Journey to the West - 定日 Dingri

Making our way to 定日 Dingri, coming 1 step nearer to the Mount Everest base camp.

The population grows sparse and we see less and less occupied areas as we move further and further away from the capital. On our way, we stopped by temples to break away from the long journey.

The temple here do not have a large stream of worshippers, unlike those in the capital. There is however, a steady flow of locals inside. Perhaps, it was not the correct timing that we were there.

Visiting places like this is a great venture away from those we visited near the capital. There is less crowd and the air is fresher (though thinner as well). Somehow, it makes you feel as if you are closer to heaven. My headaches have started to cease as i guess my body started to climatise to the high attitude. Slow walk and deep relaxing breathes still do its wonders.

Our journey brings us to scale a mountain (by car of course). On the peak of the moutain, you find numerous colorful kha-das tied by the locals to pray for safe journey. Afterall, the roads are winding and can be teacherous in the cold weather.

Along the way, we saw a vehicle which broke down on the road with a punctured tyre. That would be the worse i can ever imagine happening. Afterall, we don't spot any locals during our journey for the past 2 hours or so. Our local guide said that they all have the numbers of repair services in the nearest town (alothough that would be their last resort). Afterall, it would take at least 3 hours for help to arrive, needless to say the prenium price they would have to pay to have someone travel all the way up to this mountain.

As we spotted a sign bearing our destination name, we knew we are closer.

A local boy and his grandfather (my guess) charging minimal fee for the use of a public toilet. I didn't have much experience travelling in the outskirts of China but common sense would tell you not to use such public toilet as chances are, they are never maintained even though they come at a fee. Settling your nature business behind a bush is much a wiser choice - its free and you seriously won't choke your way. In short, it's a much pleasant experience.

After a very very long journey which see me ending up with an aching butt (seriously), we reach our destination. The Dingri town is much more quiet than i expected. As we drove to our inn to check-in, there wasn't any vehicles nore locals around on the road. I though we were at a ghost town.

There are buildings, yes and even nicely paved roads and street lamps. But one thing it seems, its lacking people. It feels very deserted.

After checking in, there wasn't much to do and it was around 2 hours to dinner time so our local guide suggest to take a walk around the town. It was near 7pm local time nad it's still pretty bright (we were told the sun sets around 11pm). It was only when we walked to the heart of the towndid we start spotting locals - including a couple of little boys reading their textbooks outside.

Apparently, electricity is very limited in the town and thanks to the late sunset, the kids could at least study outside along the streets.

Youngsters playing pool along the streets. I realised its pretty common for people to put their belongings/little asessts along the roads since there are practically very little vehicles around. Afterall, you don't need any vehicle to move arounf the town. We realised that after walking the big round within 40 minutes.

I guess this town is still not a very common destination for foreign visitors. While walking around, the locals will practically stare at you since its pretty obvious that we look han chinese and do not belong there. They are harmless though, just being curious as i would be if i were in their shoes.

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

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)

Journey to the West - 西藏 Tibet and Mt Everest Base Camp

I've finally saved enough for my next adventure to the West YAY. I can't wait to enter the journey here - it was a tough journey, battling with altitude sickness and the rapid change of weather. Still, when i scan through the pictures i took, it was worth it.

To start with, i was never a fit person i guess, but i did what i can to prevent the onset of altitude sickness. I goggled and found that 红景天 Hong Jing Tian helps and started drinking it 2 weeks prior to the trip. Even though i still suffered occasional headaches throughout the journey, i believed it still help somehow or another.

Route taken: 成都 Chengdu -> 西宁 Xining -> 拉萨 Lhasa (Altitude = 3800km) -> 日喀则 Shigatse (Altitude = 3800km) -> 定日Tingri (Altitude = 4500km) -> Mt Everest Base Camp (Altitude = 5200km) -> 日喀则 Shigatse (Altitude = 3800km) -> 拉萨 Lhasa (Altitude = 3800km) -> 成都 Chengdu

Western Food in Guang Zhou

Western food in Guangzhou is generally more expensive than local food. Don't expect western food in it's original form in any case as most have been 'altered' to suit the local taste. Still, it's worth trying! haha!

Rosti in creamy mushroom sauce





Dessert: Tiramisu served with fresh fruits


Cream of mushroom soup served with garlic bread


Rosti with sausage and bacon