Undertones of Yak
I've been in Tibet just over a week now; my 7 days in Tibet rather than the 7 years of the movie. It's been a thoroughly interesting experience but a draining one too, largely I assume to the altitude making normal sightseeing relatively hard work and tiring. While there are some astounding sights to see here the locals' focus on money, from begging to ripping you off at every turn does wear you down after a time. It certainly doesn't seem to be a very Buddhist way of going about things, yet money talks loudly here, even to the Monks, who on occasion can be seen begging while simultaneously chatting on their mobile phones.
Tibet is distinctly different from the rest of China, yet as the Chinese play such a role in this region the ubiqitous abrasiveness of Chinese cities is alas present here too. In fact it's rather difficult to distinguish what the particular facets of Chinese and Tibet cultures are. The Tibetans can be spotted by their appearance easily enough, but they seem to partake in hawking, noise and bad driving in no less measure than the Chinese. I had been hoping for something of a respite from these but it seems I'll have to move on before I find somewhere that's not so harsh to the Western sensibilities.
Fortunately Tibet is extremely large and escaping into the countryside does offer a difference of pace and attitudes to a degree although the phrase "Hello... Money" now seems to have been universally taught across the province and irrespective of your location you can always expect an outstretched hand in the direction of any foreigner. I've taken two trips from Lhasa, the first a day trip to a remote Monastery a couple of hours down largely rough dirt roads. The absence of people and noise so all pervading in the rest of China was nothing short of a joy, although the thin air at 4500m meant that animated celebrations were more muted than they might have other been.
The second trip and without doubt the highlight of my time in Tibet was a four-day, three-night journey to Everest Base Camp, or known as 'EBC' to those in the know, or those who wish to appear in the know. It involved an amount of driving I've never before encountered. I mean, in the UK there's only so far you can go before running out of the land or otherwise losing the will to live. Here the distances and sporadically rough road surfaces made for an entirely new journeying experience. We made our way through desert, one horse towns, arid valleys, arable lands, precarious mountain side roads and altitudes climbing from around 3600m in Lhasa to 5200m at Everest Base Camp. The journey was by no means universally joyous in nature, and the horse-drawn cart journey I took to and from Base Camp from the car park (the baggage I had made walking impractical) was a great rip off and slow to the point of torture. However irrespective of how blatant the locals may wish to scam you, the sight of Everest at close hand, or at least as close as any of us were willing to go, single-handedly made the trip. It was superb. Yes we stood for long periods waiting for the cloud to clear and reveal the greatest of peaks, but come the evening the most divine view of Everest in shades of yellow, orange and red successively were on show to all. It was all we had hoped for, and despite the two largely dull days spent returning to Lhasa we were undoubtedly satisfied by the experience. I wouldn't do it again, but it's one of those things in life that requires doing just the once.
Although being at Base Camp didn't leave me any worse for wear, unlike most others there who at the very least complained of headaches, on returning to Lhasa I'm finding myself pretty tired out, as are the others I discovered from dinnertime chat last night. I could certainly spend longer in Tibet but I've been in China a good while now, and as a result I've decided to return to Chengdu tomorrow and from there get myself into South East Asia.
It will mean farewell to the trusty Yak, pivotal ingredient of many a local dish here in Tibet. I begin the day by spreading the viscous cheese-looking Yak butter on my toast in the morning, Yak milk (and you certainly can taste the Yakness of it) in my hot chocolate at lunchtime, and for dinner take your pick from Yak Burger, Yak Sizzler, Yak Steak or Yak Chowmein, washed down with Yak Butter tea, with chocolate brownie made from Yak butter for desert containing a distinct 'undertone of Yak'. Several travellers have expressed a wish for butter or marg from home, with one coming up with the entrepreneurial idea of starting a new imported line in Tibet entitled "I can't believe it's not Yak!" A surefire winner.
Tibet is distinctly different from the rest of China, yet as the Chinese play such a role in this region the ubiqitous abrasiveness of Chinese cities is alas present here too. In fact it's rather difficult to distinguish what the particular facets of Chinese and Tibet cultures are. The Tibetans can be spotted by their appearance easily enough, but they seem to partake in hawking, noise and bad driving in no less measure than the Chinese. I had been hoping for something of a respite from these but it seems I'll have to move on before I find somewhere that's not so harsh to the Western sensibilities.
Fortunately Tibet is extremely large and escaping into the countryside does offer a difference of pace and attitudes to a degree although the phrase "Hello... Money" now seems to have been universally taught across the province and irrespective of your location you can always expect an outstretched hand in the direction of any foreigner. I've taken two trips from Lhasa, the first a day trip to a remote Monastery a couple of hours down largely rough dirt roads. The absence of people and noise so all pervading in the rest of China was nothing short of a joy, although the thin air at 4500m meant that animated celebrations were more muted than they might have other been.
The second trip and without doubt the highlight of my time in Tibet was a four-day, three-night journey to Everest Base Camp, or known as 'EBC' to those in the know, or those who wish to appear in the know. It involved an amount of driving I've never before encountered. I mean, in the UK there's only so far you can go before running out of the land or otherwise losing the will to live. Here the distances and sporadically rough road surfaces made for an entirely new journeying experience. We made our way through desert, one horse towns, arid valleys, arable lands, precarious mountain side roads and altitudes climbing from around 3600m in Lhasa to 5200m at Everest Base Camp. The journey was by no means universally joyous in nature, and the horse-drawn cart journey I took to and from Base Camp from the car park (the baggage I had made walking impractical) was a great rip off and slow to the point of torture. However irrespective of how blatant the locals may wish to scam you, the sight of Everest at close hand, or at least as close as any of us were willing to go, single-handedly made the trip. It was superb. Yes we stood for long periods waiting for the cloud to clear and reveal the greatest of peaks, but come the evening the most divine view of Everest in shades of yellow, orange and red successively were on show to all. It was all we had hoped for, and despite the two largely dull days spent returning to Lhasa we were undoubtedly satisfied by the experience. I wouldn't do it again, but it's one of those things in life that requires doing just the once.
Although being at Base Camp didn't leave me any worse for wear, unlike most others there who at the very least complained of headaches, on returning to Lhasa I'm finding myself pretty tired out, as are the others I discovered from dinnertime chat last night. I could certainly spend longer in Tibet but I've been in China a good while now, and as a result I've decided to return to Chengdu tomorrow and from there get myself into South East Asia.
It will mean farewell to the trusty Yak, pivotal ingredient of many a local dish here in Tibet. I begin the day by spreading the viscous cheese-looking Yak butter on my toast in the morning, Yak milk (and you certainly can taste the Yakness of it) in my hot chocolate at lunchtime, and for dinner take your pick from Yak Burger, Yak Sizzler, Yak Steak or Yak Chowmein, washed down with Yak Butter tea, with chocolate brownie made from Yak butter for desert containing a distinct 'undertone of Yak'. Several travellers have expressed a wish for butter or marg from home, with one coming up with the entrepreneurial idea of starting a new imported line in Tibet entitled "I can't believe it's not Yak!" A surefire winner.
posted by Daniel at 5:42 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home