qWT2K9--the quasi World Tour 2009: Week 4: Tibet

I remember as a kid running my hands over a globe that had topography, with the large raised Tibetan Plateau being my favorite part. I didn’t really understand anything about it, where it was, the culture it contained, but being a kid who liked textures and running his hands along anything, it was the biggest raised chunk and therefore the most interesting. That was my first connection to the “roof of the world” as Tibet is called by many.

We left a city called Lanzhou for our 27 hour train ride to Lhasa. We were fortunate enough to buy our train tickets well in advance and had first class sleeper cars which were amazing: TV (all in Chinese, but they showed Forrest Gump!), power outlets, beds that were long enough that I didn’t have to be in the fetal position, etc. The night on the train was clear and I was able to lay with my head on the windowsill and stargaze for about an hour before falling asleep . The only light that I could see was from the front of the train when we were on the occasional long-curve piece of track which made it possible to see both the front and back of the train. We passed a train that had about 30 tanks on it, which was even more eerie as only the night sky created enough contrast to make out the form of them. I awoke about 5 minutes before a spectacular sunrise broke over the mountains of snow and partially frozen small pools of water. Clouds in the sky were so low that it seemed like I could touch them if I were able to go outside and jump. We were at about 5000m at that point, the highest point of the trip, and the highest point of any railroad in the world.

Tibet is a land of devout Buddhists who lead simple lives. It only made sense that as we approached Lhasa (which in Tibetan means Holy City) that a detachment from material possessions should take place: both my computer and Ipod died shortly after sunrise as the altitude was too high for the harddrives to properly function. The landscape was so fascinating outside that it didn’t bother me as much as it would had it happened at home. We passed snowcapped mountains, freshwater lakes, including the highest freshwater lake in the world, and numerous herds of yaks and sheep. Around 6pm the day after we got on the train we looked out the window and saw a city, but it seemed way too modern to be Lhasa. It was in fact Lhasa, just not the one that we knew from readings and “Seven Years in Tibet”. We were met by our 29 year old energetic guide, Ngawangchoepel, who seemed to know everyone in town. He took us to the Potala Palace (the winter residence of the Dalai Lama, prior to the current Dalai Lama’s exile to India), sacred temples, monasteries and a nunnery which was really interesting to see. We went out of Lhasa for a day and toured the first Palace in Tibet, the oldest temple in Tibet as well as the first farms that were established in Tibet. These were 3 hours outside of Lhasa, which for me, the car ride was the best part. It was as beautiful as what we had seen on the train, only we could get out and photograph when we wanted to stop.

Tibet has undergone a lot of changes since becoming part of China 50 years ago. Lhasa is much more modern, many original buildings have been torn down to make way for large boulevards and Chinese shops. The main street is called Beijing Road, which was a little depressing. All of the religious buildings outside of Lhasa were destroyed in the 60’s and then finally after 1985 when Tibetans were granted limited religious rights were they rebuilt. The important buildings in Lhasa had survived, but it was sad to visit “the oldest _____ in Tibet” only to find out it had been rebuilt in the 80’s. Building techniques are still similar to what they were, so although not aged, the construction is authentic.

Our guide very determined to make sure our experience was Tibetan and not Chinese. I ate a lot of Yak and potatoes, which is the traditional Tibetan meal. Our guide took us to a restaurant that was through an alley and up a stair and contained no tourists. It wasn’t a chain but it had booth seating and simple dishes that makes me think it is comparable to Denny’s. It was really good, and although we were stared at by the giggling girls at the next table, it was an enjoyable experience. Our guide told us about his family: he has 3 brothers and a sister. The province he’s from is called Shigatse, and apparently many women have multiple husbands there. Two of his brothers are married to the same woman. His mother had 3 husbands. I guess it is sort of a version of reverse polygamy, but still very strange. He said crazy stuff happens in Shitgatse. It sounds like when ‘Big Love’ ends on HBO they could start a “big Tibetan love” series!

In order for us to get the full Tibetan experience, our guide took us to a Tibetan nightclub on Friday night. We were excited when we got there to see our friends from LA who we had met the previous day. Their guide was friends with ours, and it just worked out that we were both brought to this on that night. The club was very different from a US club experience. The room was rectangular with tables around a large stage. Our guide told us that the stage was where the dancing would take place around 10:30. He ordered 10 cans of Lhasa Beer for Chels, myself and the 3 others which are served with little shot glasses. You drink your shot glass of beer as fast or slow as you want and then someone at the table refills it. At 10:30, a string of performers came out and did various traditional Tibetan songs (almost sounded like German folk music). Some were very amusing, others were like watching American Idol. When a performer was really good, people from the audience would put a white scarf around them that the waitresses had, which was to wish them a long happy life. It turns out they don’t really have an open dance floor. They have some performers who sing and then people get up and dance on the stage while the performer is singing. For fast songs they do a line dance of sorts, these two guys who weren’t paid performers kept springing up from their seats to lead the masses. We tried once but didn’t do so well, but I got good video footage of it. When the performers did slow songs, I think I was the most amused: single girls would waltz with other girls and single men would waltz with other men. A completely heterosexual experience, yet it was the full on one-hand-clasped, one-hand-on-waist type deal. We left the night club around midnight because we needed to leave our hotel at 7 for our out of Lhasa trek the next day. When we were picked up the next morning, our Guide told us he stayed out till 4am! He slept most of the way in the car while I went back and forth taking video and still shots.

We boarded the train back to China (I like to think of them as independent from one another) and were put in a sleeper car with a Malaysian man and his middle aged daughter. They spoke English and we talked about a variety of things. The woman asked us “Do you like Obama? You can be supportive of a black President?” Chels and I made it clear we both admired him a great deal. Considering this isn’t the first time on this trip that this question has been asked to us, it makes me wonder if the foreign news frames US citizens as being racist, or if racism in other cultures makes it seem unbelievable that a non-minority person could be proud of a leader who is a minority. She thought he was wonderful too, very thoughtful and a big contrast to the “aggressive” (her word) president before.

The second morning on the train I woke up again to sun over mountains, and to my delight, my ipod and computer both started working again. I had never been so excited to hear Diana Ross’s ‘aint no mountain high enough’, because in this case, she was wrong. The Tibetan plateau, in its height and glory was high enough to silence her for 5 days! On to Guilin and then Hong Kong at the end of the week to see Winniecheng!

00 The sunrise over the Tibetan Plateau, between Golmund and Lhasa

01 Around 5000m, the highest point on the trip, between Golmund and Lhasa02 Highest freshwater lake in the world (I can’t remember the name), between Golmund and Lhasa03 Pilgrims praying before entering Jokhang Temple, Lhasa

04 Traditional Tibetan Architecture, Barkhor district, Lhasa05 Tibetan Monk, Sera Monastery, north of Lhasa06 Tibetan Nun printing pages of the Tibetan Holy Book, Barkhor district, Lhasa07 Pilgrims walking along turning Prayer Wheels, outside Potala Palace, Lhasa