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Post by anshjain97 on May 28, 2014 8:34:15 GMT
Wow, what an adventure! What's the local language- that script looks so exotic!
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Post by mossie on May 28, 2014 8:43:51 GMT
Thanks for giving us this tour of a very exotic place.
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Post by questa on May 28, 2014 10:35:43 GMT
BJD...I am surprised too! I guess the lamas had hidden it away while the worst was happening. The traditional footwear was leather boots with thongs around them to keep them on...about mid calf height. The colours in the aprons indicate if the woman is married.
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2014 10:39:12 GMT
The city looks wonderful, and I did not spot a McDonald's or KFC anywhere. I'm trying to imagine what it looks like in the dead of winter, though.
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Post by questa on May 28, 2014 10:45:19 GMT
anshjain...The local language is Tibetan and very hard to learn. I had a lama friend (from USA)who studied it for 14 years to become a translator for the great lamas who were doing speaking tours in the west. None of the ordinary people I met could speak Chinese.
mossie...you will like the Everest section!
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Post by questa on May 28, 2014 10:46:53 GMT
K2...white!
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Post by questa on May 28, 2014 11:36:50 GMT
The Potala Palace Standing at 117 meters in height and 360 meters in width, the Potala Palace, designated as a World Heritage Site in 1994 is considered a most important example of Tibetan architecture. Formerly the residence of the Dalai Lama, it contains over a thousand rooms within thirteen stories, and houses portraits of the past Dalai Lamas and statues of the Buddha. It is divided into the outer White Palace, which serves as the administrative quarters, and the inner Red Quarters, which houses the assembly hall of the Lamas, chapels, 10,000 shrines and a vast library of Buddhist scriptures. I must explain that I was feeling pretty feeble this day. Apart from my usual health issues and chronic tummy upset on the trip, I was also a bit vague from low oxygen levels. I knew I would not be able to climb very high so our guide showed me a shorter way down via the rear stairs. Our bus was due to leave at 3pm for another monastery so we would meet in the garden before then. Unfortunately a couple of policemen stopped me half way down and sent me another way which got me hopelessly lost. I wound up zig-zagging down scores of stairs, aiming ever downwards until I came out at a tradesmen entrance out the back. I almost ran around the front but the bus had gone...it was 3:30. I was so glad they had gone to their next place. I rickshawed back to the hotel and had them phone the guide that all was well. The Potala is not my favourite place!
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2014 13:35:46 GMT
It looks like the sort of structure that you imagine is quite close but no matter how long you walk, it is still always in the distance. (The Eiffel Tower does the same thing.)
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Post by questa on May 28, 2014 23:16:30 GMT
Yes, K2, and when you are on it (in it?) it is like a maze, with little courtyards, flights of stairs and blocks of buildings appearing around corners. At least I knew to just go downwards and found some ramps which were better than steps. I may not have seen any of the treasures...I had not expected to anyway, but I saw parts of the palace that tourists usually don't, and met workers there who tried to help me. There were 3 sets of police who were friendly but unable to help. They thought it was funny for an old lady to be lost in the Potala, and trying to mime her way out.
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Post by questa on May 29, 2014 4:36:19 GMT
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Post by bjd on May 29, 2014 6:51:44 GMT
That turquoise lake adds some welcome colour in that desolate landscape.
Is that yak done up like that for rides for tourists?
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Post by questa on May 29, 2014 7:37:24 GMT
bjd ...yes and yes. Colour seems almost artificial, doesn't it? Yak rides are mostly for domestic tourists, I think. Somehow I don't think that the trekkers and climbers from around the world would be seen dead being led up and down the concrete area sitting on a lurid yak.
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2014 9:57:52 GMT
The scenery is definitely spectacular, but that country could definitely do with a little more vegetation! The road doesn't look scary at all, not like those roads they show in India and Pakistan. Perhaps road thrills are in the future of this report?
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Post by questa on May 29, 2014 12:52:08 GMT
K2...sorry to disappoint you re hairy roads. Chinese engineering is excellent on their major roads, bridges etc. There were sections badly pot-holed and we had periods of being bumped around a lot, but the road never scared us like the Karakhoram Highway in Pakistan did. The road near the base camp was not govt built and was very rough and broken.
Vegetation...remember your geography lessons? There is a huge continental shelf off the coast around Bangladesh pushing against the land as it slides under it. This is causing the whole Himalayan area to be pushed upward and new ridges and land to rise. From the ocean floor shells have been thrust up into the mountains as they grew. Wind and snow is carving into these new mountains, producing the new-born rock formations I have been photo-ing. So far it is mostly rock, but this breaks down, organic life moves in, soil forms and pioneer plants appear. Rivers appear and as they break down the hills, the silt they carry spreads out into plumes of mud, which enable the growth of crops. There is not enough soil for trees, which is the reason they are planting poplars by the thousands to hurry the process along. In stead of seeing bare dusty rock, I see a new land being created, it is all so young!
I come from the oldest land that was formed, just like this, zillions of years ago. My mountains have worn down to smooth hills and the seas dried up. It is good to see the process in action.
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Post by bjd on May 29, 2014 13:01:14 GMT
What was the altitude where they were planting the poplars? I know that in S America, in Ecuador, no trees grow above just over 3,000 m -- it's long grass there, called pàramo vegetation. They do grow food though.
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Post by questa on May 29, 2014 13:21:14 GMT
Poplars are growing in Lhasa at 3650m but I saw none higher. The Kampala Pass at the Lake is 4794m. I still have to finish that day's pics...I fell asleep at the computer!
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2014 16:55:49 GMT
Even driving in the Alps or the Pyrénées, it is always impressive when you suddenly cross the tree line, which is always incredibly precise. You would think that just certain trees would disappear at first but that others would still grow a bit higher up. But, no, all of the trees disappear at the same time.
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Post by questa on May 29, 2014 22:32:57 GMT
I just wish that I had paid attention in class instead of surreptitiously reading "Biggles" books under the desk!
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Post by questa on May 29, 2014 23:08:44 GMT
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Post by questa on May 30, 2014 5:27:26 GMT
From Shigatse it was a long drive, 350km in 8 hours, with a rough road. I had mislaid my back up batteries and was rationing photos. We crossed the passes of Gyatsola 5200m and Gawu La 5250m to where we could see the Himalayan peaks of Makalu 8463m, Lotse 8516m, Everest 8844m, Cho Oyu 8201m and Shishapama 8020m. It was not a clear enough day to take pictures and I would have needed a better camera to even get the scene The Rongbuk monastery is the world's highest. There was an icy wind blowing and my camera lens cover department went on strike. After continuing down switchback roads for ages we entered the valley of Tashi Zom where the Everest Base Camp is. The sign at the entrance to the EBC area says, " For the sake of safety please do not you and others in the scenic highway within 1000m of parking please park your car in the car park area" We stayed in a dorm type building with toilets of an extremely primitive nature. It was below zero temperature but we were all rugged up and there were yak dung stove heaters in the common room. Next morning I was in a daze and it was hard getting around. I found that I had taken 4 pics of Mt Everest...nearly all the same. I remember being more interested in finding 2 little pebbles for my grandkids to keep as their bit of Everest. Then I twigged and opened the lens cover manually...D'oh
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Post by questa on May 31, 2014 5:53:36 GMT
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Post by questa on May 31, 2014 6:14:11 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2014 10:12:45 GMT
Besides the thin air, you probably almost died of carbon monoxide poisoning during the night. I like all of the colours at the monastery and at the hotel, but it makes me wonder: when you are born and raised in a place of so little colour except for the blue sky, do you crave seeing as many other colours as possible or does one run the risk of sensory overload? Perhaps it is a way for the monks to recruit. People seeing the décor for the first time might go into a daze and become more vulnerable to religious indoctrination.
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Post by bjd on Jun 1, 2014 12:10:53 GMT
Does the climate in Lhasa require air-conditioning?
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Post by questa on Jun 1, 2014 12:33:55 GMT
Interesting thought, K2. The traditional clothes are drab with muted colours on the women's aprons. There are so few flowering plants that the few I saw I took pics of. They love the blue sky..it is almost a god like in Mongolia. The vivid paint work would send anyone into a daze, but monks don't have to recruit. Pre-Chinese era there was no education for kids except the monasteries, so there was always crowds of parents putting sons in for teaching ...even just reading and writing. It was a very medieval system with the monasteries and head monks being at the top of the food chain. The Chinese have limited the number and power of the monks, as well as building hospitals and bringing the country into the 21st century (almost)I do not condone the terrible things done by the Chinese to the Tibetans and their culture. I just wish they could come to a peaceful agreement.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2014 12:43:06 GMT
Hi, deyana, the train was great. My only criticism was that the dining car had no English menu or speakers and I had to go from table to table inspecting meals until I could point to one that looked like what I wanted, confirm with a "cluck-cluck" or a "moo" what the meat was and order that way. Moo with arms indicating big horns was understood to mean yak meat. I met several local and international travellers and had a good time on board. The attendant had a name that could mean 'the sun' so I called her 'Sunshine' for the trip and she was so happy about it. I slept a fair bit as I had just finished 30 hours in flight...soft mattress and clean linen and duvet. A few years ago I went from Urumqi in the far west to Shanghai by train...3 1/2 days in a 4 berth cabin with 3 Chinese teachers...I learnt to speak 'mime' pretty quickly. I can just imagine me doing that, questa! Clucking and mooing my away around a menu We do what we have to do depending on the circumstances and that is what travel memories are really made of.
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Post by questa on Jun 1, 2014 13:23:35 GMT
deyana, there are advantages in being a woman of senior years and prepared to act the fool a bit. The men don't get any 'come on' messages, and the women don't feel threatened. Judging from the avatar pictures of you that I have seen, I think you are far too attractive and feminine to take any risks on your own...specially in the Sub-continent.
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Post by questa on Jun 1, 2014 23:20:54 GMT
bjd I have just checked with various weather sources and they say that air conditioning is rare. The winter minimums are around zero and heating may be needed, but summer is mild in Lhasa.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2014 12:34:39 GMT
deyana, there are advantages in being a woman of senior years and prepared to act the fool a bit. The men don't get any 'come on' messages, and the women don't feel threatened. Judging from the avatar pictures of you that I have seen, I think you are far too attractive and feminine to take any risks on your own...specially in the Sub-continent. questa my mother used to say to us girls - 'beauty is what beauty does'. In another words it's what you do that counts, not what you look like. She was right. Besides if I ever got too big-headed my very pretty sisters would put in my place good. I remember when I lived in the UK, and seeing so many shallow women, whose lives resolved around make-up, shoes, the latest fashions etc. and I was like 'please take me away from here!'. What a waste of time and energy. Regarding traveling to the sub-continent, I don't think, in all honesty, it's a place for any woman to do alone. I may dream of it, but than reality hits, and I know it would be much too dangerous. I need to start looking for an India lover who wants to do more the journey with me.
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Post by questa on Jun 3, 2014 14:01:47 GMT
It is only a couple of weeks since I did that journey and it feels very strange. I find I can't relate to it very well...it is like I dreamt it or it happened to someone else. I look at the pics and remember the places but can hardly remember anything I haven't a photograph of. Has anyone else had this happen? I am wondering if it is a sudden onset of old age ...never happened before in similar trips.
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