Tibet, China 中國西藏 (20 Jun - 4 Jul 2004)

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Village School

I took this picture inside a moving 4WD Jeep when we passed a small village.

We were not allowed any photo stop because the long distance we needed to cover from Lhasa to Shigatse.

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Dusty Roads

One of the reason for the long travel time from Lhasa to Shigatse was because of large section of the road is under construction or improvement. So we were driving in mud for hours.

What made the trip even less comfortable was that the A/C were off (probably to save cost) and the tour guide insisted that all windows be shut to avoid dust coming into the Jeep.

In high altitude location like Tibet, the sun is very strong, and very hot without ventilation. I think the temperature inside must have exceeded 40C. At one point, I had to yell at the driver to get him to open the windows a bit.

That was the time I decided not to give any tips to the guide (other than the amount "agreed" before the trip starts. We actually planned to give another RMB1000 to the guide and his crew.)

The funny thing is, after a few days, most of us got used to sit in the hot vehicle.

(Photo by Paul.)

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Little Inn in Old Tingri

We arrived Old Tingri at about 4 or 5pm. Checked into this little inn with rooms like a jail cell. The room is about 3m (10 feet) by 2m (6.7 feet), with 2 beds, a wooden table, a wooden chair, a tin roof, a little window in front, and an iron door that does not quite fit the door frame (see photo at the bottom.) It was quite an effort to open and close the door. And my wife simply cannot open or close the door by herself. Half of the rooms can be easily bolted on the outside without people inside knowing it.

No one wanted to stay in the rooms.

So every one gathered in the restaurant, waiting for dinner or something to happen or simply sleeping in the restaurant. While the kids in the town checking us out at the windows.

At 3am in the morning, when awaked by the nature's call, I saw one of the most amazing and beautiful night sky. Thousands of stars hanging right on my head. I can see the Milky Way clearly and unmistakably. I stand in the freezing cold for about 45 minutes, gazing upward with a sore neck, and tried in vain to take pictures. Only if I had my 8" Celestron there and then...

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Food Hunters

Our first encounter with village kids in rural Tibet.

We were stopping for lunch at the road side. There were few houses perhaps 500 meters away. Soon after we stop, kids start coming toward us.

Right away our guide told us not to hand out food. We would finish our lunch, and gather all remaining food, and he will co-ordinate the "handover" of the food. At the same time, he announced the plan to the kids and old woman gathered around us.

It was a good plan. We were able to have lunch undisturbed and minimal fighting among the kids when food is distributed.

In the days that follows, we have many similar encounters where villagers, at the first sign of us passing, walk to us from as far as perhaps 1km away. Some kids would yell "Hello, Money".

I have been to other poor provinces in China, such as Hunan and Gansu, and never seen begging like this. Either Tibet is poorer than the other places, or Tibetans' upbringing does not associate begging with shamefulness.

(2nd photo by Spencer.)

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Yak Man

We met our team of 7 yaks that would follow us in the trekking and carried our water supplies.

Pictured here is one of the two Yak Men. He is 26 years old. At the end of the trip, I purchased his small knife. Although his knife is not as nice as those in the tourist shops, I felt that his is more authentic and had a connection to us.

Until this day, the knife still smells Tibet. Should I clean it?

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Arid Land

Picture taken during one of the uphill battle. Not as steep as the hills that we needed to scale in the India trip. There is not much to see in the landscape. Just boring walks.

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Lost

Lonely sheep on the road. The sheep we saw in Tibet were generally smaller than the ones we saw in India.

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Nature's Wonder

In the first 1/2 day of the walking, there were green pasturelands. There we saw this lovely horse family. Our yak man made some noise and hand movement that lured the young horse to get close to him.

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Rescue

Our trekking was actually more like walking. The "trekking" path roughly followed a dirt road. With this convenience, all our tents and supplies were loaded to a truck (except water which was carried by the yaks and followed us on foot.)

However on the 2nd day of trekking, the truck stuck while crossing a large stream. After two failed rescue attempts with passing 4WD jeeps, our guide left with a pass-by jeep to the nearby town to organize a rescue team.

We now needed to change our original plan.

Pictured here is our cook and his assistant rescuing supplies from the truck.

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Resting

Taking a nap while the crew trying in vain to rescue the stuck truck and before the tents are being setup.

In the evening, our guide came back with a big truck that pulled our supply truck out of the water.