Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Nepal & Tibet

Benefits: Although I did not visit the Everest you can feel all the time you are nearby; Get in touch with the Buddhism religion; Lhasa and the Potala palace (the residence of the Dalai Lama)

Concerns: Altitude sickness; Permits (TTB) on top of the Visas for Tibet; very difficult to leave Tibet by air (just 2 alternatives; either going back to Kathmandu or flying to Chengdu-China which I did it)

Places visited (& days): 16 days from 31 May till 12th June - Kathmandu (3); Patan (1), Baktapur (1); Trip from Kathmandu to Lhasa (5 days); Lhasa (3 days)
Transport (time or distances): Flight from Varanasi-India to Kathmandu (1h15 min); Kathmandu to Lhasa-Tibet (865 km by Land Cruiser during 5 days); From Lhasa to Chengdu (2 hours flight)
Currency: 1 Euro = 88,42 Nepal Ruppes (NPR); 1 Euro = 10,29 China Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
Funny Experiences : Meet in Bakthapur one of my old friends (Maria Noronha); I struggled a lot to memorise Nepalese names (they were too long!). Just found out some days later why and it is because their names give you info of their caste, profession, ethnic, where you live...

Thamel - Kathmandu



My first impression when I arrived at Kathmandu was that it was not so different from some parts that I had visited in India (jam packed streets, smelly, poverty and still very hot). Probably the biggest difference is you will see more tourists around! I decided to stay in Thamel (touristic place) with a lot of hotels, restaurants, bars (my favourite one was the Full Moon!) and of course shops.

The first nights I stayed at the Hotel Horizon, but the a/c was not working properly and I decided to move to the Kathamndu Guest House. I spent my 5 days mainly doing sightseeing and some adventure like a bike day tour around the Valley.


The Tuga with Manoj (guide tour)


Kathamandu, Bakthapur and Patan all of them have plenty of pagodas, temples and a Durbar Square. I enjoyed the sights of Bakthapur and Patan better than Kathmandu which was always very crowded



Durbar Square and the Trailokya Mohan Narayan temple- Kathmandu



Katmandu's hairdresser


Patan


"Beckam" my guide, improving his knowledge with Lonely Planet



Noronha's family and the Tuga - Bakthapur

I was so tired of bargaining all the time during the last 4 months that to book my trip for Lhasa I decide to do it at my hotel without shopping elsewhere. The risk was to pay a little more but on the other hand it wouldsave me time (always an important factor when you are travelling).

Therefore, for the Kathmandu Lhasa trip I booked it with Gurka Encounters. The distance between the 2 cities is 865 km through the Friendship Highway which took us 6 days. From Kathmandu till the border we took a bus and then from Tibet border till Lhasa by Land Cruiser


 
First stop to enjoy the view at the bungee jumping near the border (160 m!)

 



Traffic jam at Kodari (Nepal's border)

We left Kathmandu (1300 m) at 6.00 am to Kodari (1873 m) - the Nepal border; Zhangmu (2300 m) - Tibet Border; Nyalam (3750 m) which was supposed to be our 1st Night stop, Tong-la (5120 m); Tingri (4390 m); Lhatse 4050m - 2nd night; Shigatse 3900m - 3rd night, Gyantse 3950 m 4th night, and then Lhasa 3650 m

Instead of leaving the border on the first day at around mid afternoon we just did it at 11.pm and therefore we did not sleep at Nyalam as we were supposed. To our first break was at Nigri at 8.30 am (27 hours after having left Kathmandu!). But the worst was that we came from 1300 m to around 5000 m very quickly which had terrible consequences for me: I was sick serveral times, had strong headaches everyday and lost appetite (so obviously at the end of the trip I had 5 kilos less) .
Glad that the others didn't suffer so much and could enjoy this great trip (except Gabor, my roommate, who had similar symptoms). But I was lucky, since some people of the group looked after me, speacially Evelien and Debra.

One stop, on our way to Lhatse, with great landscape views




Nepalese twins? - Lhatse



Pelkor Chode Monestery - Gyantse



Landscape on our jouney from Gyantse to Lhasa

 
What I really enjoyed from this trip was the nationality diversification of the group (16 different nationalities among the 31 guys on board!!!). We had people from USA, Canada, Japan, Philippines, India, Denmark, Norway, Holland, UK, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Italy, France, Spain and Portugal (The Tuga!!!)



Arnaud (France), Frederico (Italy), The Tuga, Junji (Japan) Davide (Italy), Lisa (Japan), Evelien (Holland), Lauren and Adam (USA)

 
At Lhasa we stayed 3 days where we visited the Potala Palace, Jokhang, Sera Monastery. One of our activities was also a visit to the medecine universtity where some experts showed us their techniques (of course I volunteered for a headache massage).

The Potala Palace


Last day (part of the group had already left) - Pyia and Aadil (India); Debra (UK), Daniel (USA/France), Danielle (Austria), Andrea (Norway); Junji (Japan); Caroline (Switzerland); The Tuga, Liam (Canada)

6 comments:

Unknown said...

you make no mention of the food and drink? Or were you to ill in Tibet?

Aadil Desai said...

Good to see the pics and your travel stories bring back fond memories, thanks for making them come alive once again out here.
Cheers,
Aadil.

GoncaloCV said...

Pedro, tenho acompanhado a tua odisseia. Continua em grande e a partilhar as tuas aventuras. Abraço

xum xum said...

Mais uma peça desta maravilhosa experiência! Que continue assim até ao fim!
Um grande abraço cheio de beijinhos
txmxm

Princesa Isabel said...

Olá Pedro!
Se há coisa que verdadeiramente aprecia é viajar, conhcer outras gentes e outros lugares.
Tenho lido as tuas histórias de viagem e "I wonder if" não terás aqui uma excelente matéria para escrever um belo de um romance onde a tua rota poderia ser um fio condutor bastante interessante.
Pois é ... fala quem gosta muito de escrever e aqui fica a sugestão.
Um abraço e continuação de boas aventuras!
Jokas,
Isabel Brito

Lorena said...

Com que então tiveste a uns metrinhos do Pico do Evereste.....

Espero que a esta hora, a visitar os Pandas em Chengdu, a "altitude sickness" já te tenha abandonado.

Também é bom ver que andas bem enturmado e até enfermeiras particulares arranjaste.

Mais uma boa crónica acompanhada com belas fotografias, mesmo que algumas emprestadas por forasteiros.

Abraços