Sunday 21 July 2013

Back to England

Events of Sunday, 21st July 2013

At 8.15 a.m., the car came to collect me from the Yangtse Hotel to transfer me to Shanghai's Pudong Airport. On a Sunday morning, the traffic was the lightest I'd experienced in Shanghai and we had no delays as we crossed the river and headed north to the airport.

Crossing the river on the way to the airport.

The driver dropped me at the entrance to the terminal and, after a bit of walking, I checked in and obtained directions to the lounge. Security was thorough but good-natured and I found the Cathay-Pacific lounge (used by British Airways passengers) without incident.

The lounge was quite extensive, with a neat area of cubicles provided with PCs. I decided to try to access the web and carefully followed the printed instructions for logging on, involving entering the network name and password followed by passenger name, flight number and seat number ("exactly as are written on your boarding pass"). Well, I think I managed that, but the next instruction stumped me - "Pick up an access KEY from the long wooden table in customer area". There was lots of furniture in the form of tables, but I wasn't sure which qualified as the 'long wooden table' so I finally went back to the entrance to the lounge and enquired. I was directed to a couple of tables with perspex sign holders, with the printed log-on instructions I'd followed plus actual key generator units glued on (similar to those used in connection with some internet bank accounts). Pressing the button on the key generator displayed an 8-digit number and, apparently, you had one minute to enter this number before it became invalid.

The log-on instructions, plus two glued-on key generator units.

I borrowed pencil and paper to copy down the number and dashed back to where I'd started logging-in. The whole thing seemed rather like an intelligence test but I actually managed to complete the log-on procedure. However, I found the system response was so lousy that I gave up after a few minutes.

I allowed plenty of time to get to the Boarding Gate and we boarded on time. After a while, the Captain announced that there would be an air traffic delay of just over an hour before we could 'Push-Back' but that he hoped to make up the lost time during the journey. Whilst waiting, I diverted myself with on-demand films (although I've no recollection of what I watched then or during the long flight home). When we finally pushed-back, it took a further thirty minutes of taxiing to reach our runway and actually get airborne.

They served a reasonable lunch and then we were expected to go to sleep but, in the middle of the day Shanghai time (and much earlier back home) I couldn't settle. I don't remember much about the journey but as we came over Europe I took a few pictures of the coast. Then we were over southern England. The pilot had, indeed, made up time for our late departure from Shanghai but, sadly, Heathrow were not ready for us and we followed a 'racetrack' holding pattern somewhere over Essex (I think) for a few minutes before continuing past London and well out to the west. I can't resist taking aerial photographs (although they're often not very good) so there's another set here. Finally, we turned to head east and landed at Heathrow.

We taxied to Terminal 5 Satellite 'B', where we found our stand alongside other British Airways jets.

British Airways aircraft at Terminal 5 Satellite 'B', in the evening sun.

Then it was off the aircraft, take the 'guided system' to Terminal 5 main building and stooge around for the luggage. This time, I'd checked two pieces in. One appeared promptly, the other did not appear. Eventually, I reported the missing bag and a simple computer enquiry revealed that it had been delivered to the wrong carousel so another walk re-united me with my missing bag. I met up with Alan in the arrivals hall and he drove me home, arriving about 9.00 p.m. Another wonderful trip was over.

My pictures

Shanghai, China.
Shanghai (Pudong) Airport.
Southern England from the Air.
Heathrow Airport.

Saturday 20 July 2013

A Trip to Suzhou

Events of Saturday, 20th July 2013

I was picked up from my hotel at 9.00 a.m. for a road trip to Suzhou which is a little over 60 miles west of Shanghai. The English originally called it 'Suchow', never being very good at mimicking local pronunciation. It's said something like 'Sue-joe'. We made the initial slow progress through the crowded city roads before picking up the Jiasong Highway where speed increased. As you might expect, the corridor between Shanghai and Suzhou is heavily industrialised with a many large factories and tall apartment blocks.

On the Expressway from Shanghai to Suzhou.

We eventually left the highway and made our way towards Suzhou through a fairly nondescript area. The famous Tiger Hill Pagoda was pointed out on our left but we did not make a visit. The driver dropped Michelle and I near some shops and we walked down a side road until we came to a waterway.

One or two 'trip boats' were moored so this was clearly the Grand Canal. We boarded one waiting boat and, with a crew of two, Michelle and I we set off. We started in a fairly modern environment with six-storey apartment blocks on either side but then the canal narrowed and the houses became older and smaller, built right up to the water's edge and generally having entrances straight onto the canal. We had a fairly intimate view of life next to the Grand Canal!

Houses are built right up to the Grand Canal and most have entrances onto the waterway.

We passed under railway bridges - two single-line steel girder bridges which I assumed was the 'original' railway and next a modern concrete railway bridge which I was pretty sure served a High Speed Line. We occasionally passed other tourist boats, passed under pedestrian bridges of the distinctive Chinese pattern with a round arch approached by steep steps on either side or passed restaurants gaily decorated with paper lanterns presumably for the tourists. The canal broadened and we were at a major junction. A large crane mounted on a flat boat appeared to be dredging at the junction. Our boat turned round and we retraced our route back to our boarding point. I confirmed my thoughts about the High Speed railway line - a train passed just as we were about to pass under the bridge but I wasn't able to get a picture. All too soon, we berthed and rejoined our car.

Nearby, we visited a very grand silk embroidery showroom. The workmanship was very impressive but I didn't find the artistic results very satisfactory. The prices were fairly astronomic and I'm sure that the ladies we saw actually embroidering receive only a small share of these prices. They didn't allow photography.

We next drove to the city centre. Michelle had changed the proposed restaurant, partly to improve the chances of there being fish on the menu for me, partly to avoid a lot of driving around the city. We ate at the Holiday Inn which was very satisfactory. After my usual soup, Michelle ordered fish - and what a fish! Even between us, we couldn't finish it but it was very tasty.

Fish at the Holiday Inn.

We met the car and drove through the town to the famous Net Master Garden. This is a private house and garden laid out in accordance with Chinese principles and I was very taken with the place.



The lake in the Net Master Garden.

Then, it was back to the car for the return journey to Shanghai. The girl in the Toll Booth at the entrance to the highway told the driver that there were delays on the Jiasong Highway due to an accident. After passing the toll, we were able to elect for an alternative highway back to Shanghai - a little longer, I think, but at least we'd be moving, so that's what we did.

Shanghai has Outer, Middle and Inner Ring Roads. We dropped Michelle at the intersection with the Middle Ring Road, fairly near her home and we said our 'goodbyes' as she was not intending to go to the airport with me the following morning when I returned to England. The driver then carried on into the city and dropped me at my hotel.

So, how was I to spend my last evening in Shanghai? Take the Metro to visit the two main railway stations, of course. I walked to the nearest metro station, People's Square, and used the ticket machine to buy a ticket to the northern station. When I arrived, I took a few pictures of the modern station but didn't explore - I was starting to tire. Nonetheless, I decided to carry out my plan to look at the other main station. Going back into the Metro, I couldn't find any automatic ticket machines, only a busy staffed ticket office. Armed with my map, I showed the girl my destination. Total puzzlement. First she seemed to suggest I needed Line 6, then she had a conversation with her colleague, then she took my map in through the ticket window and studied it seriously for a while. Then she issued a ticket for 4 Yuan without comment.

Well, the 4 Yuan ticket worked fine and the journey gave me plenty of time for discreet 'people watching'. The southern railway station was very modern and huge. There appeared to be two stations side-by-side - the 'conventional' one and one for the High Speed Services. And there were lots of people. By this time, I was definitely starting to 'fade', so I made my way back to the Metro for the trip back to People's Square Station. I managed to exit the Metro by the correct entrance (number 14 - People's Square is a very big Metro station) so I only had a few minutes walk to my hotel. I detoured to buy a bottle of Coca-Cola and some sweets at a convenience store before returning to the hotel, completing my packing and finally 'crashing-out'.

It had been a fascinating and varied day.

My Pictures

Suzhou.
Cruise on the Grand Canal, Suzhou.
Net Master Garden.
Shanghai Metro.
Railways around Shanghai.

A Day in Shanghai - Friday, 19th July 2013

Michelle and the driver picked me up at 9.30 a.m. and we made our way through Shanghai's always-heavy traffic to the Shanghai Railway Museum. It was almost deserted when we arrived but I didn't realise that it was school holidays and very soon two coachloads of extremely noisy schoolchildren arrived on a holiday visit. It became very crowded but I managed to record most of the stuff I wanted. I was quite impressed with their 'Cab Ride Simulator'.

We had some trouble extricating ourselves from the car park at the railway museum because of the coaches. They opened the rear gate and the driver patiently manoeuvred until he could reverse through this gate. We were now in the yard of the head office of the local railway company and soon we were back on the main road, tangling with the traffic.

Our next visit was to the famous Jade Buddha Temple. Although there were worshippers, both young and old, the place seemed devoid of any sense of spirituality with every room crammed with sales counters and crowds of foreign tourists swarming through (yes, I know, I'm a foreign tourist too).

Then we moved onto what I think was called the South Sea Center (they use American spelling). I had no idea what this was but it turned out to be a small demonstration of artificial pearl culture attached to a huge showroom of pearl products. There were quite a few tour groups looking round and they seemed to be buying, too. I left as soon as possible.

Next, we drove to the French Concession area which is now a fashionable place to lunch. Whilst most of Shanghai is modern and very tall, some of the older structures in the concession area have been retained and adapted. Our lunch was at the Zen Restaurant which features Chinese Cuisine. With help from my guide, Michelle, I chose a vegetable soup followed by what appeared to be sago with pieces of mango.

After a pleasant, relaxing lunch, our driver took us to the Shanghai Museum in People's Square. At Michelle's suggestion, I went round with an audio guide whilst she waited for me in the Tea Shop. The Museum has some very interesting exhibits and I spent well over an hour and a half going round the four floors of exhibits. It was rather crowded but well worth the visit.

We then headed for the river, where we visited the 'Silk Museum'. This is actually another big showroom but in this case they demonstrate the life of the silkworm and show how a silk thread for weaving is produced on a clattering, elderly machine. There were looms on show but they weren't weaving. What they did demonstrate, which I found fascinating, was how they make a silk 'felt', used in upmarket duvets and padded jackets. In contrast with the pearl museum, I enjoyed this visit.

We continued to the famous 'Bund'. This refers to the section of the western river embankment passing through the various 'Concessions' and it enjoys a similar iconic status to the London Embankment. It's been totally modernised but remains a magnet to visitors and local people alike. The original rather grand Concession buildings on the west bank have been retained and are now protected by Heritage legislation. These buildings now face the new, towering office blocks on the east bank. Michelle and I walked along a section of the 'Bund'.

I was then dropped off at my hotel and handed a ticket to the Shanghai Acrobatic show for that evening. At 6.45 p.m., the car picked me up and took me to the theatre in plenty of time for the 7.30 p.m. performance. The 90-minute show was a rather odd combination of acts – tumblers, balancing acts, juggling, comedy knife throwing, plate spinning (21 plates), slack wire walking, aerial ballet. They asked us not to take pictures of the show, so I didn't (although a number of members of the audience took both photographs and video). The 20-strong cast were each the best I have seen in their  various fields.

At 9.00 p.m. the show was over and we all came out into the brightly-lit street where about seven coaches were waiting to pick up some of the audience. But I'd agreed with Michelle that I'd make my own way back so I walked to the nearest Metro station. The ticket machines work in Chinese or English so the only problem was that the touch screens seem a bit erratic. Talking to Michelle afterwards (and by observation) it seems I'm by no means alone in having that difficulty. Armed with a plastic credit card ticket which works in a similar fashion to London's 'Oystercard', I made the journey without incident but got a bit muddled emerging from the station and headed in the wrong direction before I realised my mistake.

As promised by Michelle, I found the 'Bund' magical by night with the buildings illuminated and probably thousands of people, Chinese and foreign, milling about in good humour. Eventually, I made my way back to my hotel on foot, looking at more Heritage buildings on the way. Incidentally, my hotel is, itself, one of the Heritage buildings.

My Pictures

My pictures of Shanghai are here.
My pictures of Shanghai Railway Museum are here.
My pictures of the Jade Buddha Temple are here.
Pictures at the Shanghai Museum are here.
Pictures at the Silk Museum are here.
My pictures of Shanghai Metro are here.

Friday 19 July 2013

Stop Press - Friday, 19th July 2013

I couldn't upload any pictures to my 'Flickr' site from Tibet but now I'm in Shanghai, I've made a start.

My pictures of Tibet are here.

My pictures in and around Shanghai are included in my 'China' collection here.

Specialist pictures (airports, hotels, railways and similar) can be found in the relevant Collections.

Leaving Tibet - Thursday, 18th July 2013

I'm afraid I spent my last morning in Tibet in the hotel getting ready for my flight to Shanghai. My guide, Tse Dol Kar, came to pick me up at 11.00 a.m. but with the different car and driver. We drove through the city and to the dual carriageway highway we'd used both when we left on our trip to the west and on our return from Gyangtse the previous day. At the end of the highway, the road divides, the northern route leading directly to Shigatse, the southern to Gyangtse and, via a spur, to the airport.

When the driver moved into the lane for the northern route, I was a bit worried. At the last moment, he realised his mistake and moved across to the correct lane, earning loud horn blowing from other vehicles. I thought it strange that I knew the route better than the local driver. Tse Dol Kar managed to snooze through the excitement. I watched very carefully when we came to the junction for the spur to the airport, but he managed to get that right. A few kilometres took us through a small town and I knew there must be a left turn somewhere for the airport. The driver seemed as uncertain as I was but, travelling very slowly, he found the correct turn and we approached the usual sort of modern terminal building with a car park at the front. Gongga Airport was all on a reasonably small scale, befitting a regional airport which, in political terms, is what it is. My guide checked me in for my domestic flight to Shanghai on MU2260 operated by China Eastern and we said goodbye.

The escalator to departure took me to the usual slow-moving queues for security. When I finally got to the front of the queue, my luggage and I received quite a thorough going-over, including shoe X-ray, but it was all done with lots of smiling so it wasn't unpleasant (British airports please note). When I reached Gate 5 (of 9) they were already boarding and the airbridge led me to seat 6L, which turned out to be the front row in a small business class cabin with four rows of 2+2 and only three passengers.

The aircraft was a smart-looking A330-200 and the pretty Chinese cabin attendants, who all spoke good English, were very attentive. The four hour flight passed quite pleasantly. We approached Pudong airport over the centre of the city, which gave a good idea of just how large Shanghai is. I think the population is 23 million. There was a little wait in the baggage hall – three flights were discharging bags on carousel 3 and we were the third. I quickly found my guide, Michelle, and we went to the car. Because of traffic, it was well over an hour before we reached my hotel but I was expected so I had an evening working on the computer before sleeping soundly in the large bed.

Thursday 18 July 2013

Return to Lhasa - Wednesday, 17th July 2013

I slept until 4.00 a.m., then went back to sleep until the alarm sounded at 6.00 a.m. Today, we were to return to Lhasa. Our route would take us on the 'Southern Friendship Highway' through Nangartse and around the shore of Yamdrok Yumtso Lake.

The hotel provided a buffet breakfast and we were loaded and on the way soon after 9.00 a.m. We registered at the control point just outside the town and passed through similar country to that on yesterday's arrival – a series of rural villages set in a fertile valley with mountains on each side of the valley. We negotiated our way past a couple of large flocks of goats being moved, then the valley closed in and the terrain became significantly more mountainous.

"We negotiated our way past a couple of large flocks of goats being moved".

The road twisted and turned clinging to the increasingly rocky hillside as we climbed. A lake appeared on our right and a little later we passed a hydro-electric generating station. A large flock of goats was spread out across the opposite hillside, foraging for grass. Over the next few minutes, we saw a number of flocks. One was strung-out single file, led by the herdsman, aiming for higher ground where the grass appeared more lush. We emerged onto an upland plain where we found horses, cows and goats grazing. We passed through villages of varying sizes where all the dwellings followed the basic Tibetan design – rectangular, flat roofed with a square pillar at each corner projecting above the roof, each pillar festooned with sticks or branches entwined with prayer flags. According to the district (and perhaps age of the dwelling) the main building material could be shaped stone, mud bricks or concrete building blocks.

Tibetan-style dwellings.

A glacier came into view on a mountain ahead of us. Because of the time of year, the glacier didn't descend to lower altitudes but it becomes larger in winter. Our road was now well over 4,000 metres above sea level and the mountains we were looking at have elevations of six to seven thousand metres. We passed a prayer flag pole with prayer flags radiating in all directions looking a little like an English Maypole. There were four cairns at the base of the pole. Each cairn was topped with a set of yak horns and the surface of the cairns was covered with religious images. A pair of yaks were grazing nearby unconcernedly. Further on, we found other poles with prayer flags strung out and we saw other mountains which were still snow-clad at the higher altitudes. There was a group of buildings at one place which seemed to form a stopping place for travellers and there were quite elaborate displays of prayer flags here.

Snow-capped mountains and Prayer Flags.

At another place, the road passed through a short rock canyon. Hundreds of prayer flags had been stretched across the canyon, forming a colourful canopy. There was a large tent nearby which I think may have been offering souvenirs. And while all this natural grandeur was passing by, what did the driver decide to do? Use a dongle to receive streaming video of 'Gangnam Style'!

We arrived at a fairly large, modern town of Nangartse. At the entrance to the town, a large, tracked Komatsu PC210 excavator was being driven into town. These tracked vehicles are normally moved on a low loader to avoid damage to the road surface. In this case, the driver was assisted by four helpers with four motor tyres and a couple of large boards. The excavator was attempting to drive over tyres or boards. As the machine moved forwards, the released tyres and boards were carried to the front to be used again.

We passed the excavator, turned left and parked outside the Lhasa Restaurant. As it was still only about 11.30 a.m., my guide asked if I'd like to take a walk before lunch. After being thrown about on the mountain roads, I was glad to accept the offer. I walked back to the main road, just as a bus arrived. A number of local people got off and most headed for the nearest barley field, presumably to attend to 'personal needs'.

I watched a group of four men mixing concrete on the ground. They'd made a large heap of the materials on the ground and dry mixed them using long-handled shovels. What really intrigued me was the supervisor using a metal bowl to scoop water from a large puddle to a plastic container. When he judged he'd the right amount, mixing continued as normal practice.

A second bus arrived, going in the opposite direction. A few people got off, and a number of passengers suddenly appeared and boarded.

Nangartse - the arrival of a second bus.

The first bus had parked near an overflowing skip. An old man carrying a plastic sack wandered up to the skip and spent a few minutes rooting through the contents. Having added one or two items to his sack, he slowly crossed the road and disappeared.

I walked back up the side street to the Lhasa Restaurant and took a simple lunch of vegetable soup and sweet tea (it was still quite early for lunch). After a leisurely meal, we set off again, passing the Komatsu PC210 excavator still making its laborious way through the town.

The Komatsu excavator in Nangartse town.

On the outskirts of the town, we came to the police check point. The existing office was being extended and a wooden framework was almost complete. I watched a carpenter cutting a length of timber with an electric power saw while we obtained the paperwork for the next part of the journey.

We were now adjacent to Yamdrok Yumtso lake. The grassy margin between the road and the water's edge was being peacefully shared by a number of cows and horses.

Further along, we encountered another road work site where a gang were casting the rectangular concrete blocks set at the side of the carriageway to discourage drivers from going over the edge. Once dried out, the blocks are painted red with white stripes or chevrons. A simpler solution we found elsewhere was to place a rounded rock at the side of the road and paint it red.

We passed a viewpoint where a number of cars had parked and the occupants crossed a rocky foreshore to reach the lake margin. The rock-strewn margin was covered with small cairns built from the ample supply of rocks. A little further on, there was an 'official' viewpoint with perhaps 100 tourists. The elevation was given as 4,441 meters. This viewpoint was equipped with a car park,  toilets, a small cafĂ©, and various souvenir stalls on the landward side of the road. On the lake side of the road, a set of concrete steps led down to a proper concrete viewing platform. Either side of the platform on the rocky foreshore, visitors spread out to get close to the water and, again, there were lots of rock cairns. A huge, white Tibetan dog wandered around the steps for a while and then relaxed in the hot sun under a broken-down billiard table pressed into use as a souvenir display. Before I left, a local woman came to fill her plastic water container from the lake just next to me, before slowly making her way back to her home.

This viewpoint on Yamdrok Yumtso lake is popular with tourists.

The road climbed again, twisting and turning to gain height. We reached another high-level viewpoint. Here, there was an amazing display of prayer flags plus a large souvenir tent. Nearby, a brown Tibetan dog watched the visitors whilst a yak, decorated in full traditional regalia, totally ignored the visitors and concentrated on the serious business of resting.

A dog, a yak and prayer flags.

Further on we stopped where a complete village, traditionally dressed and carrying banners and a conch shell horn were carrying out a once-a-year ceremony. They go from field to field in an age-old ritual to secure good crops. The horn is supposed to ward off hail, which can be devastating to growing crops.

The ceremony to ensure healthy crops.

For the last lap back to Lhasa, we took the dual carriageway airport road. Back at the St. Regis, I was given the same room as before – 1611. Finally, I went for a walk in the rabbit's warren of a city. Lots of people were perambulating around the outside of the Jokhang Temple, many with prayer wheels. Tourists were still going into the temple and nearby a dozen or so Tibetan people were prostrating themselves outside the temple.

Perambulating clockwise around the outside of the Jokhang Temple.

The following day, I was to leave Tibet and fly to Shanghai for the last part of my trip.

My Pictures

Gyangtse - Nangartse by road
Nangartse, Tibet
Nangartse - Lhasa by road
Lhasa, Tibet St. Regis Hotel, Lhasa, Tibet

[Pictures inserted and links to pictures added 23-Aug-2013].

Wednesday 17 July 2013

On to Gyangtse - Tuesday, 16th July 2013

Somehow I managed to oversleep until 8.30 a.m. but, fortunately, I'd laid out my clothes the previous night and partly done my packing so I was able to have breakfast and even make a quick check of e-mail before we set off just after 9.30 a.m. Shigatse was as far west as we were going so we headed back east, but on a different road which would take us to Gyangtse.

We hadn't gone far before our road was blocked and we swung off right onto a dirt road. The road was blocked because they were completing a new concrete road bridge. A mobile crane with a telescopic jib was working on the main span of the new bridge. At first, I couldn't see why the road was so high-up. Then I spotted the bridge piers for the new railway. It looked as if the road was going to cross a seasonal watercourse plus cross over the new railway which, itself, would be on a low viaduct. My guide said we were passing the site of the new Shigatse Station and there was certainly a work camp there. Looking back towards Lhasa, I could see the route of the railway approaching on the typical earth embankment.

We stopped at the Check Point for the Gyangtse Road and my guide obtained the permit, with the arrival-time target for the next Check Point. We continued through a broad, fertile valley on a single tarmac strip in fair condition but, before long, we swung right onto yet another temporary road. The proper road passed over a large culvert and what we'd probably call a 'tracked JCB' (it was actually a Sany, model SY65c-0, I think) was busy ripping up the road over the culvert.

A number of villages lay on our route and I was fascinated in the different ways the Yak dung 'patties' were stored. The Yak dung, of course, is used as fuel.

At various places along our road, there were men working on the road and we saw small work camps. The main work seemed to be replacing the original edging to the carriageway by a strip of concrete about 18 inches wide, as a sort of 'hard shoulder'. Some of our route had already received this treatment.

Our road to Gyangtse took us through a broad, fertile valley.

On our left, all the plain was being cultivated. In the distance, mountains reared up and I could see the new railway paralleling us at the foot of the mountains. In places, there were rectangular Tibetan-style stupa, usually with rows of prayer wheels nearby and sometimes with the tall poles to which prayer flags can be attached. One village sported a number of the Tibetan-style 'polytunnels' I've described in an earlier post. To adjust our timing, we stopped near one village. It was very peaceful and, as I enjoyed the quiet and the sun, a small 2-wheel cart drawn by a single horse came by, with a younger horse tied to the back.  Soon after, a small tractor passed, towing a 2-wheel truck.

Horse power is still in use.

Our next Check Point was in a large village. Beyond the village, the road menders were at work with small pneumatic drills attached to an elderly-looking compressor. We stopped in another quiet spot with fields stretching out to the distant hills. A stream flowed under a bridge and a man was working in the stream with the water up to his knees. I never did work out what he was doing. Parked next to the bridge was a wheeled van and a woman was pottering about inside, listening to the radio. A small solar panel was rigged up outside and inside appeared to be a home – I presumed the lady was the wife of the man. There was also a black labrador who may, or may not, have been part of this household. After acknowledging the driver and I briefly, the dog lay in the middle of the road and allowed cars to drive round him, which they did without apparent resentment.

"... the dog lay in the middle of the road and allowed cars to drive round him... "

The next check point was our last, for we were approaching Gyangtse. Whilst stopped for petrol, I walked across the road to photograph what looked rather like a medieval castle. I think these were "the ruins of ancient Mount Tzong". We drove through the town under the shadow of a massive rock topped by another 'castle' which I think is called here a Dzong (the term also used in Bhutan). Our destination was the revered Pelkor Chode Monastery. According to my admission ticket, it was built in 1418 by the Dharma King of Gyangtse Rabtang Kunsang Phag and the first Panchen Lama Kedrup Geleg Pesang. Non-sectarian, Gelugpa, Sakyapa and Butonpa and Buddhists co-exist. In 1427, the Great Stupa Kubum was built in the tradition of a multi-door Stupa (Tashi Gomang) and it is regarded as one of the eight prototype stupas.

The Assembly Hall, Pelkor Chode Monastery, Gyangtse.

We started by going round the Assembly Hall and chapels of the main building. If going round the nooks and crannies of the monastery impressed me, visiting the adjacent Great Stupa Kubum blew my mind. It's 32.4 metres high and is built on seven levels, six of which you can visit. At each level, there's an open walkway around the outside with 12 doors accessing chapels in the core of the building. A few rooms are closed, a few have half-doors closed, allowing you to lean in to study the inside. Most chapels are open and, of those, I visited well over half (some of the doorways are quite low and I took a few bumps). The walls of each chapel are exquisitely decorated with wall paintings in remarkable but not perfect condition. Each chapel contains a number of painted, carved wooden Buddhist images. The workmanship on both the murals and the carved figures is astonishing. It is claimed that there are 100,000 Buddhist images counting both murals and figures. I didn't attempt to count them but I was stunned by the effect. The monastery claims an elevation of 4,050 metres so I was pleased that I managed a fairly thorough exploration without serious altitude sickness.

The Great Stupa Kubum, Pelkor Chode Monastery.

Then it was time for lunch, at the Tashi Restaurant in the centre of the town. I had a cool coke (they didn't have ice), a delicious vegetable soup and a vegetable sandwich with chips. The vegetable sandwich was a triple decker which I couldn't quite finish. They supplied a small saucer of tomato ketchup unasked. My guide had intentionally picked restaurants used to dealing with westerners, and this was clear from the range of souvenirs on offer with English labelling. I finished off the meal with a sweet tea.

My Driver and Guide in the Tashi Restaurant, Gyangtse.

A drive of a couple of minutes took is to the courtyard of the Gyangtse Hotel, a modern building with the public rooms decorated in Tibetan style. The 146 rooms offered both Tibetan and Western style – I presume mine was western style. As we checked in, an American lady guest was bewailing her inability to connect to the internet. There was a sign above the entrance door advertising Wi-Fi, so I pulled out my notebook computer to see what result I got. I was immediately connected to 'Chinese Telecom' (one of the Chinese telecommunications companies which offered various internet packages). I tried to negotiate the 'pay for internet use' but the site just kept looping back on itself. This was the result that the lady guest had obtained and she was somewhat exasperated that the reception staff were unable to resolve the problem. Being of a rather more phlegmatic disposition in my old age, I resigned myself to no internet and, during the evening, prepared this report 'off-line' ready to send when possible.

The bedroom of my suite at the Gyangtse Hotel.

My Pictures

Shigatse - Gyangtse by road
Gyangtse, Tibet
Pelkor Chode Monastery, Gyangtse, Tibet
Gyangtse Hotel, Gyangtse, Tibet

[Pictures inserted and links to pictures added 23-Aug-2013].

Around Shigatse - Monday, 15th July 2013

I finished last time as we rested on the journey to Shigatse. Well, I think it wasn't so much resting as making sure we didn't get to the next checkpoint too early. We set off and in a few minutes came to a busy, one-street town. There were lots of big lorries parked, including the inevitable bulk cement lorries serving the new railway work sites. There were a number of restaurants and vehicle repair garages. There was also a traffic check point. With a target time for the next check point, we set off again, passing a number of new railway work sites.



One of the small towns we passed through on the G318 road to Shigatse.

At one point they were building another wide-arch railway bridge with approach viaducts. One tower crane seemed to be helping with finishing the main arch whilst a special bridge building machine was preparing to lift the next section of pre-cast concrete bridge deck between two approach piers. Once the concrete beam had been fitted, there was still a lot of work to be done, fitting brackets to support decking, adding handrails and running cables.

On our right, beyond the river we still followed, a fertile valley extended away to the mountains. A monastery was perched up on the mountain and long lengths of prayer flags stretched across the mountain face around the monastery. A cloud of smoke drifted away from the monastery, either from the kitchens or from the numerous large incense burners (rather like chiminea) that were sure to be in use.

The new railway was still paralleling the G318 road we were on. We frequently passed small work gangs, each carrying out different tasks.

I spotted a modern tower on the right which looked rather like an airport control tower. I thought 'Surely not out here?' but it was, indeed, an airport, presumably to serve Shigatse, Tibet's 'Second City'.

We passed through a number of villages where the architectural style was usually Tibetan, although the constructional detail varied according to date of construction. We stopped at one village for a moment, to adjust our arrival time at the next check point and I took the opportunity to photograph one of the ingenious Solar Cookers. Although mornings often started dull, they generally were hot and sunny in the afternoons. A lot of the street lights were powered by photovoltaic arrays and small arrays powered all sorts of other equipment (I've mentioned the large arrays powering communications repeater stations in an earlier post).

The last check point on this journey was near an impressive modern Chinese-style arch we passed under. I presumed it marked our entry to Shigatse. Suddenly, the road was blocked by warning signs and there was another of the temporary diversions onto loose roadstone. We lurched to the right and crossed a river on a 'Bailey Bridge' construction, with the original bridge, on our left, looking rather sorry for itself. Lots of strings of prayer flags had been tied between the two bridges.

Shigatse appeared to be a modern town with broad streets. There were frequent cross roads controlled by traffic lights. At one, where the traffic lights were working, a portable police kiosk fitted with castors had been wheeled to the center of the intersection and a young lady traffic policeman was directing traffic with the expected flamboyant gestures. I was a little puzzled, because I couldn't see that she had any means of actually controlling the signals.

Shigatse is the second largest city in Tibet. The lady traffic policeman is on the left.

We passed the multistory modern offices of the Agricultural Bank of China. Its modernity contrasted oddly with the mountainside strewn with prayer flags which formed the backdrop to the town.

Our driver parked outside the Songtsen Tibetan Restaurant whilst we all took lunch. I think I had vegetable soup (this is proving a great success), and a cheese sandwich (Yak cheese, tasted like a mild Cheddar – did you need to ask?) and sweet tea (also a success – where there's a group of diners, they just leave a battered thermos flask on the table and you help yourself).

After lunch, a short drive took us to the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery. I was given an admission ticket which included a pre-paid postcard bearing a brief history in three languages ready to address and send – an imaginative idea, I thought. The monastery is one of the six largest of the Gelugpa School of Tibetan Buddhism.

The admission ticket/postcard advised that the monastery was founded in 1447 by the first Dalai Lama, Gedun Drubpa, who was the closest disciple of Tsongkapa. There is a Great Assembly Hall, the Reliquary Chapel of successive previous Pachen Lamas, the Chapel of the Future Buddha, Maitreya (containing the largest gilded-bronze statue in the world), and sixty other chapels containing relics. It's famous for the traditional Cham tantric dance.

Earlier in the trip, I'd been rather surprised to see monks wearing all sorts of modern footwear. At Tashi Lhunpo, only the traditional woollen footwear with a thick, flat sole is allowed. The monks also wear a thick, yellow outer cloak and a yellow hat for some rituals.

Three sets of wooden steps, side by side, lead into the Great Assembly Hall. To remind everybody that only the Pachen Lama can use the central steps, they were closed off with a pattern of coloured ribbons.

In general, photography is not allowed in the most holy places, although certain other chapels ask for payment for photography. The fees seem to vary wildly, even within one monastery.

We spent some time exploring the various buildings. It was hot and there was a fair bit of climbing because the monastery is on the side of a hill but I thoroughly enjoyed the visit.

Monks at the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery.

A short drive took us to the Tibet Gang-Gyen Carpet Factory. This was one of many initiatives promoted by the previous Pachen Lama to assist the Tibetan people. The well-laid out, modern premises are run so that workers share in the profits and a proportion is returned to the monastery. Most of the workers producing hand-knotted carpets are women – they appeared happy and friendly and mothers were allowed to bring their young children. All told, about 150 people are involved in the enterprise and I was impressed.

Hand-knotting a carpet at the Tibet Gang-Gyen Carpet Factory.

The driver, guide and I then checked into the Shigatse Hotel. It's built in Tibetan style and enjoys 4 stars. My room was certainly well-appointed. The Tibetan-style bed didn't have a sprung mattress and, although I like a firm bed, I was worried it would prove too hard. In fact, I slept soundly and overslept the following morning. There was supposed to be Wi-Fi in the lobby but I couldn't get it to work. There was a note in my bedroom saying I could plug into the network but the only network socket I could find was running the television. However, I tried the socket and immediately obtained a good connection (providing the limited service available in China).

The sitting room in my suite at the Shigatse Hotel.

A pleasing conclusion to a fascinating, but exhausting day.

My Pictures

Lhasa - Shigatse by Road
Shigatse, Tibet
Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, Shigatse, Tibet
Tibet Gang-Gyen Carpet Factory
Shigatse Hotel, Shigatse, Tibet

[Pictures inserted and links to pictures added 22-Aug-2013].

Monday 15 July 2013

By Road to Shigatse - Monday, 15th July 2013

I was quite sorry to be leaving the St. Regis Hotel. I took breakfast around 7.00 a.m. and then returned to my room to try to finish off the 'Work work' I was doing. I just managed to e-mail it before checking-out. My guide and driver and I set off about 9.20 a.m. for the long drive to Shigatse. I think it's 280 km and we did it in five hours with a few brief stops but no toilet or meal breaks.

We headed through reasonably heavy traffic to the south west of the city, crossed the Lhasa River and took Century Road leading to the dual carriageway highway serving the airport. A railway appeared on our left which was apparently the extension of the railway to the west beyond Lhasa. Its construction was similar to the line I travelled on – embankments, bridges and tunnels. Construction was clearly well-advanced here with track laid. I saw one Engineering train hauled by a blue diesel electric locomotive.

The dual carriageway came to an end and we continued on a single carriageway with a line down the middle which some drivers didn't seem to notice. Apparently, this is the G318 road which runs (or will run) from Shanghai to Nepal. There were milestones, sorry, kilometre markers every kilometre and, since the numbers start at Shanghai, numbers were already in the four thousands. After a while, we came to a sudden stop with vehicles heading in our direction all over the road and traffic coming the other way getting through only with difficulty.

From the apparent chaos, I assumed it was an accident but, no, it was a traffic checkpoint. Our guide took the driver's credentials to the office and returned after a few minutes with a piece of paper. I didn't really get to the bottom of it but, most importantly, the paper showed our time leaving the checkpoint. We were then to report to the next checkpoint in not less than an hour.

Congestion at a traffic checkpoint. The saluting policeman in the background is a dummy.

The new railway was still alongside and we passed a depot with two large portal cranes. It looked as if they were involved in loading prefabricated sections of concrete-sleepered track onto Work Trains or, possibly, actually being used to assemble the track 'panels'.

The river valley we were travelling through became narrower and we lost the new railway for a while. It re-appeared high above us on the right, emerging from a tunnel. We were now travelling with a turbulent river on our left and a practically vertical rock wall on our right. This section was not without its problems as there had been a number of rock falls onto our road. A gang of men with long shovels were attempting to clear the rock away. Reluctant to slow down, our driver was swerving from side to side to find the clearest section of the carriageway.

The logistical problems in building a new railway in such a mountainous, inhospitable area were becoming clear. There were frequent Work Camps, from which temporary construction roads fanned out to reach various Work Sites. The larger Camps could be spotted by the array of storage silos for cement and other materials. Camp walls, tunnel mouths and bridges often had some sort of exhortation in large, red Chinese characters. After passing one such camp near a tunnel mouth, the new railway crossed the road on an incomplete long-span bridge. The railway was then to continue on a viaduct of a large number of 'standard' concrete spans but only the tall, concrete bridge piers had been completed, suggesting the relentless march of an army across the countryside.

The new railway to Shigatse under construction.

Further on, the new railway was lost from sight as it scrabbled across loose scree. Then, a tunnel mouth would appear, confirming where the line would be when finished. At another work camp, I saw a row of ready-mixed concrete lorries parked up. They clearly provide a shuttle service from the work camp to each of the work sites where concrete is required, using the temporary construction roads I'd seen earlier. Putting aside political considerations, I couldn't avoid being impressed with the organisation which could tackle such a job.

We passed a broad concrete arch road bridge which I at first thought was a new road bridge. It became clear that it was the bridge which formerly carried the road we were on undergoing major repairs, because we plunged onto a very temporary road of loose roadstone and approached the river bank a few hundred yards past the arch bridge where a 'Bailey Bridge' had been set-up. We crossed the river and made a fairly terrifying passage on another stretch of loose roadstone to join the 'Old Road' next to the arch bridge. The tarmac road wasn't always very good, but it was better than the loose roadstone!

The concrete arch road bridge under repair, forcing traffic to cross the river on a temporary Bailey Bridge.

We passed kilometre marker 4759 shortly before approaching a river crossing for the new railway. Two tall piers set in the river carried two 'half arches' balancing one another, so that each pier looked like a letter 'T'. In the middle of the river, the two 'half arches' joined to form a complete arch. The other two 'half arches' rested on substantial piers on either bank. There were then a series of 'normal' bridge piers which, once fitted with 'standard' pre-cast bridge sections, would form the 'approach spans' on either side of the river. Adjacent to each of the four main bridge piers there was a yellow-painted tower crane, essential to making this bridge-building a possibility.

Further on, we passed another construction site where a single-arch concrete bridge was being built over the river, apparently for a road. The method of construction here used an 'aerial ropeway'. On our side of the river, a massive 'A' Frame had been erected. A number of suspension cables were then laid to the other side of the river where, I think, they were terminated in a massive concrete block. Two 'trollies' ran on the suspension cables, capable of being hauled back and forth across the bridge under construction. Finally, each trolley carried a hook for lifting and lowering loads. Multi-sheave pulleys were in use because of the weight of the concrete bridge sections which were being dealt with.

Later, the new railway crossed onto our (right) side of the river then we crossed to the left. I could see why the road builders had chosen the left bank – on the right bank a steep mountainside, full of loose rock, came down to the water's edge. But the railway builders had no option but to scrabble a route through a series of tunnels and bridges. At one point, the railway had built a tall bridge pier carrying two 'half arches' forming a 'T'. But in this case, the ends of the 'half arches' rested on either side of a deep ravine. The railway popped out of a tunnel on one side of the ravine, crossed the 'T' and immediately entered a tunnel on the other side of the ravine.

With the new railway running high on the mountain side, some of the construction roads giving access to the work sites looked pretty 'hairy'. Since our road was being used to serve all the main work sites (we saw plenty of road cement tankers!) in at least a couple of places, the railway builders had needed to build their own river bridges to link Work Camps up on the mountain on the right with our road on the left.

We stopped for a rest for a few minutes at a road junction where the side road led to the Chamchin Monastery. The peace of the remote spot was frequently interrupted by the air horns of the 8- 12- and 16-wheeler lorries rushing past.

The side road leading to the Chamchin Monastery.

My Pictures

Lhasa - Shigatse by Road

[Pictures inserted and link to pictures added 22-Aug-2013].

Sunday 14 July 2013

Around Lhasa - Sunday, 14th July 2013

I arose about 6.10 a.m. and had a decent breakfast in the restaurant. I then worked on the computer until around 9.20 a.m. when I went to reception to meet my guide.

Once in the waiting car, we set off for Drepung Monastery, north west of the city. My admission ticket had a potted history on the reverse (in tiny print) which I think stated that Drepung Monastery is one the six largest monasteries of the Gelupa Sect, set at the foot of West Valley Mountain about 10 kilometres from Lhasa. It was built in 1416 by Jamyang Choje Tashi Phlden, a disciple of Tsong Khapa. Over ten thousand monks resided there before liberation. The six main temples are Gaden Palace, Tsochen, Ngakpa, Losaling, Gomang and Dyeyang. Many important relics are kept here. There are three monastic colleges for the study of philosophy and one for the practice of Tantric Buddhism. The monastery covers an area of over 20,000 square metres.

The Main Gate at Drepung Monastery.

The monastery is set on a steep mountain side and considerable new building work was going on. As we climbed to the main assembly hall, we passed rows of Prayer Wheels and two water-driven prayer wheels. We entered the main assembly hall which was impressive in size. The whole place suggested antiquity and spirituality. Neither the guide nor I could enter the one small temple marked 'PLEASE DON'T COME IN WOMAN THIS CHAPEL' in English (presumably the Chinese version above the English said something similar). Although there were a number of Tibetan pilgrims around, the place remained quiet and reverent. Once again, a big contrast with the Potala Palace. I found my first butter lamp powered prayer wheels. A small butter lamp is placed under a glass case and the rising warm air turns a fan attached to a lightweight prayer wheel suspended above. Soon I was suffering complete overload from the number of temples, images, thangka (religious wall hangings) and other treasures but I found it a wonderful visit.

One of the many chapels at Drepung with numerous Stupas (reliqueries) behind the painted statue.

A short car ride took us to Norbulingka. The name means 'Treasure Garden or 'Treasure Park'. My admission ticket here was imaginatively in the form of a plasticised card with an image of the buildings which appears three-dimensional as you 'rock' the card. It was originally built in the mid-18th century by the 7th Dalai Lama Kelsang Gyatso as his summer residence (the Potala Palace was the winter residence). Expanded over the years, the gardens cover 36 hectares and form the largest horticultural park in Tibet. The site became a World Heritage site in 2001. It was interesting to see the former residence of the present exiled Dalai Lama but, for me, the site lacked the impact of Drepung Monastery.

Completed as recently as 1956, the Dada Mingjur Palace was the residence of the present Dalai Lama prior to exile.

We drove back to the city centre and the guide and I were 'dropped off' by the driver. We walked through the commercial area near the Jokhang Temple to an upstairs restaurant where we sat by an open window offering splendid views of 'the passing show'.

At lunch the previous day, I'd been amused by the number of menu items incorporating Yak. It reminded me of a Monty Python comedy sketch called, I think, 'Spam' set in a restaurant where a diner was unable to find any item which wasn't 'Spam'. At lunch on Sunday, I wrote down the items on their extensive menu which included yak. I was amazed at the list:-
Yak Noodle Soup
Yak Sizzler with Noodles and Chips
Yak Steak with Chips and Vegetables
Yak Pizza
Yak Burger
Yak Curry
Yak Chilli
Yak Biriyani
Yak BBQ
Yak Skewer
Yak Spring Roll
Yak Thukpa (?)
Yak Momo (?)
I thought that was an impressive list, but another dish caught my eye called 'Tashi Delek with Vegetables and Rice' because, in Bhutan, 'Tashi Delek' is a greeting, something like "How are you?". My guide said that 'Tashi Delek' meant the same in Tibet, but she couldn't tell me what it meant as the name of a dish. So we asked the waitress and I thought her answer made a perfect finale to my All-New 'Yak' sketch.
“Tashi Delek? It's Yak with extra rice”.
After a leisurely, enjoyable meal, we walked round the corner to the Jokhang Temple. Started in the year 647 a.d. by King Songstan Gampo, it was subsequently extended to an area of 25,100 square metres. Because of its antiquity and its treasures, it is particularly special to Tibetans and regarded as the holiest site in Tibet – unlike the Potala Palace, Tibetans do not pay for admission. I believe foreigners are only allowed to pay and enter in the afternoon, leaving the Temple free for Tibetans in the morning. Recognising its importance, the State Council have listed it as one of the important cultural 'relics' to be especially protected. Not sure about the 'relic' tag. There were plenty of Tibetans around when I visited in the afternoon and the Temple appeared to have a vital significance to them which maintained the spirituality of the place, despite the large number of foreigners milling around. An excellent visit.

An inner courtyard at the Jokhang Temple, showing the gilded balcony where the Dalai Lama formerly appeared.

We concluded the day by walking along Barkhor Street, Lhasa's oldest commercial street and part of the Pilgrims's circum-ambulatory route around the Jokhang Temple. I saw two fairly young male pilgrims working along the route, chest protected with a stout apron and wooden-faced 'mittens' on each hand allowing them to fully prostrate themselves, flat to the floor, every couple of yards, oblivious of all the commercial activity around them. That takes some stamina and a strong belief.

The pedestrianised shopping area around Barkhor Street is a magnet for Tibetans and visitors alike.

We passed through the Muslim area of the city. There is quite a sizeable Muslim immigrant population in Lhasa and near the Mosque (rebult in 1960) many shops are operated by Muslims, including a number of butcher's shops where large sides of meat are displayed next to the pavement. I didn't enquire, but I imagine it's yak meat. A few yards further on, we came to my hotel and I said goodbye to my guide after an exhausting but very interesting day.

My Pictures

St. Regis Hotel, Lhasa, Tibet.
Lhasa, Tibet.
Dprepung Monastery, Lhasa, Tibet.
Norbulinka, Lhasa, Tibet.
Jokhang Temple, Lhasa. Tibet.

Lhasa and the Potala Palace - Saturday, 13th July 2013

The alarm went off at 6.00 a.m. but I decided to sleep a little longer. It was half past seven when I woke and I still felt a little fragile but I got up and made my way to the restaurant for a buffet breakfast. I had tea, porridge, bread and orange juice – less than I would normally have when 'on tour' but enough.

Buffet breakfast at the St. Regis Lhasa Resort.

I had time to write some more about my trip and e-mail it before making my way to reception where my guide was already waiting. Outside the driver was ready with the car so we set off into the traffic. The population of Lhasa is only 140,000, I believe. The population of the whole of the Tibetan Autonomous Region is around three million but a proportion of these are immigrant Chinese.

The driver stopped near the Potala Palace and the guide and I walked to the entrance, which was thronged with visitors, mainly Chinese. The view of the massive bulk of the Potala Palace is an iconic image I've known all my life – it was remarkable to actually see it for myself. It's now a World Heritage Site and attracts large numbers of visitors. From ground level, we made our way up the broad, stone steps which zig-zag up the front of the building to the entrance to the White Potala.

The Potala Palace, Lhasa.

The Potala Palace, started by one of the early kings of Tibet, came to represent the two powers of religion and politics. The White Potala is the name given to the lower floors which deal with civic administration – political power. The upper floors – the Red Potala - are devoted to religious matters. I'd previously seen this dual structure on my visit to Bhutan for there the Dzongs incorporate both religioua power and civil administration. The entrance to the White Potala is wooden, heavily carved and with painted decoration. Inside, the lobby contained huge wall paintings. We started to ascend the complex internal structure by stairs and along passages. At various points, there were openings in the outer wall to let in light, revealing the substantial construction and great thickness of the walls which have resisted earthquake damage for centuries. We reached an open square which was the last point at which photography was allowed.

As we continued to climb within the Red Potala, the press of visitors became more intense. Admissions are strictly timed, but the authorities still cram in so many visitors that it is difficult to obtain a proper perception of what is an enormously important building. Continually being buffeted by unmannerly visitors (and, particularly, being hit by swinging backpacks) rather weakens spiritual considerations. I'm afraid commercial considerations rule under the current administration. A few monks, around ten I think, sit in various parts of the Palace. I can only imagine their thoughts on the continuous stream of humanity passing before them but in one room we received an 'assembly-line blessing' from one of the monks. In places there are window openings to let in light but, generally, the rooms are gloomy. There were large Butter Lamps everywhere. The broad metal bowls were filled with butter made from yak's milk, in which a row of perhaps ten wicks were positioned. These lamps appear to serve the dual purpose of providing illumination and devotion. At many points, visitors made donations and showed respect. I commented to the guide that many of the visitors seemed to have religious beliefs and were pleased to make donations, yet seemed rather lacking in good manners. My guide shrewdly commented that giving money comes from "the outside, not the inside". She went on to say that few native Tibetans now visit the Potala, resenting the fact that a charge is now levied. We processed through a number of temples and past impressive stupas holding relics. It is an amazing rabbit-warren of a place. With so much wood used in the construction, fire is an ever-present danger. I noted the odd fire main or canvas fire hose and there were frequent wooden cupboards with hand-held fire extinguishers. Many of the rooms had a Fire Watchman, easily recognisable by their orange overalls. My guide started looking at her watch and I asked what the problem was. She explained that not only are entrances strictly timed but you are allowed one hour to complete the tour of the upper rooms. If you are even one minute late checking out, a fine of 100 Yuan is levied, she explained.

Well, we made it on time to the checkpoint, then descended the steps at the rear of the Potala Palace to ground level. A short walk reunited us with our driver and transport.

All three of us had lunch at a Tibetan Steak House. The menu had English translations and I saw you could order Yak Steak, Yak Fritters, Yak Burgers, a Yak Sizzler (which my guide opted for) and other Yak specialities. I had a Tibetan vegetable soup and Spaghetti Carbonara (very Tibetan). The food arrived quickly and was good. My guide insisted I sample her yak meat and I agreed with her that it was similar to beef.

After lunch we drove to the Sera Monastery in the north east of the city. This is a major training centre for monks and the atmosphere was immediately different from the pressure of the Potala Palace. Now, there were many Tibetan pilgrims and most of the foreign visitors were westerners. We took a leisurely walk along the road which leads past the various buildings comprising the monastery. My guide pointed out the building where elderly monks are looked after by younger monks.

This monastery is famous for its religious debates which happen at 3.00 p.m. daily and I was keen to see a debate. We came to a crowd of  people, mainly westerners, waiting next to a closed door in the wall alongside the road and joined them. A little before three, the gate opened and we all filed into an open courtyard. The centre of the courtyard was gravel and it was surrounded by a roughly circular raised pavement. There were a number of trees around the outside and a couple on the gravel. Most of us set on the edge of the pavement dangling our feet into the gravel. Others remained standing. At three o'clock promptly a couple of young monks and an older, dignified monk whom I took to be the pupil master entered via another gate. Over the next few minutes, more monks arrived from all directions, some carrying a square cushion, until the must have been 30 monks present.

The monks broke up into groups of three or more. In each group, one monk remained standing, all the others sat on cushions facing the standing monk who would declaim some religious question in a theatrical tone and the seated monks made reply. Frequently, the standing monk would perform a stylised movement ending in a loud handclap accompanied by a cry (my guide informed me) of "wake up from your ignorance". With so many groups all performing in a small space, it was a fairly noisy affair. Of course, I couldn't understand a word but it was still hugely entertaining and very good-natured. There was a lot of smiling from the participants which I found infectious. Visitors were coming and going all the time so, after half an hour or so, my guide and I left, although I would happily have stayed longer.


The religious debate at Sera Monastery.

You can see a short video of the debating here. When you've seen the video, the Back Button will return you to this post.

On the way back to my hotel, we stopped at a Tibetan carpet workshop and showroom. I was very impressed with the intricate work involved and spent some time looking at carpets for sale but in the end, I did not make a purchase.

Back at my hotel, I spent a quiet evening checking my e-mails, writing up my recollections, backing-up my photographs and even doing some "work work" for Ford Electronics

My Pictures

St. Regis Hotel, Lhasa, Tibet.
Lhasa, Tibet.
The Potala Palace, Lhasa, Tibet.
Sera Monastery, Lhasa, Tibet

[Video of Sera Monastery added 23-Jul-2015]

Saturday 13 July 2013

The Train to Lhasa – Part 2 Friday, 12th July 2013

With diesel traction on the front we left the station at about twenty to one in the morning. I slept until 2.00 a.m. to find the train had just stopped. I couldn't see anything until ten minutes later when a passenger train passed in the opposite direction. We'd clearly been waiting on a passing loop for the section ahead to clear. I looked out again about 3.00 a.m. and it seemed very misty.

We stopped in a passing loop at about 3.45 a.m. and five minutes later another express in the opposite direction passed us. I slept again until we slowed for another station. After a wait of about 6 minutes, we carried on, passing another station that was not lit up at about 6.25 a.m.

A rather bleak view across the Tibetan Plateau.

We were certainly on the Tibetan Plateau and quite high-up – the grassland had white patches of snow or heavy frost and white fog banks obscured the view from time to time. As it started to get light, I could see a road parallel to us on the left with many lorries. The largest lorries were articulated with long six-wheel trailers and the load sheeted-up. The road was commonly built on a bank of 1 or 2 metres and sometimes marker posts (presumably reflective) were fitted on either side of the road surface to discourage vehicles from plunging og the bank. These poles could be as tall as around 8 feet or as short as 3 feet but in many areas, no markers were provided, even when the road was on a bank little wider than the carriageway. I spotted a religious stupa in the Tibetan style. This, combined with the prayer flags we'd passed in a number of places confirmed my belief that faith was still a powerful force in Tibet. At regular intervals, we passed cellular radio towers. Some of the had elaborate solar arrays nearby. I'd noticed that passengers on the train had no difficulty in making calls on their mobiles, even  when we were in remote places.

At 7.15 a.m. we negotiated another passing loop with a short passenger platform. This was near a fair-sized town with a river running through it, Tibetan-style houses, a petrol station with a massive forecourt and overall roof, a large Tibetan stupa and lots of prayer flags. Leaving the town, I watched 8-wheeler lorries negotiating minor roads which were sometimes only dirt-tracks. I eventually realised that the herds of long-haired cattle were yaks. Out in the country, I saw an isolated road-mending camp complete with either tar boilers or coated roadstone plant.

Half an hour later, we passed another small station but not much in the way of the community it served was visible. By 8.15 a.m. we were rolling through another station, provided with large station buildings in the modern 'Triumphalist Chinese' style - I realised later that this was Tanggula, at 5,068 metres the highest station in the world.

I wasn't feeling too good – I'd developed a blinding headache and felt very sick. I suspected it might be 'Altitude Sickness'. At 9.20 a.m. we paused for a few minutes at An Duo station, where the station nameboard gave the elevation as 4,702 metres. On boarding the train at Xining, I'd seen a number of small oxygen bottles sitting at the end of a coach and I'd photographed the installations in my cabin but I don't know whether my diagnosis was correct. I did have similar symptoms when I stayed in Cuzco, Peru, which is also quite high.

Our route took us alongside a lake at high altitude.

At 9.45 a.m. a large lake appeared on the right and this remained with us for some time. There was another passing loop with a station platform right next to the lake shore. I managed to sleep for a time, waking at half past eleven as we ran through a station with the passing loop occupied by a train of track maintenance machines and coaches which I assumed provided accommodation for the workers.

At 11.40 a.m. our speed reduced to a crawl and I guessed, correctly, that we were approaching another passing loop and that we had not yet got the signal to enter the loop. After a few minutes, out speed picked up. There were four loops at this location. The leftmost was occupied by track maintenance machines and coaches, this time with a red diesel electric attached to the Lhasa end. Waiting on the line next to us was an eastbound passenger train, headed by one of the huge 2-section diesel-electric locomotives used on this line. We passed another eastbound passenger train in a simple passing loop around 12.08 p.m. This time, the other train must have cleared the section ahead earlier, because our speed didn't reduce to a crawl.

At Dang Xiong, I could see a substantial town and the station had three through platform lines plus a fourth loop line. We entered the rightmost platform line because this was the platform with all the station buildings and road access. After a five minute stop with quite a lot of passenger activity, we set off again at 12.33 p.m.

At 1.15 p.m., we were routed through the middle one of three passing loops without stopping. Nearby, there was evidence of possible peat cutting as fuel for the stoves every dwelling is provided with. It seemed likely that dung may also be used as a fuel and perhaps a building material, gluing together the rounded stones that are commonly used to construct dwellings. But there are also plenty of buildings made from rectangular building blocks held together with cement.

We were still passing tents pitched against the railway fence, some with the Chinese flag outside and either a motor bike or small car parked nearby. There was usually a polythene-sheeted mound nearby – the stash of supplies or fuel for the stove or both.

We didn't have to slow at the next station, either. There were three or four lines through the station. An eastbound passenger train with the customary massive 2-section locomotive was waiting on one side of an island platform whilst we sailed by on the other side of the island platform.

The scenery was becoming much more rugged and we encountered a series of tunnels. The first was the longest and it took us nearly three minutes to pass through. As we plunged into the tunnel, I spotted the neat Guard House with a proper, uniformed guard on duty. There were four more tunnels, much shorter and then we passed through the small station of Ang Ga – just two lines with a platform on the right hand line.

We crossed a river and I noticed a small yard on the river bank making building blocks. There was one corrugated iron workshop building, presumably where the blocks were moulded, a drying yard with hundreds of blocks laid out and, out in the open, one large capacity cement mixer. It occurred to me that the adjacent river probably provides the sand, gravel and water, only requiring cement to be bought in. I didn't manage to get the name of the station we ran through at 1.42 p.m. but there was a large factory with railway access on our left. I couldn't work out what the factory made.

It was clear that our line was descending through the river valley, raised on viaducts and crossing the river a number of times to get the best route. The main road was still following us, making its own choices as to the best route to follow. Although we were running through a fertile valley, tall mountains lay on both sides in the background with mist trailing from the mountain tops and streaks of snow in the shaded parts.

We were still passing the periodic radio transmission towers but in this area, the towers bristled with CCTV cameras, unlike the earlier installations we'd passed. The weather was still overcast but now it was also definitely wet as well. We passed some sort of market with lorries, horses and more than a dozen gaily-decorated tents.

A colourful but puzzling event at a small town.

At 1.50 p.m. we ran through the small passing station of Gu Rong. The rock face was very close to the railway and was strewn with loose boulders. As I'd seen earlier, a heavy netting had been fixed over the rock face to protect the railway.

At various points along the line, I'd seen the Tibetan version of the 'polytunnel' form of greenhouse. But now we passed a 'polytunnel city' with the structures crammed together extending over many acres. They build one solid, straight wall to about six feet in height. A large number of  roof members then extend, in an elegant curve, from the top of the wall to the ground. The roof members then support a polythene roof.

Part of 'polytunnel city'.

At these somewhat lower levels (Lhasa is still 2,650 metres elevation), we passed more human habitation and more industry.

At 2.00 p.m., we slowed for the larger station of La Sa Xi (Lhasa West). There was a major high voltage switching station on our left, with an army of transmission towers marching to it across the landscape from a number of directions. There was a rail-connected petrol depot also on our left. On our right, there was an extensive goods depot with a horde of lorries delivering to, or collecting from, long lines of covered bogie goods wagons. There was also a group of private sidings wandering off  but I couldn't see where to.

After the complexity of La Sa Xi, we returned to a single line but the character of the countryside had changed. We were in the developed corridor leading to our destination with major roads (some dual carriageway), apartments and industry. We crossed over a broad river, overlooked by a Guard Tower perched high on the rock face then, on an embankment, headed into a single line tunnel. Above us, the major road swooped across us on a viaduct before plunging into the same mountain using twin tunnels.

There was a large group of sidings on our right full of bogie tank wagons guarded by a blue diesel electric locomotive. The trackwork now became complex and fanned out into (at least) six platform roads. We passed under a huge all-over roof and slowly made our way along the broad platform 1. At 2.14 p.m. we had arrived in Lhasa!

I was feeling a little better and hauled my luggage into the corridor. There was a slight delay as a numbered of uniformed railway officials were in a compartment further down my coach assisting the party there onto the platform. Waiting actually on the platform was a car and a people carrier to collect the party and their luggage. I didn't actually see who had been in that compartment, but I think I found out what happened to my original tickets!

On arrival at Lhasa, passengers from my train swarm along the platform towards the hall where document checks are carried out.

There were crowds of people making their way along the platform towards the exit and hundreds more presumably waiting to get onto the train for its return journey. I had hoped to have a look at our locomotive but it had uncoupled by the time I got near and quietly dropped forward onto what is currently a headshunt but I believe will become an extension further into Tibet.

There were a number of parallel queues shuffling through the massive hall so I joined one, wondering what happened next. Most people had a credit card sized identity card and they were passed through quickly. I saw one family diverted to a small Police Office. I presented my passport and Special Tibet Visa. Another official was immediately summoned and, very politely in reasonable English, he asked me to follow him. We went outside to where there was a separate building which seemed to deal with foreigners. There were quite a few people apparently waiting for attention but I was cleared almost immediately. Explaining that I was expecting to be met, I was then led outside to a barrier with guides waiting for their charges. I immediately spotted a young girl displaying a computer-printed 'Jan Ford' sign and once the official had checked that the guide had a copy of my 'Special Tibet Visa' he wished me an enjoyable stay and went to find other customers.

My guide, Tse Dol Kar, a young married Tibetan girl with one daughter, spoke good English and led me to a Toyota SUV and driver waiting nearby so I was soon loaded on board and we were on our way to my hotel. I was pretty tired but happy and not a little relieved. I'd made it!

The reception area at the St. Regis Lhasa Resort.

The St. Regis Lhasa Resort was the first international luxury hotel in Tibet, opened in 2010 and part of the Sharwood Group. It fully met my expectations – the staff were friendly, attentive and with good English. Once my guide was happy with the arrangements, she arranged to pick me up at 10.30 a.m. the next day and wished me goodnight. I decided to have a bite to eat – the cod fillet with lemon butter sauce and mashed potatoes was one of the best pieces of fish I've had. Accompanied by a glass of Coke and followed by two scoops of vanilla ice cream, I was very satisfied. Soon, I was in the huge bed and slept quite well. Tomorrow - the famous Potala Palace.

My Pictures

QingHai - Tibet Railway.
St. Regis Hotel, Lhasa, Tibet.

The Train to Lhasa – Part 1 Thursday, 11th July 2013

I'll give you a very brief description of the train journey. I appreciate that not everyone is a railway enthusiast, so I'll try to omit the technical bits and save them for another report later ('Thank goodness', I hear you cry).


My 4-berth cabin. The rose was plastic.

When boarding, I hadn't had a chance to look at what was on the front of our train but the overhead electric catenary continued to the west of Xining so I presumed we were electric hauled. The journey was very smooth and I was impressed. Looking at the railway infrastructure, it appeared well-maintained and I concluded that these were serious railway people. That's not to say that the occasional 'bodge' did not appear, but the overall standards were very good. The similarities with the Russian Railways I was able to study last year (see my posts Trans-Siberian) were significant, apart from the track gauge – China is 'standard gauge'.

After we'd been travelling a little over half an hour, the uniformed coach attendant came round and gave me a Passenger Health Declaration form for completion. This certified to the QingHai – Tibet Railway Company that I was fit for travel at elevations above 3,000 metres above sea level. Xining was two thousand something metres elevation, Lhasa is 3,600 metres elevation but on the way, we would climb to around 5,000 metres elevation. My paper train tickets had been inspected when I boarded but not collected so the coach attendent swopped my tickets for plastic credit cards identifying the berths I was entitled to use but not the date or route. Near the end of the journey, she then swopped the credit cards back for the paper tickets which I still have.

We passed a large group of sidings on our right full of bogie coal wagons. This appeared to be the loading point. I spotted the screening plant but not the source of the coal which I assumed was opencast.

Initially, we were running through an industrial area but eventually this gave way to grassland with rolling hills and lakes but it was very noticeable how many high voltage power transmission lines were following our route. Electrification of any country is important but China, with its high growth rate, has made big demands on its electricity grid. I found the rural areas reminiscent of Mongolia (where I made a brief visit last year, described here). From time-to-time, we passed traditional buildings with arrays of prayer flags nearby.

Traditional buildings and prayer flags on the grassland.

Also dotted around the grassland, there were a few tents, each with a stove pipe sticking through the roof. Some of these were rectangular, some round (but not having the proportions of the Mongolian 'Gyr' tent). I concluded that these were used by nomadic herdsmen and this seemed to be confirmed when I started to see long-haired cows, mainly black, wandering free.

Periodically, there were tents erected just outside the railway fence but I thought at least some of these were used by railway security workers for we frequently passed lone men wearing either 'High-Visibility ' jackets, Army Camouflage or various uniforms. Some of them stood to attention or saluted as we passed (often standing on a dais made of concrete slabs), some of them waved at the train and some totally ignored us. In addition, we passed periodic properly-built two-storey guard rooms. Here we could expect to see at least one man in a smart uniform saluting the train. Incidentally, at stations, the staff stood to attention sometimes with a salute as we passed – this is something you can also see in Russia.

After we'd been travelling about three hours, we passed through a large station and turned off to the right on a curving single line. Looking along the continuation of the double track main line we'd left, the track bed continued to two tunnel mouths, but there was no track! I can only assume this was a new piece of railway still under construction.

Our electrified single line now started to look more like Switzerland, with mountains rearing up left and right and our route twisting first to the left, then to the right to find a way through. At least I was able to catch a glimpse of our locomotive on the curves and confirm that it was a single electric unit.

Some of the cuttings we negotiated had been stabilised with a steel mesh.

Because we were on a single line, there were loops every few kilometres, allowing trains travelling in opposite directions to pass one another. At the first of these loops, we went straight through, passing a waiting freight train on our right loaded with military tanks. We went straight through at the second passing place.

At Nanshan, we passed another waiting freight and then the line certainly emulated Switzerland in order to lose height, for it corkscrewed to the right, then to the left, sometimes crossing under itself and continued in this fashion for a bewildering few kilometres. From time to time, the rock wall loomed very close to the line, in other places strong fences had been erected to protect against falling rocks.

In the mountains between Nan Shan and Luo Bei, the railway twists and turns, sometimes crossing under itself.

Finally, we passed through a tunnel curving to the right and then made a broad sweep to the left to take us to the passing loop at Luo Bei where another freight was waiting for us to clear. A couple more tunnels took us to a fairly complex junction where a double track line joined on our left. We passed through without stopping but there were at least two more freight trains waiting on parallel tracks. After three more tunnels, we passed the small station of Mulan.

By 9.00 p.m. it was pretty dark. I didn't get the name of the large station we stopped at but seven minutes later, we were on the move again. I wasn't feeling brilliant so I decided to go to bed early. I was fairly comfortable on one of the lower bunks but I'm not used to sleeping in a single bed. I slept intermittently until midnight when perhaps the sound of a passing train woke me. Ten minutes later we stopped at a large station whose name I didn't get. As we rolled in, I'd seen a massive 2-section diesel electric in the sidings and I wondered if this was where the traction changed to diesel electric – it was. There was a roadway next to us on the non-platform side and I was not surprised to see a number of workers waiting for us to stop.

In the 30 minutes we stood at the station, at least four 'honey wagons' passed alongside emptying the lavatory tanks. Our coach was provided with two toilet cubicles – one with a 'western style' pedestal W.C., the other with a 'squat' toilet. Both had 'vacuum flush' where pressing a pushbutton runs water into the bowl and after a few seconds delay the contents of the bowl are sucked into a large tank carried underneath the vehicle. Sadly, for most of the journey, both types of toilet had urine swilling about on the floor. I'm afraid this probably has more to do with the habits of the passengers than any defects in the system design.

And on that not-very-salubrious note, I'll conclude this report. We still had another 14 hours to go before Lhasa and I'll tell you about that next time.

My Pictures

QingHai - Tibet Railway.