Trip to Tibet Summer of 2008

A trip to Tibet this year is almost out of my need for time travel, in other words, to pay tribute to my early days. For most part of my childhood and youth in China, Tibet was my imaginary pilgrimage whenever I needed escape and comfort from reality. It's been one of those places on my "Bucket List" that I always wanted to visit before I said that final good-bye (of course, in a comfortable bed surrounded by familiar faces) but didn't really plan to get there because like everyone else unconsciously I thought I was immortal. It was one of those many things, I assumed when the opportunity presented itself, I would go. But opportunity neither came by itself nor by my waiting. So I never went. Finally, many years later after I regarded even my house a better pilgrimage, I decided it was about time to visit Tibet. Sounds strange but aren't things always seem to happen that way? It was as if some superior power was to test my will, this opportunity came at a bad time: Tibet had the uprising (It's not safe to go); Washington has the most enviable summer (It's a shame to leave for anywhere else in August); I got torn ligament in one foot several days before my trip and I was instructed to rest my foot for at last three months. Last but not least, when my husband and I opened the fortune cookies in a Chinese restaurant before the trip, mine said that I would soon taste exotic food and his said that he would inherit some money and jewelry (What was that supposed to mean? and the only piece of jewelry I own is my wedding ring!). It coincided with a good time in the Buddhist practice. In Buddhism, if what you do is based on some gaining ideas, either for self improvement or any concrete purpose, then you achieve nothing.

I didn't want to join a tourist group if at all possible: those airport signs, tourist buses, guides holding the small flags followed closely by the tourists, and those "been there, done that" photo shots. But what are my choices with my limped foot and limited time? As they say, beggers can not be choosers. Luckily, I convinced my younger sister to go with me at the very last minute. We are just 2 years apart in age and we have always been close. We two traveled a few times together in China in the past so I knew we would have a lot of laughter along the way.

We did. It's easy to enjoy a trip with a pleasant travel partner like my sister and we don't have those "should" or "shouldn't" expectations. I hear from most people who have visited Tibet that a Tibet trip is a one-time shot, once visited, never gone back. I guess it would be a disappointing experience for one traveling there out of curiosity, looking for traditional Wow factor sceneries, or expecting standard level of comfort. For me, the more stories I heard and the more I saw: precious cow shit (no bullshit about it. Cow shit is used as building material, food and fuel), wedding rituals, different types of burial rituals out of which I witnessed one (the photos are too disturbing. I saved them for future deleting), I wished I had read more about Tibet before the trip, and I would go back again someday, perhaps spending more time and of course not with a tourist group again. The highest altitude we stood on was over 5190 meters (16867 feet). We were told that the border petrol soldiers over there were featured each year on CCTV to greet the whole nation during Chinese New Year's Eve because that's the guarded ground on earth closest to the sky. One guy on our bus had to know the elevation from the Tibetan guide every time before he decided whether to come out in case of platau/altitude sickness. That made me wonder whether plataue sickness is just a mental thing for most people. Our first guide is from my hometown Chongqing. He seemed to be only interested in directing our focus on the superficial and bizzar sides of the Tibetan customs such as how often a typical Tibetan showers or what the origin of Lhasa came from, which were later proved to be all misleading. Fortunately, we were assigned to the 2nd guide - a Tibtan native who is fluent in Tibetan history and Tibetan culture. He says comparing to some metropolitan cities in China such as Shanghai, Tibet is at least 70 years behind economically. That makes how many years behind comparing to a major city in U.S. ? As I was trying to do the math in my head, I then heard the guide say no need to feel pity for the Tibetans because who are we to be judgemental. Tibetan people have freer and braver souls. We were told by the guide that a girl in ALi-a remote county in Tibet can set up a tent at night, inviting any passerby inside for the night as long as she likes him. It's nothing wrong in Tibetan's eyes. Try that anywhere else! We saw outside the city center, herds after herds of rattles roaming on the hills, and a few tents dotting along miles after miles of vast deserted platau in between. Wonder how lonely and how hard a Tibetan's life is. A typical rattler kills his time by chewing bags after bags of sunflower seeds for hours (their front teeth are usually zig-zagged by peeling sunflower shells like mine), and they talk to their sheep. The snow is cold and harsh, and the sun is burning and harsh . On the other hand, I saw old Tibetans in the temples worshipping their Gods for hours relentlessly. At my age, I could only do a few push-ups. I was amazed how humanly possible for those old Tibetans to continue on their worshipping routine like that. I understand it's a good form to have moments of quietness by yourself once a while. But imagine those Tibetans have lifetime of lonieless and hardship. Maybe they are richer spiritually by enduring them, therefore having a real understanding of suffering-a key element in Buddhism (note: these are all my pure worthless bullshit, not Tibet cow shit.). Though at times, it felt like coming home. After all, maybe Buddha nature is like original sin, it's in each one of us. Well, who knows?! But Tibet is now no longer a remote or a mystic land to me. I was asked after the trip whether Tibet was as what I imagined to be. I said yes because as much as I used Tibet as a refuge from the crowds or troubles in the past, my imagination only went as far as the imagination of the location. Now the imagination about Tibet after the trip is attached with those unforgetful images and memories. When the 20 some people in our group stepped out from the same bus, we saw the same thing but I believe what we experienced and took in were unique only to our own. That's the beauty about travel and especially travel to this place called Tibet.

Some insiders' scoops for Tibet travel:

- If possible, do not sign up with an organized local tourist group. It's an unwritten rule that the guides get kickbacks from the stores they take you to so they will arrange at least a couple of hours at the end of each day to visit at least 3 shopping desinations. Once you get to Lhasa, you can go to a car rental agency. You can rent a 4-wheel drive jeep including a local driver for a very reasonable price. If you are on a low budget, you can cut the price down by sharing the transportation with several other travelers. You will have no problem finding other travelers like you in Lhasa to form a small group (4-8 person group). That way, you will have far more freedom in your Tibet tour, and pay the same or less than you would have if you joined a large tourist group.

- Always have some small changes with you. When you go visit temples or take photos of some of the local Tibetans, you are expected to give a couple of RMB yuans. I don't particularly like this monetorized custom because it takes away some beauty and purity of the landscape and people in my eyes but everyone else does it. ng ihope this will change someday.

- Say what you mean and mean what you say. It should be a general rule in life, but admit it we all unconsciously give white lies due to social politeness, or use the middle-of-the-way "maybe" or "perhaps" to cover a harsh "no". Back home, countless times I have told a store salesperson I would be back to buy an item when felt pressurized but in actuality never had intention to buy that in the first place, nor have I returned in the end. It's politically correct and perfectly fine. However, be cautious using that white lie strategy in Tibet. Lesson learned. Example 1: As I got off our bus and headed towards the scenic Lake - Lake Namuso, a local donkey Tibetan vendor approached me, trying to loan me 5 minutes of his donkey for our photo shots in exchange of 5 RMB. We didn't want to do it but instead of a simple "no", I told him we were in a hurry to get to the lakeside but on the way back we would consider using his service. There were many bus loads of tourists heading to the same direction at that time, we thought he would approach other tourists and be completely too distracted by them to even notice our quiet exit on our way back to the bus. Of course, we were wrong. We underestimated the Tibetans' persistance. The same guy followed us all the way to the lake, waited us there and then chased after us as we were walking back to the bus. By then he wouldn't accept our "no"s for an answer any more and no way could we get away without either paying him without or with the service. We chose the latter. "You said...." he kept saying. He was right. We did say it. But God knows how many other things I have said in my life and yet never meant a word of them?!