Preparations
About a year ago together with Femke and Wilko we decided to go to Tibet and Nepal. And now it was finally happening. Funny that this trip had also become our honeymoon. Not every newly-wed couple goes on holiday with their witnesses... After we had received information from several travel agents, we had chosen Koning Aap. They offered the trip with the longest stay in Tibet. Unfortunately the organisation of Koning Aap appeared to be a mess. On the registrationform we had stated that the four of us wanted to extend our holiday with two extra weeks. That seems to give problems.. For months we didn't get any news and then suddenly Koning Aap told us we could only extend for one and a half week. After some pushing from our side it's possible to extend for two weeks after all. But then the costs appear to be higher on two points. Koning Aap charges an extra fee because of the high dollarrate and because we stay longer then a month. Earlier we had asked Koning Aap about the possible raise for the long stay and they has assured us this wasn't the case. And then we receive the tickets and information just a few days before we leave. Again Koning Aap doesn't give the information we need. We get the standardletter for the remainder of the group, although nothing in the letter is appropriate for us! According to the letter they will pick us up on the airport, a phonecall to Koning Aap tells us this is not true. We have to get to the hotel on our own. Unfortunately they forgot to enclose the address of the hotel in the letter. We receive this just in time by fax.
Another "error" is the change of the time of our returnflight. On a small card enclosed in the envelope is written that the flight from Delhi to Amsterdam has been advanced. Also enclosed in the letter is the voucher from the hotel in Delhi. They didn't notice that it's impossible to visit a hotel when you have only five hours between two hotels. When we called earlier the same week to ask when we would receive the tickets, they hadn't mentioned any change of flighttimes. Luckily we can cancel the hotel and Koning Aap gives us a refund. But we made extra costs for the visa for India and that's worth nothing now. To be short Koning Aap doesn't deserve a price for good organisation and we hope they will do better during the rest of the trip. We are happy we booked our trekking in Nepal with a different travel agent. And this travel agent, Snow Leopard, was good and on time with all their information.
Milarepa
The name of our trip is Milarepa. Milarepa (1040-1123 A.D.) was the most important disciple of Marpa, the Indian (married) yogi and important translator of Buddhist writing, also founder of the Kagyupa-sect. Milarepa was an ascetic, magician and poet. One believes that Milarepa attained the enlightenment of Bussha in one life. He wrote the 'Hundred Thousand Hymns of Milarepa' around his search for enlightenment. Milarepa has an important place in the heart of every Tibetan and he is depicted on many murals in monasteries, mostly smiling with his hand near his ear while he sings. Milarepa composed hymns and meditated in caves high in the mountains where he stayed for long periods in a row. But besides that he travelled a lot through the borderlands of the Himalaya.
Saturday 7-10-2000/Sunday 8-10-2000
We have a smooth flight to Beijing. We are very happy that we changed flights because the original flight was through London and Tashkent. That would have meant an earlier departure and later arrival. Now we left the Netherlands around five p.m. and arrive early in the morning in Beijing. Getting a taxi is quite an exercise. We don't want to pay too much, but four person in one taxi with all the luggage appears to be a problem. At last we manage to get one taxi for the four of us for a reasonable price. In the Xinqiao-hotel we take some time to rest and then we set out. We have been to Beijing last year and at that time we saw most of the important sightseeing's. But we didn't see the old summerpalace Yuanmingyuan back then, so that's where we want to go. Femke en Wilko decide tot go to Tiananmen-square, so the two of us go by metro. Our hotel is close to a metrostation and the summerpalace can be reached by bus from another metrostation. However we are not able to locate the bus, so we decide to take a taxi. The old summerpalace is located peacefully just outside the city.
The gardens contain several lakes who are mostly filled with water-lilies. In between are many anglers. We get a bit fed up when we have to buy extra entrance-tickets of 15 Yuan per person, to get into the part where they restructured pieces of the Palaces (Yuanmingyuan ruins of European Palaces). There are some nice reconstruction's, but it looks very new. We take a taxi back to the metrostation. I'm a bit tired from the flight, so I'm dozing most of the way. Michael is much more awake and he takes nice video-recording from the busy traffic. Then we have to go by metro again. The tickets are very cheap and trains drive regularly. Ideal transportation. Michael wants to have a walk, so we get out of the metro at Tiananmen-square and walk back to the hotel through some small streets. Most cars stick to the main-road, so we can walk quietly. We peep into the alleys where the houses of the Chinese (Hutong) are located. On several places there are food and small things to be bought. The only problem are the public toilets, they can be smelled from great distances and you better pass them quickly.
When we get back to the hotel, we find out that the tour-conductor called Wilko and Femke and they arranged a meeting with the group in the lobby. We will go out for dinner together. With Femke and Wilko we wait for the group. One moment Wilko things he has found the group, but it appears to be another group of Koning Aap. But then our group is there as well. We introduce ourselves and walk to the restaurant where Dennis (the tour-conductor) made reservations. Several Chinese dishes are prepared for us and they taste delicious. The group exists of ten persons and the tour-conductor. The four of us, André and Ragnhilda from Belgium, Maud from Apeldoorn, Laurens from The Hague and Jack and Mariëlle from Zuthpen. After dinner we walk to Tiananmen square together, before we go back to the hotel and to bed.
Monday 9-10-2000
Because we leave Beijing tonight, we have to be packed in the morning. We can leave the luggage in the lobby with the bellboy. With Femke and Wilko we rent bikes at the hotel. We cycle to the Lama-temple together. We have been there last year, but Femke and Wilko haven't seen it before. And it's worth coming here again. Unfortunately the weather is not as beautiful as yesterday. We cycle over the main-roads to the Lama-temple. It swarms with cycles here and you have to pay close attention in order not to run into anything/anyone. Luckily they cycle rather slowly here.
The Lama-temple is a Buddhist temple, so we can get used to the prayerflags. It is a beautiful red temple with golden roofs and nice ridge-pieces. We look around calmly and leave in time for the hotel. This time we take the streets between the Hutongs. Sometimes we get back to the main-road, in that case we cross it and ride through the Hutongs at the other side.
Around noon we are back in the hotel to return the bikes. At one o'clock the whole group is gathered and we find out we have to walk to the busstop. We hadn't expected this and it appears to be a long walk. The remainder of the groups walked the same route backward when they came from the airport. Everyone is a bit fed up with the thriftiness of Koning Aap. Michael especially, because we have only one backpack and that's what I'm carrying. He's dragging a rather heavy sportsbag. Luckily we can board the bus almost immediately when we arrive at the busstation, so we can rest. The trip to the airport goes smoothly and because our flight to Cheng Du leaves at 16.30 p.m., we have ample time to read a book. In China they appear to have special rules for airporttaxes. They are applicable for domestic flights as well, so we are 50 Yuan per person poorer. It's only a short flight to Cheng Du. At the airport a small van is picking us up and we stay in a Tibetan hotel in a suburb. They have a beautiful model of the Potala on the first floor! We walk around the block, but there is not much to be seen. Except for the 'hairdressers' in very sexy clothes. Later Dennis tells us that prostitution is illegal, that's why the hookers are pretending to be hairdressers.
We sleep well, although a phonecall wakes us up a few times. Like last year in Beijing there appear to be hookers in the hotel, who offer their services by calling the rooms..
Tuesday 10-10-2000
At 5 a.m. the bus leaves for the airport. We have to pay airporttax again! At 6.30 a.m. our flight for Lhasa leaves. Shortly after departure we have a great view of the mountains. And then all of a sudden we are standing on the airport right between the mountains. Great, we are really there! Fortunately we have no immediate problems with the thin, after all we are no at a height of 3700 metres!
The remainder of the trip to Lhasa takes about two hours per minivan. We enjoy the landscape and villages we are passing through. Everywhere the cattle is walking in the street. Now and then the van has to stop completely to avoid collision with the animals. We van see where Lhasa is situated long before we arrive, a huge smogcloud lies above the city. That's unexpected.
We stop for a moment at a sacred place, where murals are made in a cave. We ride through the suburbs of Lhasa for a considerable time before we get to the citycenter. The van comes to a stop often because of the heavy traffic. The streets are small and we don't think they have ever heard of onewaystreets. If you happen to 'meet' another vehicle in the street, one of you has to go back so the other can get passed. It seems they all hope the other will decide to go back first. At last we arrive at the hotel, the Mandala Hotel, which is located at the Barkhor circuit, in the middle of the old citycentre. We take our luggage to our room and are happy our room is on the first floor. We are out of breath by the time we arrive in our room! In the hotel we find instructions for tourists and all the things they are not allowed to do: participate in demonstrations, ride along on a tractor etc etc. Our hotel is situated at the Barkhor-circuit, this a an 800 metre long pilgrim route which encircles the Jokhang, the spiritual centre of Lhasa. The Barkhor-circuit is the central square in the Tibetan part of the city. Nowadays this quarter occupies only 4% of the total surface of Lhasa. You feel like you have gone back to the Middle ages when you walk around. Pilgrims from for example Kham and Amdo walk clockwise around the monastery and in front of the main-entrance of the Jokhang incense is burned in Sangkangs all day. Sometimes you can also see prostrating pilgrims passing by, the take three steps forward, put their arms in the air, put their arms in front of their chest and then further ahead, after which they fall to the earth to bring their arms back into the air ones more. Then they get up and follow the same procedure again. Everywhere on the circuit there are stands where product are sold to both Tibetans and tourists. One sells souvenirs from doubtful qualities, but also specialised items like hats, thanka's, carpets, kathaks (prayerscarfs), prayerflags and cloths. Fortunately we see mostly Tibetans and there are hardly any tourists. Just like the Lonely Planet promised us we have fallen in love with Tibet immediately.
With the group we've decided to go out for a welcomedrink. We go to a restaurant at the other side of the Barkhor-circuit which has a roofterrace. We get Yakbutter tea as a welcomedrink and this will be the first and last time that we drink this liquid. You can compare it to drinking thea made of tallow, nasty also. The normal tea is of better taste and the lunch is okay (pancakes, noodles etc). Every agrees that the waitress can be called a beauty. She is very shy, but keeps smiling at us.
After lunch we go for a walk on the Barkhor-circuit. We are really staring our eyes out. The women walk in dark dresses with aprons with colourful stripes, de monks in red garments and everyone of them looks very special. We find a spot in a corner of the Barkhor-circuit and take a lot of pictures and video-shots. Unfortunately the pictures are a bit over-exposed, because the new roll that we put into the camera appeared to be 400 ASA. That's a bit much with a clear blue sky.
After we spend some time at the Barkhor-circuit, we decide tot take a look in the Jokhang. De Jokhang-temple was build between 638 and 647 A.D. by order of Queen Bhrikuti, the Nepali wife of King Songtsen Gampo. The main-entrance to the Jokhang is concealed by the big thanka's that hang in front of it (typical Tibetan).
Because the main-entrance of the Jokhang is closed, we go inside through the side-entrance. In the central hall a group of monks are having a ceremony. The monks are beating a drum and they mumble their prayers. We make some nice video-shots, but because it's very dark it's impossible to make pictures. At the other side of the central hall are hundreds of burning candles. One uses copper candlesticks which are filled with Yak-butter or Ghee (an Indian grease) by the pilgrims. Continuously people are taking the burned candlesticks away after which they rearrange the remaining candlesticks. At the side-entrance we already saw people cleaning the used candlesticks so they can be re-used. We go to the roof of the monastery. This is where the monks have their quarters.
During our visit to the first floor, in the central hall a group of pilgrims goes to the water pump, where they jostle each other for a little water. They wash their hair and drink some water. It's a beautiful picture.
On the roof we have a spectacular view of the mountains, the Potala and the Barkhor-circuit. The roof is a small maze with different floors, stairs and alleys. The whole roof consist beautiful golden ornaments, of which we take several pictures.
To end the visit to the Jokhang in a proper way, we walk the Nangkhor Kora. The Nangkhor Kora is the pilgrimroute within the Jokhang. It looks like a gallery which is filled with prayerwheels. On every prayerwheel the text mani padme hum is written and the pilgrims mumble this line when they swing their own little prayerwheel. The pilgrims always walk this Kora (in triplicate) before they enter the temple. When the pass a prayerwheel they put it in motion, they make sure it always turns clockwise. We walk the Nangkhor Kora two times, because it's so beautiful that we want to film the whole Kora. We also make some nice pictures of a pilgrim who stands still for us in the middle of the sunshine. In the central hall we pass by the head-monk who has put his spectacles a bit high on his head.
After we've visited the Jokhang, we go to the same roofterrace to drink a soda. We take a picture of the waitress right now, because she's absolute worth a picture.
We eat dinner with the group at a restaurant that we'll call "the restaurant with the green umbrella's" from now on. In the restaurant they have a beautiful old counter, while three internetcomputers are placed next to it. This is our first encounter with the Tibetan servingmethods. It will often happen that you get the main-course before you had your soup. It's even possible that one person of a group already had three dishes when another had none. Besides that they speak so indistinctly that you might eat the dish which was meant for someone else.
Luckily we have no problems with the height on this first day. We'll just take it easy the next couple of days and we'll try to drink enough (one litre per 1000 metres a day).
Wednesday 11-10-2000
Today we have slept late. First we walk the Barkhor-circuit again, but this time we wander from the route now and then to visit several temples. We lunch at the restaurant with the roofterrace. I take the chickenspringroll. Unfortunately the chicken in the springroll has a poor quality, so I regret not taking the yak-burger like Michael did.
On the pictures: a temple filled with one huge prayerwheel. A couple of pilgrims have to turn the wheel at the same time to keep it moving. A Tibetan street. Two ladies who where standing against the wall swinging their prayerwheels so beautifully that we had to take pictures and videorecordings. We let them look at themselves in the display of the video and you should have hear them laughing!
At six o'clock we have an appointment with the group in front of the Jokhang. At this time a ceremony should start in the temple. In front of the Jokhang some beautiful old people are sitting on the ground. Of course I had to take a photo.
In the central hall the monks are having a ceremony. They are beating the drums again and mumble their prayers. In the Inner Sanctum starts a ceremony as well and we stay and enjoy it for a long time. Not all the monks are as serious with mumbling their prayers, some are even throwing pellets at each other! Unfortunately most chapels are closed now so we can only glance inside. It's very dark in here. De combination of pilgrims, praying monks, candlelight and many coloured statues and thanka's deliver a special experience. When we get back to the central hall, Femke is sitting on the floor, surrounded by pilgrims. They are very interested in her and the Lonely Planet she's browsing through.
We eat dinner in a very small restaurant where we good choose from two dishes, noodles or rice with yak-burger. De coca's have to be collected at the neighbours, but then the food is at the table quickly. Yak is eaten here as much as we eat beef in the Netherlands. We choose the noodles and have to pay 5 Yuan a portion! With Laurens and Mariëlle I have a lot of fun when I have to use the toilet. It's already dark so one of the waitresses goes along. She walks in front with a flashlight. We cross the courtyard and then we go through a narrow alley up a staircase. We don't see a thing, so it's rather scary. Upstairs the girl points Laurens through the first door, this must be the men's toilet, but it's hard to tell, because it's pitch-dark. Mariëlle and I have to go through the next door. The girl stays in the doorway and she lets the flashlight shine through the room. There are two holes in the ground and that's it. Since we really have to pee we ignore our embarrassment and choose a hole. The girl keeps pointing the flashlight at our feet. Laurens had even more difficulty, because he had to find the hole without any light. He was lucky he didn't step into the hole. Laughing we get back to the restaurant. We feel like we've gone through a new adventure.
Thursday 12-10-2000
We rent bikes and cycle to the Monastery of Drepung. That's eight kilometres west of Lhasa. We loose Femke and Wilko quickly. We thought they had stopped to take pictures of the Potala, but later we hear that Femke had some problems with the height. On the way to Drepung we pass the statue of the golden yaks. This statue was unveiled on May, 26th, 19991 in honour of the 40th birthday of the "liberation" of Tibet. For the festivities the Chinese proclaimed a temporary law. All journalists were banned and all foreign tourists had to stay in their hotel.
The last part of the cycle trip was quite difficult with a soft tyre and asphalt that has mostly disappeared. But then the climb was still waiting for us. Just before the climb we meet the remainder of the group. They left early this morning by bus, but that appeared to be harassed by bad luck. In front of our eyes the bus stops again, so we cycle by laughing. When the group finally passes us in a different bus, they laugh again. According to the Lonely Planet it's a climb of only 500 metres, but it feels like much more. After a few metres it's getting to steep and we have to get off and walk. Laurens is the only one who can stay on his bike for a long time. We think that's too exciting.
At the top I really have to go to the toilet and I think I'll never forget. It's the dirtiest toilet I've ever seen. Not only a hole in the ground, but also filled with gutter. Michael told me the men's toilet was even more disgusting!!
At least the cycling was worthwhile. In it's days of glory there were almost 10.000 monks in the Drepung Monastery. The monastery consists of a number of white building piled up against the Gyengbuwudze-mountain. From below it looks more like a town then a monastery. The monastery-area contains many staircases, chapels, alleys and some beautiful pilgrims and monks. Drepung was founded in 1416 and was once the biggest and richest monastery in the world. Politically Drepung was also an important centre for a long time. When you want to take pictures inside the monastery, you fun is over quickly. In each temple they ask money for taken pictures. In this monastery prices vary between 10 and 50 Yuan. Even though we already paid an entrance-fee of 30 Yuan per person.
We climb as high as possible and reach a height of 3930 metres at last. For me that's definitely a new height record. On the way down we pass through the kitchen and see the immense kettles that were used here to cook for the monks. At the entrance of the monastery we drink a coca when the owner leaves. He waves and says we can stay put, after which he blocks the entrance with a wooden plate. When he doesn't return within half an hour we place some money on the table and leave. In the meantime Femke and Wilko had joint the group again, so we cycle back to the city in a group of seven.
On the way back we see a group of pilgrims with yaks. Unfortunately they don't want us to take pictures of them. But I make a beautiful picture of the evening sun on the corn and mountains. In front of the Potala we wait for half an hour for the sun to appear from behind the clouds. Unfortunately new clouds keep turning in front of the sun, so at last I take a picture without the sun shining on the Potala (which isn't worthwhile).
We eat dinner at the restaurant with the roofterrace and this time it's delicious. Even though the Yak Chile that Femke and I ordered is very spicy. The same beautiful girl is our waitress, seems like she is working all the time.
After dinner we go out with a group Tibetans. We go to a establishment where Chinese are not allowed. We are the only tourists. Several Tibetans dance or sing. We are not used to the Tibetan music and it gives us a bit of an headache. We don't stay long.
Friday 13-10-2000
At last we are going to visit the Potala. We meet the group at eight o'clock, since breakfast took a long time yesterday. We also choose a different restaurant. 'There is a rat in the kitchen' is a hit from UB40 and was very applicable to this place. It takes a long time before we all had our breakfast, but then we take a riksja to the Potala. We try to make a competition, but the drivers annex cyclers take it easy. The Potala has thirteen floors and it's height is more then 117 metres. It was the winterresidence of the Dalai Lama. The complex consists of a white and a red palace with a small yellow building in between. The white palace was for secular use. It contains the living quarters, the offices, the seminary and the printing-office. The red palace with it's many chapels had a religious function. Besides the many chapels the red palace also contains the golden tombs of the Dalai Lama's. In the small yellow building are the huge, with holy symbols embroided tanka's kept that are hung over the south side of the palace on new years celebrations. We have to climb many stairs before we finally reach the roof of the palace. For foreigner the entrance-fee is a lot higher (40 Yuan) then for citizens who only pay 1 Yuan. But we have to remark that inside the locals donate money to the gods on several places. This money is collected by the monks and it's unclear if they can use it for sacred purposes, or if it has to be tranfered to the Chinese government. The view from the roof of the Potala is a bit disappointing, we see flats mainly. It's clear that the old Tibetan part is only a small part of the total city nowadays. We pay 10 Yuan extra to get to the roof of the red palace. Since it's only one pair of stairs up, the view is hardly different.
When almost all group-members have come to the roof (only Femke and Wilko didn't come up) Dennis suggests to take a group picture in Tibetan costume. We all change clothes, after which a group of Chinese take. But they also use their own camera to take a picture of this strange group. We think we'll be famous all over China in a couple of days.
Then we continue the tour through the palace. We take no pictures in the chapels, because they ask 150 Yuan for each picture taken. However it's free to take pictures of the entrance-doors to the chapels and they are beautiful.
After we have come to the ground floor we go out of the palace and use lunch (it's not worth mentioning what we had). After lunch we walk to the summerpalace of the Dalai Lama, Norbulingka. Shöl, the village that was once at the entrance to the Potala is almost disappeared. Right in front of the Potala is now a public square in the style of the Tiananmen-square. Norbulinka used to lie a few kilometres outside the city. But due the Chinese occupants the population of Tibet has increased enormously in the last fifty years. The Chinese government stimulated Chinese families to move to the province. In Lhasa the number of inhabitants increased from 20 ā 30 thousand to 150 thousand. To create living accommodation the whole road between the old city and the summerpalace has been filled with houses. The new buildings that were placed here have no resemblance to the old Tibetan housing. This new construction method can be found everywhere in Tibet nowadays. Concrete building of three floors maximum with white bathroom-tiles and bluish panes. The rooms on the lower-floor all have a rolling-shutter and in most cases the rooms are used as a shop or restaurant. It looks like they create new houses quicker than new shops can be opened. Many of the shop-spaces are empty at the moment. After a while we pass a butcher, where the fish jump out of their tank. When we get closer, they appear to have living snakes in a big bag. They try to scare Jack by coming close to him with some snakes in their hands.
Of course we make some pictures of the Potala. It's a pity the Chinese flag hangs in front of it. And who is scaring the pigeons?
The summerpalace isn't very special and there are only few places where we can go inside. Besides that my body didn't like the lunch and I would like to get to the toilet in the hotel. I went to the toilet in the summerpalace. And that's just a cesspool between the hole in the ground!
In the hotel we have a real warm bath for the first time. Great. We take our laundry to the luxury hotel-service and then go out for dinner again.
Saterday 14-10-2000
At eight o'clock we have breakfast in the hotel. It takes quite long again, but we are ready by nine o'clock. We take a lunchbox from the restaurant and leave in a minivan for Ganden. This monastery lies on a hilltop, 63 kilometres from Lhasa. It's a long drive. First over a flat asphalt road. The driver has to be alert, because all animals walk around freely here and sometimes they decide to cross the road all of a sudden. After an hour and a half we stop in a small village where corn is threshed. They have a machine which splits the corn from the stem, but the remainder is handwork.
We appear to be at the foot of the hill on which the Ganden monastery is situated. From here the bus has to go uphill. We are not even halfway when the bus starts smelling and the driver stops. He's getting under the bus to fix something, but what? After a few minutes repairs are made and we continue our route. At the entrance to the monastery I buy a prayerflag, which I want to hang at the highest point of the kora.
The Ganden Monastery was founded in 1409 by Zongkaba and it's quite a large complex. It's the cradle of the Gelugpa-sect and was almost completely destroyed during the Cultural revolution. Nowadays it's mostly renovated. In Ganden Tibetan prayerbooks are handprinted. We soon discover that we are not very interested in the inside of the monastery.
With Laurens we are going to walk the high kora. At first the path is flat and runs away from the monastery. Then it suddenly goes up quite steep. After we have taken a break, we realise we've missed the path from the kora and we have to go further up. We decide to cross the slope to the other path. That's not as easy as it seems, crossing a slope without a path. Laurens discovers that he has left his camera on our resting-place. He returns, while we continue slowly and rest regularly to get some breath. When we think we have reached the summit, two new higher summits appear.
When we finally reach the real summit, I hang my prayerflag between the hundreds of others that are already hanging here. Most of them are bleached by the sun, but mine has still beautiful bright colours. Of course we take a picture of Michael on the summit between all the prayerflags. We also rest here to enjoy they lunch we have taken from the restaurant and the beautiful view of the Kyichu-valley and snow-mountain in the far distance. Later investigations learn us that this 7115 metre high snow-mountain was about 100 kilometres away from us. We climber ourselves from 4300 to 4575 metres. The way down back to the monastery is very worn out by the pilgrims (sometimes the path is half a metre deeper than the surrounding ground) and now and then we slip on some loose stones.
Just before half past two we return to the parking-place, where we find the other group-members. At half past two we leave the monastery by bus.
After sitting in the bus for over an hour, I'm extremely hot. I was sitting near the window, where the sun was shining. I find a place on the backseat, where I can enjoy some shadow. I'm hardly sitting there when the driver goes with a lot of speed through an enormous hole in the road. The backseat of the bus changes into a dust-cloud and the windows have to be opened to get the dust out!
In Lhasa we get the normal twisting and turning in the small streets near the hotel. No-one wants to move back, but we can't all go forward. At last we arrive at the hotel at four o'clock. We take a nice hot bath and at half past six we have dinner with the group again.
Sunday 15-10-2000
We sleep late, but arrive at breakfast with most of the other group-members. They have decided to take a taxi to the Sera Monastery. We prefer to go on bike. Over long metalled roads through mostly Chinese quarters we ride to the Sera Monastery. The Sera-village is situated three kilometres north of Lhasa at the foot of the Tatipu-hills. Sera was famous for it's tantric education.
We want to walk the kora, but we can't find out if it's lying inside our outside the wall of the monastery. Because we don't want to walk back to the entrance, we keep walking inside the walls. Suddenly we see a special bird, a hoopoe, and we are even able to make a photo of the bird. Now and then we look inside, but we don't feel like investigating everything (we are a bit tired of monasteries). The cave-paintings are very beautiful and we walk a little outside the walls to admire them all. One of the paintings along the main-road of the monastery is also shown on the front page of the Lonely Planet. We also make a nice picture of a monk who's making yak-butter-tea. Nice power supply: aluminium-plates to warm your kettle through sunshine. Outside the monastery we eat at Snowland snacks. After some cooking-noises we hear the sound of a gas-pipe that springs loose. Luckily no explosion follows, but we are shaking a while from fright. At last we eat noodle-soup with Coke for only eighteen Yuan. When we want to re-enter the monastery we are stopped. We have to buy a new entrance-card. After some searching we find our cards (as book-marker in the Lonely Planet) and are allowed to get in after all. We find there's no debate because it's Sunday. We take another road back to the hotel, but again through a Chinese quarter. We take a nice bath again and at half past six we have dinner with the group at the restaurant with the green umbrella's.
Monday 16-10-2000
Today we have a free day, so we can do some shopping. We get up quite early, because we want to do all kinds of shopping. First we got to two sport-shops, where I buy a pair of trousers and we both buy a some rainwear. Michael also buys a new take for the video-camera. We are ripped of every time, but we don't feel like negotiating. We also get some fresh fruits. For lunch we meet Wilko and Femke and afterwards we try to get some souvenirs together. That's a complete failure for me and Michael, we buy nothing.
We decide not to waist anymore time and we are spending the remainder of the afternoon making pictures of the pilgrims.
At seven we meet the group again at the restaurant with the green umbrella's. I order tomato-egg soup and a yak-steak. The soup is delicious, but the yak-steak is cold. I send it back to the kitchen, but when I get it again, it's still cold. I take one more bite and then I don't feel like eating anymore. I get hot and I don't feel well. I go back to the hotel even before everyone has finished dinner, where I go to bed with a fever.
Tuesday 17-10-2000
Today we leave Lhasa in three landrovers. We share one with Femke and Wilko. The driver starts to expectorate almost immediately! I still have a fever and cramps in my stomach. We first pass the cave-murals on the way to Lhasa, where we throw prayernotes. Then we go all the way back to the airport, which is more then an hour from Lhasa. Half an hour further we get to the river Jarlung Tsamp. The river is very shallow, but also very wide. Some flat boats are lying here and they have a kind of tractor-motor on the back. Then one of those boats arrives, filled with monks and pilgrims.
There is even a yak between all the people. With our daypack we get into one of the boats. There are no others who want to cross the river at the moment, so we have the whole boat for ourselves. We sail for a while, but the motor is not working properly and we hardly move against the current. Finally they decide to go back. We get into a different boat. There are already some people in this boat and a bus full of people arrives and they and their cargo will take this boat as well. On the way we have to laugh about Maud, who's having a conversation with some monks. She's trying to learn them Dutch. I still don't feel too well, so during the trip of one and a half hours I stay at the bottom of the boat. From the river we can see that the other side looks like a dessert. At arrival we find this to be quite correct. When we go on shore a few kilometres upstream, a bus is waiting for us. I ask if I can sit in front, since I'm not feeling well. Many more people are loaded into the bus and next to me sits an old woman with a small child on the gear-box. The woman keeps talking to the driver all the way. The road is not more then a rut through the dessert. We even pass real sand-dunes. I'm glad that after half an hour we arrive at the monastery of Samye. The Samye monastery was founded in 779 by Tritsong Detsen, the second Religious King, helped by two Buddhist tutors from India: Shantaraksita and Padmadambhava.
Dennis arranges three rooms, two rooms for four-persons and one triple. Both rooms for four-persons are connected and they have only one shared entrance. We share the triple with Dennis. The toilet is on the second floor just like the rooms. There is no roof on the toilet and they haven't heard of doors either. Per entrance just three holes in the concrete and the cesspool is somewhere below. On the courtyard we can find a hand-pump, there is no running water in the rooms, but there are thermosflasks with hot water in each room.
We are having lunch in the restaurant. A spicy Chauwmein is delivered and I ask for a portion of plane white rice. I'm afraid my stomach won't like the spices. Part of the group wants to walk the kora, which runs over the top of the Hepori-hill. I prefer to go to bed for a while. After an hour I feel a little better (less fever) and I join Jack on the roof of the building in the sunshine. Together we watch the group clambering to the top of the hill through binoculars. After a while we are joined by a Dutch couple. They have a 'pleasant' story about Kathmandu. They wanted to fly from Kathmandu to Lhasa, but during take off a bird got in one of the engines. The engine got on fire and the plane had to make an emergency-stop. Luckily it was able to stop at the end of the runway. They've heard the same thing happened to at least two other planes in the last week. We are already looking forward to fly from Kathmandu to Delhi!
Michael also walked the kora and made some beautiful pictures. After walking the kora the group walked all around the monastery to find another then the main-entrance. There appeared to be none. On the way they were almost run down by a herd of yaks. The monastery has a stupa in each wind direction. The red army did a lot of damage to the monastery during the cultural revolution. Most of it has been reconstructed now. The monastery itself is a building of four floors. The ground floor contains the main temple and the community-hall for services of the monks. The first floor can be reached by an obscure staircase. There is only a temple, scarcely lighted and filled with statues of several gods. Just like on the ground floor there is an alley around the temple with painted murals on both sides. The entrance-fee to this monastery is again 25 Yuan.
When the group finally returns we go for dinner to the monastery guesthouse. After dinner we enjoy the beautiful starry sky, you can even see the Galaxy very clearly. Then we go to bed early. Tomorrow we have to get up early.
Wednesday 18-10-2000
When we go to breakfast very early, we meet another group who are about to leave by bus. Half an hour later we also take the bus back to the boats. We find the other group there again, it's very cold and they seem to be freezing. The Tibetans are still trying to get the motor running. We stay ashore for a while, until the motor is finally running. We have to join the other group on the same boat. The way back appears to be a bit shorter then the way there, but it still takes quite some time before we arrive. We see a beautiful sunrise, which makes us feel the cold a bit less.
Upon arrival the drivers appear not to be awake yet. They are shaken up and have to wash and dress quickly. It takes a while before all the engines are started and then we start driving very slowly. They can/won't make any speed when the engine is still cold.
We follow the familiar road from the day before on the first 100 kilometres. On the crossing where you the road to Lhasa is on the right, we go straight on now. We start the climb of our first pass and leave the concrete behind. At last we reach the Kamba-la pass (4755m) where we have a beautiful view over Yamdrok-Tso. On the photo the three jeeps of the group (the last one is ours) with on the background the sky blue lake Yamdrok-tso and Mt, Nojin Kangtsang (7191m). At this point the lake lies several hundred metres below the road.
After the descend we follow Yamdrok-Tso for a while. It's one of the sacred lakes of Tibet and it's shape resembles the claws of a lobster. The lake is situated at 4488 metres.
We make two stops at the lakeside. Once at a place where some pilgrims are sitting by the lake and once when a group heavy-laden hinnies are passing by. We only see a small part of the lake (about 20%). Since 1997 the lake is used for hydro-electricity. Ten metres below the surface a six kilometres long pipe is placed that brings the water to the 846 metres lower Yarlung Tsangpo. Because Yamdrok-tso is a dead lake and had no natural supply of water, scientist fear the lake will be dry within 20 years. Chinese scientists however claim that redundant energy will pump river-water back to the lake.
On the next pass, the Karo-La (5045m), we throw prayernotes together and of course a new prayerflag is added to the old ones. We have a beautiful view for here on the glacier Nojin Kangtsang, which is very close by. Again there are pilgrims with yaks on this pass. For a few Yuan you can make a ride on the back of the yak.
After passing Yamdrok-tso, we make a stop where we can make a photo from Nojin Kangtsang from a nice distance. Some big predatory birds are circling above the jeeps. After this the ride goes along the Nyang Chu-river for a long time. We can see the remains of the former road at the other side of the river. It's been swept away on many places. That's probably why the road is now at the other side of the river. We ask the driver for another photo-stop, not knowing that we will stop for another pass very soon.
At the pass we climb a very steep hill. Our jeep was far ahead of the others, so we have plenty of time. Michael and I are also looking around further down, that's where I made the nice picture of Michael. The abysses are very steep here. The lake that lies below us is a storage lake and the construction of this lake and it's connecting power-house are supposed to have once been marked 'state-secret' by the Chinese. The village that we pass through later is mainly inhabited by militaries and it should also be secret and it should not been shown on a any map. Had the Chinese never heard of satellites? At the village there's still a barrier and the driver has to show his papers before we can pass through. By the way it's quite a mess here. Prosperity has arrived: plastic lies in the streets everywhere.
At the end of the afternoon we arrive in Gyantse, where we stay in a nice three-stars hotel. Gyantse (3950m) lies in the Nyang Chu valley, 254 kilometres south-west of Lhasa. It's one of the cities in Tibet with little Chinese influence.
In the evening we make a short walk on the main-street. Animals are standing everywhere and a horse and cart are passing us. Very nostalgic. We eat with Femke and Wilko in a restaurant that's mentioned in the Lonely Planet. The cook (in real uniform) immediately shows us an exercise book in which several tourist have written some remarks. We order various courses and although it tastes okay, we don't agree completely with the praising words from the excercise book. And the prices are extremely high for Tibet. My stomach has a bit problem with all the food, so I prefer a toilet instead of dessert.
Thursday 19-10-2000
I still don't feel to well this morning, so I decide to sleep late. Michael joins Femke and Wilko for a tour around town and a walk to the Gyantse Dzong. That appears to be quite a walk. But first Michael made some beautiful pictures in the Tibetan quarters.
All the houses and streets in the Tibetan quarters of Gyantse look like this. You feel like you have gone a few ages back in time when a horse and cart pass you in the main-street!
On his way to the Gyantse Dzong Michael makes some beautiful pictures of the view on the Pelkor Chöde monastery and the Gyantse Kumbum (both within the walls on the first picture) and of the view on the Tibetan quarters.
From the Gyantse Dzong (20 Yuan entrance-fee) he makes two other beautiful pictures of the city and the surrounding agricultural grounds.
On the way back to the hotel Michael makes this beautiful picture of a Tibetan family on an old cart.
Around noon we load our stuff back into the jeep. We have lunch with the group in a restaurant on the main-street. I've kept the key of our hotel-room, because I like to be able to use a clean toilet with the diarrhoea I have right now. Before we leave I use the last change to use this clean toilet. There won't be another one on the way to Shigatze.
Until now we were a bit scared by the speed our driver used, but today we've been able (through Jimmy, our local guide) to let him go a bit slower.
We pass through a beautiful agricultural area today. Not that many pictures of the harvesting this time. On the overview-picture in the middle you see enormous amounts of grain, while the surrounding grounds are barren and rocky. On the other pictures cows and yaks are ploughing the ground. According to one of the drivers a big part of the harvest has failed due to extreme water-exposure. For us it all just looks beautiful.
We visit the Shalu Monastery (entrance-fee 25 Yuan). This monastery has a Green Chinese looking roof. The monastery is famous for it's Mongolian murals and 'flying monks'. We find it hardly interesting inside and although there are no sign concerning the price of taking photographs, monks try to charge you anyway. We are not in the mood for this today. So we decide to walk through the village. At the end of one of the main-streets we are suddenly in the middle of harvesting families. They all stop working when we arrive. The children in this village are begging a lot. They want to get our plastic water-bottles and at one time they even try to pull it from my hands! Since we don't want to encourage the begging, we don't give them anything.
When we arrive at the hotel in Shigatze (3900m), we discover that we have left our jackets in the former hotel. Jimmy calls to the hotel immediately and he is told that our jackets are still there. They will make sure that the jackets will arrive in Shigatze this evening or tomorrow morning. We join a big room in the hotel with Femke and Wilko. There are separate bed- and bathrooms and we join a living- and dinner-room! Unfortunately it's smells a bit strange in the rooms. And today no hot water. When we want to go out for dinner with the group, the map of the city from the Lonely Planet appears to be incorrect. This makes it harder to find a restaurant. At last we have a nice dinner at Tashi 1. I still don't feel too well, so Michael and I return to the hotel early. It's a very dark street back to the hotel. At the reception we ask questions about our jackets, but we get no answer. We think they didn't even understand our question.
Friday 20-10-2000
Today we can do whatever we like in Shigatze. Shigatze lies at a height of 3900 metres close to the confluence of the Yarlong Zangbo and the Nyang Chu-river. Shigatze is the second city of Tibet and the traditional capital of Tsang. The Tsang kings reigned from the once imposing height of the Shigatse Dzong - de ruins only hint the former glory - and the Dzong later became the residence of the governer of Tsang. The imposing Tashilhunpo Monastery was founded in 1447 by Zongkapa's nephew and disciple Gedundrub who was also the first Dalai Lama. Since the Mongolian sponsoring of the Gelugpa order Shigatse has been the residence of the Panchen Lama. His base is traditionally the Tashilhunpo monastery, Shigatses main attraction. There is a Maitreya-Buddha in the monastery which is 26 metre high and overloaded with 300 kilogram gold.
Like most modern Tibetan cities, Shigatse has a Tibetan and a Chinese quarter. The Chinese quarter contains wide, dusty boulevards with square buildings loved by Marxist city-designers. The Tibetan part, mainly enclosed by the Tashilhunpo monastery and the ruins of the Shigatse Dzong, however is a tradition quarter. Our hotel is in a very quiet Chinese quarter. In the evening it's pitch-dark in the streets.
We go to the Tashilhunpo monastery first, where we walk part of the kora. The Lonely Planet appears to be incorrect again. The dogs are not at all aggressive, although there are many. Some nice old ladies who are feeding the dogs are walking the kora as well. Between a row of prayerwheels a little mouse is looking at us. From the end of the kora we descend to the old citycentre. The market is hard to find and the souvenirs they sell here are pretty much the same as the ones in Lhasa. We want to have lunch at the roofterrace mentioned in the LP, but that doesn't not to exist anymore. We get to the entrance of the monastery, but it's still closed. So we just walk around for a while. Michael needs some time to clear his shoes after he stepped in some dirt. After a while we try the monastery again and this time we are allowed in. We don't need much time to look around and we decide to go to China telecom to send some e-mails and phone home.
This evening we go out for dinner with Femke and Wilko. We want to find a restaurant in the old Tibetan centre and we take a cab in that direction. Again it appears to be difficult to find a nice restaurant. But then we see a place where you can look inside and which looks quite clean. We all order a soup and a main-dish. Wilko's main-dish can't be delivered and he tries to order something else, but they seem to have missed this. But the other dishes are so big that we have more then enough. My dish has so many herbs at the top that I burn my mouth. Steering helps, but my tongue is already numb. Nice about the restaurant is that you can look into the kitchen and see how and what they are preparing. Wilko makes an picture of the cook who is frying some vegetables on a high flame. When we get out of the restaurant, Wilko and Femke decide to go to China telecom for e-mail and we take a cab to the hotel.
Saturday 21-10-2000
Our driver has come home at three p.m. and while we have breakfast at the crack of dawn, the drivers and Jimmy are still in bed when we get downstairs with our stuff. We still don't have our jackets back. They arrive at the moment we want to leave. That's an enormous relieve, they were quite expensive and we'll surely need them during the remainder of our holiday.
Today we will go to Lathse. We will get over another high pass, the Yulung-la (4950m). Soon after the pass we will take the road to Sakya.
When we stop at the side of the road, from all sides children are running to the jeeps. They are very shy, but also inquisitive. Maud clears the air, by taking over the needlework of one of the children.
From here the trip goes to Sakya, a beautiful farmers-village (4280m). We follow the river, that in summer is difficult to cross sometimes, into the village.
From the plain rises a monolithic walled structure, the Sakya-monastery. The monastery from the once powerful Sakyapa-sect has survived most of the destruction in the sixties and seventies. Witnesses are the unique library and the authentic murals.
There are some stupa's at the other side of the river. We walk around through the village, that is very busy getting the harvest done.
On the way back to the mainroad our jeep breaks down. The drivers stops all of a sudden and he crawls under the jeep. When we go outside as well, we smell burning rubber. The left rear brake makes contact with the tire all the time. The driver tries a rapid fix, but unfortunately that doesn't really help. On the mainroad we stop near one of the other jeeps and this time both drivers are going to look at the brakes. They burn their hands when they want to pull of the wheel to quickly. Some precious drinking-water is used to cool the wheel down. When we have been waiting for quite a while the other jeep returns at last. They had seen us stop, but the driver was convinced we were just making a photo-stop. Now there are three drivers looking at the brakes, but it still doesn't help.
Then all of us and the luggage have to go in two jeeps, stuffing. Michael and Wilko are folded into the dickeyseat. Soon the driver stops again. Michael and Wilko have to get out, the luggage has to be repacked and then they have to take their place in the dickeyseat again by crawling over the backseat. Now the driver can see them and he likes that better. At a road-block the driver in the first jeep spots another jeep of the same organisation. One decides to take this jeep to Lhatse so we have a third jeep tomorrow, even if the other can't be fixed. In the middle of the dust the luggage is transferred to the other jeep and Jimmy, Femke and I have to get into the newly arranged jeep as well. The jeep is extremely dusty and we can't look outside. We ask Jimmy if the driver can please clear his windscreen. Some water is splashed after which we still have no sight. When an oncoming car is getting close, we have to stop completely and wait till the dust of the road has dropped again.
After about half an hour we drive into Lhatse. We felt the road changed into concrete but we didn't see it (and not because it was already getting dark). At least we have arrived safely at the guesthouse. The beds are so terrible that we put our camping-mattresses on the ground. The toilet smells terrible again. And when we have dinner in the restaurant, there are beggars outside that try to get our attention desperately, we decide to give them our leftovers. When we are still in the restaurant, everywhere in the town the lights go our. The electricity stops at a fixed time. The light in the restaurant turns back on on a stand-by power unit. There is no light in our bedroom. Luckily we already put the flashlights at hand, so we are still able to find everything.
Sunday 22-10-2000
In the morning we rise so early that it's still dark. The electricity is still of, so we have to pack with the flashlight and then we go for breakfast. We are surely not the last to arrive, but we are the last to get breakfast. The eggs are still a bit rare, so I don't eat too much of it. Luckily our jeep is repaired so we can get our stuff into it and are back on the road. We leave Lathse, pass the exit to Western-Tibet and climb 1000 metres in 20 kilometre.
We go over the Gyatso-la pass (according to the LP 5225 metre, but our height-meter says only 5200 metre). It's really freezing here, like you can see on the last picture.
When we pass a river later on, we see a group of pilgrims with their herd of yaks. Of course we jump out of the jeep with our camera's. Unfortunately the animals are so dark that they are much less impressive on the picture then in reality. Each yak carries several baskets filled with luggage. To avoid us the yaks start walking through the river.
After a few hours we have a beautiful first view of the Mount Everest (photo-stop). When I want to pee in a ditch, I scare away a huge hare. It stays close by for a little while, but then it starts running. Later from the car we see a big eagle at the side of the road. It's sitting on it's prey and watches us when we pass.
In the village Chay (4300m) we have to pay entrance-fee (65 Yuan a person) for the Everest-area (Qomolangma National Nature Preserve). We get an entrance-card with a map of the area and the English translation of the restrictions. We have never seen so many clerical errors in a few sentences! On the map only the Chinese names are mentioned, so that doesn't really help us. From Chay it's a long bumpy ride (five hours) to the monastery. For a while we go up through a stone-field to the Pang-la pass(5120m according to the LP, but our height-meter shows 5225m!).
On the Pang-la pass we have a view of the Makalu, Lhotse, Everest (Qomolangma=Chinese name), Gyachung Kang and Cho Oyu (all above 8000m). It's a pity you can't get all these mountains in one picture. Of course we also make pictures to prove we've been there. A little back-light, but so what. Of course we also add new prayerflags and throw prayernotes.
The path starts going down through villages and past ruins to the Dzakar valley and the village Tashi Dzom. The drivers have a tea-stop here. In one of the next villages (Chö Dzom) the drivers see some ladies they know, so we make an extra stop just outside the village. again we make a stop. The whole ride the road is bumpy and curves a lot.
When we get to the monastery, Michael sees the sun go down on the Everest. He runs back to our room to get the camera and take a picture. It costs him a lot of energy, running at this height.
I had another pain in my stomach, so I was very glad to arrive at the Ronghpu monastery (4900m). Until we saw the room... It's indeed a Spartan establishment. A dusty hole with five "beds", two are broken in the middle. We'll need to share beds tonight, since we share the room with Femke and Wilko. There is no light, no water and a full sight of the toilet with shit lying everywhere. In the restaurant there is no place to sit and it takes a long time to get food. We are getting exhausted and hungry, so we demand from Jimmy that he will arrange pancakes very quickly. Dennis suggests on behalf of the drivers to make a longer drive tomorrow and sleep in a different town. We are against this proposition because Tingri is said to have a great view of the Everest. We don't sleep very well, but that was to be expected.
Monday 23-10-2000
We were supposed to rise early together. We stay in bed for an hour longer then agreed, because we hear no sounds. At half past seven we decide to get up. We pack our bags and eat the noodles we received yesterday. The water in the jug is not warm enough to make them well-done, but it's eatable. At eight we are on our way to the Everest base-camp.
Two dogs are lying in front of the monastery when we leave and they will accompany us all the way to the Everest. At first there are some clouds in front of the Everest, but we can see the sun rise on the Everest anyway. Some yaks are grazing at a riverside. Unfortunately the battery of our camera has some problems with the cold.
The most impressing thing about our hike is the herds of dear (or antelopes) that we see. It takes about two and a half hours to get to the base-camp. There is only one tent in the camp and no-one of our group is there yet. So we will have to wait for the others and the jeeps.
Awaiting the jeeps, we walk a bit further towards the Everest. Michael and Wilko are climbing a small hill, when Femke and I relay in the sun. When the wind gets stronger, we start to get back to the base-camp. We meet the first persons of our group and back in the base-camp the jeeps have arrived as well. When Michael and Wilko have also returned we ask a driver to get us back to the 'restaurant'. There are less people in the restaurant, but the pancakes are the same (but more well-done then yesterday). Around three o'clock everyone has returned and the jeeps start the ride to Tingri (4390m). In the restaurant Jimmy told us it was a three hour drive, Dennis thinks it's three and a half hours and others claim it'll take at least four hours. It appears to be even more.
We take two girls (the ladies with whom the drivers spoke yesterday as well) from Chö Dzom to Tashi Dzom, Michael has to share the front-seat with a lady who smells like yak-butter. Again we have a jeep with problems, the fan is broken. About every curve (and there are many) we stop to the cool the engine.
In Tingri we can only enjoy the view of the Everest and Cho Oyu for one minute, then it's dark. The guesthouse is primitive, but the beds are fine. The toilet lies below a beautiful starry sky again. Michael wanted to get water from the zinc and threw in his enthusiasm the bucket with the rope in it. That zinc bucket did sinc... In the restaurant we have a nice dinner, but the settlement was a different story. The 'manager' (his glasses keep falling from his spectacles) has tried to get a total at least four times in three quarters of an hour! Despite the dust we slept well.
Tuesday 24-10-2000
The next morning we were supposed to have breakfast at six thirty and leave at seven. We get up in time, but the stove in the kitchen is still cold and the drivers were still sleeping (the table in the restaurant is filled with empty cans of alcohol).
At last we decide to eat on the road and the drivers are shaken out of their beds again. Of course we are the last jeep to leave (our driver had to clear his stomach in the toilet first). It's freezing in the jeep en it's not going to get warm for a long time. On the road we see several hares.
We drive through a nice plain with several ruins. First we cross the La Lung-la pass. According to the LP and Koning Aap the height of this pass is 5124 metre, but we pass it almost unnoticed and the height-meter shows not even 5000 metres. The next pass however is the Tong-la pass at 5120 metre.
On the Tong-la pass (5120 m) we have a splendid view all around. We see a beautiful group of white grouse and I just love the picture of the birds flying away. At the same time a group of pilgrims on a cart pulled by a horse are arriving on the pass.
We take a shortcut over a slope and after a long ride we arrive in Nyalam at eleven o'clock, breakfast at last. Pancakes appear to be bread en again calculation is not the strong point of the servants (they try to charge us for one boiled egg several times).
When we are back on the road again, we suddenly descend in a different surrounding. It's very green here and lots and lots of water. The road is very bad and we see a van upside down in a river. When we arrive in the border-village Zhangmu (2300m), we are in a traffic-jam for more then half an hour.
All kinds of people are asking us if we want to change money. No is the standard-answer. We have to wait a long time at the border because some members of the group are afraid of false money and they prefer to change their money at the bank. We are having some fun when the bank-employee doesn't have enough small change and he gets to one of the exchangers on the street to change some money!
Then walking through customs with the luggage and a few hundred metres further we get into the back of a truck. We drive on a bumpy road through no-man's-land for nine kilometres! On the way the truck gets one flat tire, but it doesn't seem to bother the driver. I find it scary with the abyss so close by. We are very tired when we have to get out of the truck and walk the last part over the friendship-bridge. We can pass customs in Nepal without showing our passports, but later Dennis has to return with the passports and filled in form to get the proper stamps in our passports.
The customs officer can't even read the numbers on our visa, so it takes a lot of time. Luckily it's two hours and a quarter earlier here. During the trip to the hotel we have a delay of an hour because a bulldozer is clearing the road after an landslide.
After a while our stomach would have liked some food, but it takes very long before we get to the hotel. At seven local time (it's already dark) we ride up on a steep road in Dhulikhel. Again there is a bus in front of us. It's only 200 metres to the High View Resort, but we are not there yet. A suggestion to walk the last part, ends nowhere.
Finally at the hotel we have to climb a steep pair of stairs and then we can go to our room. We have the whole top-floor o a small house. The room is beautiful, it has a king-size bed and luxury bathroom. This compensates for the long travel-day. After half an hour we have dinner in the restaurant. Servants are very attentive and the food is delicious. We go to bed early, because we are not used to the new local time yet.
Go to the Nepal homepage for an itinerary from the last two weeks of our holiday.
Click on the picture to select another country in the far east.
Click on the picture to select another country in the world.
Click on the picture to go to the startpage of the homepage of Geja and Michael
