Home safe and sound

So we made it. We got to Mount Kailash and have returned safe and sound. Our journey over the border went smoothly, thanks to Tenzin and Gyaltsen. The journey back to Kathmandu was long (many strikes and road blocks) which was frustrating. But we arrived back in Kathmandu 2 days earlier than expected due to the army troubles in Tibet, so we treated ourselves to a luxurious stay in Kathmandu's best hotel, Dwarikas (www.dwarikas.com)- it's incredible! If you ever get a chance to go there- do- it's like staying an an ancient village in Nepal, a serene oasis of tranquility right in the heart of the city. That helped our flagging spirits and energy recover. We'd been to this place on our previous visit, when we took Basant out to dinner at the Nepalese restaurant there, called Krishnarpan and had a 6 course meal (they offered up to 22 courses as well). Good traditional Nepalese food- yummy.

The boys went white water rafting the day after we arrived (honestly, they can't sit still for a minute!) while I spent some quality time with Prerana, Basant's wife, and her mum (I desperately needed female company- after all, I'd just spent the past 2 weeks with 8 men!) We also visited Boudha again and met up with some Tibetan friends, including the mother of 3 of my Tiblets in Dharamsala.

After that we flew back to Delhi, left Rik there for the night (he flew back to the UK the following day) while Tim, Tom & I got the train up to Dharamsala where we spent a busy 3 days checking on the Art Refuge program and staff, reconnecting with Ama Adhe, meeting Moina our new volunteer, bumping into old friends and hanging out with the 5 Tiblets.

And now we're all back in the UK, resting and recovering from jet lag, travel lag, assorted tummy bugs, and culture shock. I haven't heard a thing from the boys since we got back (though had a quick call with Rik) so hope they're still talking to me and will forgive me for dragging them to such a remote, inhospitable part of the world ;) I hope one day they'll go back, that in retrospect they'll find they enjoyed themselves.

In the meantime, Rik (I think) has raised about £1500 on his website for this trip, which he's splitting between Art Refuge UK and Aspire (he's an anethetist and works with spinal injuries patients, so that's fair), and I've raised about £400 so far, so even though we lost a few brain cells on the way. at least we were able to put them to a good cause!

If any of you feel like attempting this journey yourselves, contact our wonderful friend who put it all together for us, Basant (bate@mail.com.np) but make sure you ask that Gyaltsen be part of the package. No trip to Kailsh is worth it unless you have Gyaltsen bringing you tea in the mornings- makes the days worthwhile!

And that's it- hope you enjoyed reading about our adventures. I'm off to potter in the lush greeness of Suffolk caused by weeks of rain (seems the monsoon has followed me)-hope summer comes soon.

thanks for reading this far; there are some final photos below for your amusement.
may you be inspired to travel too,
love
Frances


Spot the 2 weary travellers resting under the stupa's watchful eyes...


...joined by a bearded Rik (he didn't shave for the whole trip)


3 bearded wierdies and 2 lovely Tibetan ladies


Our footprint left in that restaurant in Kathmandu (whose name I can't remember right now)- artwork by Tim


from right to left: Prerana, Basant, Kundu their son, and Sailendra (who works for Basant and who is gorgeous!)


A courtyard at Dwarikas


The pool at Dwarikas


A bearded new arrival at the Dharamsala Reception Centre comtemplates his next move


A second bearded new arrival in Dharamsala does the same


A strange Indian beggar who collected money by whipping himself- ouch!


Assorted Tiblets, travelers and Ama Adhe


Ama-la herself

Back to Nepal

I felt a bit like a fugitive today- we had 2 checkpoints to get through, one of which appeared out of nowhere, a landcruiser on the side of the road marked: Border Defence Police' (we were nowhere near any border at this stage). The 2nd checkpoint was cleverly by a petrol station so you couldn't get past it if you wanted to proceed any further along the road (petrol stations are few and far between). Interestingly, at the petrol station there was also a very large truck full of Tibetans all heading towards Kailash...or trying to. None of them had travel permits so they were stuck where they were. It turned out that several of the people on board actually wanted to go further than Kailash, according to Tenzin, by which he meant Indis...i.e. they were in the process of escaping! So now I've seen all aspects of the journey of Tibetans who escape from Tibet right up to their new homes and lives in exile. Full circle, so to speak. Quite sombering...

It was a long drive today and tee car broke down at one point and had to be push started (Rik & Tim tried but were too breathless to have much effect- we had to wait for the truck and our superheroes Gyaltsen and Prem who managed with no trouble. Due to really heavy rains, the river was swollen and a disgusting colour, so we decided no camping tonight (I didn't fancy having food that had been cooked in that water). Instead we headed into Saga and checked into what could've been their version of a 5 star hotel...except that they had no running water at all. Gyaltsen and Prem set up kitchen int eh hotel garage while Si-Shi-la went to ge th car fixed and Tenzin ed us to the public showers round the corner. Rik managed to break his shower and at one point had both the owner and the owner's wife in there with him (!). And to our amazement, Gyaltsen served up our usual 3 course dinner...in the hotel lobby. And to our extreme amazement, Prem managed to produce a chocolate cake with icing! That man is a genius!


Our 5 star lobby

...with compulsory washing machine


The following morning 'Excuse me, tea please' was served in the hotel rooms and breakfast back down in the lobby. We then had a delightful journey back to the border via a shortcut road from Saga to Zhangmo. It was a lovely journey- hardly any traffic at all-in the first 2 and a half hours of driving we saw 1 other car, 2 trucks, a handful of tractors, 1 motorbike, 1 marmot, several sheep, many nomad camps, quite a few yak...and no Chinese! Bliss! There were a few high passes, then it was all downhill. We dined at Nylam at 6:30, hten joined the queue of cars waiting to drive to the border town of Zhangmo- apparently hte government were working on the road here too, so it was a case of only being able to drive along it after dark or early in the morning. Our driver was determined to get us to the border asap. And what a fantastic journey- I've always loved this part of any journey to or from Tibet- the landscape changes dramatically, going from dry desert landscape to lush tortuously winding narrow roads, passing under waterfalls, completely tropical, fresh air, tons of oxygen, and high spirits. And it was misty which lent a certain magic to the situation. The boys loved it, I could tell. We had a minor delay when the car in front of us lost a rear wheel- we saw it falling off which was quite dramatic. All the drivers stopped to help, and refused to return to their cars when a Chinese official looking person came and barked at them. They stick together, out of necessity- trips to Western Tibet are hard going on any vehicle, so when one breaks down, they all help each other out (unless you're Chinese).

We stayed in a mildewy hotel on our last night, no dinner from Prem tonight (we'd dined in Nyalam earlier) and were accosted by the 'money changee' man a few times until we told him to come back in the morning. Good thing we'd dined earlier- the truck arrived really late as a tyre had burst and they'd had no spare on board. They'd had to send for one by a passing motorbike!

Some views on the way...






...including a bizarre jumping sheep


The last high pass


signs of life again


greenery appearing again



view from Zhangmo hotel room

Kailash, Day 3- Drama at Darchen

That was a nasty storm the night before- I was worried all night that the tent would blow away or that we'd get flooded.

Thankfully, we were all feeling better this morning...probably because we knew the end was in sight. It was only a 2 hour (ish) walk to the meeting place arranged beforehand with Tenzin. I popped up to the Zutul-puk Monastery before we left camp (feeling I really ought to visit one monastery before leaving this area. It was small and has a 'miracle cave' out back where Milarepa (a Tibetan saint) was supposed to have raised the roof with his head and hands- you can still see the imprint!

After a lovely almost leisurely walk of about 2 hours, we found Tom waiting for us, with Tenzin, Si-Shi-la, the car, the truck and all other staff. Hurray! Tom was looking much perkier and smiling- what a relief! He'd even got us a bottle of mineral water- the hero (we'd got tired of drinking sterilised river water- didn't taste great!) After many pictures (which I don't have as my camera batteries went flat- hopefully someone will send me some), a rest and update on events, we set off rather quickly. Apparently, some stupid foreigner at Darchen had handed out photos of the Dalai Lama. The Chinese army didn't like that so surrounded the town, started searching everyone in sight (Tibetans included), tore up travel permits (Tibetans included) and shut down all businesses and restaurants. Darchen had suddenly become a no-go area. Tenzin, our guide, decided, probably sensibly, that we should flee just in case the army decided to tear up our permit which would cause huge trouble for getting out of the country. we still wanted to visit Lake Manasrovar though so headed that way, only to find that the army had control of that area too, so we couldn't go down and take photos by the shore, only from a point far above. Very disappointing as it is a gorgeous Lake and we had all been looking forward to staying there. Mind you, Tom was still suffering terribly from altitude sickness and the Lake was almost the same height as Darchen, so we carried on moving just to get a bit lower. We could tell things were hot as we had 2 check points to get through on our way (although that could've been my imagination, fleeing as we were).

We ended up at the same campsite we'd been at 4 nights before- the one with the goats pretending to be reindeer. It had been a long day and dinner was very late but we were on our way down so all were feeling much more cheerful and with improved appetites. Good thing too, as Prem outdid himself: pizza and chips for diner (how do you cook pizza when you only have a 2 ring stove, a presure cooker and a couple of other pots and pans?)


resting after breakfast, before the final trek



A handsome beast before loading


Zutul- puk Monastery


Gyaltsen cheekily riding Yak man's pony out of camp


A marmot, the highest mammal in the world, which sounds eerily like a seagull!

Lake Manasrovar, possibly with army presence

Kailash, Day 2 continued- a downward journey

Yikes- 2 hours of going down hill, over rocks and scree is really tough on the knees! We passed a serene lake called Gouri Kund, also known as the Lake of Compassion into which the Indian pilgrims are supposed to immerse themselves, but Tibetans shudder and walk right past (they have a phobia of washing!)


We stopped for a rest and to give our knees some time off, and found that Tim was still struggling- his altitude sickness hadn't gone, although we'd gone down about 400 metres, so continued our journey slowly along the banks of the Lham Chukhir River, stopping every now and then to give Tim some oxygen. A few hours later I was getting worried about our slow progress so sent Gyaltsen scurrying ahead to join Prem and the yaks to set up camp, and to find a pony to bring Tim to camp- he was getting slower and slower. Rik had already gone ahead by this stage but we found him waiting for us once he was overtaken by Gyaltsen. About an hour later, we spotted 2 ponies galloping towards us- "your taxis are coming" said Rik who immediately headed off towards camp. Gyaltsen, bless him, had sent a pony for me too. It was a very pleasurable ride to camp, cos I was knackered and Tim was worn out too by looks of him.

Camp had been set up on a marshy drainage area near the river just under which was fine when we first got there, but a torrential monsoon downour started shortly after and contiuned all night. It was so bad that Gyaltsen, the hero, brought us our tea and our dinner in the tents- luxury, eh!


a bit of a glacier to cross



Eek- it's steep



Our last view of Kailash



A very tired Tim with tiny figure of Rik in the distance

Kailash- Day 2

Ok, so we cheated, well Tim & I cheated and hired ponies, but only to the top of Dolma Pass. Just to help us get up in time to get down the other side and to camp before dark. Rik, the super fit super human being that he is, managed to walk to the top before even the sherpas got up there!! This is Yak Man with his pony which he kindly let Tim have. I had some grotty nag whose bones I could feel under me and which was the stinkiest pony I'd ever come across. Every time it farted, poor old Tim was nearly knocked off his pony!

Actually, I was really relieved we could take ponies as I had the worst altitude effects so far on this trip when I woke up. Had problems sleeping, kept waking up feeling incredibly thirsty but couldn't bear drinking ice cold water (it was cold that night) and had one of those crippling headaches that stops you moving. Lots of pill popping later and I was fine and really to scramble onto the back of my nag and head off to the wild heights.












































Anyhow, we made it- we reached the hardest part of the journey, Dolma Pass, a mere 5600 metres high (that's 18,000ft or so) and had hot lemon squash courtesy of the sherpas, who were puffing and panting away like all other respectable walkers. It was quite a rocky journey up, especially the last bit which was very steep, so the pass was a natural resting point.

Gyaltsen and Prem did their religious rites (offering kate (special scarves), burning incense, tying up prayer flags, etc) and I watched avidly so I'd know what to do later. I felt a bit silly doing it on my own and wasn't sure what to say- this was supposed to be the pinnacle of all pilgrims journey, with fervent prayers to whatever gods for whatever desires and dreams one had. All I could think of was to hope that we all got down ok and that all altitude sickness would pass quickly. Oh, and there was also a small wish for world peace tucked in there too. I tied up all the kata we'd been given so far (and it was a lot) plus some I'd bought as well as special prayer flags. Tim had bought some beer to make a beer offering up there, and as soon as he'd finished we headed down hill.








flags at the top of the pass;











One of our gorgeous yaks, a white beauty







Gyaltsen, Prem and Nyima having a well deserved break



















Proof that the 3 of us made it to the top (although it could really be anywhere in Tibet, couldn't it...)

Kailash kora-Day 1

All woke feeling a bit rough this morning, especially Tom who was quite content to stay in bed for the next 2 and a half days and just sleep. I must admit, I was
beginning to wonder if I'd make it round Kailash I was feeling so weak, but decided I had to try. We left Tom in the hands of Tenzin and headed off to Tarboche in the car. Tarboche is about 2 hours or so from Darchen and our guide and driver had decided to drive us there as it would be quicker. There is a flagpole at Tarboche which is replaced every year at Saka Dawa (the major festival for Buddhists representing when Buddha reched enlightenment) and apparently it is vitally important how the flagpole stands when it is erected- if it is perfectly vertical, all is well, but if it leans one way or the other, it's not a good sign.


The Tarboche flagpole










..with me & Kailash included





Rik & Tim by a flag pyramid















Chuku Monastery



















Yet another view of Kailash





We then drove a bit further to await our yaks. Met up with a large group of Indian pilgrims (a party of 40) who were doing the kora at the same time- they didn't look too happy, and most had arranged to go by pony round the whole course. The yaks took ages to arrive so Rik & I decided to try heading up the nearby hill to Chuku Monastery. We got halfway up when we saw the yaks approaching so headed back down...only to find the yaks and their owners had stopped for tea a little way away. Harumph! So the 3 of us set off slowly as we couldn't be bothered hanging around waiting any more. We left Gyaltsen and the others to take care of it- we were pretty sure they didn't need us around anyway.

The walk wasn't too bad too start off with, with steep hillsides on either side, and the trail following the Lha Chu river for the most part. Apparently this whole area is full of legends about the main Tibetan mythological hero, King Gesar, but I was too busy putting one foot in front of another to notice. Same goes for the terrain- it was stunning but I was too busy focusing on breathing to take note (we were at an altiude of 4,700 metres by this stage, and rising). It got progressively tougher and we all started flagging. However, for some bizarre reason, I got a second wind and so scooted off to find the camp site (we'd already been overtaken by our 3 gorgeous yaks and cheeky yak driver, as well as the 2 sherpas and the Tibetan truck driver who had come in place of Tenzin the guide). And boy, what a place they'd chosed to set up camp- it was amazing- in full view of Kailash and Dira-puk Monastery across the river! Fantastic! Mind you, we were all too pooped to appreciate it that much.

More views on the walk, and our campsite