As a travel control freak, I needed to know. In any case, here are the details:
1) 6 Covid tests in all – 2 before, 1 at the airport, 2 during the trip and 1 when I returned to Beijing.
2) 5 people on the tour – perfect number as I REALLY don’t like large tours,
3) Lots of documents – including a verification from the school, passport, visa, etc.
4) Hotels – wouldn’t know until I got there
5) Altitude sickness – it’s a real thing people and more on that later.
I hadn’t done any serious traveling for 2 years and it seemed as if I had lost all my travel mojo. The upticks to traveling in December: the airport was empty, the plane was ½ full and it was off season for travel to Tibet, so while it was cold AF, it was also not so full of tourists. Tourists are the worst. 🤪
December 24, Day 1: off to the airport I go and prepped for all the necessary new travel requirements:
mask ✔️ Tibet travel permit ✔️ documentation of vaccination ✔️ negative covid tests ✔️. Small flight delay but still meant would get to Tibet by early afternoon. Met two of my travel companions, both from Germany and quite nice. The young woman spoke fluent Chinese so she was a great help navigating any issues.
Arrived safe and sound in Llasa and no problems! After gathering our luggage and making it through immigration, we were greeted by our tour guide, David. What a delightful man! Tibetan and so kind and friendly. Of course, he’s a tour guide and that’s his job but he really was a sweet man.
Took about an hour to arrive in Llasa and check in to the hotel. Wow…instant altitude sickness symptoms: headache and breathing issues. Llasa is almost 13,000 feet above sea level. After checking in (the room was quite nice and unexpectedly comfy bed and linens.) Decided to rest a bit before we all met up again for dinner. Rested and then took my first walk about. It was not much colder than Beijing and the location of the hotel was nice for a quick look around and to get a flavor of the city and people.
Back to the hotel to clean up for dinner and meet the rest of the group – a mother and son. We had a lovely dinner, which turned out to be our Christmas Eve dinner. The guide then prepped us for the next day which would be breakfast at the hotel, a tour of the Llasa palace, lunch and then a tour of the main monastery, rest and out to dinner.
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| Travel Kris again but with a new normal |
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View from the plane
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| Welcome to Llasa---yup, as usual, I'm the shortest person in the group! |
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| Llasa Hotel |
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| First Walkabout-Buddhist nuns shop too! |
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| Simply lovely: mother and child |
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| A view of the monastery |
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| Christmas Eve Dinner with new friends |
December 25th, Day 2: After a not-so-great night of sleep (even sleep aides) did little good, up for a small breakfast, and for the first big outing to the Potala Palace. I think in any other location, it wouldn’t seem daunting, but the high-altitude symptoms definitely set in: dull headache, and hard to breath even after about 20 steps. Ugh.
More details about the palace here:
The palace was lovely, colorful and full of amazing history. But a bitch to climb with altitude symptoms. Lordy, I felt like an 80 year old woman with arthritis and lung disease. But with the kind words and help from the guide David, I made it. I just went at my own pace. Enjoy the pictures below. A few favorites included pictures with Tibetan women. Truly lovely women who enjoy their jewelry!
Lunch was after the palace but only minimal appetite. Methinks another symptom, as normally, NOTHING throws Kris off her food!
After that, a short rest at the hotel before tackling the Jokhang Monastery. Which was quite close to the hotel. Lotta resting and more walking. More about the monastery here:
Christmas dinner was back to the same place from the previous evening. But we all liked it so ‘twas okay. BTW, yak meet is delicious!
The guided prepped us for the next day which was going to be a whole lotta driving. Fortunately, we never left before 9:00 am so not too early. Breakfast the next day always started with “Good morning! How did you sleep?” It was mildly comforting to know that none of us slept too well.
December 26th, Day 3: off on the long long long towards the Himalayas. It wasn’t completely uncomfortable in the van, but it wasn’t completely comfortable either. We drove along some major mountain passes as the altitude increased. Some major vistas and views along the way in the Gonggar and Nagarze region. Including: a lovely lake, some great mountain views and a visit with the rather large dogs – Tibetan mastiffs and another monastery. I decided to call this the mountains and monasteries tour. Tibetans are highly devout Buddhists and Tibetan Buddhism can be learned about here:
My head fairly swam with all the information that David shared with the group. The non-believer in me could enjoy the loveliness of the colorful monasteries.
Once back in the town, the group needed another Covid test before heading to the Himalayas and base camp the next day. That was a joy and involved lots of paperwork and standing around.
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| Who doesn't love a big dog! |
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| What a view! |
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| My fancy mask! |
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| Wherever I find snow, I write this! |
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| It's not THE mountain, but it is pretty. |
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| Don't fall in Kris! |
Monastery photos below
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SHEEP!
Not terrifying at all!!!!
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December 27th, Day 4: More drive and monasteries. Started with requisite breakfast which for me was quite simple, a few oranges, some bread and my Nescafé. The first stop was, you guessed it, a monastery in the Xigaze region. We got to see some monks debating. Quite lively! Had a nice walkabout and got a flavor of the town with a stay at the Qomolangma Tingrit hotel. We were supposed to stay in a yurt/tent style lodging, but way way way too cold for that.  |
| Nice hotel but very very very cold. Basically, a little roadside inn. |
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| Great noodle soup |
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| Yak cheese seller. She's owning that hat! |
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| Down in the courtyard. Devout Buddhists. |
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| I loved the red doors and braided handles. |
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| Hello Moon! |
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These are called stupas and are tombs.
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A lively, Buddhist debate.
December 28th, Day 5: Another night of little sleep but headed to breakfast and was able to snap a lovely picture of the morning sky. More driving of course and then we stopped for THE VIEW. Few words can express what we saw. Just look at the pictures below. We were truly lucky in that we had a clear view. Weather doesn’t always do what we want it to. We stopped at another monastery before heading to base camp. The buses that took us were all electric…how surprising. Some pilgrims joined us and serenaded us on the bus. These are the moments that make travel a true gift. We had a short stop at the one of the world’s highest monasteries- Rongbuk.
And then base camp. Honestly, but that point I was already exhausted and struggling with my catching my breath. It really wasn’t that long of a walk from the bus stop to the base camp stone, but it seemed rather daunting to me. And yet I made it! I almost felt like I made it to the summit! 🤩
It was cloudy, but THE MOUNTAIN was visible in the background. In Tibetan her name is Mt. Qomalangma or mother goddess of the world and that she is. On the way back, we stopped roadside to take some pictures of traditional, Tibetan villages.
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| A simple, traditional breakfast. Love the old stove. |
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| Truly glorious morning dawn over the roadside hotel. On my way to breakfast. |
Rongbuk Monastery
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| My seatmate. Beautiful eyes! |
Serenaded on the way to the Rongbuk
The Himalayas and Mt. Quomolangma. Pictures will speak my words.
Before and after Base Camp This is how high Base Camp is
17,598.4252 feet
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| Sassy Kris |
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| Exhausted Kris |
December 29th, Day 6: Winding our way back down to Llasa. More driving and monasteries including a rockside shrine. On the way back, we stopped roadside to take some pictures of traditional, Tibetan villages. One might think that being up so high that everything would be covered in snow, but it really wasn’t. It’s quite dry and stark and beautiful in its own way. Another day in Llasa that included another Covid test which took a lot of our free time to explore and get that ever-important shopping in. And to make things even MORE complicated, it was a holy or special day in Llasa to commemorate one of the Llamas. Sooooo….police and barricades everywhere. It was a bit daunting. But no worries, we had a lovely Indian dinner and then a walk to see the Potala Palace lit up at night.
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| Mountain |
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| At a roadside rest stop |
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| A traditional Tibetan home |
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| Some sassy cows |
Sassy cows going in for lunch
Road side mini monastery
Potala Palace at night
December 30th, Day 7: a small amount of free time after breakfast before heading to the airport. We walked to the monastery to join the pilgrims and do a little shopping. The pilgrims walk around the temple many many times and often hold and twirl prayer wheels.
Final thoughts: Tibetan people are truly lovely and gracious. Their traditional clothing and jewelry puts me in mind of Natives Arizonans. This was NOT a relaxing trip but it most likely will be my last big trip before leaving China. I feel truly privileged to have visited this special country and seen the Himalayas and Mother Mountain. She was here millions of years ago and she will stand a million more (one can only hope). I do not hold any faith or belief or religion, but seeing this amazing mountain was quite spiritual and emotional.
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