Brace, brace, brace...

A Monk's Gotta Match
Originally uploaded by camandkristin

We’ve just arrived back in Kathmandu (for our 7th time in all) after spending the last week in Tibet. A trip to Tibet was the prime reason for returning to Nepal for a second time, although we took the opportunity to get out and do another trek as well.

Looking for an option that didn’t require the unpredictable flight to Lukla, nor the long distance bus ride to the Annapurna region, we settled on the Gosainkund trek in the Langtang region north of Kathmandu. The region is sold, in part, on its easy access to the city. Easy access in this case meant a 117km bus ride that took, get this, 10 hours. Ten. Hours. And, despite the popularity of the trekking area, there is no tourist bus that plies the route. This was a local bus on some really, really, crappy roads. I’ll admit to being near tears in fear on occasion- and this is coming from someone who has travelled on the “World’s Most Dangerous Road”. I’d like to re-award that title... Despite the white knuckle component of the trip, it also included highlights such as: Cam holding a Nepalese child on his lap for about 2 hours, a broken chair in front of me such that the chair and occupant leaned further and further back into my face as the trip went on, a “lunch stop” in the middle of a filthy crack-hole town, roof-riding locals climbing down from the roof 100m before a police checkpoint only to walk 200m and climb back onto the roof just beyond the same checkpoint (a useless and time consuming process), a vomiting child huddled at our feet, a stop to repair a flat tire, and about 6 extremely irritating Canary Islanders who thought the world revolved around them. Finally the bus reached our destination and we were rewarded with gorgeous mountain views that almost, but not quite, erased the pain of the bus trip.

The trek itself took 8 days, and reached a maximum height of just over 4600m at Laurebina La. It’s not the most “ergonomic” of treks- the first 3 days are pretty much straight up, meaning it’s a) hard work, and b) not awesome for altitude acclimatization. And, of course, what goes up must come down, so over the final 2 days of the trek we descended 3500m which is pretty brutal on the body as well. We were constantly comparing this trek to the Annapurna Circuit (which we completed last time) and in most cases it came up unfavourably for this trek however, in retrospect, it was a pretty gorgeous route which offered a lot of amazing sights. The mountain views come fast and furious, the rhododendron forests were stunning (even though not blooming), the yak cheese for sale was a real highlight, and the views at sunset on the night before the pass rivals most other views we’ve had in Nepal. We also enjoyed our company- Michael and Andrea, our new friends from, well, Australia and the Czech Repulic via Vietnam… (the people you meet here do not lead conventional lives…)

Anyway, we four finished the trek by powering through the last two days to get out a day early and save one more night in a crappy wood shack sharing our living space with noisy mice. It gave us a couple of days back in Kathmandu to eat meat, have warm showers, and take in the scene that is Diwali- the Hindu Festival of Lights, and then, finally, it was time to head to Tibet.

While theoretically possible to travel to Tibet mostly on your own, it’s expensive and difficult, and the far more common option is to join a tour which is what we did. We learned quickly that almost every agent in town (of which there are hundreds) offers the same package and we also learned that this is high season and there are a frigging LOT of people that want to go to Tibet. Disappointed that our tour would have a “minimum” of 20 people on it, but not seeing any other viable option, we signed up. When we arrived at our bus on the first day we found, in fact, 35 people waiting for the same tour. Ugh. However, the disappointment pretty much stopped there and we very much enjoyed our whole tour. In fact, one advantage to so many people is that its easy to find a small group whom you very much enjoy to spend time with. Our sub-group turned out to really “make” the experience for us. In an effort to minimize rambling (too late, I know) I’ll bullet point the following observations about Tibet:

1. Crossing the border into Tibet involves a full baggage search. Literature is the most sensitive- any books/novels on Tibetan subject matter will be confiscated. Tibet guide books- gone. Chinese guide books whose maps show even the label “Taiwan” will be taken. Tibetan flags- gone. That tattoo on your back that says “Free Tibet”? Hope they don’t see that… Before getting to the crossing, everyone on our bus was busily cutting out maps from their books or sending them back with the bus driver to be retrieved at a later date. Fortunately for us we hadn’t bothered to buy any…

2. The road from Kathmandu to Lhasa is called the Friendship Highway. It was built by the Chinese 5 years ago and is a fine demonstration of the benefits of communism. The road is ~1000km long and crosses through extreme mountain terrain- many passes over 5000m. Until about 20km from Lhasa we saw almost no other vehicles on it. It’s sure a nice yak trail though.

3. There are a lot of checkpoints along the road. You must produce your passport and visa regularly. Tibetans, who are unable to even get a passport, have little hope of ever leaving the country.

4. The military presence in Lhasa (in particular) is extreme. Since some monk-initiated uprisings in 2008 the main square in the Tibetan part of the city has been patrolled by serious Chinese fire power. The buildings have what could only be described as sharp shooters perched on top, and groups of 8-10 armed soldiers march through the crowds in the square at regular intervals, not to mention the groups of soldiers permanently stationed under shade tents.

5. Tibetans are not permitted to gather in large groups (no more than 4, I believe). At one point one of our travel companions, Casey, had stopped at a small stall where a man was selling what are essentially Tibetan wigs. The man was outfitting Casey’s head with the silly long haired wig and a crowd started to gather as the locals find us to be quite amusing. The crowd grew to around 15 people and finally a angry policeman came over and barked some harsh order at which point all the locals rapidly dispersed and we tourists stood uncomfortably aware of the situation.

6. Despite the cultural revolution by the Chinese, the Buddhist monasteries of Tibet are still quite spectacular. Potala Palace (once home to the Dalai Lama before he fled to India) is basically the main jewel in the crown. But it’s the actions of the devout pilgrims more than the buildings themselves that really drives home the essence of “Tibet”. These people prostrate in front of the buildings endlessly, or walk in circles around them while chanting mantras, and inside they bring offerings of money, butter for the lamps, or other random trinkets. It is religious devotion to the max…

7. The landscapes of Tibet are quite stunning- although they start to look familiar after spending quite a bit of time in Nepal and areas of similar geography like Mongolia. But, there is a stark beauty to the mountains that can’t be denied.

8. We saw a 4 year old smoking. Two, actually.

OK, so poor attempt at minimizing the rambling… :) The bottom line is that Tibet is well worth a visit, although our experience there was not as expected, but no less worthwhile.

Anyway, finally, with regards to the blog title, we’re told that in the case of an aviation disaster, they will announce “Brace, brace, brace!” over the PA and you should assume the brace position to minimize damage. Now, on the eve of our departure to India, we’re feeling the need for such a position. Travelling in Nepal means you run across countless travellers who have already been to India, and a large portion of them have essentially fled north to Nepal to escape the chaos of India. We, on the other hand, are heading south into the maelstrom, with our exit strategy a distant flight to Australia on Christmas eve… These travellers are always far too keen to share their stories of India, and most of them start with something like “It’s so insane…” or “It’s so filthy…” or “They stare at you constantly…” or any other number of intimidating descriptions. Typically they also include a “but it’s so amazing” kind of sentiment, which is why we’re joining the hordes heading to the mystical sub-continent. Look out Cam and Kristin, here comes India…

Until next time,
K and C.