that the budget hostel was absolutely the worst I’ve ever seen. There were no showers, not even wash basins. The staff wanted to show us a room, but was unable to unlock using the key. After a good 5-10 min try, they managed to open the door, only to release a swarms of flies. There was a dusty metal bucket, discoloured curtains, tattered sofa, and faulty lamps. I did not even want to step inside to have a look. In the end, we had no choice but to take a hotel room for 4 of us. It was still pretty cheap, and we get western toilets (sitting, not squatting) and hot showers.

My criteria for accommodation during my backpacking trips have always been very basic and straightforward – clean, hot water shower, safe and convenient. Now that I’m in Tibet/ China, my definition of acceptable accommodation has been reduced further. I’m now fine with no showers as long as there is a wash basin to wash up and (clean) public baths nearby. “Clean” now just means no bed bugs, no cockroaches or rats crawling around and no mould outbreak. Sad, ain’t it?

But my criteria for diving are on the other extreme. I always go for the best and most luxurious resorts, as diving should always be in style!

Nine. EBC. Along the way, we stopped by Sakya Monastery, just to experience a different sect culture, instead of the same old red and yellow sects. It was interesting how they skinned the wolves and placed them on the doors and windowsills as a means to ward off evil. That to me didn’t seem very typical Buddhism.

Wolfskin

The Lama was also allowed to get married and have children, so that the child can take over as the future Lama, as if a royalty. This to me is especially unsettling, as I thought the highest level in Buddhism to rid oneself of all desires, including women and family.

Journey to EBC was a long 4-hour ride, including 2 hours of bumpy, non-tarmac road. Along the way, we spotted some cyclists, most of them 50 years old and above. At that moment, I was in awe of their perseverance. Even doing the SMU jump for photos or climbing stairs made me feel extremely breathless.

Along the way, at one of the stops, our guide turned around and gave us an excited smile. We got off and he pointed to us the Chomolangma and Cho Oyu in the distance. Though it was still quite small and distant, I could feel the slight excitement, especially when I saw that the guide was so grateful to see it. We then realised that this were to be the first day of the year to have such a clear view of the mountain range. It was the first time in Tsering’s life to see the Himalayas so clearly.

We revelled in our good fortune by taking loads of photos! As we travelled nearer to the range, the clouds cleared even more, and eventually when we reached EBC, the forbidding Chomolangma was right in our face.

Himalayas from the distance

It was probably more than 5 deg but it felt like 0 deg due to the wind chill factor. We decided to take a 1-hour walk to the base camp, instead of taking the mini bus as we thought a 1-hour walk shouldn’t be too difficult. It turned out to be a really tiring walk, where we were freezing from the wind and breathless from the altitude of 5,500 m above sea level.

When we reached the base camp, we saw the flag that was raised high up was the Chinese flag. That was fine, but this Chinese dude actually came to us, started chatting and commented that he’s proud that this is part of China’s land. I felt it was very insensitive for him to say that before the local Tibetans in the tent. I’m not going to comment on whether it’s right or wrong for Tibet to be under China’s rule, but it was also kind of sad that Tibet can’t even use their flag alongside the Chinese flag, unlike Hong Kong. The most paradoxical thing is you can get a Tibetan flag anywhere outside Tibet, but you will be jailed if you are caught with it in Tibet.

At night the sky was clear and all the stars were shining so brightly, even the smallest ones you can’t see normally. I say it was the best night sky I’ve ever seen in my life, though I was shaking in the cold, and refused to go out to the shack to piss.

Ten. Zhangmu. I woke up with wet dewy hair and bursting bladder. As I stepped out of the tent, everywhere was frost. Even the stuff in the toilet was frosted. This meant that the moment warm piss landed on it, it would melt, giving rise to steam/ water vapour.

We left EBC, feeling accomplished, yet sad that we would leave Tibet the very next day. At the same time we were excited about heading to Nepal. As we travelled along the Himalayan Gorge, vegetation became more abundant, the air felt heavier with humidity, and we passed by waterfalls and eventually reached a steep one-road valley town called Zhangmu. I was energized by the different looks of the people – some of them were Indian-looking, and most looked mixed. There were many Nepalese trucks parked along the narrow roads importing Chinese produce, and exporting Indian/ Nepalese produce. These trucks were beautifully decorated and had indecipherable car plates.

Lovely view on our way to the border town.

The hostel we checked in had common toilets in which you had to pay for, and which looked extremely basic and perhaps not very ambient for showering. The room looked damp and I guessed the mattresses were yellow, but we didn’t have better options unless we paid much more for slightly better facilities at another hotel, so we made do with our sleeping bags.

Eleven. The Last Resort. I love Tibet, but I’m glad to finally leave the primitive toilets, yucky food, high altitude, dryness and cold behind me after 9 days, to embrace the rainforest, shorts and the haphazard Nepal. The air was slightly humid, but the temperature was cool, at about 20 deg.

Nepal is 2h 15 min behind China, which meant that we had to wait for the customs to open at 10am, which was 7.45am in Nepal. The moment we crossed the Friendship Bridge, we knew we were in Nepal. The roads were bumpy dirt roads, not tarmac like China. There was no phone network reception, and security was haphazard at the customs. It was not clear where to go, so we were about to step out of the gates without going through the immigration, when we were instructed to step into this room where some fat men would search our bags.

In the immigration room, the queues were disorderly. It was not clear which queue was for visa application. This filthy, bloodshot-eyed man came to us and ordered us to give us our passports and passed them on to the officers. Then he held out his hands and mumbled something, suggesting we should pay him tips. We ignored him all the way. Finally we got the visa application forms to fill up and eventually the crowd cleared (we were among the last few left in the office). We paid and had to enter a room where the supervisor would stamp on our visa sticker.

Finally, we were free to go. The same bloodshot-eyed guy followed us and offered to bring us to The Last Resort in 4 hours in a small Suzuki car, which we suspected could not hold our backpacks. Another man nearly beat him up as he was in fact a drunkard spouting nonsense. It turned out the road was only safe and manoeuvrable only with a 4WD, and took merely 30 min to reach The Last Resort. The drunkard climbed atop our 4WD and made a fool of himself until we reached the end of the village, ready to embark on the valley road.

It was obvious when we reached The Last Resort. There was a suspension bridge which was used for the bungee jump as well as by locals to transport their farm produce. It was suddenly luxury where we had a big comfy tent, western-styled toilets and natural rainforest surroundings (no bugs it seemed).

The suspension bridge.

A unique way to carry their loads.

Green paddy fields.

Unfortunately we could do neither the canyoning due to a mudslide, nor the rafting due to a lack of people. Neither could we do our bungee jump on Day 1 due to a lack of demand. We had to wait around and do our massage instead.

Twelve. The Last Resort. I did not go to Nepal with the intention of bungee jumping; it was in fact something I felt I would not do in my life, but if I did not do it, I would have nothing else to do. So, I decided to go for it anyway. The wait was long as I was the second last of more than 20 persons to jump. But the wait somehow caused me not to feel scared anymore. As I walked on the board, I did not even feel jittery as the bridge felt very stable, I was facing the gorgeous Himalayan valley, and there was the beautiful Bhoti Kosi below. As I jumped I could feel I was out of control. Everything was a blur, though I still felt safe. But what I could not stand was the feeling of hanging upside down from the ankles, and it was for quite a long time.

This 160m (felt like 130m only) drop was said to be the longest free-fall in the world, so that means that I have an excuse not to do other jumps! But the natural surroundings really makes it feel better, compared to jumping off Macau Tower!

We finally reached Kathmandu after a bumpy 4-hour ride, and our hotel after a long walk and some getting lost and without the help the very useful losergay (L). To our shock, the hostel did not have a 4 or 5-bed dorm as promised online, but merely 2-bed rooms. No way is any of us going to share the room with the L. Firstly L didn’t bring his Ipod or book to read, so his favourite pastime at night when we are packing, unpacking, reading, writing journals or slapping moisturiser on our legs, L would be staring at us. Same thing on the bus ride, as he had no books to read remember? We would have gladly lent him our books, since we each had 2 books per person on average, but he just loves to stand and stare (literally).

L brought an SLR, so we thought, yay, expecting quality photos of us and the majestic mountains. It turned out I took more quality photos with my lousy Olympus than his SLR. Did I forget to mention that L did not contribute to any of the planning of the trip? There were only 4 of us, and 15 days to plan, so there was plenty for him (with a 9-5 job) to take up. L did not even book his own airtix, until he realised he needed his own credit card (which he didn’t have, oops). Even changing money, L has to call X. X got harassed by a drunk man when we were exploring the village near The Last Resort. The nearest person to her was L. Even I would pull X away from danger. L stood and stared. Very mature and independent 26 year old indeed.

As none of us were willing to let another of us sleep in the same room as L, we considered the 4-squeezed-in-1 and the 3-1 options. So H asked L if he was fine with having the room to himself. To me, I thought it was a no-brainer since we were paying the same amount anyway and he gets the room to himself (!); in fact, I expected him to suggest it but thought he might have been too embarrassed to do so. L’s reply was, “I rather not la…” wtf.

The room was big enough, no doubt, but there was no aircon, only the fan, and hardly any ventilation. It felt pretty warm considering that we were in the subtropics. We had huge piles of unwashed clothes, and we just came from Tibet, so our belongings don’t exactly smell like J’adore when combined together. I could hold it no more, so I volunteered to move into the extra room, as “I am not scared of staying alone, and it’s fantastic to have the whole room and toilet to myself!” As I was about to get the room, L volunteered to get the room, and so when I was going to move into the room, L said he would move instead.

These were not all. There were still the eating habits and complaints about not being attractive part, which I shall not elaborate. Many would ask why we asked someone we are not familiar with on our trip. Honestly I didn’t expect such an extreme case from a friend’s friend. There were many more eligible choices who could not make it at such short notice too. Besides, a trip for 4 is much much more economical than for 3. Lesson learnt, but being the practical us, we probably would still have gone with a 4th traveller, but perhaps, on hindsight, a random guy we find online…

Fourteen. Kathmandu. We decided to try Nepalese cuisine, royal style at perhaps one of the best hotels in Kathmandu - Krishnarpan's at Dwarika Hotel.

Momo with buff meat.

Nepalese fine dining brings about subtle tastes but perhaps less shiokness of casual dining.

Surprisingly good yoghurt with fruits.

Fifteen. Kathmandu. Perhaps I will come back to Nepal again to do Pokhara, together with India. This trip also makes me feel excited about planning for my next backpacking trip, probably in NZ, so I can finally do my skydiving.

Erotic sculptures...

Newari pizza.