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

Journey to the West - 西宁 Xining

I never thought that my next adventure will bring me back to 西宁 - a place which i once visited more than 3 years ago while going through the Silk Route.

In a bid to climatize to the higher altitude, i went to the following 2 places which i once been to.

Things still looked the same, the 塔尔寺 as well as the 青海湖. There is a certain serenity about this place, you just feel as if things will never change. Lamas still go through their daily routine, oblivious to tourists like me, even the buildings still look every much the same (when i dig out photos took 3 years ago)

Silk Road - 西宁, Xining

Out next destination... 西宁. 西宁 is far, very far. In fact, we had to cross 2 mountains in order to reach the place. The bus ride was an astonishing 8 hours, excluding short stops for fuel and toilet breaks. It was tiring... but the scenery along the way was breathtaking.

I saw herds of sheep again... ha... This time, this group of animals were practically blocking the main road and we had to wait for a couple of minutes before they can be gathered to the side of the road to make way for us.

On our way to 'conquer' the first mountain... if you are wondering, yes, i saw snow along the way...

Bare trees lining the road...

Car plates reveal the place where they were bought. 青 in this case refers to 青海 province.

日月亭

These two pavilions are built to commemorate 文昌公主, Princess Wen Chang, of the Tang Dynasty when she set off on a political marriage to the mongols. 文昌公主 wasn't a princess by birth. In fact, she was the emperor's, 李世民's neice. Since it was an arranged marriage for political reasons, 李世民 gave her a princess title before sending her off. It was said that the emperor gave her a present to send her off and it was here where she opened it while taking a break. In it was a carved sun and moon sculpture. It seems that the emperor hoped that the best moonlight and sunlight can accompany her even of she was miles away from home.

倒淌河

It was at this very small river where 文昌公主 brought out a mirror bearing the carvings of her motherland and threw it in, determined to set her heart to the new foreign land which she has to call home.

Near the river, a horse gazes next to its owner.

Local tibetans enjoying the morning breeze.

Here, a statue of 文昌公主 was built in memory of her. There she stood, with her head slightly tilted, hands in a prayer, facing her the Chinese land.

青海湖 Qinghai Lake

青海湖, also known as 地球上的一滴眼泪, is the biggest saltwater lake in China. It is located approximately 3200 metres above sea level.

Little guesthouses along the lake.

二郎剑

Entrance gate to the lama temple

There are a total of 108 such small 'bells' in this temple, each representing one man's worry as it is believed that the mortal man has a total of 108 worries on earth. Thus, by going round the temple once and turning these 'bells' as you go along, you 'll erase such worries on your mind. The 108 'bells' also signifies the 108 disciples of 释迦牟尼.

8 bigger 'bells' are also found around the temple, with each representing a 活佛 who pray here during ceremonies.

Tibetan tents

We caught the locals dancing!!! Look at these two adorable kids!!!

Guess what these pancakes-look-alike are? They are used as fuel for cooking purposes (instead of firewood as (if you ever notice,) there isn't lots of trees here).

Presenting...... Baked cow dung.

塔尔寺

A lama temple where the buildings incorporated Tibetan and Han style of architecture. The day which we arrived was coincidentally 佛缘日, a day where the 活佛 blessed the people. It seems like a big day cos one of the major hall was closed (sad to say)... but i got to meet one of the 活佛... haha... I don't feel anything different or whatsoever though so hm... dunno... maybe wasn't pure enough to get enlightened.

Anyway, i heard so much about the lamasim from our tour guide (she's quite a believer) that i wanted to share some...

There are 5 different types of lamaism, with the 黄派, yellow sect, being the most popular, since it has the most number of followers.

Coincidentally, tibetans have 5 different burial options for their dead too. The first being 塔葬 which is only applicable to respectable lamas. 火葬 is only used for 活佛 so that their remains can be collected. 水葬 can only be used for people who lives near a river, and thus wasn't commonly used since water is very scarce in this region. 土葬 was surprsingly not common as it is only used on criminals. In lamaism, they believed that 土葬 is the worst burial one can have as it drives the spirit down to Hell, you know 十八层地狱. So, that leaves the last one, 天葬 as the most popular one. And nope. It doesn't refers to hanging the coffin of the dead at the top of the mountain. In fact, it literally refers to having a ceremony before bringing the dead to the top of the mountain for the birds to feed on. The head has to be wrapped up as it needs to be the last body part to be eaten by the birds. Nothing is supposed to be left behind, including the bones (which will be fed upon by the birds as well). If there are, it is deemed inauspicious and the living family of the dead has to conduct further rituals. Apparently, the whole process doesn't take very long, approximately less than an hour as there are usually hundreds of birds each time.

The pagodas which stood at the entrance.

Inside of the temple...

A monk stood at the foot of the building at the entrance.