Thread: Kingwilly visits Shangri La, no, not the hotel, but Tibet

Thanks for that. I lost all my photos to my now ex-girlfriend. we spent 2 months in 1994. it doesn't look any different. more cars.

We took the bus, originally from Chengdu. After a week of gradual ascent we didn't notice the altitude at, what 4,000 m ?

The locals were very friendly, but afraid to talk about politics. back then we were free to roam, just catching a local bus and staying wherever. Samye was my favourite place. An ancient monastery surrounded by strip farming. No electricity and no running water. The toilet was on the roof of the only hotel. No walls or anything, just a view of the Himalaya. No roads, a boat across the river.

I remember seeing many hoopoes, a bird i had only seen in books. In Llahsa, men were selling animal pelts: Snow leopards and red pandas. Han Chinese tourists were buying them. I hated that.

It started getting cold at night in September, so we caught the monthly bus to the border with Nepal. the most picturesque two day bus journey ever.

In Northern India months later, after Q-ing for an hour to meet the Dalai Llama, my girlfriend showed him our diary with pictures of Tibet like yours, KW, and he autographed it, under a picture of the Potthala Palace.

Sorry for rambling on, nostalgia and all that. Feel sad now, don't know why.

Nice pics KW. That's another place I can cross off the list as it looks very dull.

Acutally scumpy, it was Heinrich Harrer, not brad pit.

adn do you really think that I could possible live without modern comforts.


lily, I havent, but i'll look it up, thanks for the tip.


michael, thanks for sharing, and I would reiterate that point about the bus or train as a better means of entering Tibet, rather than plane.

MtD, phillistine.

Nice pics, it is somewhere that I would really like to visit one day.

I had a friend who was the F&B Director of the Holiday Inn in Lhasa (think the name has changed now), he put a burger on the coffee shop menu called the Big Yak.

Snice tread KW....bout time you pulled ya finger out and did something worthy.

Tried to send you a greeny even, but could not.

Originally Posted by Nawty

Snice tread KW....bout time you pulled ya finger out and did something worthy.

whaddya mean about time?

have you looked in the Indo travel section lately?

I don't wanna travel to Indo....when I do I might look there.

Originally Posted by Nawty

I don't wanna travel to Indo....when I do I might look there.

armchair traveler mate. you dont need ever to visit.

How's the connectivity in Lhasa? I assume they have mobile phones, but is there any GPRS or EDGE connectivity on the phones?

Its like masturbation....I prefer the real thing.

Originally Posted by DaffyDuck

How's the connectivity in Lhasa?

I dont recall. This trip was in about 2004 or 2005.

So should be better by now then.

Daffney needs to keep in touch with all his sex sites so as to keep up with current pricing and not risk being ripped off....again.

Looks ace, would love a trip up there myself.

Spectacular scenery in the pics KW. Would definitely like to take a look there one day.

Originally Posted by Phuketrichard

We used to run mtn bike trips from Lhasa to Kathmandu. From your pics it does not seem the roads have imporved at all but actually seem worse.

a friend of mine joined one of those tours, highly recommended. i used to ride a lot, and wanted to do it also.

(but bit hard with my 3 year old son in tour at teh time)

I think they still do the sky burials, but its more of a tourist spectacal now.

Originally Posted by Michael

Feel sad now, don't know why.

Probably from the compassion you have gained after seeing all you have...especially in Tibet I don't doubt....

Originally Posted by Michael

men were selling animal pelts: Snow leopards and red pandas. Han Chinese tourists were buying them. I hated that.

I have heard that this practice has got much worse since the Chinese occupation. Tibetans used to sell these pelts before..I don't blame the Chinese for all problems in Tibet..However, the Chinese thirst for animal parts is a major player in this problem. Causing such a large escalation of the problem that these beautiful animals are becoming almost extinct..
It is a trade in which the Tibetans have found a niche as most jobs are given to the Chinese majority..(Chinese around 7-8million in Tibet..as opposed to 4-5million Tibetans from what I hear maximum numbers...and the Chinese are moving in thick and fast....Lhasa looks like a Chinese city..)

Please check out the Channel four UK dispatches program about life in Tibet...quite an eye opener.

or you can visit...

www.tibet.com or
http://www.tibet.com/Status/index.html

either way again thanks for the photo's from all.

Originally Posted by kingwilly

I think they still do the sky burials, but its more of a tourist spectacal now.

Some remote places still do them..however the Chinese forces had banned them for many years..but the PRC aren't stupid and can see that...being seen to be preserving Tibets rich culture can be used as an advantage...politically.

ON my 1st trip on a bike When we crossed one 17,000 'passes we came upon a chinese guy on a chinese one speed thaty weighed at elast 100 lbs (compared to our 25 lbs bikes with 18 speeds) He had this giant cassette deck in a wooden box and had tapes in all the languages saying who he was and what he was doing. He had been on the road 4 years!! and still going strong. I couldn't push his bike much less pedal it!!

The month i spent in Lhasa i went to the sky burials a few times but out of respect never took a pictiure unlike many of the chinese who always were snapping away

Your son could have ridden in the support truck :-)

very good! Wonderful photos. I've been wanting to get my buns to Tibet for decades. I feel a kinship with the place, and have written a version of the Milarepa story - is scheduled to get published in the States, along with an audio book version.
Question (this might sound daft). It appears there's a bus going to Lhasa from Kathmandu. Do you think it's possible (after getting a proper visa), to take the bus and simply get off at the first town past the border in to Tibet? (I don't know the name of the town). Methinks I might get in trouble, even if I were willing to hire a car from there - tho even that may be daydreaming. The reason: I want to explore the Tsampo valley which goes eastward from there (northern slopes of the Himalayas) which were the stomping grounds of Milarepa. Am most keen to try and find Marpa's compound. Even if it's not standing, there must be something still in evidence at that site. I've heard from a Russian acquaintance that the Tibetan tour guides will show you a place they call Marpa's compound, but it's not real. He says the real place is close to the border with Nepal, so it's made off-limits by the ever paranoid Chinese. ....just wondering.

Also, what would you recommend as the best times of year to make the trek? I assume anytimes beterrn May and September, but that's just off the top of my pointy head.

Late may thru late sept unloess u like being VERY cold.

Originally Posted by pomeloseed

Question (this might sound daft). It appears there's a bus going to Lhasa from Kathmandu. Do you think it's possible (after getting a proper visa), to take the bus and simply get off at the first town past the border in to Tibet? (I don't know the name of the town). Methinks I might get in trouble, even if I were willing to hire a car from there - tho even that may be daydreaming.

Possible, but generally the buses and tourist agencies in Nepal are wary of upsetting China, so you'll find it difficult or impossible to do.

Not to mention that if you did succeed the Chinese might jail you, (as has recently happened to those 3 americans in Iran)

not worth it imo

wow, KW, this must of been a real adventure! Tibet is on my list of places to go.

Great thread, thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by bustak

wow, KW, this must of been a real adventure! Tibet is on my list of places to go.

Great thread, thanks for sharing.

Yeah bustak, it was. Definitely worth the effort one of those places that was not disappointing, I just wish I had more time there.