Rooftop of the World

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I knew something was different when 20 minutes into my flight from Chengdu to Lhasa, the carpet of thick cloud and smog covering Sichuan province was pierced by snow-capped mountain tops which appeared surprisingly close to my plane cruising at 32,000ft. In fact, these mountains acted as a dam to the carpet of low-lying clouds. Beyond to the west lay soaring peaks bathing in the sunshine as far as the eye could see. To the west lay Tibet, the mysterious buddhist kingdom on the rooftop of the world. Although it is part of China, I felt for the moment, that I had left behind all of the aspects of mainland China that had worn me down for the previous 6 weeks. I stared out the window in wonder at the jagged Himalayas, the deep and green river valleys and to the south the 50,000ft thunderclouds of Nepal and India, dramatic evidence of the monsoon season raging on the other side of the Himalayas.

I am doing this update backwards, as the highlight of Tibet was my 4x4 trip from Lhasa to Nepal at the end of my time in Tibet. I teamed up with an amiable German student whom the Tibetan girls loved for his ponytail and an incredibly cheap and obnoxious retired French couple who had been sailing the world for 15 years (who I ultimately had a falling out with over $2 US because I insisted that our group of 4 take 2 cabs into Kathmandu because 4 in a cab with our bags was too much - they were furious to incur the extra cost of $2US to do this!!! I said goodbye with dismissal and disgust). The trip was seven days that took us to Everest Base Camp (EBC) at "The North Face" (yes, that North Face) of Everest. The days leading to EBC saw us stop in towns famous for their monastaries. Gyantse and Shigatse are squalid towns with open sewers for streets (for all the development the Chinese brag about in Tibet, precious little is done about hygiene or sanitation; public urination and defecation is commonplace; perhaps that is because of the squalid conditions of most of the squatters and long drops), but the monastaries are historic and impressive.

The highlights began to unfold after the town of Gyantse as we climbed from the Tibetan plateau of 4200m (14000ft) towards EBC at 5200m (17500ft). It is strange to think of the low ground as 4kms above sea level and my friend and family in TO. Everest loomed large in the brilliant morning sun reflected on its North Face at 8900m (about 29000ft), the closest one can come to the heavens on Earth. Shockingly, the Chinese have not yet made a theme park of it, but that might change as the highway from Lhasa to EBC is under perpetual construction by mainland Chinese (not a lot of Tibetans) work teams (transforming it from dirt road to paved road) and due to the completion of a railline into Tibet due to open for business on July 1. Moreover, one must walk 8km uphill from the Ronghpa Monastary to EBC at 5200m, a feat which most mainland Chinese tourists seem unwilling to do (though there are horse carriages available). As it was, I slept at EBC in a Tibetan tent and had trouble breathing through my nose - I had to take gulps every few breaths through my mouth to get enough oxygen.... Didn't sleep so sound! And it was -5 at night....

After Everest our trip took us over saddleback passes of 5000m and sweeping alpine tundra valleys filled with nomads leading their yaks towards Nepal. All around the Tibetan plateau rose the 7000+ and 8000+ glaciated peaks of the Himalayas. Words cannot describe the starkness, scale and beauty. Pictures do little better to capture the grandeur and scale of the landscape, sky and billowing clouds. On our second to last day we continued to cross the Tibetan plateau at altitudes of between 4200 and 5200m. We were sheltered under a deep blue sky with enormous monsoon clouds billowing over the Himalayas in the distance. Headed south towards Nepal, we came within view of the highest of the Himalayas surrounding the precipitous pass that drops into Nepal. For 360 degrees in all directions an ochre landscape of rolling alpine tundra stretched endlessly under the enormous sky. There is no scale. There are few buildings, no trees and little by which to judge the awesome scale by. Finally, in the south and west appeared jagged glacial-covered peaks - the highest in the world. It is like the Tibetan plateau is suspended on the shoulders of the highest peaks in the world. A landscape only accessible to those who can make the climb over these lofty obstacles. On the other side (south) of the Himalayas, is a precipitous drop of 3000m to the Nepali border only 60km away and 4000m to the capital Kathmandu, Nepal, in 150km.

Coming the other way, travellers from Nepal asend 4000m in 150km to reach the pass through the Himalayas to the Tibetan plateau - but once there they do not descend down the other side of the mountains!! The plateau just hangs there suspended above the rest of the world.

Going down we descended through a precipitous gorge with a raging river 1000s of feet below. In the space of 2 hours went from windy barren alpine tundra, to scrub bush, to evergreen forest, to deciduous forest replete with flowering rhodedendrons and azealeas (sp?!) to subptropical and then tropical vegetation. From tundra rock to bananas in such a short time! The most spectacular trip I have ever taken. For a geographer this was a ride of a lifetime. I cannot recommend it enough.

As for the Lhasa and the rest of my time in Tibet....

Lhasa, lying at 3600m (12,000ft) was the capital of Tibet for about the last 1000 years and is the centre for Tibeten travel. Tibet has been at various times in its history has been an independent state that controlled vast parts of mountainous Central Asia (including parts of what was then China), a fractious collection of warring factions and prior to 1949 an independent state whose borders roughly reflect what is now the Tibetan Automonous Region of China. As a result of its varying reach and influence over history, Tibetans are found in large numbers in the Chinese provinces to the north and east (particularly, Sichuan and Yunnan). There is a genuine debate as to whether Tibet was every actually free from Chinese influence or control. However, it was an independent state when the Red Army invaded in 1951 to "liberate Tibet" from imperialists forces and serfdom (feudal poverty). The other view is, of course, that Tibet was invaded and remains occupied by China. In any event, no country stood up to defend Tibet. The world's attention was occupied by the Korean Pennisula. Canada and Australia were among few nations to condemn the Chinese invasion in a meaningless UN Declaration at the time.

By 1959, the Dalai Lama, spirtual and leader in exile of Tibet (to Tibetans) had to flee to India. To this day, his dramatic palace on a hill overlooking Lhasa, the Potala, is empty, filled only by tourists. There is an increasing Han Chinese influence in Tibet who benefit from the rewards of Chinese development (roads, dams, airports, business), while the Tibetans are largely left in poverty (to be fair some Tibetans have embraced the Chinese presence, or at least try to work within the system). 

Since 1951 various claims assert that between 500,000 and 1.2 million Tibetans have died at the hands of the Chinese. That and the erosion of the Tibetan religion and culture by the Han Chinese influence has led the Dalai Lama to describe the situation as cultural genocide. As a result, there are now as many Chinese in Lhasa as Tibetans and the city, except for the old Tibetan quarter, it is essentially a Chinese city, unrecognizable to anyone who knew it only 50 years ago. It is said that the city has changed more in the last 20 years then it did in the previous 1000. Tibetans in Lhasa and more so in the rural areas tend to live in abject poverty. The kids are invariably dirty and beg for money at the sight of any tourist. It is a thoroughly saddening experience. Yet, the strength of religious and cultural devotion, remains palpably strong among Tibetans.

Tibetan Buddhism is a unique form of buddhism. I won't try to describe, except to say that it is followed very closely by Tibetans and it has much fascinating symbolism and traditions. There are a number of large monastaries around Lhasa and Tibet (often with stunning mountainside locations) which evidence this devotion and importance. Prior to the Cultural Revolution, many of these monastaries were small cities holding 100s or 1000s of monks and countless sacred treasures and materials. Post-Cultural Revolution during which communist Red Guards from China destroyed and ransacked many of the important monastaries, many are shells of their former selves, with many less monks and stripped of their treasures. Currently, many are under slow reconstruction, in part due to funding from China which has shown some regret for the vandalous acts of the Cultural Revolution, but also one assumes, because of the tourist dollars they invariably generate.

Around each monastary is a kora. A kora is a path that encircles the monastary. Tibetan pilgrims (who come from all over Tibet) walk the kora in a clockwise direction, holding prayer wheels and murmering prayers. Similarly, there are assembly halls and chapels in the monastaries which themselves must be visited in a clockwise direction. These chapels are dimly lit by yak butter candles, continuously replenished by monks and thermos-toting pilgrims. There are a number of gods and deities with different relevance (longevity, health, history, etc.). Buddha god statutes and other deities are left offerings by pilgrims of roasted barley and money (strange to see images of buddhas and former dalai lamas adorned with one yuan notes with the picture of Chairman Mao on them).

The monks themselves, very unlike Christian monks, are often smiling, playful and generally jovial. They dance, banter, joke and debate with each other. Tibetans have a rosy glow to their complexion, and when the monks smile their face lights up. As a side note, Tibetans in generally are jovial, despite their recent history, and are always smiling, greeting and waving at each other and travellers. A nice change from the rest of China. The crimson red robes of the monks makes a beautiful and sharp contrast to the white washed buildings of the monastaries and deep blue Tibetan. The monastaries are fascinating, but you can suffer monastary fatigue if not careful. Still, watching the monks, deciphering the symbolism of Tibetan Buddhism and seeking silence it the chapel recesses is a great experience.