Collect Experiences. Not Things. :')

July 28, 2005

City Views - Lanzhou, China


After leaving Lhasa, we spent five uneventful days driving overland through northern Tibet and arrived in our first "official" Chinese City, Lanzho. Cities in China seem to look very similar and tend to be very uninspiring as you can see from this photo. I reckon this has to due with the fact that many of the buildings were constructed by the communist government, but not absolutely sure.

July 22, 2005

Update – The Potala - Lhasa, Tibet


We just spend four days in Lhasa, besides white water rafting, we spent most of the time visiting Buddhist Monasteries around the city. The monastery pictured is of the Dali Lamas' previous home, The Potala.

On Saturday, we head northeast in to China, heading towards Beijing. We'll be traveling over the Tibetan Plateau where we will be "rough" camping (i.e. no showers or toilets) for five consecutive nights. If the current weather conditions are any indication of the future weather conditions, we could be in for a cold and rainy camping experience. Well at least the scenery should be stunning; great plains as far as the eye can see, with snowy peaks raising in the distance. After which the landscape softens to rolling green pastures, where herds of sheep and yak graze among the nomad yurts.

Also, note I can not view my blogsite while in China. I don't know why. I'm able to upload pictures and text, but I'm not able to view the actually site. Hopefully, the text matches the picture. Also, if I haven't responded to comments it's because I'm not able. I'm not sure when I'll be able to view the actual site again.

I’ve also added some additional entries to the toilet diary. Click on November on the lower right hand side of this page and scroll down to see the new entries.

July 19, 2005

Whitewater Rafting - Lhasa, Tibet


I don't have any pictures of the actual rafting. We where told the camera could get wet and damaged. Nevertheless, it was a blast. The water speed was really fast due to the rains.

July 18, 2005

Produce Market - Lhasa, Tibet


The markets are always a fascinating place to visit regardless of the country. The Asian markets are especially exotic and always worth a visit.

Meat Market - Lhasa, Tibet


Main Street, Lhasa, Tibet


July 17, 2005

"Turquoise" Lake , Lhasa, Tibet


"Turquoise" Lake , Lhasa, Tibet

July 16, 2005

Chapel of Jampa, Shigatse, Tibet


An entire building is hollowed out to house the world's largest guided statue - a 26 meter image of Jampa (Maitreya), the Future Buddha. It was made in 1914 under the auspices of the ninth Panchen Lama and took 900 artisan and laborers four years to complete.

In the Middle East we mostly visited Muslim mosques, along with some Christian churches. While in India, we visited Hindu, Jain, Zoroaster, Buddhist and Sikh places of worship. In Tibet, as you might have guessed, Buddhist monasteries are most prominent places to visit. I don't know a lot about Buddhism, but I purchased a book on Buddhism, hopefully it will enlighten me a little.

Prayer Wheels – Shigatse, Tibet


Eva spinning the prayer wheels around the Tashilhunpo Monastery Kora (a type of religion pilgrimage of Buddhist). The prayer wheels circled a significant portion of the monastery and took about an hour to walk around and spin all of them. Eva and I spun every single wheel.

July 13, 2005

Mt. Everest at Sunrise, Tibet


Mt. Everest illuminated by the purple-pink early morning sunrise light. We were very lucky to view Everest without cloud cover, particularly during this time of year.

Me and Mt. Everest, Tibet


I would include viewing Mt. Everest as one of my "top" four sites on this trip so far. The others, in no particular order, would be: 1) the Pyramids in Egypt, 2) Baalbek, the Roman Ruins, in Lebanon, and 3) Taj Mahal in India. Close seconds are: 1) Petra in Jordon, 2) Abu Simbel in Egypt, 3) the White Desert in Egypt and 4) the city tour in Mumbai, India. My top six favorite activities during the trip so far have been: 1) scuba diving in the Red Sea (by far the best), 2) balloon ride in Cappadocia, Turkey, 3) playing with the elephants in Chitwan, Nepal 4) white-water rafting in Lhasa, Tibet, 5) camel safari in Bikaner, India), and 6) climbing Mt. Sinai in Egypt. I'll update these when the trip is over.

Mt. Everest at Sunset, Tibet


The clouds kept shifting as the sun was setting. Watching the sunset on Mt. Everest, the highest place on earth, made me ponder that just two months we were swimming in the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth. Ummm, yup, so what, right!! Oh well, next.

Base Camp, Mt. Everest, Tibet


Transport to Base Camp, Mt. Everest, Tibet


July 11, 2005

Rape Oil Seed Field, Tibet


Interior of Overland Truck - Nyalan, Tibet


It was only a couple of weeks ago, in India, we were in scorching hot weather, now, in Tibet, it's the complete opposite, winter jackets, thermals underwear, gloves and hats.

New Group Members – Nyalan, Tibet


A new group joined us in Katmandu (pictured). The total group now is comprised of 20 group members, three of which are leaders/drivers (not pictured).

July 10, 2005

A Landside between Zhangse and Nyalan, Tibet


We had to wait an extra day in Zhangse, for this landslide to be cleared in order for the truck to pass. The monsoon rains have hit northern Nepal and Southern Tibet as of early July.

July 08, 2005

Going Away Party – Katmandu, Nepal


Not all of these lovely young ladies departed the trip, only some. The picture was taken at the going away party for the India-Nepal participants of the trip.

July 07, 2005

Naren’s House – Katmandu, Nepal


While in Katmandu, I stayed at my friend, Naren's house. As you can probably tell, it was a welcome break from truck and hotel living.

Naren babysitting his dogs and Max – Katmandu, Nepal


The hills of Katmandu are in the background.

July 06, 2005

Update - Katmandu, Nepal


In Katmandu, I escaped from the truck (a.k.a. asylum) and stayed at a friend's house. My friend, Naren and I were housemates at Cornell. He now works for USAID in Nepal and lives in a huge posh house and employs a gardener and housekeeper/cook. During my stay, I've been participate in his ex-pat life which included a "hash" house run in the hills surrounding the Katmandu valley, attended a going away party and participated in my first yoga class, drenched in sweat. Naren also owns a DVD player and a small collection of DVDs, something I've greatly missed.

Tonight we have a farewell dinner for the people on the truck that will be leaving us in Katmandu. Some of the new people have also arrived. I think there will be something like ten new people on the truck to Bangkok.

This Friday, we leave to Tibet and China. The weather in Tibet should be below freezing due to the elevation. We�ll be crossing a number of mountain passes above 5000 meters. There are also very few hotels, so we'll be camping most of the time. We've been stocking up on warm clothing in Katmandu.