Darchen

From Lake Manasarovar, it was a short one hour drive to Darchen, at the base of Mount Kailas.

Mount Kailas is a 6600M peak in the Tibetan Himalayas and the source of 4 of Asia's longest rivers. It is renowned in Tibet and throughout Asia as a holy mountain, considered sacred by followers of Bon, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism.

Pilgrims from all over Asia make the journey out to Kailas, so they can perform the ancient holy ritual of trekking around the mountain on foot. Called a "kora" in Buddhist terminology, the 32 mile trek at altitudes as high as 6000M is believed to cleanse a person of his or her sins.


The small village of Darchen, at the base of the mountain, serves as somewhat of a basecamp for pilgrims and hikers alike. Arriving there in the early afternoon, we had the rest of the day to mingle with the locals and make preparations before setting off on the kora the next morning.

Since arriving in Tibet, I had been spending a lot of time alone or with my travel mate Naz, a fellow Californian, hanging out in local eateries or guesthouses. English, for the most part, is not spoken outside of Lhasa so I had been relying on my broken Chinese to get by. I had improved considerably since my last trip to the mainland and could now make a bit of smalltalk with the locals, even acting as translator for my non-Chinese speaking friend.

In Darchen, I sat and chatted for a while with the proprietor of a Chinese restaurant that hailed from Shenyang in the Northeastern part of China.

Han Chinese settlers in Tibet get somewhat of a bad rap. But for the most part they are ordinary people from poor rural backgrounds and move to Tibet in search of opportunity and a better life, having nothing to do with their government's politics.

I had always wondered what would compel a person to move out to the middle of nowhere, setting up shop in a place as seemingly foreign and primitive as Tibet. But she seemed to have carved out a comfortable niche for herself, serving up Northeastern Chinese cuisine for tourists and local Chinese. And as cold as it was here, it was at least warmer than back home in Dongbei. She outlined some advice for me on our upcoming hike and furthermore served up the best cucumber salad I've ever had.

At night, I went to the common area of our guesthouse. Though our guest house again lacked running water and indoor toilets, it did have solar panels that provided electricity. The caveat being that electricity was provided only in the common room and only between the hours of 7PM til midnight.

Arriving at 8PM, the room was packed with Tibetan men... warming themselves around the furnace, drinking beer, playing some kind of local gambling game. As the only non-Tibetan in the room, I felt a bit out of place, sitting in the corner sipping tea and charging my IPhone.


A group of Tibetan truck drivers graciously invited me to their table, to drink beer and chat with them.

I wish I could say that I had a profound discussion with them on Tibetan Buddhism and on the state of Tibet under the Chinese Communist Party, but in reality we talked about whatever it is guys talk about in bars. We talked about women. I showed them some travel photos on my Ipad as they asked me questions about the outside world. And they poured me beer after beer until the lights went out at midnight.

At some point, before my judgment became impaired, I had to make the conscious decision on whether to go to bed early and rest up for the three day hike that I was about to undertake or whether to stay up drinking all night with a bunch of Tibetan truck drivers and likely be hungover the next morning.

The choice was a relatively easy one. As even though I don't have any amazing photos or spectacular tales of adventure to show for it, I've found in my travels that nights like these are the ones I look back fondly on and remember best.

I staggered to bed drunk and nauseous, and would awaken several times during the night to go to the outdoor toilet in the frigid nighttime air, the freezing wind biting at me and stray dogs barking as I took a leak.


The next morning, tired and hungover, I would begin my trek around Kailas.

Rooftop of the World

After three days of decompressing in Lhasa (both figuratively and literally in this case, as tourists usually spend a few days in Lhasa to acclimate to the altitude), we hit the road west, driving up and down mountain roads and across the plains of the Tibetan plateau.

Tibet is the least densely populated region of China. Villages, people, and even other cars, were few and far between. For the most part, it was just us, the highway, and a stunning array of landscapes. Occasionally a Tibetan shepherd would appear in the middle of nowhere herding his flock of sheep or a nomadic family would be gathered alongside a lone shack in the remotest of places, leaving us wondering how they survived so far removed from civilization. How would they update their Facebook statuses?

We progressed westward in chunks. Driving for several hours, then stopping for food or to relieve ourselves along the side of the road. As I was barely on speaking terms with a couple of my travel mates at this point, I mostly napped or stared out at the mountains. Periodically the monotony of the drive would be punctuated by the odd, the spectacular, or the flat-out surreal.

A flock of sheep blocking traffic... A gigantic glacier perched atop a mountain pass... A truck toppled over the side of the road as workers scrambled to collect its cargo...


Having grown up in the suburbs of Orange County, some of the scenery was like something out of a movie for me. I must say that coming up on Lake Yamdrok for the first time was a bit awe-inspiring. Our irritability washed away, we all jumped out of the car and ran toward the lake like a bunch of school kids, snapping pictures and posing for photos.


As our itinerary dictated that we cover a few hundred kilometers a day, we were pressed for time and constantly on the move.

From Lhasa, we first traveled to Shigatse, the second largest city in Tibet. The city was under heavy construction, even by Chinese standards, as it was preparing for a visit from Communist Party leader Hu Jintao this summer. New buildings, roads, and other instruments of modernization abounded. Here we were given a brief reminder that we were still in the third world, when my travel mate left her hotel door open and got her camera stolen. I wish I could tell you more about the city, but before I could unpack my bags we were on the move again the next morning.

From there we traveled to Saga, a military town halfway between Lhasa and western Tibet, known more as an overnight travel hub than a travel destination unto itself. It was here that our accommodations began noticeably lacking certain things such as 24 hour electricity, internet, phone service, indoor plumbing, and showers. This is where taking a dump in the field started to become preferable to venturing into the designated restroom area.

The town was a mixture of Tibetans and a few entrepreneurial Han Chinese catering to the locally stationed military personnel. Although my Tibetan activist friend had sworn off patronizing Han Chinese owned businesses in Tibet, she had no qualms about coming along with me went I went to hit up the Han Chinese owned bathhouse for a hot shower. A few Han Chinese tourists also on their way to western Tibet and us westerners were the only clientele.

After another long day of traveling, we arrived at Lake Manasarovar, as a flock of sheep pastured along its shore.


We spent the night at a tiny village along the side of the lake. Our guesthouse was little more than a shack, lacking indoor plumbing and electricity. The light in our room was powered by a car battery wired to a light bulb.


I ate tsampa for the first time, a porridge mixture of yak butter tea and barley flour that is a staple of the Tibetan diet. Like yak butter tea, tsampa is high in calories, easy to prepare, and dirt cheap making it a convenient food for nomadic travelers. Also like yak butter tea, it tastes awful. We sat in the common room, warming ourselves around the furnace, making smalltalk with our Tibetan hosts, and pretending to like our food.


The next morning, it would be just a short trip over to Darchen, which would serve as the base camp for our three day kora around Mount Kailas.

China's Tibet

Tibet is not your ordinary Chinese province.

Since being claimed by the People's Liberation Army in 1950, Tibet has been held in check by the Chinese government, for the most part, through threat of military force.

Periodic sparks of protest or civil unrest have been put down swiftly and ruthlessly. Highly visible and highly armed soldiers are stationed throughout the city of Lhasa.

What's more, Tibet is now dealing with a sort of cultural imperialism.

In recent years, the Chinese government has been pushing a "develop the west" campaign, encouraging and providing economic incentive for Han Chinese to settle in Tibet. While this has brought modernization and greater economic opportunity, critics decry the erosion of traditional Tibetan culture. As more and more Han Chinese flood into Tibet each year, with their cell phone shops and convenience stores, the fear is that Tibetans will eventually be a minority in their own city and a repressed minority at that.

As a tourist arriving in Lhasa, it was eye opening visiting what is more or less a militarily occupied state for the first time. I was told that the Chinese military could lock down the city of Lhasa within an hour, and having been there I can believe it. Seeing armed soldiers being marched around the city or military snipers stationed on top of buildings, while tourists roam around down below snapping photos.

Snapping photos of the soldiers, by the way, is a no-no. After inadvertently taking a picture of one of the soldiers, my friend had her camera confiscated by a soldier and was forced to delete the picture.

I was also struck by the subtle forms of propaganda that permeate the city. During my tour of Potala Palace, after just having just read a book on Tibetan history, I listened to my Tibetan tour guide recount a very different version of historical events. Besides obviously omitting anything related to the currently exiled 14th Dalai Lama, the Chinese government is heavily invested in promoting the view that Tibet has continuously been a part of China since the Yuan dynasty of the 13th century.

Western historians recognize that Tibet has at different points been independent of the of any empire, and even while under the sway of the Mongol and Manchu empires was still unoccupied militarily and for the most part maintained autonomous rule.

I spoke frankly with my tour guide about it afterward, and he said that tour operators must recount the official Chinese governmental view of history or risk losing their jobs (or worse).

Bolder still is the monument in front of the Potala Palace commemorating the "liberation" of Tibet from foreign imperialists. This is how the Chinese government refers to military conquest of Tibet in 1950.

And even subtle everyday things like the English language tourist magazines that are explicitly titled "China's Tibet" rather than just being titled "Tibet".

The clash between Chinese and traditional Tibetan culture is interesting as well. A pattern I have seen throughout Tibet and Xinjiang over the past few weeks, is that the Han Chinese settle and develop on the outskirts of the original town, until eventually there is a Han Chinese side of of town and an "old town".

The Han Chinese part of Lhasa could just as well be any big city in China, filled with cookie cutter Chinese restaurants, convenience stores, and souvenir shops.

While the "old town" consists of traditional buildings, maybe a historical site or two, and locals going about their day-to-day business. Meanwhile mostly Chinese tourists stream through snapping photos and shopping for souvenirs.

So on one side of town I am able to walk the kora around Johkang Temple with Tibetan Buddhists, and half an hour later I can be shopping for new hiking shoes in a Chinese mall. Will the Han Chinese side of Lhasa continue to grow until it envelops the city completely and the aboriginal side of town is relegated to a historical curiosity for tourists?

I won't delve too much into politics. I will say that modernization is occurring all over the world in developing cities just as it is in Lhasa, as much a product of market forces as it is through any efforts of the Chinese government. And with the investment efforts pouring into Tibet come increased economic opportunity and a higher standard of living.

But while Lhasa was quite fascinating for me from a cultural and political point of view, it wasn't til I got out into rural Tibet that I really got a closer look at traditional Tibetan culture and the natural grandeur that Tibet is famous for...

Skytrain

From the city of Chengdu, there are two common ways to get to Lhasa.

The first option is flying. Several flights leave daily from the Chengdu airport, flying directly over the Tibetan plateau and into Lhasa in two hours. The cost of a plane ticket is 1650CNY or roughly $250.

The other option is aboard the recently completed "skytrain", a 45 hour train ride looping northward through Qinghai before traversing west toward Lhasa.


For comparison's sake, long distance trains in China offer three classes of tickets:

The bottom rung is the "hard seat" which consists only of a seat. As you can imagine, this could grow quite tiresome over the course of a 45 hour train ride. Furthermore, as this is typically the most cost effective means of travel in China, you will most likely be traveling among working class Chinese and whatever cultural mannerisms and personal hygiene standards that entails. The price of a hard seat to Lhasa goes for about 330CNY or $50.

The next class up is the "hard sleeper" which consists of a bunk bed in a 6 person cabin. The price of a hard sleeper to Lhasa is about 700CNY or $110.

And one step up from that is the "soft sleeper" which consists of a bunk bed in a 4 person cabin. These go for about 1100CNY or $170

Looking at it in these terms, most well-adjusted financially stable human beings would choose to fly.

But backpackers hate doing things the rational way. So naturally we chose the train, booking four soft sleeper seats.


The train ride was pleasant enough as far as train rides go. The beds were comfortable and the scenery was nice to look every now and then.

The problem is that you are stuck in a cramped room with three other people for 45 hours.

Back in LA, I have heard it said that after a four hour road trip to Vegas together, you either become the best of friends or you never want to speak to each other again. The same could be said of the 45 hour train ride to Lhasa, minus the becoming best of friends part.


For the most part, I spent the entire trip sleeping or standing out in the hallway reading books. I did manage to finish three books on Tibet, so for once I would not be completely clueless while touring a new destination. 7 Years in Tibet is an amazing book, by the way.

Arriving in Lhasa, I could not wait to get off that stupid skytrain.

Itinerary

I've been bouncing around Tibet and Xinjiang for the past few weeks, staying at a random assortment guesthouses, tents, trucker dorms, and creepy old Chinese hotels. Internet access has been sparse, as has hot water and indoor plumbing. I'm currently stationed in the relatively modern city of Kashgar (as modern as a city with donkeys pulling carts down the street can be, I guess) in Southwestern Xinjiang. The past few weeks have been kind of a blur, but I'm going to try to detail some of the high points while I have some free time...

.................................................................................................................

At this time last month, I knew next to nothing about Tibet.

That being said, it was a part of China I had not yet seen and it seemed interesting enough, so I set off to meet an old friend to organize an impromptu trip there. And knowing my friend, it would not likely be an ordinary trip down the well beaten tourist path, but an epic adventure to the very outskirts of civilization. We met up in the city of Chengdu, which is a launching port or sorts, as there are both regular flights and trains to and from Tibet as well as a number of travel agencies that specialize in all things Tibetan.

As it turns out, traveling to Tibet is a bit more complicated than traveling to other parts of China. Because of the political unrest in Tibet, the Chinese government likes to keep a close eye on everything there, including foreign tourists.

As a foreigner traveling to Tibet, you are first required to apply for a heap of government permits. Furthermore, throughout your stay in Tibet, you must be accompanied by a government approved tour guide (lest you wander off the tour bus and incite your own Tibetan uprising). Thus most trips to Tibet are arranged through a "tour" which includes all permits, a guide, a driver, and vehicle rental.

While most tours center around the city of Lhasa and the surrounding sites, we would be taking a more circuitous path. After arriving in Lhasa in central Tibet, we would head all the way west toward Mount Kailash near the border of India. From there we would head northward along the rather charitably entitled Xinjiang-Tibet "Highway", finally exiting into the Chinese province of Xinjiang. In total, we would be racking up over 3000 km and countless hours of driving over 15 days, stuffed in the back of a Toyota Land Cruiser.


The total cost for the permits, guide, driver, and car rental would come to 36,000 CNY or roughly $5500 USD - not including transportation to Lhasa, entrance fees, food, or lodging. To help defray the costs and to keep us company, we recruited another two travelers in Chengdu to come with us. The more the merrier and all.

Now if spending two weeks stuffed in the back of a Land Cruiser with three broke backpackers, driving great distances across poorly kept roads, at high altitude and in inclement weather DOES NOT sound like an ideal vacation to you... well then you are thinking a lot more clearly than I was at the time.

This was the original itinerary given to us by the travel agency (which as it turned out, may or may not have bore close relation to our actual itinerary):


To be continued...

Greetings from Tibet!

Just when you thought my travel blog had come to a grinding, ignominious halt, I am happy to announce that my latest blog is coming to you live from Tibet!

I arrived in Lhasa two days ago, having taken the 45 hour train ride from Chengdu. The train line to Lhasa, which finished construction 5 years ago, is the highest in the world and is considered quite a technical achievement. It runs along a number of notable sites, such as the Tibetan plains, the old Silk Road, and Lake Qinghai, and the scenery from the train was at times quite nice. Our 4 person sleeper cabin felt luxurious by Chinese standards, and I was able to complete a few books on Tibet during the downtime. That being said, the next time I will be taking the two hour plane ride.

I am stationed at a hostel in Lhasa with three travel companions that I met in Chengdu. Although I had been reading quite a few negative things about Lhasa from die-hard Tibet activists regarding over-development and the influx of Han Chinese immigrants, it is still a fascinating city. For the first time in a while, walking down the street and taking in the sights is a fresh and exciting experience.

Over the next two weeks, we will be taking a circuitous route around Tibet, heading west from Lhasa toward Mount Kailash, then northward toward Ali, then exiting into the Chinese province of Xinjiang.

I will definitely be doing some blogging this trip, but pictures and updates mights be few and far between. One thing modernization has not yet brought to Lhasa is fast internet access. Though I'm not sure if it's because of the lack of infrastructure or because of because of the Chinese secret police combing my emails for any mention of the Dalai Lama.

Poker for a Living

It's not as fun to blog about, and I'm sure it's not as fun to read about, but I've spent the last month (and two of the last four months) playing poker in Macau.

I've been playing poker seriously for over 8 years now and I usually don't like talking about it. Sometimes I find it boring and sometimes I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I make money playing a silly card game.

But after some introspection, I've really come to appreciate all the freedom and opportunity it offers me to live my current lifestyle. I'm planning to re-dedicate myself to poker this year... plugging some holes in my game, reading more strategy books, experimenting with more styles, playing more tournaments, and just putting in more hours.

I've had decent results playing the live cash games in Macau and am getting into the rhythm of being a "pro". I've settled down here more than in the past, having rented out a room in an apartment (one block from the Sands Casino) and joined a gym, rather than living out of a hotel and hanging out in the poker room everyday.

I don't want to glamorize the lifestyle too much. The ups and downs can be mentally draining at times, losing thousands of dollars on the turn of a card. And the vast majority of people who try to make money at this game fail miserably. For instance, one of the guys living in the apartment with me has lost about 300,000 HK$ in the past two weeks playing 10/25, which I didn't think was mathematically possible.

Because of visa restrictions, I do have to leave Macau periodically. So my current plan is to alternate monthly between playing live poker in Macau and traveling to different parts of Asia. My visa expires this Saturday, so I'll be moving on to a Chinese city soon to spend the next month working on my Chinese, watching the NBA playoffs, playing online poker, and hopefully getting into some blog-worthy adventures.