Back home

I have been back home for about 5 days and have been very slacky with updating my travelblog. One excuse is my jetlag which is now gone but it was also just lazyness. My pictures have been developed so now I have a reason of telling a bit more about Tibet.

The trip was great except for a few difficult customers who made me grind my teeth pretty much every day. Tibet is such a beautiful, fascinating and peaceful country though (except for the Chinese off course) and I did have some very nice customers so it turned out to be a very good trip.


Off course there are the beautiful landscapes. Tibet is pretty much a high altitude desert so the mountain scenery is very rough and brown. That in contrast with the +8000 peaks.

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Religion plays a very large role in the daily life of the people. The Chinese tried to destroy it during the cultural revolution in 59 and they did manage that many monasteries got ruined and that many monks were killed or fled abroad, including the Dalai Lama. They didn't succeed though and nowadays Tibetans have gained some religious freedom again, although very limited and ccontrolled by the Chinese. Compared to before 59 only about 10% of the monks remain but you see them everywhere.

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Tibetans go at least once in there life on pilgrimage. They come from all over the country and ofter have to travel very long in very bad circumstances as there hardly is any public transportation. You see them all around Lhasa with their prayer wheels and often prostrating in front of religious places.









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Another very Tibetan religious thing is sky burials. It might seem strange to us Western people but think about it. At high altitude there is hardly any wood (Tibetans use Yak shit - dried off course - to cook), and half of the year the earth is frozen. therefore Tibetans have sky burials. The death person is being chopped up in pieces by a professional person at a burial site mostly linked to a monastery. This person calles the vultures by their name and they gome to eat the body. Nothing is left. The vultures on this picture are feating on a dead horse - don't worry! It isn't very proper to appear at a sky burial with a camera you know.



Then there are the people. Tibetans are extremely beautiful, friendy and curious people. I often found myself staring in amazement at their beautiful faces and clothing. They are very proud people. Pilgrims who often had never seen a "white" person often stared equally back at me and the rest of the group.

Tibet is a place that I'll never forget and surely will travel back to!

Tibet with pics

Here's a report from Tibet WITH photo's.

The first days we were in Old Tingri where we (at least the ones that didn't suffer too much from altitude sickness) had a beautiful view of Everest and Cho Oyu. Everest is all the way left and Cho Oyu on the right.



Then we took the road to Lhasa visiting several monasteries on the way. At one monastery there was this boy who seemed to be fascinated by pinching the Buddha the whole time. His mom thought it was funny. Me too actually.






The last two days we've been in Lhasa visiting the Potala palace which you can see below and also the Jokhang temple and monasteries. Today we went on a hike past a sky burial site, another monastery and a nunnery.



Tomorrow we'll be for the last day in Lhasa, visiting yet another monastery. Before coming to Tibet I thought that I would get sick of visiting monasteries but all of them have something different so I don't get tired of them. Tomorrow afternoon I'll go souvenir shopping and the next day we'll start our backpacking. Then back to Kathmandu and home. Just a good week and I'll be home again. Time flies.......