Day 38 – Breathtaking and silent Tibet

By bogaert

Yesterday I breathed the very cold air into my lungs while walking stairs uphill at 4800 m. Last night, I felt becoming a bit sick. It is not the moment to get sick! So, this morning I took one nutrition bag (full day of nutrition in a small bag that is dissolved in 250 ml of water), 400 mg of vitamin C, 250 mg of Aspirin, and 250 mg of Ibuprofen.

Today at 09:00 my driver and guide were awaiting for me to drive 380 km west till Shigatse. Travelging in Tibet is quite different compared to what I experienced in the rest of China. Beside completion of the necessary paperwork, I had to hire a full time driver and a full time guide for my entire stay in Tibet. Also my itinerary needed completely detailed submission. Today we passed six checkpoints, each requiring inspection of the paperwork. Actually, it is a bit weird being tracked, but on the other hand a relaxed way of traveling. I feel like a prince with two servants taking care of every move I make. The best thing is that whatever I would do wrong, they would be blamed as they must to take care of me 24 hours per day. The car is video monitored, and sometimes the guide apologizes when being unable to answer a question he may not respond. Any government related question is kindly declined, which is fine for me being here on holiday and primarily interested in culture and nature.

When driving out of Lhasa I noticed two things: Firstly, no more air pollution! The air in the cities was always ugly, but once outside Lhasa the air was clean. I could breath. Secondly, no more noise pollution. The continuous noise in the city of Xiamen made me crazy, being it road works, construction works, music on the streets, music in the hotel, the AC in the room … you name it, and there was always noise. Even Beijing, Xi’an, and Lhasa were noisy. Outside of Lhasa, enjoining the sound of silence after all these weeks felt so good!

Today we went from Lhasa via the Kamba-la summit to the Yamdrok-tso lake, one of the four holy lakes in Tibet. The views on the way were breathtaking, and the 50 km long deep blue lake was astonishing. Whatever I thought about the beauty of the Tibetan landscape was surpassed. We continued our way to Gyantse to visit the Pelkor Chöde monastery, founded by the first Panchen Lama back in 1418. Thereafter it took another two hours drive till Shigatse. We stopped shortly at a barley mill and could taste the roasted barley. Actually, it tasted very good.

We arrived at 18:00, a long day to move 380 km.

Landscape