Arrival:
Just arriving in Lhasa felt like an accomplishment: due to the unrest in Tibet earlier in the year, China closed the border entirely to foreigners until the summer. Even then, the authorities continued to restrict access. For my mom and me this meant that we did not actually have a visa to enter Tibet when we arrived in Nepal, just days before our scheduled flight to Lhasa. Our travel agency assured us that this wouldn't be a problem, but we started to get worried when the visa still had not been approved by our last day in Kathmandu. It was only at 9:30 that night that we finally knew we would be going to Tibet - our passports arrived with the long-awaited visa inside.
The next day we boarded the one-hour flight to Lhasa and gazed at 8000m mountains along the way. After clearing customs, we met our guide Pemba, a pretty Tibetan woman in her twenties (who we sadly had to replace...). Lhasa sits at roughly 3700m or 12,000ft above sea level, which doesn’t seem so high until you arrive and begin to feel the effects of acute mountain sickness (AMS). Every year tourists die of AMS in Tibet and it’s been known to be fatal at elevations as low as 3000m. So we took it easy for a few days to acclimatize before venturing into even higher ground. At first, I felt light in the head and heavy in the feet – merely walking around was tiring and somewhat dizzying. But I quickly adjusted and by the end of my second day in Lhasa, felt ready to take on Mt. Kailash. My mom had a much harder time of it and unfortunately, caught a cold which lingered for the rest of the trip.
The reality of the dangers in store for us became clear when the travel agency told us that Pemba could no longer accompany us on our trek due to health concerns. On the day of our arrival, her doctor discovered a heart condition that made traveling above 4000m too risky. Our climb on Mt. Kailash would take us above 5700m, so the agency replaced Pemba with Phurbu. In the days that followed, Phurbu proved to be a phenomenal guide, but at the time, the loss of Pemba darkened our mood. If the trek was too dangerous for a young woman born and raised on the Tibetan plateau, what hope was there for us sea-level weaklings? It didn’t help that Richard, the head of the tour agency, told us that about half of the visitors and pilgrims to Mt. Kailash failed to finish the trek due to AMS and other health problems. For the first time I wondered whether this trip had been a good idea…
The Road to Kailash:
After leaving Lhasa, we traveled for four days on roads that gradually decreased in quality until macadam replaced asphalt and dirt replaced macadam. As the roads worsened, so did the towns we passed through: Shigatse, Lhatse, Saga, Zhongba, Paryang, Darchen – each dustier and dirtier than the last. But two things remained constant: astonishing landscapes and wonderful people.
 The view from the outdoor pit toilet of ... |
 The mountains in the background separate... |
The Tibetan plateau is beautiful in a way that only wide open spaces can be: the eye meets unbroken scenery in every direction. The mountains, the grass, and the sky feel endless; only through physical traverse can one see that the landscapes actually meld and molt until something new emerges: from yellow steppe to badlands to sand dunes, each taking their turn at conjuring infinity.
Amidst this vastness, we met people who treated us like family and candidly shared their thought, frustrations, and hopes. Although Tibetans tend to be guarded when speaking with foreigners, they have a special affinity for Indian people. There are of course shared spiritual and cultural traditions, but the respect and love for India has much to do with the one whose name is whispered throughout Tibet: the Dalai Lama.
Tibet Today:
The Dalai Lima has been living in exile in Dharamsala, India since 1959. I highly recommend the movie Kundun, which tells the story of his childhood, selection as the 14th Dalai Lama, and escape to India after the China took over Tibet. Now more than 2.5 million Tibetans live outside of Tibet (mostly in India), and the Dalai Lama has said that when he dies he will only be reborn in Tibet if he is allowed to return there before his death. Several Tibetans told me that their hearts remain in India until the day the Dalai Lama returns.
 The legendary Potala Palace, where the D... |
The tragedies of Tibet have been well documented. During the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards desecrated the Jokhang, Tibet’s holiest temple. In fact, almost every religious monument in Tibet was destroyed. All photos of the Dalai Lama are banned, and monks and nuns are forced to take oaths denouncing him. There are Chinese police officers and officials stationed at monasteries, and government informants abound, even in cafes and schools.
Maybe even more alarming is the influx of Han Chinese, through whom the Chinese government is rapidly colonizing Tibet. The Sinicisation is fueled by interest-free loans, a less rigid one-child policy, and other subsidies denied to ethnic Tibetans. Tibetans refer to this wave of Han Chinese immigration as the “second invasion.” The changing demographics herald a future where Tibetans, and their unique cultural and spiritual traditions, are a minority in their own country.
Nothing is more emblematic of the transformations underway in Tibet than the Beijing to Lhasa railway – the highest in the world. Nearly 86% of the line is above 4000m and half the track lies on permafrost, requiring an expensive cooling system to prevent the ground from shifting during the warmer months. The train has decreased transportation costs and boosted the Tibetan economy. But about 2500 Han Chinese tourists and immigrants now arrive in Lhasa every day, and it’s common for trains to arrive full and depart half-empty. It cost $4.1 billion – more than China has spent on hospitals and schools in Tibet over the last 50 years (and consider the price tag for the Beijing Olympics: $46 billion).
Mt. Kailash:
Despite the many injustices heaped upon Tibetans, we came away inspired by their spiritual strength. They are undoubtedly the most spiritual people I have ever met. It's certainly easy to romanticize Tibet, but the spirituality of the Tibetan people is real and lived and powerful. We experienced that directly during the 3 days of our pilgrimage around Mt. Kailash.
 Tibetan pilgrims |
 Mt. Kailash and the new road that will c... |
For years, my mom and I have talked about coming to this holy place where four of the great rivers of Asia begin. Venerated by Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, and followers of the ancient Bon religion, Mt. Kailash’s glaciers feed the Indus, Ganges, Sutlej, and Brahmaputra. In Buddhist and Hindu cosmology, Kailash represents the spiritual center of the universe - the place where life began. As such, it is the most sacred mountain in Asia. Out of respect to Buddhist and Hindu beliefs, it has never been climbed. But for thousands of years, pilgrims have treked to this mountain in remote, western Tibet seeking salvation. Circumambulating Kailash is said to erase a lifetime of sin and bring one closer to enlightenment. I didn’t expect quite so much from just one circuit, but it never hurts to earn some spiritual credit.
To the top:
During the three days we spent walking around the mountain, we marveled at the stark and imposing scenery. My mom was still fighting off a cold, so we hired a horse and porter to help her on the trek. On the second day, everyone in our party – Phurbu, me, my mom, her horse, the horseman, his son, the porter - labored up to the Drolma-la pass at nearly 19,000ft. In the thin air, every step of the steep ascent took effort. Before reaching the top, we passed by Shiva-tsal, the point in the trek in which one undergoes a symbolic death by leaving something of one’s worldly self behind. Leaving something behind represents the act of leaving the material life in preparation to be reborn at the top. Typically, people leave an item of clothing or a drop of blood. I left a lock of hair as we passed by what looked like a high-altitude garbage dump guarded by a hefty Tibetan dog.
 Dog guarding Shiva-tsal |
We pushed on and after a few false summits, at last reached the top of the Drolma-la. Over the years, pilgrims have festooned the dome-shaped rock that marks the top with thousands of prayer flags; the rock itself is now barely visible. Due to the high altitude and cold weather, Phurbu did not want us to stay too long on the pass. But as he and my mom and the rest of our party began the steep descent, I lingered alone in the thin air. With the mountain to myself, I said a prayer and took a moment to enjoy the thrill of the surroundings and to inhale the cold morning’s beauty.
 The top of the Drolma-la pass with Mom a... |
Return:
After descending from the Drolma-la, we continued on our pilgrimage around the mountain. We spent the night in a monastery on the mountainside, where the lone monk in residence prepared meal of yak meat, vegetables, and rice, and told us Buddhist stories by candlelight in which the past, the present, and the future got mixed up in Phurbu’s translations. Then it was time for bed. Despite the cold and darkness, there was a warm intimacy to the place and I went to sleep feeling safe and sheltered.
 My OMM bag next to Zutul-puk monastery -... |
The next day, we finished our journey around Mt. Kailash, tipped our porter and horseman, took some final photographs, and began the long drive back to Lhasa. During our time in Tibet, we crossed mountains, visited temples, and explored monasteries. We made new friends over bottomless cups of yak butter tea. We encountered the divine in nature. But more than anything, my time in Tibet left me with a sense of urgency. Tibet is changing. The population of Lhasa is already half Han Chinese and growing. So I urge you to go to Tibet if you can, to see this remarkable place for yourself, to bear witness to its miseries and miracles. In the words of the Dalai Lama, “Go to Tibet and see many places. Then tell the world.”
 Yak butter lamps at Jokhang temple in Lh... |
