Live From Tibet
As the scene from my acting class this past semester went:
"Alone, alone, alone. All alone. Alone, alone alone..."
Unlike the quote above (which, by the way, was from a very funny scene), I can't say that my third day on the road on my own has been that bad. In fact, I rather like it. I like the freedom of doing what I want, when I want, and with whom I want. I like being able to meet fellow travelers and spending time with some really interesting and funny people. Unlike my fear prior to my departure (and even though I have a long way to go still), I think that things will pan out well.
Ok, now onto the really interesting part: Tibet!!!
After a restless nights sleep with a semi scary moment of either AMS (acute mountain sickness)/dehydration/exhaustion, or a combination of any of those, I woke up this morning to meet some other travelers to go explore around Lhasa. Our highlight of the day was Drepung Temple. Once one of the largest Tibetan monestaries in the world, the sprawling compound once housed thousands of practicing monks. Today, the huge temple only contains a fraction of the monks that it once had, but still offered wonderful sceneary of the surrounding valley. The place is massive, no kidding. There are tons of rooms to be explored and tons of steep, slippery steps to be climbed as well. Apparently, there's a huge once-a-year celebration taking place at Drepung this coming Thursday, where they unroll a huge thangka (a sort of Tibetan painting) down one side of a mountain. Maybe I'll wake up for that...
As previously mentioned, acute mountain sickness, hypoxia, altitude sickness, whatever you like to call it, is posing more of a problem that I had thought it would. Last night, after not being able to fall asleep for a while (and listening to a worthless conversation of 2 people right outside my window on how person A should accept how special she was), I suddenly started feeling extremely hot. I then started feeling really nauxious and by the time I made it to the bathroom, broke out into a cold sweat. Not cool. I felt significantly better this morning, but still, I can feel my heart racing even when I am doing the most mundane of activities, like sitting down or walking around the street. To help alieve my problems and in my hope for faster acclamization, I've been drinking tons of water and even bought an oxygen tank. Hopefully things will improve soon before I leave Lhasa for other parts of Tibet (in my daze last night, I was seriously doubting how I will be able to make it up to Everest Base Camp and Lake Nam-Tso).
On the brighter side, I'm really enjoying other mundane aspects of Tibet - like how incredibly blue the sky is, even though most of the day is cloudy being how we are in the rainy season. People's kindness still continues to impress me, it's so much gentler and nicer than so much of the rest of the world!
I have decided though, that I do not like Yak products. Went to the popular Tashi I for lunch today, and long story short, did not enjoy my Yak burger. For those of you who has never had yak, think of tough beef, only with a distinctly gamier flavor. Even their famous Tashi cheesecake, which the 2002 Lonley Planet rated as one of the top 10 things to do in Tibet (yes, right up there with things like going to Base Camp), left a Yak-y flavor. Not pleasant. My culinary plan for the rest of my trip is to eat as much non Tibetan food as possible before I leave Lhasa, because let's face it, even though I love Tibet and the Tibetan people, Tibetan food leaves little to desire for. So, before I have to eat instant noodle, momo, and cheap fried rice for the rest of my trip, I'm going to fill myself up on Indian/Nepalese food, Pizzas, and maybe even Nasi Gorang (I'm serious, they have Malaysian dishes in Tibet. Amazing!).
Maybe one day, I'll develop a fondness for Yak meet. Till then, the mountains of Tibet is proving to be much more attractive.
"Alone, alone, alone. All alone. Alone, alone alone..."
Unlike the quote above (which, by the way, was from a very funny scene), I can't say that my third day on the road on my own has been that bad. In fact, I rather like it. I like the freedom of doing what I want, when I want, and with whom I want. I like being able to meet fellow travelers and spending time with some really interesting and funny people. Unlike my fear prior to my departure (and even though I have a long way to go still), I think that things will pan out well.
Ok, now onto the really interesting part: Tibet!!!
After a restless nights sleep with a semi scary moment of either AMS (acute mountain sickness)/dehydration/exhaustion, or a combination of any of those, I woke up this morning to meet some other travelers to go explore around Lhasa. Our highlight of the day was Drepung Temple. Once one of the largest Tibetan monestaries in the world, the sprawling compound once housed thousands of practicing monks. Today, the huge temple only contains a fraction of the monks that it once had, but still offered wonderful sceneary of the surrounding valley. The place is massive, no kidding. There are tons of rooms to be explored and tons of steep, slippery steps to be climbed as well. Apparently, there's a huge once-a-year celebration taking place at Drepung this coming Thursday, where they unroll a huge thangka (a sort of Tibetan painting) down one side of a mountain. Maybe I'll wake up for that...
As previously mentioned, acute mountain sickness, hypoxia, altitude sickness, whatever you like to call it, is posing more of a problem that I had thought it would. Last night, after not being able to fall asleep for a while (and listening to a worthless conversation of 2 people right outside my window on how person A should accept how special she was), I suddenly started feeling extremely hot. I then started feeling really nauxious and by the time I made it to the bathroom, broke out into a cold sweat. Not cool. I felt significantly better this morning, but still, I can feel my heart racing even when I am doing the most mundane of activities, like sitting down or walking around the street. To help alieve my problems and in my hope for faster acclamization, I've been drinking tons of water and even bought an oxygen tank. Hopefully things will improve soon before I leave Lhasa for other parts of Tibet (in my daze last night, I was seriously doubting how I will be able to make it up to Everest Base Camp and Lake Nam-Tso).
On the brighter side, I'm really enjoying other mundane aspects of Tibet - like how incredibly blue the sky is, even though most of the day is cloudy being how we are in the rainy season. People's kindness still continues to impress me, it's so much gentler and nicer than so much of the rest of the world!
I have decided though, that I do not like Yak products. Went to the popular Tashi I for lunch today, and long story short, did not enjoy my Yak burger. For those of you who has never had yak, think of tough beef, only with a distinctly gamier flavor. Even their famous Tashi cheesecake, which the 2002 Lonley Planet rated as one of the top 10 things to do in Tibet (yes, right up there with things like going to Base Camp), left a Yak-y flavor. Not pleasant. My culinary plan for the rest of my trip is to eat as much non Tibetan food as possible before I leave Lhasa, because let's face it, even though I love Tibet and the Tibetan people, Tibetan food leaves little to desire for. So, before I have to eat instant noodle, momo, and cheap fried rice for the rest of my trip, I'm going to fill myself up on Indian/Nepalese food, Pizzas, and maybe even Nasi Gorang (I'm serious, they have Malaysian dishes in Tibet. Amazing!).
Maybe one day, I'll develop a fondness for Yak meet. Till then, the mountains of Tibet is proving to be much more attractive.
1 Comments:
I imagine you've been told this but spend sometime doing deep breathing exercises daily (pranayama of sorts). Ideally when you wake. It helps build lung power and acclamatize your lungs to the oxygen level. Good luck with your escapades!
Post a Comment
<< Home