Pilgrimage in Tibet by Alex McKay

Author:Alex McKay [McKay, Alex]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Ethnic Studies, General, Regional Studies
ISBN: 9781136807091
Google: pUVdAgAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-12-16T04:56:11+00:00

31 May

Campsite (4455A) to Zhangmu (2300A) km 3008); 12.15–18.00pm (15.45 Nep); 122km via La Lungla (5010).

One should not do what we did on the second day; from Zhangmu at 2300A, across the La Longla (pass) at 5010A, and go to Tingri at 4260A to spend the night. Half of our party were sick or had a terrible headache when we reached the (rather fine) hotel in New Tingri. On the way there, we stopped in the Milarepa cave and I noted with great interest in the murals the conspicuous presence of Bhairav, who is a form of Shiva as policeman of Benares, and the patron of Nepal. (Incidentally, Bhairav was also present in the Chiu gompa, near Manasarovar).

On the third night – this was even more stupid – we made a detour to see the spectacular geysers, but had to spend the night near a lake at 5000A. Majushri, god of wisdom, was definitely not in the office of the agency at Lhasa when the beginning of our tour was organized. It was the next day, before reaching Tsochen, that we had an experience that was very disturbing to me (this was my first tour in Tibet). I was in ecstasy contemplating the exquisite beauty of the desolate plateau we were driving through; a desert road with agriculture up to an altitude of 4,500 metres, gigantic cloud formations against the backdrop of a dark blue sky, and a horizon of snow-clad mountains more than 7,000 metres high. All of a sudden, in the middle of nowhere, we had to stop for five hitch-hikers. Five young Chinese soldiers, hardly bearded, in green uniforms, carrying automatic rifles and electrical batons most probably used to torture people. The elated atmosphere in our bus vanished in the thin air of the Tibetan plateau as they ‘politely’ occupied a seat in our bus. We realized that we were in an occupied land, where even the young Chinese military hated to be. This experience was repeated several times on the northern route, and was each time in a very strong contrast to the jolly character of the Tibetan people we met, or who travelled with us; two cooks and two drivers.

On the fourth day out of Zhangmu we did not find a suitable camping place – no water! – and we drove for a total of eleven hours, 336 kilometres of rough road, through a land of indescribable beauty. The road was very dusty in the month of May, and that is where my personal problem started. My nose got clogged and at night, at an altitude always above 4500 metres, I had no air, because I did not want to breathe through my mouth. It was a frightening experience. After that long day, in a pitch-dark night, all of a sudden we found ourselves in front of a Tibetan house (I imagine now that of course the driver knew where he was heading for), somewhere halfway between Tsochen and Gerze; 4290A. Possibly the only house for more than one hundred kilometres in any direction.

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