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Backpacking Tibet

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Backpacking Tibet

Tibet: the land that time forgot?
Nichola Carroll writes...

'I had always dreamed of going to Tibet. I wasn’t sure what would be waiting for me when I stepped off the plane, but I knew I had to go. And now that I’ve been, well, I want to go back there, just to check that it really does exist!

I flew into Tibet from Chengdu in the Sichuan province of West China. I stayed at the Traffic Hotel in Chengdu, where a bed in a nice four-bed dorm costs £2 a night. The Traffic Hotel is a good place from which to arrange your trip to Tibet. I booked a single flight and organised a permit: total cost, roughly £130. Nobody knew what this permit was for or whether it was necessary, but the travel agents seemed to think so. I suppose it’s the price you pay when travelling somewhere so remote and a way for the Chinese to monitor how many people enter the autonomous region.

Lhasa

The flight to Lhasa (Tibet’s capital) was smooth. There were three other westerners on the plane and we got chatting as we watched the lady opposite us eating some chicken feet. A bus awaited us at the airport and everyone scrambled to get the last few seats. The journey to the town took an hour or so and was highly eventful. One of my fellow westerners found that his face had frozen and he was unable to move it or to speak. I didn’t have a clue what to do, but as I was frantically searching my guidebook for the nearest hospital, a little old man appeared. Under his arm - believe it or not - he carried a giant pillow with breathing apparatus attached to it. He offered it to Guy and told him to inhale, mumbling in broken English that it was oxygen.

As Guy recovered, I looked through my window and thought about being on the top of the world. It's hard to get your head around being 3,700m above sea level but you certainly feel different.

Arriving into Lhasa felt amazing: there was something mysterious and enchanting about it. It's as if there is something different in the air and not just because the air is thinner or colder. The scenery is mind-blowing: glorious mountains and colourfully-decorated streets. And it’s a great place to people-watch. Tibetans dress in what look like theatrical costumes, very elaborate and decorative. The women’s long, black hair is braided with turquoise and amber beads. They are round-faced, dark-skinned and rosy-cheeked. Providing them with clothing, as well as food, fuel and transport, are yaks. Other people travel by horse and cart: it really does feel as if you’ve stepped back in time.

We stayed at the Pentoc Hotel which cost £2 for a bed in a three-bed dorm. It was clean and cosy with an excellent restaurant serving home-baked cakes and hot soup, and a chill-out area. Remember to take thermals, thick socks, a coat, hat and gloves because you will need them. However, you can buy most things in the local shops, including bottles of oxygen!

In Lhasa’s central square you’ll find the famous Jokhang Temple. Outside the temple Buddhists pray with their mats laid out before them, prostrating themselves fully and then standing again, for hours on end. A flow of pilgrims walk clockwise around the outside of the temple in what’s known as the Barkhor circuit, often having travelled from remote parts of Tibet with all their family and sheep. You can spot the pilgrims because they look rugged and wear clothes made from animal skins: they could almost have come from another age. The joy of being at one of the holiest places in Tibet is written across their faces. On the Barkhor circuit you pass through the Muslim quarter which is fascinating to see. As you wind through the alleys, you hear the call to prayer coming from the nearby mosque. Stalls line the streets, offering everything from prayer wheels to precious stones.
From the roof of the Jokhang Temple

Once the circuit is complete and you have done a full circle, you come to the entrance of the Jokhang Temple. The pilgrims rush past you trying to gain a place in the queue which navigates around the different rooms inside the temple. Each room contains holy shrines and figures of gods. The pilgrims chant and offer money or yak butter to each god. At one point you come across a wall of prayer wheels which the pilgrims spin as they pass. The roof has a wonderful view of the square, the town and the surrounding mountains. On the right-hand side you can see the famous Potala Palace in the background. This was the home of the Dalai Lama before he fled into exile.

Monks debating

All around Lhasa you see monks in their robes, some saffron and some burgundy. At first it seems strange to see so many of them walking around. To see them text messaging on the latest mobile phone or sporting the latest Nike trainers is even more bizarre: the Western world is obviously affecting them. A day-trip to Sera monastery is well worth a visit as it hosts a daily debating session and is an amazing spectacle.

Tibet is very different from China, in its people, its culture and its way of life, but the influence of the Chinese government is everywhere from road signs to restaurants. I heard stories that people from mainland China were paid to move to Tibet and had been given money to set up businesses. I got the chance to make friends with a Tibetan girl whose sister was going to marry a Chinese man and she was very unhappy about it: she felt that the Chinese were taking over. Travellers are forbidden to carry pictures of the Dalai Lama or to give them to monks: doing so can get you thrown out of the country. A fellow traveller I met had a book confiscated as it was thought to contain references to Tibet’s plight. Caution is advisable.

Two weeks in Tibet is a nice but minimal amount of time to see what it has to offer. I spent a week acclimatising in Lhasa which is essential because you climb to higher altitudes when you start to explore. I suffered with headaches and slept a lot but keeping hydrated and getting plenty of rest is the recipe for success. During the second week I got together with four other travellers and hired a jeep with a driver to tour around the country. In hindsight, four passengers would have been more comfortable than five when driving for hours along very bumpy tracks. The total cost for five people was £360, which included the jeep, driver, permit and petrol. You can arrange the route with a travel agency and there are plenty of those, but do shop around and check the condition of the vehicle before you go.

The land that time forgot?

To organise a group is easy: you’ll find plenty of fellow travellers who want to do the same as you. If you don't meet anyone, check out the notice board at your hostel. This will be full of people advertising for others to join their group. Our seven-day round trip and went via Nargartse, Gyantse, Shigatse, Everest base camp, Lhatse, Shigatse and then back to Lhasa. This may mean nothing to you now, but it was a fantastic route. You get to see stunning lakes, beautiful mountains, monasteries, rural life, the unmissable Mount Everest and much more. The trip is one of the most amazing things you will ever do in your life but conditions are very basic and at times can be difficult. Expect the worst and you will be pleasantly surprised.

Enjoy every minute of Tibet: it’s so unique and so raw. When you venture out of Lhasa and into the countryside, it blows you away. It’s stuck in a time-warp and long may it last. If the Western world had never reached their land, I am sure the Tibetans wouldn’t mind. Their priority now is to keep their own identity, something which sadly may be gone one day, in this country of smiles.'

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