29/5/97

Now's the time to think about where I want to go next and how I'm going to get there. Basically, I want to see Lake Yamdruk and the Karo-Lo pass south of Lhasa, Shigatse, Lhatse, Everest , and Zhangmu. Other places like Nam-Tso will probably have to fall by the wayside, especially as a trek to Everest has to be done; Tony wants his altitude data! Gideon and Gal want to hire a Landcruiser and do a similar route after obtaining a few people to share the cost. I would like to join, but there is one problem; I would be repeating the Everest section. Well, we'll see.

Later I was walking down the street and came across a western girl with a scarf across her face; she rather surprised me when she pulled it down, as half her face was badly burnt. Sarah had just got back from the Ganden-Samye trek and made the mistake of leaving her face uncovered. Strangely for someone with red hair, she'd forgotten to bring anything for sunburn, so I gave her my lotion; being such an "Iranian-looking" type I had precious little need for it. It also turned out that she was looking for a 4WD tour as well, which could well prove useful, and we arranged to meet that evening for dinner so she could meet the others, who now included Yeung. The rest of us looked around the Barkhor area then I faxed Mum and Dad, thereby avoiding endless questions and breaking all the potentially worrying bits easily. I did ask about email, but according to the guy who ran the fax/computer bureau next to Tashi's, you would have to ring Chengdu to get access to a router which he saw as a bit expensive. He also had a few problems with power cuts, which are rather common here.

I appear to have adapted to the height fine now, with all readings the same as at sea level, but Gideon is having a few problems with a heart rate of 90! However over a heated planning session in the backpacker hangout Tashi's I decided to try some "Lhasa Beer", and soon discovered that the altitude makes you merry very quickly.

Snowlands Hotel, Lhasa	Barkhor market

30/5/97

The hangover made the running up and down the stairs even more difficult than the altitude; I only managed 20 minutes. It was then time to see the Jokang temple, which is the world centre of Tibetan Buddism. The entrance is covered in prostrating pilgrims, but it has to be said that the atmosphere inside was magical. The first thing you're supposed to do is follow the pilgrims route of a series of contracting clockwise circuits of the inner temple, spinning long lines of prayer "cylinders". Once inside the inner temple, there are a series of shrines to various deities, before which people affix money and endless yak butter candles; the smell is overpowering. Upstairs I met some Mongolian pilgrims escorted by a trainee monkess of about sixteen or so who spoke fluent English, which came in very useful in explaining each shrine. I soon realized that I had forgotten most of my Mongolian, but managed "sain baina u" all the same. We then managed to get permission to go onto the roof, where there are a series of solid gold statues, plus an excellent view. It's all very different from anywhere else I'd seen in the past two months, and well worth visiting.

In the afternoon my Kiwi roommate Angela took me on a tour of a local sewing shop, and I promptly decided to kit Mum and Grandma out in Tibetan gear. I figured that I could do with something a little more efficient than a mountain shirt on those freezing passes, so I got a wool "cagoule". Walking back I was privileged to witness a Lhasa thunderstorm. I say privileged, because the locals were obviously delighted; the first peal of thunder caused a huge cheer!

Jokhang temple	Prostrators from the top of Jokhang

31/5/97

I've decided I'm on the 4WD tour; it may be repeating some bits, but I should get to see all that I'm interested in. It's being arranged with a semi-permanent resident of Lhasa and the Snowlands hotel; an American woman called Chris. Basically, a week seeing most of Southern Tibet should total 1100Y each, which is doable. There is a small problem; the PSB will need our passports for a day so we can get our Everest Base Camp permits. I'm sure that you can get them actually at the Chay checkpoint, but I suppose that they have to have a means of checking who came in legally or not! Angela, who eventually had to come in by bus after trying hitching and illegal bus tickets, had an extremely amusing story about Miss Lee at Golmud. Apparently, after a promise by a driver that he would take them to Lhasa, they were sitting in the bus waiting to go when a "policeman" got on and ordered them all off. He then escorted them to the Golmud CITS office, where a vengeful Miss Lee insisted that they buy full price tickets after their passports had been confiscated by the "policeman". At that point, one of the party noticed that the supposed policeman was actually in the staff photo on the wall of the CITS office! All hell broke loose, embassies were called, and half the backpackers staged a sit-down in the middle of the office. Six hours later, Miss Lee gave in, handed the passports back, and sold them half price tickets! Nice one.

We went to Tashi's II for dinner with Sarah and one of her acquaintances from Chengdu, an Italian called Angelo who spoke fluent Mandarin. It was suggested that we all go to the local nightclub after dinner. This surprised us somewhat, as the thought of a nightclub in Lhasa, especially one opposite the Potala Palace, made the eyeballs boggle somewhat. However, we set off for the place via a karaoke bar or two where Sarah absolutely refused to demonstrate her trained singing voice; perhaps it's just as bad as mine! After reaching JJ's as it's known, we were pleased to find that it had no entrance fee, only to find that the booze prices would put Stringfellows to shame. However, it had other unique features too.

The first was immediately apparent as we walked in; five policemen were standing against the walls. They didn't stay there long either; within a minute of us sitting down we had two standing a metre behind us, either because it was assumed that all backpackers are so poor that they always resort to pick pocketing, or more likely because there is a law about Chinese nationals "associating" with foreigners. Invitations to sit down with us met with a stony stare!

The dance music was all western, but 15 minutes after we entered it stopped and we were treated to what looked like a fashion show, as five models trooped in and out of the stage entrance wearing various outfits. After the last had swayed off stage, doubtless balancing an imaginary copy of "Thoughts of Mao" on her head, a band fronted by a pretty Chinese singer came on. It has to be said that she didn't garner much attention, perhaps because her stage presence of a rather small mouse just run over by a truck. However, a few pairs of Chinese men were enticed to dance with each other while we quietly giggled. However, after three numbers she went off, to be replaced by a snappily dressed Chinese singer who patently had an extremely high opinion of himself. Angelo gave us a running commentary on what he was saying.

He started by joking with the audience that he was very tired as he'd been playing mah-jongg all last night. I could sympathize with this, as the last time I was in University accommodation Chinese men playing mah-jongg had kept me awake all night! He then treated us to a dazzling smile and a couple of numbers (in that order of importance), but as the crowd ceased to treat him with the required level of adulation, he started showing a few signs of boredom; pointedly glancing at your watch between verses is a bit of a give-away! By the time he had reached his fifth number, he was telling the crowd that they were going to get the next song whether they liked it or not; there had been a lot of calls for one of the local favourites, which he wasn't keen on singing. Anyway, once he'd removed himself and his ego off stage, we were treated to some dance music- the same dance music, or more accurately a total of four songs on continuous loop. I didn't like Bjork to begin with, and here she was, once every twenty minutes! Anyway, we thought it was time we hit the dance floor, which we hoped might also relieve us of our faithful followers. Being that three foreign men going out there alone might make the PSB a little nervous, we dragged Sarah along as well as we dived into the middle of the pack- followed by three policemen ready to gun us down if we as much as smiled at anything female. It was all just hilarious, but undeniably effective!

Once we left, we were ambushed by a series of taxi drivers keen to drag us into their taxis, so we ran to the first one and got in, only to find that there was no driver! Another mad dash later, and we were finally on the way home. Gideon and I decided to try the karaoke bar next door, but found it extremely boring, though all those pictures of naked women on the walls were, er, tasteful. Took us five minutes of bashing on the hotel door, but they let us in eventually.

1/6/97

The jog up and down the stairs was somewhat harder today; I've picked up a sore throat, not something you really want here. Lets hope it doesn't last, I really could do without it. Anyway, we all went off to the Drephung monastery which proved to be both impressive and possessed of a beautiful view. We then delivered our passports to the tender mercies of the PSB, and went off to the Pentoc Hotel, which is trying to increase it's popularity by showing films on video to all and sundry. Tonight was the Last Emperor, which was broken at regular intervals by power cuts.

Main hall, Drephung monastry	View from Drephung

2/6/97

This is the day before departure, so it's the usual rush. Step one is to visit the Potala palace, which is actually better than I had been told. Sheer scale saw to that, and it's incredible that they managed to build it here using no nails; there's some religious objection to that. As Lhasa has regular earthquakes, they had to pour molten copper into the walls to keep them standing. The coffins containing former Delai Lama's were fairly awe-inspiring; some contained up to four tonnes of gold. Finally, the view over Lhasa was great, though you rather wished that there was fewer industrial estates to view.

The rest of the day was spent getting a few things ready, like money and food, and sending off the family presents; I'm assured that they do get there eventually. Got to bed early, as we're leaving at 0645 tomorrow.

Potala	Climbing up into the Potala
View down from Potala; JJ's on right of square	Discussions over dinner; Gideon, Gal and Sarah with Yeung out of sight to left.