The roof of the world
What did we really know about Tibet? Forcefully annexed by the Chinese more than 50 years ago, spiritually led by the Dalai Lama in exile, perched high up in the Himalayas, a fairly remote and almost forgotten place in this busy world. But as our Air China plane touched down at Lhasa Airport Julie and I knew that our knowledge base was about to change. One of our most highly anticipated trips for ages was about to begin.
We were the only westerners on our flight from Beijing and didn’t see any others as we found our guide and driver, loaded into our car and drove the 60 km into Lhasa. The countryside was mountainous and starkly brown except for the green strip of irrigated land on each side of a wide flowing Yarlung Tsangpo River. The new motorway was impressive, over extended bridges and through long tunnels – all money spent by the Chinese to impress the locals – with our first security check point before reaching Old Lhasa. Here we unloaded and followed our pleasant young female guide Kelsang through the narrow walking streets of this ancient city to eventually arrive at our traditional hotel.
Our hotel was tucked back into a deadend alley, set into another building undergoing extensive renovations. But once we stepped inside the mood completely changed, a small peaceful courtyard, a fabulously traditional room with stucco walls, painted ceilings, wooden incense box, old furniture and stone floor bathroom. And Wifi. A sensational little home away from home for the next three nights.
One thing that had already hit us as we walked to our hotel was the elevation of Lhasa. We had just flown from sea level to 3,650 metres (11,300 feet), a significant shock to our systems. The heads were a bit dizzy and the legs a bit wobbly as we pulled our bags through the streets. We needed more red blood cells but knew it would take a couple of days to acclimatise.
Having checked in, Kelsang led us through endless narrow walking streets until we popped out at Barkhor Walk, part of the pilgrimage walk around the Jokhang Temple in central Old Lhasa. Old Lhasa seems to be in the process of complete renovation – the stone streets are all torn up as they bury cables and pipes, making walking around the town an absolute nightmare. Suffocating dust filled the air and coated all food and clothes that were for sale in the shops. The buildings are covered in scaffolding, again we presume renovation but the reasons were not obvious. But despite all this the little shops were open, people in traditional dress were hustling about their business, children were playing everywhere and the life-goes-on attitude of the locals made the whole place work.
The Barkhor Walk is actually the path the pilgrims take as they walk around and around the Jokhang Temple, Tibet’s most sacred site. This pilgrim walk, an ancient tradition to circumnavigate sacred sites, is called a kora. The pilgrims, most of them quite old, wear traditional dress, including a smart array of hats, spin prayer wheels, chant and slowly shuffle their way along the path. In doing so they have to deal with the local pedestrian traffic coming and going plus the tourists.
But there aren’t many tourists in Lhasa. We were surprised to only see a handful of western visitors all day, although there were many Asian tourists as well. Most of the tourists are Chinese and they tend to blend in a bit better than Julie and I. But our first impressions on western travellers was that the numbers were lower than even Bhutan (which is saying something).
But more security checks were involved in getting near the temple and Chinese police and military dudes, including some with machine guns, were everywhere. Julie took a photo of the gaping hole in the road from all the roadwork and was immediately accosted by two security men who told her “No photos” and made her delete a harmless shot of the road. We’re in Tibet five minutes and she’s already in trouble!
Of course photos are okay, and just as well because this place was seriously photogenic, but as Kelsang explained, you can’t photograph any soldiers or police. This is a challenge because the buggers are everywhere and there’s no telling what would happen on a second offence!
We had a delightful lunch in an upstairs restaurant, pleasantly surprised after being forewarned about the blandness of Tibetan food. To the office of our tour operator for final details, payments, etc, then a winding trip back to our hotel which involved more exploring through these narrow streets and more soaking up of this extraordinary city.
Later that day we went out again for more random rambling, soaked in more of the fantastic mix of old and new, had drinks and dinner at a nearby hotel, eventually finding our way back (barely) through the maze of twisted back streets to our hotel as darkness and a light rain fell. But we were bitten by Tibet, that’s for sure, surprised by the amount of people wearing national dress, happy to see their smiles and hear their ‘Hellos’ after grim-faced China, impressed by their architecture, overwhelmed by their Buddhist devotions, breathless by their elevation and wary of the military presence. A great first impression.