Tibet

'Go to Tibet and see many places, as much as you can; then tell the world.' Dalai Lama

After months of eager anticipation, the time was upon us for our epic cycle tour across the aptly named 'roof of the world'. With the journey from Lhasa to Kathmandu being so long, so high and so much of it off-road, there was some serious doubt in the camp as to how realistic it was for us to undertake such an expedition. Well with the help of a great crew, a lot of carbs and some anti chafing cream, we're pleased to say we managed the entire 1,011km including reaching Everest Base Camp without getting into the support van even once.

Sadly the exhilaration of the trip was set against the backdrop of a country visibly ravaged by modern day China with Tibetan people lacking basic human rights in the form of religious and political freedoms. The Chinese government enforces a strict communist regime in the province denying passports to most Tibetans for fear of them not returning, and Chinese armed police and army are positioned at every street corner, rooftop and public space to intimidate the people. The reinvention of Tibetan Buddhism seems to be a particular focus with crippling restrictions having been placed on monasteries both in terms of their daily routine and the number of monks allowed to practice. The reality of life in the major monasteries today, particularly after the protests earlier this year when the last of the 'real' monks were carted away in trucks and not seen since, is that the few remaining are those willing to adhere to Chinese regulations and act as 'spies' in return for a salary. Any acknowledgement of the Dalai Lama is highly illegal with people being sent to prison for up to seven years for merely mentioning his name in a political context. People feared our guide book which simply had a copy of his signature and we were constantly asked by nomads for any photos we had of him, possession again resulting in years behind bars. The government has taken over the selection of important reincarnated lamas, most notably the Panchen Lama (second to the Dalai Lama) in 1995 when it abducted the six year old reincarnate chosen by the Dalai Lama moments before the inauguration and replaced him with a boy of their choice. The real Panchen Lama and his family remain 'missing' to this day. History books provided to schools and guides convey a Chinese version of the past fifty years which not surprisingly is vastly different to that in foreign printed books. The government openly rewards people financially for acting as political informants which unfortunately is an opportunity too great for some and has led to mistrust between Tibetan people for fear of being arrested. With Chinese people being given huge incentives and attractive salaries to relocate to Tibet, the towns we visited looked and felt unmistakably Chinese with one having to search quite hard to discover real Tibet beneath the surface. Lucky for us, most of our trip visited more remote parts of the country and so we were able to see a bit more of what the culture would have been like fifty years ago before the invasion of the Chinese. Modern day colonisation it may be but did that not go out of fashion in the middle of the twentieth century? Tibet's vast metal and mineral deposits may have something to do with it.

We arrived in Lhasa on the Qinghai-Tibet train line from Xi'an in China, the world's highest railway climbing up on to the Tibetan plateau. As highly controversial as it is in Tibet due to the number of Chinese people it dumps there each day, it still has some pretty impressive statistics. The 2,824km 36 hour journey reaches its peak at the 5,072m Tangu-La pass, the majority of the track lies above 4,000m and so has to be kept frozen all year round to avoid it buckling in the summer and the world's highest tunnel had to be built. Each passenger has to fill out a health declaration card before boarding and oxygen masks are offered. The cost to construct, a mere US$4.1 billion.

We spent four days in the capital Lhasa in an attempt to acclimatise to the 3,595m altitude. The first thing to hit us after arriving was the sight of the iconic and stately Potala Palace, a white and ochre coloured fortress that soars over the city. Previously home to the Dalai Lama before being forced into exile, the building now lies dormant and has effectively been turned into a museum. The Jokhang Temple at the heart of the old Tibetan Quarter is the most religious building in Tibet. Thick with the smell of yak butter candles and incense, rural pilgrims shuffle past its chapels and shrines murmuring mantras and swinging their prayer wheels. Outside in Barkhor Square with the smell of juniper and barley wafting from the ceremonial burners, devoted pilgrims prostrate for hours on end amidst the tides of others completing the kora (pilgrim circuit) around the temple. Despite the overbearing and almost laughable presence of the Chinese police, the remarkable faith of the people seemed to shrine through at Jokhang and will hopefully survive the test of time.

Our time in Lhasa coincided with the annual Yoghurt Festival, yoghurt by name although absolutely nothing to do with yoghurt as we know it. Under the shadow of the mountains in the outskirts of the city, we watched the horseracing event amongst a crowd of hundreds all jostling for a sight of the archers and acrobats galloping past. The afternoon spectacle was a ritual dance performed by masked monks and lamas to the sound of chanting, clashing cymbals and drums.

Our third day in Lhasa was also our first on our bikes. A gentle cycle to Sera Monastery some 5km away was our introduction, mostly to get used to having our shoes clipped to the pedals. Whilst the monastery's former population of around 5,000 monks has now been reduced to a small handful and with the heavy restrictions in place, we were incredibly lucky to be able to witness the practice of monks debating. With each point made, a monk would step one foot forward whilst clapping at the same time, becoming more and more animated as the debate gathered momentum. Day two of our biking acclimatisation and we headed for the hills. Aiming to reach the holy Drak Yerpa caves 40km away, we had a real confidence boost at the top of our first Himalayan mountain pass which we managed without too much difficulty. When the last 10km turned seriously steep though, we decided enough was enough and hitched a lift with a tractor. It was after all a warm up day.

The Potala Palace was the starting point of our sixteen day journey to Kathmandu. Dodging the crazed traffic of Lhasa was our first obstacle but it wasn't long before we were on the open road. Our route followed the Friendship Highway west towards the Friendship Bridge which marks the border between Tibet and Nepal, with a detour to reach Everest Base Camp. Our timetable had us cycling between 65km and 100km each day depending on the gradient and terrain. Along the way we had numerous mountain passes to cross, five of which were over 5,000m, each time the road dropping back down towards 4,000m. The climb up each of the passes was arduous and often gruelling but the colourful sight of thousands of prayer flags fluttering away at the top of each pass was always a huge welcome. The altitude noticeably played its part in making life tough, leaving us short changed of oxygen after each breath and forcing us to breath deeper than we thought possible. The worst offender however was the howling wind that only ever seemed to blow directly towards us slowing us right down, sometimes to a complete stop. Even going downhill on occasions would be made to feel like a steep climb. The biggest hazards on route were either nomads' dogs who felt the need to chase us with all their teeth showing to protect their yaks, little children who would run to touch us without realising the potential consequence, or in Susie's case a stationary motorbike that she managed to collide with at speed for an impressive front flip over her handlebars. Cars would regularly wind their windows down next to us and start taking pictures and cheer which was always amusing, and without fail pretty much every vehicle would hoot. In spite of all this, the dramatic scenery of deep turquoise lakes, caramel coloured snow capped mountains and lunar landscape of some of the passes inspired us to keep going.

As we turned off for the 108km detour to Everest Base Camp, the tarmac road turned to dirt road which was a bit of a shock to us, making for much slower progress and included crossing the highest pass at 5,170m. Reaching Rongphu Monastery, the highest in the world at the foot of Mount Everest was a moment that made it all worthwhile. With us both having a real love for the mountains, our first sighting of the world's tallest from the ground was one to remember. The skies were unusually clear for our time at Everest and the view of the majestic peak was just mesmerising. We made the final climb to official Base Camp at 5,150m which after 731km felt as if we had just climbed to the summit. After the tradition of hanging a string of prayer flags, it was back on a 72km dirt road to rejoin the Friendship Highway.

The bliss of rejoining the tarmac road was only short lived however and very soon the road turned to hardened sand and rocks, made worse by all the recent flooding and landslides and remained so all the way to the border. Cycling off the Tibetan plateau marked the end of the road and a dramatic change in the scenery as we descended into a deep gorge of evergreen forests and waterfalls submerged in the clouds on a 3km vertical descent to the border. The unfortunately oppressive border regulations meant that our crew could go no further and we had to cross without our bikes to catch a lift on the other side to Kathmandu.

Cycling across Tibet was without a doubt the most physically challenging experience of our lives but without a doubt one of the best. After a day in the Nepalese capital, we were on a plane to the lakeside town of Pokhara in Western Nepal for several days of relaxation which so far has included a microlight flight past the mountains of Machapuchare and the Annapurnas, and paragliding from the surrounding hills.

A couple more days to go and then it's off to Bhutan for the remote 24-day Snowman Trek.

Costi and Nicola - best of luck with the wedding, we'll be thinking of you on the day!

Click on the album cover below to see some more of our pictures.

Tibet

Lots of love,
Susie and Dan xx