Our trip with Odyssey

China - Everest Base Camp, En route

Here is a Yak, dressed up for the tourist trade - taken along the way to the Everest Base Camp (EBC).

We stopped by a lake side to have lunch. The rocks were stacked up by the Tibetans for religious purpose.

The road to the Base Camp was ungraded for a long time and Calypso could only making slow progress. Even so, we were shakened out of our bones. It wasn't just bumpy, it was windy as well. Anyway, here are a couple of photos showing the road sneaking up the slope.

It was an early start on 20th July 09. We left the bush camp at 7am so we could get to Pala Pass as early as possible with the chance to view the great Mt Everest before the usual cloud cover. When we got to the top of Pala Pass (5220m), Mt Everest cleared up. There was euphoria with an immense elation when Mt Everest showed itself. It was in deed an emotional moment for a lot of us.

Mt Everest is on the left of the picture, taken on top of Pala Pass. On a clear day, one could see 5 of the world's tallest peaks (all >8000m). This particular day, we saw three: Mt Makalu 8463m (to the left of me in the picture; it is actually in Nepal), Mt Lhotze to the right(8516m) and Mt Qomolangma to the left (ie Mt Everest, 8844,4m).

We arrived at the base camp village about 3pm. Mt Everest was still cloud covered. After "checking" into our "hotels" - ie, Yurt tents, 5 to a tent - we made our way up to the checkpost, officially the Base Camp. Some walked (1/2hr) and some took the bus. I was expecting a strenous climb and took the bus. The road to the checkpost was actually very gentle. The Chinese soldiers refused us entry over the checkpost for the final 50m. Chinese citizens were allowed through while bone fide tourists like us were not allowed. Still can't see the logic in their decision. LH and I decided to walk back.

Not long after we arrived back at the base camp village, the glorious Mt Everest opened up again and remained cloudless until we left the next day. Some of us parked ourselves out in the open early in the morning and watched the sun's rays striking the mountain. What a glorious sight it was. Here are some photos.

(the mountain is in between my fellow travellers, on top of Calypso). Here are a couple of close shots of Mt Everest using May-Le's zoom lens without Image Stabilizer, taken from the North side of the great mountain:

On the way down, we stopped at Rongpu, the monastary village and took a few more pictures of the mount. The photo spot was recommended by TaWa, our Tibetan guide. Here are some of the pictures:

On the way back to Lhasa, we stopped at Pala Pass for the last time and here is a photo showing the remaining two peaks (>8000m) which we did not see the previous day, ie Mt Chu Oyu (8201m) and Mt XixiaBangMa (8021m). Unfortunately, Everest was covered up by that time.

We bush camped about 10km passed Lhaze township on our way back to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. Here is a picture of Steve and Alan. Sadly, this was both their last bush camp with us, and they had packed their tents for the last time. Steve was being dropped off at Xigaze to explore a bit more of Tibet while Alan, Rachel, Emma and Lindsay would leave the truck to journey themselves as from Lhasa. Hope to catch up with them again soon.

Xigaze is the second largest city in Tibet and also the second most important to the Tibetans because the number two religious leader (next to the Dalai Lama) stays there. We did not stay in Xigaze for long as we were pressing for time to arrive back at Lhasa.

22nd Aug 2009 had an eclipse of the sun and many had travelled thousands of kms to see this eclipse. We were lucky, we saw it all and we felt it - the sudden darkening, birds singing, etc. Here is a picture of the eclipse taken from Tibet through a cheap plastic film, but very effective spectacles, courtesy of Jenny.

After Lhasa Potala Palace ..... after Everest Base Camp, are there more exciting places to come?...... just wait.....

China - Tibet - Lhasa

The Potala Palace is synonymous with Tibet, or at least it was the image I had in mind since my lower secondary school years. It was probably because of the infamous black and white photo of the Potala Palace in the georgraphy book. Seeing the Palace was another childhood ambition achieved. There were many visitors through the palace each day. Within the palace, crowd controllers ushered tour groups through the various rooms, halls, temples, mausoleums, etc quickly. We were lucky because we wandered through the palace at our own pace. Unfortunately, no photographing was allowed inside. Here are some photos from outside and from the entrances:

(taken from the south side and courtyard within).

Inside the palace there were drawings and painting dating back to 13th and 14th century. Buddhist manuscripts, written in gold ink on "paper" imprenated with poison (to shield against vermin attacks), of over a thousand years are still kept in good condition in special storage. We inadvertently wandered into a hall where the monks were repacking the manuscripts. Because there were so few of us, one of the monks stopped and brought the manuscripts across to us for a closer look and feel, before he could tell us not to touch. We were very previleged.

(taken from the north side).

Gold seemed to be in most visitors' mind when the visited the Potala Palace and they were not disappointed. The final resting place of the previous Dalai Lamas has gold covered stupas: eg 7th Dalai Lama's stupa has 498kg of gold, while the 5th Dalai Lama's stupa has 3721kg (in today's term, it is worth USD125M!!) of gold.

(taken at night with a pair of very steady hands)

Here are a few pictures taken generally around Lhasa:

We witnessed in the Sera Monastary, monks debating amongst themselves. They discussed the buddhist scriptures and debated their philosophy and interpretation. At times the debates got rather heated. The hand gestures would indicate a question or an answer, and the occasional smack on the head for consistently wrong answers:

Here is one for the environment. This is a picture of a water boiler using solar energy, two halves of a parabola dish and the kettle is placed on focal point:

China - Tibet- Lhasa, Jokhang Temple

I am doing a special blog on the Jokhang Temple - the holiest place of worship in Tibet.

Barkhor Street encirles the temple and every day thousands of people, Tibetans and visitors alike, walk the street sending prayers up to "above". One must walk in the clockwise direction.

The prayer drums too must be rotated in the clockwise direction.

Outside the temple, facing the temple entrance, Tibetans posturing. Looking at the dedication, it would be an endurance test for many of us. Dawa, our Tibetan guide, said they posture about 3000 times - how about that for dedication!

There were delays in getting into the temple because of the crowd. Crowd controllers obviously allowed those who came to pray in first. Tourists were given a time to return, usually during a quieter period. It was like a maze inside. The holiest image of Buddha (1400 yr old) was what most disciples came to worship - huge queue getting to it. This image was part of Chinese Princess Wencheng's dowry to King Songtsen Gampo and was originally installed in the Ramoche Temple a short distance away. (The reason why it got shifted here is another story.) No photographing was allowed in most part of within the temple. Here are a few shots in the area we were allowed to photograph:

The paintings are still original. Apparently, the pitment used for the colours and paints were made from precious stones and hence never faded over the years. They apparently wash the walls (and paintings) every so often!

There was a very strong smell of Yak fat (oil) where disciples contributed to the oil lamps. In this practice it left the floors very greasy and slippery. Fire risk is obviously a major concern in such a place.

We were allowed to the roof top for a better view of the surrounding. This is the courtyard outside the Jokhang Temple: