12 DAYS IN TIBET

Shigatse monastery

Thangka at Tashilhumpo monastery

Yamdrokso lake

The Jorkhang in Lhasa

and again

and again

Everest north face, struck gold with the weather

The general at EBC

Well considering China 'peacefully liberated' Tibet in 1959, there's an awful lot of army and police in Lhasa. Phew, good job it wasn't a violent takeover.

So, just to recap, for travel in Tibet, you need special permits in place before you can buy rail or flight tickets. When you get there, you have to have a guide, who is needed to get you into every palace, temple and monastery. You are 'free' to stroll around the capital, but any trips outside will also require a driver, again with special permissions. Your movement will be monitored by aforementioned army and a selection of 'inch high private eyes', who try way too hard to merge into the background.

Before arriving, we thought the Potala - the old winter palace and seat of government of the Dalai Lama - was the focal point of the city - but this is not the case. The Potala is now a museum, filled daily with large tour groups from the mainland, cramming into the narrow corridors, ironically flashing peace signs as they have their pictures taken . There are no monks, and of course there is no pictorial reference of the Dalai Lama, everything has been removed - Tibetans deal with this by believing that statues of the Buddha of Compassion are the 14th Dalai Lama, who now resides in Dharamsala, Northern India. I was intrigued to see 'Armitage Shanks' toilets used within the palace, and felt a little homesick, after Westerns turmoils in SW China, I was tempted to take out my old copy of Obsever Sports Monthly, and close the door.....

The Jorkhang Temple & the Barkhor is the engine of the Tibetan sector of the city. Its a truly fabulous place - one of those travel experiences where you really feel you have arrived on a completely different planet. Tibetan pilgrims walk or prostrate themselves around the temple in a clockwise direction - from dawn to dusk - this is known as the Kora - most spinning prayer wheels and prayer beads. We could have sat and observed for days, no kidding. The Chinese army are at their petty best, by walking anti-clockwise around the same temple, it gave Western & Kiss the opportunity to hum the opening bars to Laurel & Hardy everytime they came past. The pilgrims come from all over Tibet, and their dress reflects this, the faces uniformally weathered, hair braided or platted, the Khampa being the most striking, the men with red hair bands, and the women with headdresses of turquiose and amber.

Outside of Lhasa, on our 6 night excursion, we got to visit a couple of outrageously blue lakes (sacred to the Tibetans, but fishing locations to the Chinese), spend a wonderful couple of days in Shigatse where the annual unveiling of a huge embroidered Thangka drew thousands of devotees, and a trip to Everest base Camp. 12 years previously, Western, Kiss and Sherpa Moore walked for 12 days to get to the Southern Base Camp - hard work and very cold.....on this side you can take a jeep all the way there. The views are unhindered this side, however, the effort from the Nepalese side ensures you value the experience more - this (altitude aside) albeit glorious, was just too easy. I have no doubt there will be a road to the top in a few years!