2017-09-16 to 19 Tibet Trip, Days 9+10+11+12, Shigatze-Zedang-Nyingchi

After staying in Lhasa for two nights, we embarked on a long journey to two cities in the heartland of Tibet. The first city was Shigatze 日喀則, the second largest city in Tibet and located 270 kilometers to the west of Lhasa. We would be riding on midsize buses for 5 hours to get to our destination.

The second city we would visit was Nyingchi 林芝, the third largest city in Tibet and located 400 kilometers to the east of Lhasa.  Our original itinerary had planned for us to come back to Lhasa after Shigatze and to stay one more night in Lhasa before continuing our journey to Nyingchi.  But that didn’t happen.  Our trip so far has been smooth, on schedule, and uneventful.  Little did we know that multiple dramas were awaiting us and we were caught off guard in the later part of our journey in Tibet.

We left Lhasa early in the morning since we had a full schedule of visiting many sightseeing spots.  Our group of 39, sans the Taiwan passport holder who was denied the entry to Tibet, was split into two midsize buses.  One hour into our journey, one passenger on one of the buses had a severe back pain and wasn’t able to sit.  Luckily one of the passengers on that bus was a medical doctor.  After the initial triage performed on the patient lying on the floor of the bus aisle, the patient was advised not to continue the trip and should go back to Lhasa and rest.  It then took tremendous efforts by our tour agency Jason Tour,  our tour guide Titian, our group leader Simon, and Dr. Wu working together to coordinate a transportation to carry the patient and his wife back to Lhasa.  Our two buses, carrying the remaining 37 of us, then continued the journey toward Shigatze.

Later in the day, I had a chance to ask Simon about what transpired. He incidentally told me he had carried with him tens of thousands RMB in cash for this trip.  I was stunned when he told me the reason.  It turned out that hospitals in China demanded cash payments in advance of admitting patients.  With our group comprising of mostly senior citizens, Simon felt the need to prepare cash, his own money, on hand in case any of us needed any medical care.  In my usual naivete and blissful nature, it never occurred to me that Simon, being the group leader, had to put so many considerations and cares into making our trip possible.  I was in awe and felt a tremendous debt to Simon.  I hope some of my group members read this and realize how privileged we have been by having Simon leading our trip.

We were also informed that the highway between Lhasa and Nyingchi was closed for maintenance.  Our original plan of returning to Lhasa and then continuing onto Nyingchi had to be changed.  The new plan was that, after Shigatze, we would be going directly toward Nyingchi through a backroad bypassing Lhasa.  The road condition might not be ideal, but it would get us to our destination.  We were all new to Tibet and didn’t know the difference.  We just resigned to the fact and hoped for the best.


DAY 9

Our first stop was Yangdork Lake 羊卓雍錯湖.  The water and the sky were unbelievably clear and blue.
(Click on each picture to get the full-size view.  Some pictures were taken by Ben, Peter, and others without explicit attribution.)

We drove along the beautiful and magnificent Yarlung Tsangpo River 雅魯藏布江.  From two mountain passes, one at the elevation of 5000 meters, and the other at 4280 meters, views of the river were spectacular and the Tibetan Mastiff 藏獒 were majestic.

 

The Kharola Glacier 卡若拉冰川, at elevation 5560 meters.

Gyangz Castle江孜古堡

By nightfall, we reached Shigatze.  We had dinner and checked into a hotel.  The next day would be another day on the bus roaming through the heartland of Tibet.


DAY 10

After Shigatze, our first stop was Tashilhunpo Monastery紮什倫布寺.  For the rest of the day after the visit to this monastery, I slept on the bus most of the time because of a minor cold.  I have a very vague memory of what happened afterward. 

Because of the road closure, we needed to be on a back road to get to Nyingchi.  The road condition and the logistics along the way were less than desirable.  For the bio-break,  we sometimes had to relieve ourselves on the side of the roadway.  After a few times, we got used to it with no problem.   The bus ride today went through 320 kilometers, and we reached a small city called Zedang 澤當 by nightfall.  We stayed in this city and would continue our journey toward Nyingchi the next day.



DAY 11

After leaving Lhasa, we had been on the road for two full days. The third day, from Zedang to Nyingchi, would be the last and the most torturous bus ride.  On this day, we would be on the bus for 13 hours, traveling a distance of 460 kilometers.  First, we traveled along the Nyang River 尼洋河.  The marble quarry on the river bank reminded me of the Taroko 太魯閣 quarry in Taiwan.


At a scenery spot called Kissing Monkey Platform.

We didn’t see any kissing monkey so we improvised.

A small van taking venturesome tourists from the east coast of China to Tibet.


We stopped at a sand dune.  Our Tibetan tour guide showed us how to slide down the dune.

But the majority of us preferred to find our own secluded corner and did our bio breaks.


By dinner time, we reached Nyingchi.  We had dinner at a restaurant specialized in Stone Pot Chicken, a local delicacy.

Amidst our dinner, one member went out for a walk and lost his way back to the restaurant.  We only found out that a person was missing after we finished our dinner and were preparing to board the bus.  Several of us fanned out around the restaurant to look for the missing one.  Our tour guide Titian and I went to a fire station nearby to ask for help.  We were directed by the fireman on duty to go to a police station several street blocks away.  After walking a block toward the police station, we heard a commotion behind us.  It was the fireman we talked to earlier that was chasing after us.  When he caught up with us, he showed us his palm with a number scribbled on it.  The number was the fire captain’s phone number.  The captain wanted us to call him for help if we couldn’t get help from the police.

At the police station, a policeman heard our plea for help and took us on his patrol car to search in the neighborhood.  I was deeply impressed by the assistance offered by both the fire captain and the policeman.  Contrary to what sometimes has been reported in the news about the brutality toward street vendors by the Chinese police, my experience for this night left me with a very positive impression about the public service personnel in Nyingchi.  The missing person did find his way back after asking a local for help.


DAY 12

After staying one night in Nyingchi, we had a tour of several sightseeing spots around the city the next day.  The first stop was the Seji Lashan mountain pass 色季拉山口, at elevation 4720 meters.

Our next stop was the Yarlung Zangbo Great Canyon 雅魯藏布大峽谷.  With its depth of 6009 meters and its length of 509.9 kilometers, it is considered the deepest and widest canyon in the world.  Our visit to this great canyon was at a forest called Lulang Forests 魯朗林海.

The last place we visited today was a village that was rebuilt into a resort.  The layout, structures, and landscape were aesthetically designed and well planned.  It was a very beautiful place, but we hardly saw any tourist there.  Its tourist center housed the much appreciated clean toilets.  The following pictures were from Ben, Peter, Danny, and others.

Lastly, me with Titian.

We stayed in Nyingchi for one more night before flying back to Chengdu the next morning.  We had arrived at Lhasa on 9/14 and departed Nyingchi on 9/20, for a duration of 6 full days in Tibet.


The land of legends, religion, and mysteries – Tibet,
A once proud kingdom of the wise and the brave.
High mountain, deep water, and the vast expanse of landscapes,
Its most scarce commodities - clean toilets.

2017-09-15 Tibet Trip, Day 8, Lhasa

We arrived at Lhasa yesterday after much trepidation.  From the beginning, there were uncertainties in getting permissions to enter Tibet (it was not difficult if done by a capable travel agent).  Whether everyone who signed up for the trip would be able to show up (some did drop out).  For a group of mostly senior citizens, might the long bus ride to board the train be too torturous to some (it was bearable).  The train tickets turned out to be harder to procure than originally thought (and traveling on two different trains was totally unexpected).  But luckily other than one member holding a Taiwan passport and thus not being able to come with us to Tibet, we as a group was able to reach our destination without any incident.  We all counted our blessings and felt blessed.

Because of the high altitude, many of us started taking our medication while on board the train.  The train cabins were also equipped with a conduit to supply oxygen to people in need.  I was aware of one member needing the oxygen.  But overall, we all coped well with the trip so far.  And after one night of rest, we were ready to start our tour of Lhasa.

Our itinerary for today called for visits to three holy sites.  The first was the Jokhang Temple 大昭寺, the most sacred and important Buddhist temple in Tibet.  The second was the Potala Palace 布達拉宮, once the residence of the Dalai Lama, now a museum and a World Heritage Site.  The third was the Sera Monastery 色拉寺, a renowned training ground for Buddhist monks.


The Jokhang Temple was built in the 7^th century by Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo 吐蕃王松贊干布for his two brides: Princess Wencheng of the Tang dynasty 唐朝文成公主, and Princess Bhrikuti of Nepal.  Both princesses brought precious Buddha statues to Tibet as part of their dowries. The one from Tang is still housed in this temple and it is regarded by Tibetan as one of the most sacred symbols of their faith.

The plaza in front of the Jokhang Temple is called Jokhang Square 大昭廣場.  We got there very early in the morning while the plaza is sparsely populated, but it got filled up very fast.  Two tall flagstone pillars were very noticeable.  Smoke could be seen coming out of two huge stone incense burners.
(Click on each picture to get the full-size view.  Some pictures were taken by Ben, Peter, and others without explicit attribution.)

The entrance to the temple.  A throng of tourists already lined up waiting to get in.  The open space next to the entrance was occupied to capacity by Tibetan worshipers.

Many devout Tibetan worshipers were on the floor performing the act of prostration, paying the ultimate respect to Buddha.

Inside the entry door, four Guardian Kings were painted on the wall, two on each side.

The intricate ceiling of the walkway by the main hall.

There are many buildings in the Jokhang Temple. Each building is characterized by its shining gilt roof.

One of the perks, of being group leaders, for Philip and Simon was to have a picture taken with our lovely tour guide, Titian.

The next stop was the Potala Palace.  From every angle, the palace always looked grand and majestic.

At a postcardesque location, we took our group picture.

The palace was built on a plateau so climbing up numerous steps and turning around many zigzags were required.  At the end of these steps was palace’s main building, the Red Palace.  Many stupa tombs of the past Dalai Lama were placed in that building.

Next major building in the palace was this White Palace.  The upper part of this building was the living quarters of the past Dalai Lama.  The lower part used to be the offices of the former local government.

View from the White Palace to the city of Lhasa below was spectacular.

Back view of the Potala Palace with one of its watchtowers.

The last stop for today is the Sera Monastery, a celebrated Buddhism school.  Many famed monks came from this esteemed school.

The school’s method of instructions through arguments and debates was legendary.

In the evening, we chose to join an optional tour to see a stage show, Princess Wencheng.  It told the story of Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo proposing to marry a princess from the Tang dynasty; how Princess Wencheng conquered all obstacles to travel thousands of miles to meet her future husband; and how the marriage pacified the hostility between the Tibet Empire and the Tang dynasty for decades.  Although the storyline was simple and easily understood, the scale of the stage and the number of the performers were mind-boggling.  It easily put all large Las Vegas stage shows to shame.

During the Tang dynasty, the western fronts of its territory were constantly at a warring stage with its neighboring countries.  Huns 匈奴 and Tibet were constant threats to Tang’s sphere of influence in the Western Territory 西域.  Tang’s military power was only on par with its adversaries, and sometimes its own army was soundly defeated and decimated.

Chen Tao 陳陶, a poet from the Tang dynasty, wrote a poem Song of Lunghsi 隴西行 about the anguish and the helplessness of its people regarding the prolonged war.  The English translation of the first half of the poem was by Mr. C. K. Ho 何中堅 of Hong Kong. The second half was by very humbly yours.

誓掃匈奴不顧身，五千貂錦喪胡塵。
可憐無定河邊骨，猶是春閨夢裏人。

黠虜生擒未有涯，黑山營陣識龍蛇。
自從貴主和親後，一半胡風似漢家。

By death they swore, to send the Huns to hell;
On barbarian soil, five thousand warriors in sables fell.
How sad their bones are lying by the Wu-ding River;
In the spring dreams of many wives, their spirits still dwell.

To capture alive the sneaky enemies will take forever,
So will marching into their camps and confronting their venomous generals.
Since Princess Wencheng's marriage to pacify the unconquered,
Half their customs has become similar to our Han people’s behaviors.