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We managed to finally fly to Lhasa from Kathmandu by arranging an “organised tour” through a company called Greenhill Travel – based in Thamel, they also do all extreme sport trips around the Kathmandu valley area. I think the cost of the flight was about £150 which appears incredibly expensive but in fact was the cheapest option to get into Tibet as any guided organised tours require you fly as a group and then return to Kathmandu as part of the group usually in Land Cruisers. These cost anywhere from $500 to over a $1000 depending on company and duration. Our “tour” allowed us into Tibet because we were collected by our “guide” at Lhasa airport but then he just dropped us into Lhasa and we were left to make our way back Kathmandu; somewhat illegally in the eyes of the Chinese.

We spent the first 2 nights in Lhasa acclimatising. We had actually got some altitude pills from the very helpful medical centre in Kathmandu (near the old Royal Palace) as the friend I was with had suffered at Machu Picchu. I had never experienced altitude sickness but these pills seemed to work, as other than being very out of breath climbing the stairs to our room in our hotel we were OK. The hotel we stayed at was called Banak Shol located ideally near the old town and run by local Tibetans. The rooms were very simple and comfortable but the toilets were foul – something we got used to very quickly and really wasn’t much of an issue if you just use the expensive hotel toilets during the day. Highlight was definitely getting a massage in the Blind Massage Clinic that was literally a room in a Tibetan block of flats. The massage was immense and the pan-pipe classics CD such as ‘Chariots of Fire’ being played really made it! Yak butter tea whilst wandering the vast market around the Jokhang is also a must.

Transport within Tibet is severely limited to non-existent along the Chinese built highway from Lhasa to Kathmandu. When we were there the only public transport available to foreigners was the local buses to Shigatse (one of the few “open areas”) that left the main road in Lhasa at 7am – in fact they leave whenever the bus is full so try to time your run and get on one that is filling up rather than get stuck sitting in Lhasa for an hour which is what we did. The bus took 7hours and was absolutely breathtaking and was our first experience of the incredible landscape of the country. If possible get a window seat not just for the views but also for the ventilation as the cigarette smoke can be quite overpowering – as with all of South East Asia that I’ve experienced, everyone smokes, all of the time!

Shigatse is as far as you can travel individually without an Alien Travel Permit in Tibet or as part of an organised tour. As we were trying to hitch our way back to Kathmandu we thought we’d better try get hold of the necessary paper work as we didn’t fancy trying Chinese/Tibetan prison hospitality or getting deported before we had seen the Himalayas properly. We arrived at lunch time in Shigatse and immediately fought our way through all the hotel representatives – Shigatse seems to be a targeted town/city by the Chinese and is mostly all new hotels and business built and run by emigrant Chinese. If you want comfort stay in one of these hotels, if you want to try to experience the Tibetan culture and hospitality head to the old town. We stayed in Hotel Tenzin (we found our Bradt Guidebook to be far more useful with more details maps and accommodation than the Lonely Planet), which was just outside the old Tibetan market and houses. The rooms were very clean and comfortable, the restaurant had a great view of a Monastery – indicated as ruins in our guide books but we were told that it had been rebuilt by the Chinese in less than a year, presumably for tourist purposes as it housed no Monks – and the hot showers were brilliant, easily the best accommodation we had during our time in Tibet. To get a great view of the city and an idea of how remote and huge Tibet is I recommend walking trough the Tibetan houses and market up onto the hills above the town to appreciate the landscape properly.

The next morning we went to the PSB (Public Security Bureau) to get our Alien Travel Permit allowing us to travel without a group back to Kathmandu – you will get used to the fact that there are hundreds of different bits of paper you will be told you need all of which have different names but are essentially the same and all just red tape to discourage you to head out on your own. We unfortunately didn’t have our TTP (Tibet Travel Permit) so were not granted our ATP. By heading to the Internet Café and doing some more reading we discovered that we should’ve been given a TTP by our “guide” in Lhasa as part of the deal we got with Greenhill tours. We then had to get Greenhill tours number of the internet and call them (as the hotel wouldn’t) from what was essentially a barn with a phone in. They gave us the number of the guy we had to call in Lhasa who was extremely unhelpful and in fact angry that we had called him – I presume because he thought he might get in trouble for what could be construed as ditching us as our “guide” by the Chinese authorities. Eventually we got the PSB office to call him and they ordered him to come to Shigatse (a minor 7 hour drive!) and deliver us our TTP. We were extremely surprised at actually how helpful the PSB employees were once we persevered with their initial hostility and complete lack of English. We then had to wait in the PSB office and were finally told late in the afternoon that the papers would arrive in the morning so we had to have another night in Shigatse. This was fine however as it gave us time to go to the working Monastery and watch a ceremony from the grass with the monks dancing to the colossal horns bring played by some of the others. Despite not knowing what was going on it was still a real spectacle.

In the morning we were then told that the local FIT (Free and Independent Travel) agency had our papers so we had to go there, where they refused to give them to us because of ‘politics’. FINALLY, we got our PSB, TTP and ATP paperwork for 150Yen – about £18 – and were told the best place to try hitch our first lift was 1km out of town but don’t tell anyone who gave us our papers if we get stopped! All very strange and kind of worrying at the time but I think it aptly reflects the confusion and fear amongst those living in Tibet about what is legal and illegal and how they are constrained in their actions, despite their best intentions.

After walking to the petrol station about 2km out of town and waiting for about an hour we finally got our first lift from 2 huge lorries, all decorated and painted. They were travelling together but there was only one space in each so we split up and went for it! We had bought a load of cigarettes in Lhasa (neither of us smoke) to give as tips when we hitched and they seemed to love us despite us speaking no Tibetan and them no English – I cant remember what brand the cigarettes were but I think it was simply because they weren’t they cheapest ones they were very appreciative. The drive was rather hairy in a few places with us being split up in the middle of nowhere and one lorry being much quicker up hills than the other one – which had to keep stopping so that myself and the other driver could run down the side of the road to fill up buckets of water to pour on the engine – this was repeated on the downhill parts to keep the brakes cool which often smoked so much they looked on fire!

It ended up taking 5hours to get to Lhatse (about 150kms) at a cost of 1 packet of cigarettes and a round of ice teas and red bulls from a hut on the top of one of the mountain passes when we stopped so the drivers could offer their prayer flags – every mountain pass is covered in the multi-coloured Tibetan prayer flags which are believed to send the prayers that are printed on them every time they flap in the wind. In its simplest form, believing it or not, it is quite a stunning sight at 5000m with the Himalayas in as a backdrop. Unfortunately I cannot remember the name of the hotel we stayed in here but it was one of the cheapest at 15Y and was on the main street near the Farmers Adventure Hotel – THERE ARE NO CASH POINTS OUTSIDE OF SHIGATSE so we were careful to make our money last until we got back to Kathmandu – it was what you’d expect for the cheapest hotel in a small Tibetan town being pretty filthy and toilets that were just a hole on a tiled balcony out the back of the hotel! We weren’t bothered though as we had our sleeping bags and it was all quite funny! We ate a really good yak burger at the Chengdu Restaurant and then went to bed as the electricity wasn’t on so we thought we might as well get up at dawn and try to hitch our next lift.

The next day we got 6 different lifts!! We started in a kind of half lawn-mower half tractor and trailer vehicle that all the local farmers seem to have, sitting in the trailer with our bags for the first 6km out of Lhatse. The guide book indicated there was a checkpoint just outside the town and we were a little nervous about our documents still but we shouldn’t have worried as our driver simply drove around it with us in the back! We gave the old guy 5Y for his troubles after he demanded 15Y and we were all happy. We then walked for about 45mis before being picked up by 2 Chinese guys in their pick up who dropped us off half way up snow covered pass to pick up some local road workers which was a bit of a shock, but they didn’t want anything for the lift so weren’t fussed, other than being quite cold suddenly. It is worth stating here that although vehicles are rare on the road we estimated that we were given lifts maybe only 1 in 8 so you have to be prepared to walk and wait a lot – in fact quite a luxury compared to the majority of tourists who travel through Tibet in landcruisers and only get out at there hotels at the end of the day.

Next we were picked up by a crazy guy in an old jeep who drove us to Shegar for 20Y each. Quite expensive but he dropped us right at the Qomolangma National Park (Everest National Park) office where we bought our permits to enter the park and go to Everest Base Camp. This building is located across the river in the town – you will see the big modern looking building from across the bridge. It will appear totally deserted but walk around and make some noise and eventually someone will come find you. You will also be mugged by a lot of kids here, presumably because they see a relatively large number of tourists stop on their way to Base Camp to collect their permits. It sounds awful but don’t give them anything despite their pleas or they will not leave you alone – also watch your bags as they tried to steal our Ukulele and food on one occasion. After that we walked about 5km out of town before getting a lift in a large truck to within 250m of another checkpoint. This was the first time we had to show our papers and there were no problems so it seems we had everything we needed. The other side of the checkpoint we had to walk for another hour and a half before we got our next lift, this time in another lawn-mower thing by a couple of hilarious young guys, who were really pleased with 2 cigarettes, to the Everest Base Camp turn off. Here we were chucked out by a guy at a checkpoint/tent by the turn off who told us the road was closed and so we couldn’t get to Base Camp. We originally didn’t believe him because we assumed he didn’t want us hitching up to Base Camp without a group or vehicle but eventually we read in our guides that there was another route up from Tingri, another 50km away. We then set off again and only walked for another ½ hour before we got picked up a group Landcruiser – we jumped in the boot – who were heading to Tingri and confirmed that the usual route up to Base Camp was closed. Unfortunately because this was relative luxury in a 4×4 it cost us $15 after we haggled A LOT with the driver who was demanding $40 originally.

We got a room/shed for 10Y at the Himalaya Hotel at the end of town – beware the toilets when there is a strong wind coming across the open plain! Tingri is in fact quite amazing as a settlement and definitely worth a stop if you can, not because there is anything to do – it is literally two lines of buildings along either side of the road for about 200m – but it is situated in the middle of a gigantic plain surrounded by hills and in the distance the snow capped Himalayas such as the 8000m peak of Cho Oyu. We were assured that you can see Everest on a clear day but unfortunately there was cloud cover to the West when we were there. Tingri was full of Landcruisers and there Western tourists staying overnight before an early start up to Base Camp in the morning so we asked all the groups in our hotel if we could jump in with them – they were surprisingly negative despite us offering to pay, we assumed it was because they were paying hundreds of dollars and didn’t want us getting the same experience on the cheap. Quite disappointing but we decided to try our luck walking along the gravel track that they would drive up in the morning.

NOTE – there are two roads from Tingri up to Base Camp which we didn’t notice – the more Easterly one was used more in morning by the groups that had stayed in Tingri and the more Westerly one was used more later in the morning as groups came down the Lhasa road. We only saw one local truck drive up this road whilst we were walking. One NZ couple out of approximately 20 groups that drove past actually did stop and we even got in there boot but were too heavy for the suspension considering the quality of the road according to the driver. This was a real shame and they were great for stopping but that was the end of our attempt to get to Base Camp. We had walked about 6 hours and were knackered and didn’t fancy another night at 4500m in Tingri. We finally got back to the main road just outside Tingri and had been sitting down on our bags for no longer than 2minutes when we saw two 4×4’s coming – we immediately had very little hope, especially when the first one didn’t stop but the second one did. It turned out to be a private vehicle of what appeared to be 2 suited Chinese businessmen being driven by a crazy young guy with one driving glove, sunglasses on his head and a rather dashing shell suit – he literally belonged in on MTV Base! All very strange but we pointed on the map where we were going and they grinned at us so we jumped in. We then covered about 160km to Nyalam in 3hours driving at full speed with no respect for the car – he was airing over jumps and driving down the side of the mountain rather than on the gravel tracks (the tarmac surface soon disappeared after Tingri) whilst us and the businessmen laughed with petrified enjoyment in the back! We even stopped for a photo with them on top of our final pass at Latung La! Even better when we got to Nyalam they would not accept any money so the day had gone from the worst to the best ever…almost.

Unfortunately the road from Nyalam to Zhangmu (the border town with Nepal) was closed for 3hours when we arrived because of land-slides. We killed the time in a Amdo Tashi Restaurant eating OK noodles and then negotiating a lift with a large, very old bus at the front of the queue of traffic that had built up through the town waiting for the road to re-open. We managed to arrange a lift for $5 for the two of us in a half full bus of Chinese tourists. It finally left at 7.30pm and we found out why the road had been closed – it wasn’t actually built yet. The road had been carved out from the side of the mountain, often with waterfalls going over the road which was rutted mud and stone. The vertical drop in approximately 1000m down back into Nepal and it was by far and away the most harrowing/brilliant journey of our trip, especially when in got dark and we were driving in rain through clouds along these roads with no barriers and the workforce building them living on the sides of the sheer drops. We finally reached Zhangmu about 9.30pm and stayed in the Zhangmu Hongqiao Hotel in a dorm which was comfortable, after we managed to negotiate a price of all the scraps of Nepalese and Tibetan money we had left.

Getting through the checkpoint the next day was fine and the 9km of ‘no-mans land’ between the Chinese checkpoint and the Nepalese immigration hut was fun on the little shuttle buses that run for about 100 Nepalese Rupees or $1 which is all we had. Our destination that signified the end of our Tibet trip was the Last Resort in Nepal, a Western owned but locally run tented resort on the side of a ravine with Western toilets and solar powered showers – all inclusive meals and accommodation for $15 a day which was absolute luxury after our week! Definitely worth a day or two here, the 160m bunjee jump of the precarious steel swing bridge being optional for $100.

November 6th, 2008 | Tags: Asia, China, Everest, Gap Year, Hitch hiking, Tibet | Category: Asia Trips, China | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL