Tibet, Everest Kangshung Face; September - October, 2006

09/28 Lhasa to Shigatse

Ten days after leaving home, the journey is finally beginning. Two days transit, three in Kathmandu and five in Lhasa don't feel like anything but preparation. In fact, I spent a good deal of time in Kathmandu's Pilgrims Bookstore reading about Aconcagua, my next adventure.

It was nice to see the Garuda Hotel, the Northfield Café, the Internet Café and other familiar sites. I got a very warm pair of mountaineering mittens at Shona's outfitting shop for about $20, a fifth of the USA cost. I also got some purple down camp booties for $9.

Our flight to Lhasa was uneventful. Clouds obscured the Himalaya entirely - we could have been flying over Kansas for all we could see. Lhasa is much the same, although much more crowded. We drove in under the new railroad line from China, which has brought a flood of Chinese tourists. Some Europeans are here as well, but very few Americans.

We visited Drepung and Ganden Monasteries for the first time, and the Tibet Museum as well. The museum is filled with Chinese propaganda justifying their position that Tibet is historically a part of China. We skipped the Jokhang because it was mobbed and they have raised the admission to RMB 71 ($10).

Outside the Jokhang a local man struck up a conversation with us and ended up showing us a couple of the small temples in the Barkhor (the market streets around the Jokhang). These were full of life and restored our spirit.

My other mission in Lhasa was a follow up to some work Ilana and I did on our visit last year. A group of Americans, after touring Chupsang Nunnery outside Lhasa, had decided to help the nuns and raised $25,000 to fund the construction of a road and two bridges connecting the nunnery to the nearest local road. Last year, our visit kick started the project and the road was started and finished two months after our visit. This year I was to clarify some lingering issues with the road and discuss a second project to use some extra funds that had been raised.

Tashi Tsering, a fascinating gentleman and our local contact for the project shows up at our hotel during breakfast on Sunday! I don't think he remembers me, but it is great to see him again. We talk for a while and he goes off to contact the nuns about our visit. I go over to his home later in the day and we "exchange views" for about an hour. The road project has gone well, but there were some lingering problems that needed more work before Tashi releases the final payment to the contractor. The nuns are excited about a follow-on project to buy a bus and establish a bus service to the nunnery. It's hard to see how this would be viable, but I agree to discuss it on our visit to the nunnery.

On Wednesday we rent a Land Cruiser, driver and a local guide to make a trip out to the Ganden monastery, then up to Chupsang. We are warmly greeted by the nuns and effusively thanked for being part of the road project. They assure us that the contractor was coming out to complete the work "tomorrow", and I wonder if our mere presence has been enough to provoke some movement in this regard. We tour the grounds and chapels and inspected the road in detail on our way out. We also get a quick look at the tea house/restaurant the nuns operate down in the town; it's surprising large and bustling.

This morning we rose at the crack of dawn (actually a bit earlier), had a quick breakfast and then waited an hour and a half for our ride to Shigatse. Once underway we made good time. The trucks crowding the road outside Lhasa soon gave way to herds of goats, sheep and cattle. They had scant regard for the rules of the road and caution was imperative.

The barley harvest is in full swing and small carts with towering loads of cut grain are everywhere. We see lots of threshing going on in small villages along the route.

The middle part of the journey is through a steep mountain river canyon; the engineering required to hang the road along the canyon walls is impressive! On the opposite bank a much older, hand-hewn track parallels ours. It is a more impressive feat in many ways, and is still in use. Grazing herds can be seen, and a few steeply terraced fields as well.

Closer to Shigatse the valley broadens to several miles of flat flood plain. Here, the road is dramatically bumpy. It's ironic that the quality of the road is inversely related to the difficulty of the terrain.

We reach Shigatse by early afternoon, enough time for a late lunch and a repeat visit to the huge Tashilumpo Monastery. Nearby, a massive restoration project sits atop the ruined foundations of the old fortress. The new work is all concrete and steel. It could easily be a hotel, casino or shopping mall; nothing would surprise.

Dinner is a comic adventure. We are the only people in the hotel restaurant. A nice young couple from Singapore is drafted from the lobby to help translate the menus and our order (tofu and fish in spicy sauce, tomato egg drop soup and sautéed greens with garlic). Two young Chinese women serve us relentlessly between fits of hysterical laughter. Our every move brings them new merriment.

After dinner I read more of the 1921 Everest Reconnaissance Expedition book. I am inspired by Mallory and his team, but their adventures make me a bit uneasy about our own trek.

I have a most unusual dream, populated entirely by animals. Even I am an animal! I can't remember ever having such a dream.