To Lhasa, Tibet over the Tibetan Plateau

[Rural Surin]

It a dream of mine to do that train journey. Wonderful just wonderful.

You're never to old, mate!

Lovely and informative thread!

[S Landreth]

Two days ago we went to visit Namtso Lake; the highest saltwater lake in the world, and learned some things along the way.

Again tourists are able to get pictures with the yak they like

Out in the parking area our guide was purchasing some yak meat because he says you cannot trust the yak meat being sold in Lhasa.

We were privileged to visit with some Tibetan Nomads on our way back from the lake. On our way to the lake I saw a solar panel next to a tent and wondered what is was being used for. I asked the driver to stop; on our way back to Lhasa, so I could get a picture and some young girl (maybe 16) approached me trying to sell me a hand full of Dong Chong Cao and I politely declined her offer while walking towards the tent (made of yak fur). She saw that I was curious about the panel/s and invited me to see her home. I went and got the girlfriend knowing she wouldn't want to miss this.

I followed both the young Tibetan and the girlfriend inside the tent and started taking pictures (after getting permission) while the girlfriend was offered a seat and some butter tea which she kindly accepted, from the girls mother. I was able to get the young girls mother to show me what they used the solar panel for. Churning yak milk. I was impressed.

Progressive Tibetan Nomad

Tibetan Nomad

Yesterday we went to visit the Drigung Monastery and the Detrong Hot Springs/Tidrum Nunnery.

The Drigung Monastery was completely destroyed; during the revolution, and is being rebuilt as you'll be able to tell from the pictures below.

old monastery is just above the guest house you see in the picture below

Dung Chen

Route (steep narrow washed out dirt roadway with no guardrails that needs reworking) and view leaving the monastery

This monastery is the most prestigious place to hold a Sky Burial and families all over Tibet will send their departed loved ones here if they can. A lot of the departed are brought in (hired help) and some are brought in by family members. There is a waiting period (usually one evening) and family members can stay at the monastery's guest house to make sure the ceremony goes off as the family intended. We were told; because there are so many families that send their loved ones here, some families request certain condition be met for their loved one. An example is when they move the departed to the mountain top (ceremony site) the family might request that the departed be transported alone, instead of with others who have passed. The monastery uses a cart hooked behind a small tractor to move the bodies (sometimes in bulk).

the cart and tractor

They were already performing the Sky Burial for the morning when we were there and by the time we had left two bodies had been left for the next days ceremony (the two sacks you see in the picture below).

We stopped by the Tidrum Nunnery and Detrong Hot Springs which are located next to one another and are under construction. You can rent rooms in the area, if you would like to spend more time in the hot springs (there were some nice looking Chinese women there when I was visiting,..no bathing suits). The nunnery doesn't receive the money the monasteries do and construction (re-building) is a slower process.

When we were leaving the hot springs area two nuns requested a ride into two different towns we would have to travel by to get back to Lhasa. We took both with us. After dropping off one nun we stopped for lunch (a picnic) and the one nun left with us was enthralled with the girlfriends pictures on her Note II.

[wasntme]

Awesome thread. You should be a travel writer as you evoke much for the curious.

How did you go with the altitude? Namtso is climbing higher again and just on that lake [great pics] where does the salt bleach from??

[S Landreth]

That's it. It was a nice eye-opening experience (heartbreaking at times and I have stories) and again I want to thank everyone who participated.

I would like to suggest something to anyone who visits Tibet. Hire a Tibetan tour guide.

We had two wonderful guys with us, our driver and tour guide. Please do not hire a Chinese Tour Company to show you around. You will be misinformed. It's not that some of the Chinese Tour Operators are trying to mislead you, it's just not something they know about. Their history books tell a different story.

An example (we found out): Recently the Chinese Government sent some people to instruct the Monks at the Potala Palace not to correct the Chinese guides while tourists were visiting, or there would be trouble. What was happening was that some of the monks would overhear (a lot of the monks speak/understand different languages) Chinese guides misrepresent the history of the Palace and the monks would inform the tourists the real history.

A note about some of the links in this thread (especially travelchinaguide.com). I was in China while posting on this thread and the links I send you to, may not be accurate or give the reader the real history you might be looking for. If you're outside of China you might want to do a search on the subjects/monastery/etc. to find a more accurate version on the subject and not the watered-downed version I have sent you to. China will block most of the sites I wanted to link to.

Do's and Don'ts: Don't take pictures of any government buildings, police personnel, military personnel/equipment, inside any monasteries unless given permission and try not to take pictures of older Tibetan people without their permission. Taking pictures of tourist spots is OK, but keep government people out of the pictures (check/security points).

Trust no one! Police have stopped wearing uniforms and carrying guns and instead wear street clothes. Some monks are military men wearing robes so do not discuss political matters with anyone, while in a monastery.

Do not ask your guide political questions in public. You could jeopardize their livelihood and their employer (maybe even their family's well-being).

It has changed so much since the 80's!!

After reading Phucketrichard's comments about seeing Tibet 20 years ago, I wished I had also and do think if you're thinking about visiting, do it soon. Tibet will be different 20 years from now and will be nothing like it was when Phucketrichard saw it 20 years ago. Even our guide was telling/showing us things and would say, “it was different 20 years ago”.

About our stay at St. Regis, Lhasa. Nice resort, helpful/courteous staff. Each morning they would set out a buffet style breakfast and there were three different restaurants (Chinese, Western and Tibetan) to choose from for dinner. We ate at each restaurant; for dinner, once and the food was fine. But to tell you the truth, we enjoyed going out into the street and purchasing our meals from the locals.

We stayed at the Everest and Kailash Suites while visiting and the girlfriend preferred the Kailash.

St. Regis Lhasa, Everest Suite

St. Regis Lhasa, Kailash Suite

Some shots in and around the resort,.

The Tibetan restaurant and meal,..

Namtso is climbing higher again and just on that lake [great pics] where does the salt bleach from??

While we were in Tibet our guide kept telling us how rich in natural resources Tibet was and that the Chinese were mining and removing minerals all over Tibet so I figured the salt (another mineral) in the lake was natural. And it does seem to be according Wikipedia: A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water which has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per litre). snip Salt lakes form when the water flowing into the lake, containing salt or minerals, cannot leave because the lake is endorheic (terminal). The water then evaporates, leaving behind any dissolved salts and thus increasing its salinity, making a salt lake an excellent place for salt production.

How did you go with the altitude?

It is something to consider when traveling up that high (in such a short period of time). But we did adjust quickly, although with a few headaches along the way.

[Happy Dave]

Awsome, maybe, but boring scenery. Don't think i would waste my money going there.

[Bangyai]

Brilliant thread. Thanks for taking me somewhere I'll never be able to go.

[Thaiedward]

Superb thread. Thank you for sharing your adventure with us.

[wasntme]

Done yourself proud mate and inspired me to do the same or something [read..need to be told what by mum], although i do not have the photographic skills that you and bobcock and many others have.

Wish i did and will try.

Thanks for the education. Really, really worth it.

[wasntme]

Awsome, maybe, but boring scenery. Don't think i would waste my money going there.

sorry thread but this typifies so many farangs on samui and just why they are there.

[reddog]

Superb thread. Thank you for sharing your adventure with us.

ripper of a thread,made me keener than ever to get there

[coodhi]

Fantastic report and killer photo's.
You rock dude.