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Tue 21^st October 2008

The gaps between blogging seem to be getting wider, sorry about that. This time though, its because we have been travelling through Tibet and not only has it been harder, we didn’t know what to write because the occupation was all so strange and terrible.

To update the story, we took a rather nice new train from Ulan Bator to Beijing on the 2^nd October and spent 6 days in Beijing, from there we took a two day (and up 3700m) train to Lhasa. From Lhasa we travelled with a Tibetan guide and driver across Tibet to the border and on into Nepal, where we are currently settled in Kathmandu for a few days trying to sort out Indian visas which turns out to be a lengthy process.

Beijing was an interesting combination of private businesses (and in some parts felt almost like London just with Chinese characters above all the shops) and Chinese tourists but still with a strong sense of the Chinese Communist Party everywhere you go. Sometimes it felt happy and comfortable and at other time oppressive and stifling. Apparently it has become a lot greener due to the Olympic bid, and there were quite a lot of green spaces, although you usually had to pay to go into them. It certainly felt strange paying to go into a park. The highlight for me was most certainly the Great Wall trip, when we got to walk a fairly unrestored part of the wall between Jinshanling and Simitai, with stunning views of the mountain with the great wall snaking away from us in both directions. The walk in physically very demanding and at times involves scaling down walls with hand and feet and exciting roller coaster dips and climbs.

Tibet was also physically demanding due to the altitudes we were at (mostly between 3700 and 5200) meaning that short walks left us gasping for breath feeling very unfit! The first couple of days in Lhasa muscles ached due to the lack of oxygen in the air, but then my body seemed to adjust (drinking lots of water helped) and despite going a couple of thousand meters higher I generally felt ok. More distressing in Tibet, was the level of occupation, with Chinese soldiers everywhere and people too scared to talk to us about anything in public places (or even often monasteries) for fear of being informed upon. Despite this fear we heard some heart wrenching stories and got enough of a sense of what was going on to be thoroughly enraged. Many Tibetan businesses seem to be struggling, in many cafes and restaurants we went to we were the only customers, we assume due to the tightened regulations on foreigners entering Tibet since March. There were, however, lots of Chinese tourists. We will certainly be bringing stories about Tibet back to the UK. We still saw many amazing and beautiful things although many provided eerie and devastating reminders of the destruction and damage done by the cultural revolution and Chinese occupation. Possible most upsetting were the quiet monasteries where monks no longer dare meet even for prayers. In Sakya, during a free afternoon, Ben and I climbed up to the ruins of the old monastery, which was in use until the 60s but looked like a ancient ruin, it was so utterly destroyed. Wandering round the old assembly halls and buildings there was a strong eerie sense of the monk and people who had worshipped there (and still returned to worship by the newer prayer flags adorning the stupas) and the lack of control they had over their fate.

Our trip to Everest Base Camp was more touristy, yet the occupation still hung around us, as at the base camp itself, there are only army tents and soldiers, and you are only allowed to take photos (and only in the direction of the big mountain) from a particular spot). Entry fees to all monasteries and national parks, such as the one Everest is in go to the Chinese government (as do most of Tibet’ natural resources). We spent the night back at the tent hotels about 4 km away from base camp, but unfortunately had very noisy hosts so got very little sleep until they piped down at about 4am.

The drive from Everest to the border was the bumpiest ride I’ve ever been on, and hair raising due to the steep drops and tilting road along the side of some of the mountains, but was also stunningly beautiful, and every now and then we’d turn a bend and find ourselves gazing at the awe inspiring snow capped Himalaya range (something I never really thought I’d see first hand).

When we crossed the border into Nepal the day before yesterday, the atmosphere changed completely and people seemed far more relaxed and happy. We were met by a Nepalese guide who helped us buy our visas on the border, then made the beautiful balmy warm and sweet green smelling journey through the valley to Kathmandu. In contrast to Tibet, the greenery in Nepal seems irrepressible springing from every bit of unattended earth. On the journey we saw many colourfully dressed women, children and men going about what looked like a sunny rural daily life (though I’m sure there are also many hardships, compared to the harshness of Tibet everything looked very cheerful). The warm, flowery, oxygen filled air was very welcome!

Kathmandu itself is crazy, lots of bikes, cars, children, trishaws, motorbikes and most of all tourists (in Thamel where we are – hippy and traveler haven of the world) all bumping into each other and being beeped at and trying to fend off hawkers trying to sell tiger balm and hash! We are enjoying the hospitality and the English menus, but are keen to get out of Kathmandu and head to Pokhara as soon as our Indian visas are sorted. Anyway, I think I’ll go and find somewhere to get Laundry done and then find some lunch, but I hope everyone is well and I’m missing everyone back at home (in Leicester and Bradford), having travelled all the way by land, home feels an enormous distance away now.

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