Let loose in Lhasa
This morning we woke to amazing scenery and clear blue skies. Endless grass plains with rolling hills and large lakes. The background is dotted with snow covered peaks. Truly beautiful. The train PA provides the occasional English announcement talking about the construction of the railway and what you can see on the way. A large portion was constructed on permafrost at great expense and is apparently the highest railway in the world (we passed the high point at over 5000m this morning). The compartments are equipped with emergency oxygen (we heard airflow at the valves but i think they try to pressurize it like a plane a little) and an announcement urged staying inside at the train stations even though it has an ‘oxygen production plant’ – whatever that is.
Dropping onto the Tibetan plateau there were patches of desert and a few station stops in between the engaging landscapes. 44 hours after leaving Chengdu we slid to a very smooth stop (the entire trip was very smooth) at Lhasa train station. The station is new (5 years old), immense and reminiscent of a scene from a James bond flick. Immediately obvious is the extra ‘official’ presence – Police, military and government all standing guard.
We were met by our guide (we’ll call him ‘Bob’ so he doesn’t get into any trouble if I report that he has told us things he shouldn’t have) who presented us with white Tibetan prayer scarves. They don’t seem to work… I instantly dropped the new camera to the parking lot floor – damit ! We boarded our ride – a solid old Toyota Land Cruiser that definitely looks the part – for the short trip into Lhasa. The place is nothing like what we had imagined. Four lane freeways, shiny new spaghetti interchanges and manicured traffic islands – a far cry from the atmospheric home of Tibetan Buddhism clinging to our minds. Our guide delivered us to some rather bad accommodation – but we had expected this as Lhasa is know for its crummy budget options. After settling in and a quick shower we set out with the girls for an early dinner along the main streets. Both the town and the meal did not impress but we were so hungry and tired it did not really matter.
[Pictures: More Landscaping – there be snowy mountains !]
– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi
Fantastic news !!! I am now the exceptionally proud brother of a Bona fide Doctor (PhD). Not sure if there is some title I get just for being here – maybe like a Royalty thing ? ;). Kidding aside. Congratulations brother. We could not be more chuffed. Enjoy the success you have worked so hard to achieve. Wish we were there to help celebrate !
We met the two girls who are sharing the expense with us at the hostel just before leaving for the train station. One is from Holland – a final year Med student who was born in Korea and lives in Holland. The other is a very young Lithuanian studying international business in Denmark – sounds like she and her family have spent their lives moving around Europe. So easy to get exposure to so many different cultures and languages growing up in Europe. The train station was business (chaos) as usual and we got to our train without hassles. It’s a newish train so is still clean and tidy. We are in ‘hard sleeper’ class again – open carriage bunks stacked 3 high. V and I had been booked two opposing bottom bunks – we prefer to be tucked away on higher ones but that is jut how it turned out. An old Tibetan looking lady arrived at our isle showing us her ticket. She had one of the top bunks (over 2m up) V was happy to trade with her. She was too sweet and ecstatic, even insisted on paying for the change (bottom bunks are more expensive). At 10 the lights went out plunging us unexpectedly into pitch darkness. With nothing else to do everyone turned in. We slept well.