Expat Travel

Tibet Day 2: Tsetang

With the kitchen barely awake, we ordered our first "Tibetan" breakfast at the Tashi Restaurant in Tsetang. With yogurt sour enough to curl your toes, 3/4" thick pancakes, a wondrous blend of Nescafe, and eggs, we were ready to tackle our first sight.

Gaden had recommended that while Yumbulagang (also known as Yumbu Lhakang = castle on the top of a female deer-like hill) wasn't on our itinerary, it was a real must. There was some mumbling about needing to be permits, a friend needing to be the office, one permit received, and well, perhaps we needed to make this the first stop. Maybe not an auspicious opening to the capricious nature of the controls on travel in Tibet, but he was right - Yumbulagang was a phenomenal stop.

Perched atop a hill with views across the river valley, this legendary first building was spectacular. According to tibettravel.info, Yumbulagang , “palace of mother and son” in Tibetan dialect, is the first palace and one of the earliest buildings in Tibet, having a history of more than 2,000 years. It’s said that it was built for Nyatri Tsanpo, the first Tibetan King by Bon believers in the 2nd century BC. Then it became the summer palace of Songtsan Gampo and Princess Wencheng. The 5thDalai Lama changed it as the monastery of Old-Yellow Hat Sect (Kadamspa).

Getting to the palace presented the first challenge for our oxygen starved lungs, and the first experience of the large thigh muscles screaming for oxygen on stair climbs. The vendors were just setting up for the day, but Ian was still able to pick up his prayer flags to leave a bit of his soul on the peak behind the palace.

Before entering the palace, offerings of heather and juniper incense were burnt; presumably joining the raveling flags in sending prayers to the gods. Here's Karl sending out his thoughts to the world.

Looking down from the palace, the fields were under heavy cultivation. The forests long gone, with the Chinese putting money into limited reforestation in some areas to stabilize the land.

By the time we made it back down the hill (much simpler than going up), we were ready to tackle the monasteries of the Tibet. Next stop: Trandruk Monastery (aka Traduk Temple). Trandruk is one of Tibet's oldest monasteries built in the 7th century during the reign of Songstan Gampo. It’s said that renowned figures in the history of Tibetan Buddhism, such as Padmasambhava and Milariba, had practised Buddhism nearby after it was built and the remaining relics are sacred land for the devotees. Trandruk later converted to the Gelugpa sect of Buddhism and experienced large-scale reconstruction.

Tran means roc and druk means dragon in Tibetan. The monastery got is name from the legend that it could only be built after Songtsan Gampo had turned into a roc and conquered an evil dragon.

Monasteries live off the offerings left of the Buddhas, gods, lamas and guardians. This monastery was most intriguing with the temple festival masks garnished with offerings poking out of every opening.

Lunch back at the Tashi Restaurant then onwards in our journey to Samye.

See the beginning of the trip at: Planning for Tibet, and Arriving in Tibet and Off to Tsetang

Link forward to Tibet Day 2: Journey to Samye

Labels: Traduk Temple, Trandruk, Tsetang, Yumbu Lhakang, Yumbulagang, Zetang

posted by Sherry L. Read @ 3:35 PM 0 comments links to this post

Arriving in Tibet and off to Tsetang

The only "direct" flight from Shanghai to Lhasa changes planes in Xian. At transit in Xian, our boarding passes were collected. Tim had the foresight to grab the baggage claim tickets from boarding passes before they were replaced with new ones - 5 seats together and 1 in another row!

Chaos then ensues when it is time to board the onward bound flight as it becomes necessary to try to find the old boarding passes to be returned. This, of course, so that errant baggage tags could be retrieved. The endless inefficiencies of China systems!

We did however manage to claim a full row, trading off the one seat we needed.

And so, another few hours later, we arrive at Gongkar airport - SE of Lhasa to be met by our erstwhile guide, Gaden, and driver for the trip. Bedecked with our white silk scarves, we head off to our first destination Tsetang, elevation 3,550m. Described by Lonely Planet as an "uninteresting modern town", we couldn't disagree. Nonetheless, moving ever so slowly up the stairs to our rooms at the Snow Pigeon, the rooms were relatively typical of a Chinese business class hotel - a bit noisy and smoky but perfectly adequate.

Gaden agreed to meet us at 7 and take us to dinner at the first of seemingly endless Tashi Restaurants. Walking (slowly) there and puffing by the time we reached the second floor restaurant, we had our first tibetan/nepalese dinner, complete with the obligatory taste of yak butter tea. Service was slow (the place was packed; presumably with every western tour group in town), but the food was good. Even to the confusing dish that was deemed to be chili chicken, but was the chili potatoes ordered by another group.

With a menu boasting of yogurt, pancakes and American breakfasts, and a hotel looking like it would serve something a bit too much like a classic Chinese hotel breakfast buffet, we asked put down money for breakfast so that the Tashi restaurant would open for us.

No smile given to a Tibetan goes unreturned. On our way to Tsetang, we stopped in a small town to pick up water. Judy and I attracted quite a bit of study from an old woman who wandered by. As we studied her, she studied us. When I gave her a big smile, a huge one-tooth smile and a thumbs-up came in return. Then again, if you are Gaden, no smile to an attractive young woman will go unreturned!

And off to our first night of sleeping at altitude. Aside from the hard beds, noise and smoky rooms, I was an immediate believer in the efficacy of the Diamox. Slept reasonably well, felt like I could breathe and didn't have a massive headache.

Just a side note, for those people who would like the assurance of having an personal oxygen canister with them, they are readily available at the airport and in Lhasa (and presumably other major tour destinations). There were NONE obviously for sale in Tsetang. So if you take this route and want some insurance, pick it up before leaving Gongkar. See Planning for Tibet for more thoughts on arranging travel and dealing with altitude.



Link to Day 2: Tsetang

Labels: Gongkar airport, Tashi Restaurant, Tsetang

posted by Sherry L. Read @ 2:51 PM 0 comments links to this post