Joan
 Ubide
 Photography
 &
 a
 few
 sounds

If you love the mountain, serenity, shocking and spiritual situations, then Tibet can be your next destination.

The first big “flash” is in Lhasa, the capital: walking along the streets that surround the Jokhang temple is astounding. Hundreds and hundreds of pilgrims arriving from every corner of the country gather there. They devote hours meditating and praying, with their prayer wheels and worn-out beads. They’re humble, poor people, they wear dirty clothes, their skin is cracked and their cheeks pink with cold. Some of them have spent days, weeks, or even months in their pilgrimage to the capital. What is really astonishing is that they make the journey according to a ritual: they walk two steps, kneel, lie down to pray, stand up again, and repeat all the ceremony during long, never-ending days.

The temples of the city are a must-see, and obviously Potala and Jokhang (in the centre), a good place to sit down and let the hours go by, while seeing the pilgrims praying in front of the white walls.

You can’t miss the Ganden temple, one hour away from the capital, 300 RMB by taxi (30 Eur). The temple is at a height of 4.300 m, and is spectacular if you can get there at about 7 in the morning, to watch the rising sun from the slopes of the mountain. At around 8 in the morning the monks start to wander around, it’s a great view. You have to follow them, because they go to the main room to pray and drink tea, and the younger monks run up and down with their Thermos to serve all the guests.

Palhalupuk is an unknown temple but it deserves a visit. It’s a small temple you can find in front of Potala, under the mountain where the communications tower of Lhasa is. There are no signs to show you the way there, or tourists. I found it by chance.

Sera temple, in the north-west, is where everyday at 15:00 h all monks meet in the park and test out their knowledge with questions at full blast and their characteristic clapping. This is how they keep their knowledge and culture up-to-date. Tourists can take pictures, but I recommend you to record a video, as it’s something really peculiar, you can see the humanity and kindness of these people.

In this stage of the trip I’ve lived several very special moments. One of them was in the Sera temple. I walked into one of the big meditation rooms and the monks invited me to join them and drink tea, while watching my tourist look, amused. I was sitting under a big gong with them, in a place that I had seen before in documentaries. The second one was while I was sitting people-watching and taking pictures of those praying in the walls of the Jokhang temple. I saw an old lady coming towards me, very, very slowly, one of my footsteps was like ten of hers. We looked at each other, she sat next to me, held my hand and started praying. She was there with me for half an hour, and I only watched her smiling face, feeling how she touched my hand. I have to admit that this encounter touched me, and I thought: stage accomplished.

Another great moment was, without a doubt, when I could admire the Himalayas and see the most starry night of my life, in the foothills of the Everest, although at minus 25 degrees Celsius (minus 15 degrees inside the room).

In short, Tibet is a really poor and abandoned region. People live like they did decades before. In small towns, they have donkeys instead of cars, and they warm the water for the tea with solar panels. However, they’re very nice, they look at you and smile, and those who have less are who give more. Kids are happy, but their situation is very sad, they only can say “Hello” and “Money”.

Details and tips to travel in Tibet

If you have a big budget, travelling to Tibet is very easy; contract the trip in your hometown with all the permits and spend a lot of money. However, I recommend you to take this trip very easy. You can pay the same and first visit China, with a low cost flight, and during one month you can slowly approach this region. The easiest route, and the most popular one, is from Beijing to Chengdu and then Lhasa. You travel in new pressurized trains (as planes are), because they go through very elevated areas. Lhasa is at a height of 3.595 m.

Be careful with height, if you’re not used to high mountain, the experience can be really unpleasant: altitude sickness, the sensation of asphyxia and anxiety are possible, especially when you get closer to the higher mountains. Take medicines with you. Dizziness, vomit and diarrhoeas can be your travel companions during this stage.

September (21º to 7º) and October (17º to 1º) can be good months to visit the region. Temperatures are bearable, but it’s cold at night and it can snow. In Lhasa you can buy technical winter clothes at very good prices, but you have to ask for a discount, usually up to a 50%. The clothes are fake, but they work and look OK. Temperatures in November range from 13º to -5º.

March (12º to -2º) is a conflictive month to visit the region, as they celebrate the anniversary of the revolution of the Tibetan and the exile of the Dalai Lama in 1959, so it may be difficult to obtain the permits and move around the area. From May (19º to 5º) until June (24º to 9º), take into account that the weather is “windy”. In August (26º to 10º) there are too many tourists.

Permits to enter Tibet
Getting your permits can vary according to the political situation in China. As a rule, you need a permit to get to Lhasa (if you travel by train, no one asks you for it!), it costs 800-500 Yuan (80-50 Eur). I recommend you to get the permit in Beijing, it’s probably cheaper there. More tips: I lived the experience of having to get a driver to go from the airport of Lhasa to the city, because Mr. Bush had just given a medal to the Tibetan people. The next day the Chinese Government imposed this new rule for tourists. So, because of the medal, I could not get a normal bus, ten times cheaper.

If you travel to Tibet by plane, especially from China, you need the permit, there are controls and you’re asked to show the permit three times. If you don’t have it, you don’t get into the plane.
To move around the country you need another permit, the price varies according to the route you want to do. Take into account that you can’t visit Tibet by yourself. You can try, some people do it, but bus drivers won’t sell you tickets, as they can be punished for it. You always have to travel accompanied by a driver and a guide. If you don’t follow these rules, you run the risk of being stopped by a police control and be sent back to Lhasa. There are several travel agencies. I recommend Snowland, in the Hotel Snowland in Lhasa (first floor). They’re Tibetan, nice people, but you have to make clear that you want to stop as many times as you want and make the route without hurries. They’re not very respectful with the decisions of the customers once they’re on the road. The prices are OK, and the vehicles in good condition. However, you have to reprehend the driver if you see he’s going to fast when getting close to the cliffs…
Contracting the service from Lhasa to the frontier with Nepal will cost you 5.500 Yuan (550 Eur), permit included. You can share the cost with 4 people. If you can’t find a travel companion, publish a post in the Lonely Planet forum, and you’ll find people very easily (http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com). It takes 5/6 days to complete the route, and the strong point is the visit to the base camp of the Everest and crossing the Himalayas, something you’ll probably do only once in a lifetime.
In Lhasa you can sleep in the Banak Sholl Hotel, in Beijing Road (good atmosphere, excellent food and beds at around 4 Eur). You have to try the restaurant Tashi, run by a Tibetan family; they serve local specialities at good prices.

The route Lhasa / Nepal
1st day, from Lhasa to Lake Yamdrok-Tso - Gyantse (7 hours)
2nd day, Gyantse - Shigatse (3 hours)
3rd day, Shigatse - Shegar (6 hours)
4th day, Shegar - Rongbug – base camp of the Everest (4 hours) (access to the base camp costs around 250 Yuan (25 Eur)
5th day, Rongbug - Tingri (5 hours)
6th day, Tingri - Hangu (7 hours)
The Nepal border opens at around 9 in the morning, and the road is a total chaos.

Sleeping in these cities costs around 40 Yuan (4 Eur/night). The toilets are usually a simple hole in the ground, and few of them have hot water. In big cities you can find more comfortable hotels, just talk about it with your guide.

More things: you can get the visa to Nepal in the consulate in Lhasa (Norbulikngka Road 13). The visas are issued on working days from 10 to 12. It’s advisable to be there at 09:30 to queue. You need a picture and also have to fill in a form; if you don’t have pictures, there’s a small stall a few meters from the consulate where a guy will take you 4 pictures for 15 Yuan (1,5 Eur) and give you a toothless smile for free. The visas are delivered the next day, from 16:00 h. Price: around 250 Yuan (25 Eur for 60 days). Once in Nepal you can extend your visa very easily. You can also get the visa at the border, but I recommend you to get it beforehand to avoid waiting.

The currency in Tibet is the same they have in China, the RMB (Yuan); 10 Yuan: 1 Euro.

Best regards to all the friends we’ve found along the way, Frank and Vanessa from Holland (temple), Sabi from NY and James from California. A very special hug to Martina, from the UK, and the rest of the group who travelled with us to Nepal, Peder from Sweden, Dan from Australia, Shlomi from Israel, Tanja from Germany, Mike from the UK and Lotte from Holland.

Regards to Patrick and Sergio (Barcelona and Valencia). Patrick is travelling around the globe in his mountain bike, quite a thing… His blog: www.imagineonbike.com.

Regards also for Sarah and Bob, the just married that are on “holidays” for long time, you can meet them in justgiving.com/sarahandbobindia

And that’s all for Tibet, now I’m in Kathmandu (Nepal), where I’ll spend few weeks. By mid-month I’ll start a two-month route in India.

As always, in the Albums section you can find a summary of my “work”, with my pictures. It’s an interesting album, and I hope that it makes you understand a little bit more this remote country.

You can see the album of Tibet here

Tashi Delek