Tibet - Phil's Tibetan Adventure
Tibet Explorer - April - September departures
Monks, Monasteries & Mountains
Tibet took my breath away - both physically & spiritually. It was such an amazing place, with beautiful people, stunning scenery and altitude! The Exodus tour was one of the best tours I have had pleasure of participating. Lhakpa Sherpa the tour leader is probably the best group leader I have met. Nothing was too much trouble & he picked up on any little issue before it became a problem; by the end of the tour he had become a good friend. Arriving in to Gonggar Airport - Tibet's only international airport we meet our Tibetan guide Lha-Lha who gave us a great insight to life in modern life in Tibet.
Our first night is spent in TseDang, Tibet's second city & at 3400m our first night at altitude. The following day we head to Samye Monastery, Tibet's first ever monastery. On the ferry ride across the Yarlung Tsang Po River to the monastery we get the opportunity to meet the locals & despite the language barrier, the power of smiles & digital camera's come to the fore.
Our hotel in Lhasa is in the Barkhor, the old city, just a short walk from the Jokhang Temple one of the most sacred temples in Tibet. It was a very powerful image to see the mass of pilgrims taking the kora (pilgrim route) around the temple - at first we thought it was because of some Buddhist holy day, but it was the same every day. It was such a pleasure to just walk around & soak up the atmosphere. The Tibetan devotion to their religion was very humbling, everywhere we went it was so evident how much it means to the Tibetans. One of those special holiday images was the first sight of the iconic Potala Palace. It was a privilege to walk in the footsteps of the Dalai Lamas. It looked even more amazing when lit up at night even our guide, Lhakpa, was excited to get some photos for his family.
Whilst in Lhasa we also took the opportunity to visit the Sera Monastery & watch the afternoon's debate in which the monks take on each other on various topics chosen by their teacher. After leaving Lhasa we headed up to Damzung, our overnight stop for our visit to NamTso Lake - at 4590m the world highest saltwater lake & another sacred site for Tibetans. The town has a real outpost feel about it & we appeared to be the only westerners around. The drive to NsoTso gave us our first 'high' point of the trip as we drive over the Laken La pass at 5,190 m, one of the passes which crosses the Nyenchen Tanglha range, over which Hennrich Harrer author of Seven Years in Tibet , crossed on his epic journey to Lhasa during 1940/50's.
The tour then headed towards the real high point of the trip - Everest Base Camp. I can now say I have slept at 5200m, well almost slept - altitude does play havoc with your sleep. From Lhasa we stopped a night in both Gyantse & Shigatse two of Tibet's major cities with two more important monasteries. Gyantse has a beautiful stupa full of images of Bhudda. Shigatse is dominated by the Tashillunpo monastery, traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, the second most important Lama after the Dalai Lama and one of the great centres of teaching of Tibetan Buddhism - it was largely untouched during the Cultural Revolution.
You could feel the excitement rise as we caught our first tantalising glimpse of Everest or Qomolangma, as it is known by Tibetans which translates to Mother Goddess of the Universe. We saw it briefly in the distance as the clouds cover its peak as we travel over yet another 5000m pass. Our stay that night was at a Government Guest House close to Rombuk Monastery 10km from Base Camp. It was not the best of hotels I have stayed in but it certainly had the 5star views - It truly was one of the most awe inspiring sites to wake up the next morning & look out of my window & see the world's highest mountain in all its glory. Clear blue skies gave us the ultimate view of Qomolangma - we drove that morning down to Base Camp for a closer look - the image is still stuck in my mind, it just felt surreal to be there. Even more surreal was the fact I could call home on my mobile phone & tell my son I was standing, looking at the world's highest mountain!
It was hard to leave base camp but our guide finally managed to drag us away. Our last two nights in Tibet did not disappoint we met many more fantastic people along the way. Even our last night in the border town of Zhangmu did not disappoint - a real border town full of trucks heading to & from Tibet, it was a crazy mix of all things Chinese, Nepalese & Tibetan. All too soon it was time to head back to Nepal & back to the chaos this is Kathmandu.
I feel very privileged to have been able to experience just a tiny piece of the history of this amazing country. There is certainly something very special & spiritual about Tibet that I will hold dear to me for a long time.
There were so many highlights & surprises to this trip, too many to mention here. Overall I would have to rate this trip a 9/10. The excellent organisation of Exodus of the ground & the planning of their itineraries, I could not fault. The amazing scenery & beautiful Tibetan people - I have great respect. I do not want to make any political comment here but I would urge anyone who has thought about visiting Tibet, is to visit sooner rather than later.
Please check out a few of my photos below
