Xining and Tibet

This will be a long post as I am going to continue to write it until my access to my blog is back.

So since watching the glorious victory by the mighty Spurs in Xi'an, I've moved onto Xining a city on the eastern edge of the Tibetan plateau.

Xining is pretty typical of a Chinese town although the population is a mixture of Muslim, Han Chinese and Tibetans.

My main reason for visiting Xining was to arrange a Tibetan tour. Luckily I managed to sort that on my first day, as a couple I met were planing on an identical tour to mine so I'm going to tag along (making it cheaper for everyone).

With my main objective accomplished I've had a bit of time to explore Xining. Although it doesn't have a huge amount of sights I've enjoyed the place. The Tibetan and food markets have made the stay worthwhile on there own.

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There are two Buddhist monastery's near Xining. We were advised by locals to visit the less well known one, which is still a working monastery rather than a museum. It was well worth the trip with the various temples set into the mountains. The first of what I'm sure will be many monasteries I'll visit in the next few days... 

The visit to the birthplace of the Dalai Lama was a bit of a disappointment, as when we arrived were weren't allowed in. That said the journey through the mountains was spectacular. He was certainly born in a pretty place!

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Now onto Tibet. The train is one of the nicest I've been on so far on the trip. Lucky really as it's my home for the next 30 hours!!

(added at 03.18am) 

I am now very high up:

Its has given me a headache so when I should be asleep I'm lying awake listening to the Smiths.

The train peaks at an altitude of 5072m apparently! Something to look forward to

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A quick response to mostly self imposed criticism of my decision to go to Tibet.

Firstly, the Dalai Lama himself has encouraged people to visit Tibet, as he believes it is the best way to ensure Tibet's unique culture is preserved as the Han continue to flock in.

Secondly, like most responsible travellers, I have gone out of my way to ensure that the tour company, tour guides, and all restaurants I have used in Tibet are owned and run by actual Tibetans so I can be sure my money is getting to those that need it most!

Ok rant over...

That said I have found Lhasa a strange place so far. It is an amazing mix of medieval and modern. It is certainly very oppressive with armed Chinese solders on every street corner! Political discussion is a big no no.

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Today on the first proper day of our trip we visited the Jokhang Temple and Sera Monastery. Both were amazing primarily because they are still working temples in-spite of the controlling Chinese. Certainly a very moving and spiritual experience.

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Tonight I went into a bar in Tibet and played my entire acoustic guitar set (4 songs) to a bunch of locals! What a buzz!!!

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Today was a trip to the Potela palace, although spectacular it felt dead with the Chinese guards everywhere.

That said we were to see first hand the repression of the Tibetan people when we attended a big religious festival in the main square outside the Jokhang Temple. I'm not joking when I say than armed police and solders outnumbered the pilgrims by 10 to 1 and there were a lot of pilgrims! It was still well worth attending though to see religion in action.

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Today was the first day in our Land Cruiser on route to Nepal. We stopped today at several magnificent scenic spots.

The afternoon was spent at a famous buddhist monastery. It was probably the mist interesting monastery so far as it was full of monks and pilgrims preying as part of the festival I mentioned previously.

Tonight the monks perform a special ceremony.
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Ok so after a day of two more (admittedly interesting) monasteries we got our first sighting of Mount Everest, just as the sun was setting! An unforgettable experience.

We then spent the night in a great Tibetan hotel. Although it had no heating and on a couple of hours of electricity, the cafe area was heated by a traditional yak dung stove which was more than cosy. We then whiled away the evening playing cards.

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We've made a brief stop in Old Tingri at the foot of the Himalayas.

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Ok last few days in Tibet were a bit special as the scenery turned from dusty desert to lush green valleys. I'll update the remainder later!!

After 11 days JT returns!!