Journey to the West - 拉萨 Lhasa

Finally, my 22 hours train ride brought me to my destination as well as the start of my adventure - 拉萨.

First impression i got is 'Man, this place is really sunny and bright!'. Being at higher grounds, it really made a huge difference. I tried getting out without putting on any cap/sunglass but failed for the next 100m. (Both my sunglass and cap proved to be precious companions throughout the trip)

Second impression you will have is the frequent sight of the Chinese soldiers along the streets. I shudder at times since this wasn't exactly the common sight in any cities around but you will learn to get used to their presence. They are generally 'invinsible' and will not interfere in the locals or tourists daily activities - except if they spot you snapping pictures of them. If you do, be prepared to be approached by them who will most likely request to review your camera and delete any pictures they deem fit.

To climatise to the new place, we checked in early to rest for the evening. The inn (or hotel in local terms) was heavily decorated in ancient Chinese architectural design. Our door is made of real wood - exactly like those of ancient Chinese buildings! It was a pleasant surprise, until we found out that means it will leave a significant gap even when we close the door fully (not a sound proof room afterall).



The inn corridor decorated with Chinese lanterns.



The first place we've decided to conquer is the Potala Palace. Afterall, you need to register a day before to ensure that tickets are secured (The number of visitors is limited on a daily basis).



The Potala Palace is huge even across the street. It is nevertheless the city's most distinguished building since it's in striking red and white. Not to mention that it is the tallest building as well.

Ascending to the Palace actually is not a difficult task. Most are steep slopes and steps - just a few hundreds, unlike those other places where the number of steps run into the thousands. However, try doing this at a higher altitude and it is another story all together. Less than a quater of the way up to the entrance, we were starting to be breathless. Everytime we started to be breathless, stop and rest. It's just the way to keep it slow and steady. Afterall, we didn't get hurried at all (every other tourists were breathless too!) .

The view up was really great. Since there was no other high rise building, you literally get a nice view of the whole city. The air was fresh and cooling too, abeit it's a little thin.

I love the sky - it's bright and the clouds were fabulous. There's no need to even have special lighting or flash. Just a simple camera will still capture such scenes. Afterall, it's unusually bright in the day.

I was mentally prepared for food available to us for this trip. I mean when you read books on Tibet and what do the locals usually eat? Tea with Yak butter and mutton meat.

I guess one great advantage of lowering your expectations is you tend to have great surprises along the way! Which did happen - we had steamboat! Coupled with fresh vegetables, ribs (pork or mutton), potato, radish etc. We so loved this steamboat we went back another 2 times during the trip. I don't understand why this small shop was never crowded. It should.

八角街 Bakhor Street & 大昭寺 Jokhang Temple

It was only when we reached Bakhor Street that i realised the reason for the presence of heavily armed Chinese soldiers there. That day was exactly the 1 year anniversary of a riot on the very same venue.

The soldiers were practically patrolling every street - you will not see them here since we are not allowed to capture them.

Just like any Tibetan temples, there is a heavy Yak butter smell welcoming you the moment you stepped inside. It doesn't smell that bad - you will soon get used to it. In fact, i pretty much enjoy their Yak butter tea as well!

Tibetan monks engaging in scripture debates.

The pious locals doing their prayers outside the temple - oblivious to others.

The candle room - each flame burns on donated yak butter.

With the first successful try of the local soup and steamboat, we went on to try another one - duck soup hohoho. To be honest, i never thought the food can be so good.

Journey to the West - Train from 西宁 Xining to 拉萨 Lhasa

I love the sky - it's such a nice blue color that you'll only find the same shade in scrapbooks.

As you can see, i was pretty busy throughout the journey - afterall there was nothing else to do other than eat, snap pictures, eat.. you get the picture.

22 hours of train journey is the longest i've ever experienced - but it is nevertheless the most unforgetable.

It's really beautiful.

This was one of the stopovers along the way (there were several) but this was the first and we were all excited to just get down and breathe in the highlands air. I jumped down the train, ran towards this sign (as i was excited to find that it records the height as well), only to be screamed at my very nice fellow travel mate 'Don't ruuunnnnnn'.

Rule number 1 - Do not attempt to run or even brisk walk at highlands. It will cause you breathlessness or headaches.

And i happily forgot.

The train journey brought us a few hills (or mountains rather) and it's pretty cool that they have a sensor to reflect the ouside altitude, temperature and humidity. The highest altitude i observed was 5000+m when we went across one mountain (or hill). I was so excited cos i didnt experience any headaches or breathlessness and was so confident that high altitude sickness is chicken feet. I was obviously wrong needless to say hurhur. I was fine on the train i guess as i was not doing much - just hanging around and clicking my camera. How tedious is that? Although there were some travellers complaining about splitting headaches. Poor souls.

The train journey was packed with action. People are always equipped with their cameras snapping the scenary outside. And with the narrow corridor (the width only fits one person comfortably), you can imagine the slight squeeze. It was fun though.

And power plugs were a priviledge as people scramble to search for a working one to charge their handphones and camera. We didn't need this additional work though - afterall we charged everything we could to survive the 22 hours train ride.

My train ticket and bed (below). It's interesting how many information they managed to put on a small piece of paper, especially my carriage and bed - I belong to the 12th carriage, row 12, lowest bed. (There are 3 bed per row). It was not until i was on the train that i realised the price differ for all 3 beds - the highest being the cheapest due to the inconvenience. You have to literally climb up to your bed (there was no ladder provided) and being the highest bed, it's impossible to sit upright on it. You can only lie down. The lowest bed (mine) can however, serve as a sofa and bed.

This has unfortunately some disadvantages since you have to share the carriage with fellow travellers (mostly made up of locals from other provinces) - they will occupy your bed since its at the most accessible position =p