Month: April 2002

Nepal, Tibet & Kerala Day Eight: Gyantse To Shigatse, 14 April 2002

There is a placeholder with links to the itinerary and all the photos from this trip – click here or below:

Nepal, Tibet & Kerala, Placeholder & Links, 7 to 27 April 2002

Breakfast in refectory more laughable than dinner – course upon course of things we didn’t want – I make do with a little bread and cake.

Set off – photographed Drongotse Monastery [I cannot find a reference for this place, nor a photograph, but that is what I wrote down].

There was a problem re-visit to Shalu Monastery as it had been omitted from our permit.

We assumed and were told that the omission was an accident and that the worst that might happen if we were caught entering without a permit would be a $100 fine, which I agreed to underwrite, figuring (correctly) that the Chinese authorities were unlikely to be policing that remote spot on a Sunday in April.

Risking life and limb (well…a fine) we went anyway and were not disappointed nor were we fined – amazing murals and very friendly monks and terrific atmosphere.

On to Shigatse. Check into hotel light Chinese lunch at a local restaurant (vegetables chicken noodle soup and pork and peas).

Short rest before touring amazing Tashilimpu Monastery – amazing sites and interesting encounters – e.g. stunning Yunnanese Tibetan lady and some contact with a monks.

Got to witness butter milk tea and bread chanting session in main assembly hall. I got to try bread. Went on to Shigatse market which did little for us.

Return for our supper with some hope as we have specifically ordered our food to the surprise of chef who normally does eight dishes!.

Yes, we really were the only guests at this hotel, which was pretty much the only proper hotel in Shigatse. Tourism to Tibet, which hadn’t much taken off by then anyway, had taken a sizeable knock at that time – probably due to 9/11. It wasn’t likely to recover for a few years either, as the SARS scare came less than a year after our visit.

Nepal, Tibet & Kerala Day Seven: The Road To Gyantse & Gyantse Itself, 13 April 2002

There is a placeholder with links to the itinerary and all the photos from this trip – click here or below:

Another beautiful day and breakfast takes final leap forward with bacon as well as yoghurt and cheese.

Set off in direction of Gyantse – stunning drive through high passes. Kamba-La (4794 m) with amazing views of Yamdrok-Tso Lake.

Then on for a light lunch in Nangartse – I had thugpa with vegetables, Daisy had stir fry vegetables with rice.

Then on through Karo-La pass (5045 m – new record for us) with a view of Mount Nojin Kangstan and it’s glazier.

Final pass, Simi-La 4330 m with views of Nyerulung Valley (artificial hydroelectric lake at Snow Mountain).

Arrive Gyantse Hotel – so much better – short rest then off to see Pelkor Chode Monastery and Gyantse Kumbum with stunning murals and amazing views of Gyantse town and Dzong.

Tibetan butter tea – adjudged slightly less disgusting than Butanese butter tea

Dinner at hotel was hilarious. We had to push to eat in bar rather than in freezing refectory – then on came dish after dish – five starters and six mains – only “highlights” were spicy chicken wings, double cooked pork and thipdu[sic – surely thukpa] (noodle soup).

Nepal, Tibet & Kerala Day Six: Norbulingka Palace, Barkhor & A Couple Of Dudes With Altitude In Lhasa, 12 April 2002

There is a placeholder with links to the itinerary and all the photos from this trip – click here or below:

Breakfast improved by some yoghurt and cheese.

Visited Norbulingka Palace in morning – both Palace and gardens more interesting and charming than advertised in the guidebook.

Went to Barkhor as the weather is so much better today – firstly to the Tibetan traditional medicinal centre…

…then 2/3 of way round circuit at Makye Amye are stunning views of Barkhor circuit.

Weird Chinese tea with spices floating in it and very tasty some duck (flat noodles in soup) with chewy yak.

Finished Barkhor circuit buying bone shoes and bone monkey.

Back to base for free afternoon which we started at the Internet café. Perhaps it was the chewy yak or maybe the depressing hotel room but we were both in a foul mood – monkey got broken in ensuing pillow fight.

Actually I attribute the dual foul mood primarily to the altitude. I subsequently learnt that tetchiness is a well-known side effect of flying into such high altitude and doing stuff without thoroughly acclimatising first.

Made up in traditional fashion and rested.

Supper at Snowland again, with fried momos, yak burger and fries, yakitori with rice. Chocolate cake takeaway was a real treat with which to celebrate our impending escape from the Lhasa Hotel.

Nepal, Tibet & Kerala Day Five: Mostly Sera & Drepung Monasteries Near Lhasa, 11 April 2002

There is a placeholder with links to the itinerary and all the photos from this trip – click here or below:

Another mind bogglingly awful breakfast followed by another snow flurry-ridden outing, this time to Drepung Monastery – amazing murals on the walls and surprisingly little cultural revolution damage. Large complex with many chapels and halls. Saw few monks however.

Light lunch at yeti café – yak noodle soup superb, chicken noodle soup good but fried pork in batter was a poor choice. Resolve to return tonight nonetheless.

Siesta followed by outing to Sera Monastery – we time exit perfectly with the next snow storm.

Sera is smaller but lovely – we meet more monks and almost here outdoor debate – cricket match like, everyone turns up to agree that it snowed off! Witness amazing transient art work of mandala in sand.

Second siesta followed by excellent dinner at Yeti – double cooked pork, chicken in sweet garlic sauce, excellent wok fried fresh vegetables and egg fried rice. Daisy is still suffering altitude.

For some reason I didn’t even mention our visit to the Muslim Market when I wrote up the day, but it is clear from the photo sequencing and photo journal that we made that visit that afternoon. Perhaps the altitude was getting to me when I wrote up.

Yup, the altitude got to both of us, as the next day’s log will confirm. Daisy was suffering more, with breathlessness and extreme fatigue. But both of us for sure got the tetchiness which goes along side the more physical symptoms. Goes with the turf in Tibet, that altitude problem.

Nepal, Tibet & Kerala Day Four: Potala Palace, The Jokhang & Other Touring In Lhasa, 10 April 2002

There is a placeholder with links to the itinerary and all the photos from this trip – click here or below:

After piss poor breakfast I cash in my dinner vouchers through Wang (George).

Ever since a particularly helpful hotel receptionist in Lebanon, named George, whenever Janie latches onto a receptionist we now privately call him, or her, George.

Set off sightseeing to Potala Palace – stunning site but mighty crowded with Tibetan and Chinese tourists. Statues of various incarnations of Buddha and various Dalai Lamas is starting to lose its appeal at a frighteningly early stage, but some rooms are stunning.

Check out food scene – decide on Snowland’s for dinner and take quick lunch at Tashi I – bobis and cheesecake.

After siesta, sleet is turning to snow but we go undaunted to The Jokhang – strangely charming in the snow but again Buddha after Buddha, lama after lama.

Snow torrential by the time we leave so we defer Barkhor Square for a better day (we hope).

More rest (and this write-up) before dinner.

Enjoyed yak momos, sha phalay (deep fried meat pie), yak and potato stew, lamb stew and tsampa. Took home a delightful butter cake and early night.

Nepal, Tibet & Kerala Day Three: Getting To Lhasa, 9 April 2002

There is a placeholder with links to the itinerary and all the photos from this trip – click here or below:

Rise uncomfortably early (God alone knows why) and dumped at airport circa 6:50, more than an hour before check-in for our flight even opens – Mangal has a bit to answer for here!

Fly to Lhasa…

Mount Everest seen from that flight
Tibetean Plateau as seen from above

Searched on arrival and have my copy of Seven Years In Tibet confiscated by an utterly charming but firm official.

Have no fear, I read the book anyway!

Guide Tse-Ten and driver Chum-day rescue us and take us to the so-called four star Lhasa Hotel.

We enjoyed a snack of yak burger and chips in the Hard Yak Café (very good actually) only to find that the Hard Yak is the only one of the hotel’s five restaurants that is open at present.

This, together with no central heating (broke down 2 1/2 years ago) and no hot water (breaks down at regular hours as an economy measure each day) hacks us off.

We get a new room and eventually hot water and tolerate some nasi goreng in the Hard Yak determined to change our dining arrangements for subsequent meals.

We had expected a relatively low quality of hotel, but we had not expected basic ultilities such as heating and hot water to be inadequate. We were especially frustrated by the hot watre issue, as it became very obvious very quickly that thehotel was deliberately shutting down the hot water for several hours a day to save money, but the staff consistently denied this, claiming that there were daily unfortunate breakdowns.

I even offered them money to keep the hot water service going for us, but to no avail because the staff were insistent that the problem was mechanical not economic!

Altitude makes people tetchy when they are unused to it; his additional and seemingly unfair privation certainly added to our tetchiness; especially as Janie and I are both people who also get tetchy when we are cold!

Nepal, Tibet & Kerala Days One & Two: Getting There, 7 & 8 April 2002

There is a placeholder with links to the itinerary and all the photos from this trip – click here or below:

Nepal, Tibet & Kerala, Placeholder & Links, 7 to 27 April 2002

Leave London late in day (7 pm) – hope the non-arrival of LA Cabs is not a bad omen! Park Royal cabs get us to airport with bags of time to spare.

We do our regular airport shopping and then enjoy Qatar Airways business class hospitality before and during flights.

Daisy weiring out in Doha hospitality lounge

All flights on time and event free – arrive Kathmandu late afternoon.

In stunning Dwarika Hotel – beautiful room and grounds…

…take a 12 course Nepalese feast in the Nepalese restaurant. Superb nibbles, mushroom and spinach with the roti, mutton kebabs, shredded chicken and rice pancakes and sticky sauce fish were the highlights. The late Mr Dwarika’s Mrs made an interesting interlude between courses.

Slept very well.