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This blog (Tibet) is one of four for our trip to Asia to Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and India.

The trip involved lots of being driven in cars/vans, around 2,000 miles driving between cities.  Not counting numerous trips driving around the cities and surrounding areas to visit attractions.

All the Tibet sites were excellent.  Some extra special places:
    Potala Palace
    Yan Dok Lake
    Mt Everest
    Tingri (for different reasons)

Specialty Albums (most of these photos are not in the blog):
    Animals
    Architecture
    Country Life
    Markets and Shops
    Monasteries, castles, mosques, temples
    Mountains
    People
    Potala Palace
    Prayer Flags
    Scenic Tibet
    Signs
    Tibetan Expo Museum

Slide show of photos in this blog:
   Blog photos

Flickr:
     Our Photostream

Oct 8/9, 2014, Wednesday/Thursday – Arriving in China

Our 12 hour flight to Beijing from SFO was delayed 45 minutes because the vice-president was leaving at the same time.  But we still arrived in Beijing early.  Then caught a connecting 2 ½ hour flight to Xining, China (main reason we are in Xining is to start getting acclimated to higher altitudes in preparation for our trip to Tibet.  Xining is at 7000 feet).  Loved the ceiling at the Beijing Airport. 

It was after dark when we arrived so we couldn’t see much although the Xining approach was very clear and we could see the city lights well.  Many of the tall buildings were lined with lights (mainly red) and it was very pretty.  Our hotel room had a direct view to a large mosque.  The beds were very firm but not as rock hard as last time we visited China.  In bed by about 11:00pm.

From our room the next morning:

Oct 10, 2014, Friday – Xining China




Great Mosque - Xining China

The first stop was the Great Mosque.  Xining has a very large Muslim population and the Mosque is the center of their religious activity.  We toured the Mosque but could not enter the prayer rooms. 

Prayer Rugs

The crowd at 1:00 prayers

Later in the day we came back to the Mosque in time for 1:00 prayers.  The crowd had overflowed from the Mosque onto the front plaza, along the sidewalks and took over an entire lane in the street. 

There was a huge market in the adjacent streets with some shops with clothing and housewares but most were selling various foods with large numbers of fruit and veggie stands, nuts, seeds, and mushrooms. 

Also lots of chickens (dead and alive).  The dead ones came in three skin colors, blue/gray, orange and the kind we get in the US.  We watched a shopkeeper corral a chicken for a patron but we didn’t stay around for the end.  There were also several shop keepers de-feathering dead birds using a blow torch to singe off the feathers.  They are a lot closer to their food sources than we are. 



There were also a number of stalls with large slabs of meat.  Best guess is that most were sheep or goats.  The last is based on watching several small boys (around 3 or 4 years old), playing with goat heads.  They held the heads in front of themselves by the horns and then butted the heads together.  (A lot closer to their food.)

Next was a trip to the Tibetan Medicine Museum of China.  It was generally very interesting with our guide interpreting and explaining various exhibits.  We observed several very old Thangkas (pronounces tanka).  These are paintings on panels and depict scenes or, in this case, describe information about Tibetan medicine.  Several showed skeletal details (the skulls looked funny - smiley and happy).

The most impressive exhibit was “The Great Thangka”.  It was started in 1996 and took four years and 400 craftsmen to complete.  It is 8.25 feet high and almost 2030 feet long (not allowed to take photos, sorry).  It was displayed in one long very windy case that covered most of a floor of the museum.  The thangka pictures included (partial list) information on the world's formation, human creation, Tibetan origins, Tibetan monarchs, the origin and development of Tibetan Buddhist sects, the sciences of linguistics, medicine, astronomy, poetry, and drama, Tibetan scenic and historical sites, festivals, daily necessities, weapons, houses, tents, castles patterns, and pictures beseeching luck and fortune.

For a change of pace we went to a riverside park and watched kite flying ...   

... and dancing.  Every day an impromptu dance session occurs at the park with someone bringing a music device and everyone dropping purses and briefcases in the middle and dancing round in a circle.  Some people have masks on.  The masks help keep the moisture in.  Tibet is very dry.

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Oct 11, 2014, Saturday – Xining to Tsedang

 

Heavy winds last night caused a major power outage.  We woke to snow (earliest snow in years) and downed trees everywhere.  Roads were blocked and our guide was an hour and a half late getting to the hotel because of the road conditions. 

Needless to say we missed our 10:00 am flight to Lhasa.  So we drove through a small nearby village to kill some time.  One of the main intersections was decorated with lots of colorful flowers (all artificial).

 

Then it was back to the airport. 



Another airport with an interesting ceiling.

While at the airport we made the acquaintance of four monks traveling to Lhasa.  Our guide translated for us.  The oldest monk tried on Paul's glasses, and flirted with our guide.  Our flight was scheduled to depart at 5:45 and was delayed until 7:00pm.  Talk about a long day.  Arrived in Lhasa that night and then had couple hour drive to Tsedang, arriving at midnight.

Our new friends

Oct 12, 2014, Sunday – Tsedang

Tsedang is at 10,170 feet, a nice step up in altitude.  We had a late start today as our guide, Yishi, and driver Dian Ba had to first go to the police station with our passports and Tibet visa to get two additional permits, one for outside of Lhasa and the other to go to Everest base camp.  Since it was Sunday the police station didn’t open until late.

Once the paperwork was in place we took an hour long drive to the Samye Monastery, the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet, build in the 8th century by a Tibetan king.   

Samye Monastery



Butter Candles

Stupa at Samye Monastery

Yalong River

Yalong River

The drive to the monastery and our next stop was along the Yalong River, a tributary of the Yangtze River.



There were many golden trees planted right alongside (or in) the river.  Autumn has come to Tibet.  The trees are being planted extensively along the river as part of a project to provide more wood for fuel.
  

On the return we stopped at Yumbu Lakhang Castle, built by the first king of Tibet in the 2^nd century BC.  It became a monastery in the 17^th century.  It sits on an outcropping high above the valley and is surrounded by prayer flags.  The views of and from the castle are stunning.  Mary took a horse ride up, Paul is allergic to horse dander, so he opted to climb the stairs – perhaps foolishly because this was our first day at 10,000 feet altitude, and he needed to rest often.

Beautiful view of the valley from the Castle

Prayer Flags above Yumbu Lakhang Castle

Oct 13, 2014, Monday - Tsedang to Lhasa

In Tibet, effects of altitude :
- Paul had a dry cough the entire time in Tibet.  Mary had headaches a couple of times, probably from not drinking enough water.  We both had some constipation from not drinking enough water.  We had tingling in finger tips occasionally (both altitude and medicine side effect).  We needed to rest often when climbing stairs.  And general fatigue – going to bed early.
-    Urination: 
o    At altitude you urinate more than normal.
o    And to help lessen altitude sickness symptoms, you are supposed to drink more water than normal, ... which makes you urinate more.
o    And we were taking pills to help prevent altitude sickness, and one side effect … You urinated more.
o    A delicate balance between drinking enough water to stay hydrated and lessen effects of altitude sickness, but not so much that you need to urinate every time you turn around.

Today was the long trip to Lhasa, 60 miles, 3 ½ hours.  Lots of interesting road traffic (yaks, sheep, little tractors) and police stops. 

 

 

Taking pictures from the car:  windows were electric, but would have a hard time rolling back up.  It was worse when it was cold in the morning.  Had to hold button while pulling on the window.  Sometimes the guide or driver needed to help.  

 

We caught a brief glimpse of Potala Palace on the way in to Lhasa but we arrived pretty late so didn’t do much but walk the streets near the hotel a bit.  Altitude is 12,000 feet so we really took it easy.