2017 Himalayas - Tibet: Day 1

We were up at 4 this morning, ready for our 5 AM departure for the airport. Getting to the gate involved lining up in a specific order to present our passports and get our boarding passes stamped to indicate we were on the group permit to go to Tibet. Security then diverted our group from the usual inspection spot and took us to a screening location on another floor, where we had a very thorough examination of the contents of our carry on luggage. We were on the plane in time for our scheduled 7:30 departure, but sat on the tarmac for over 3 hours watching the dozens of other planes held up by the weather. 

 

It was an hour ride through valleys and tunnels from the Lhasa airport to the city. We crossed the holy river Bhramaputra, which flows from sacred Mount Kailash and eventually joins the Ganges. We were surrounded by low mountains under a solid bank of clouds. Our Tibetan guide said that if the rains come the clouds may be swept away and we'll be able to see some of the towering snow covered peaks that surround the Tibetan plateau. Let's hope for a good rain!

Tibet, known since 1965 by China as the Autonomous Region of Tibet, has a population of just under 3 million people scattered over 3 million square kilometers. (By contrast, China has 1.6 billion.) Another 3 million live outside of Tibet. About a million people live in the Lhasa area, but on our drive through the capital to our hotel, it had a small city vibe. There was an amusement park and housing construction near the train station as we approached Lhasa, but further into the city the buildings are older and low, mostly 2 or 3 floors. 

Our hotel, Tibet Denang Hotel, is an older towering building of 5 floors. As we unloaded from the bus, we were greeted by two dancing yaks and presented with scarves knotted by the welcoming staff. The hotel lobby is stunning.

 

 

 

After a short rest and dinner at the hotel, Elaine and I did a little exploring on our block, which is mostly homes and shops for locals, before turning in. We are all adjusting to the 12,000 ft altitude and moving slowly, avoiding stairs. So far, so good.

 

 

Across the street from our hotel.

2017 Himalayas - Beijing: Day 4

What a difference a day makes! This morning it was clear and a delightful 25 degrees cooler than yesterday. The view from our hotel improved tremendously.

 

We got up today and packed to move to the Radisson Blu Hotel to meet the rest of our tour group. During our final sweep of the closets, we found our gas masks. Not sure if these are for possible nuclear events or everyday pollution. But how thoughtful of them to provide them for us!

 

We had an unnerving taxi ride to our new hotel and arrived in time to enjoy the buffet breakfast. We met up with our guide and most of our group of 13 travelers at 11:00 to set off on the day's itinerary. 

I was in China with Elderhostel 11 years ago and had previously seen all of the locations we visited today. It was interesting to note the changes since then. 

We headed first to the iconic Drum Tower and Bell Tower near the Forbidden City. Originally built in 1272 and rebuilt twice after fires, they were initially built for musical performances and later used for telling time. 

 

Drum Tower

Although car ownership has skyrocketed in Beijing to the point that driving days are restricted during the workweek based upon license plate numbers (everyone can drive 4 of the 5 days), bicycles are the easiest ways to get around the hutongs, or old residential areas around the Forbidden City. There are also wide bicycle and scooter lanes on the major roads, as well as several bike sharing companies which are easy to use with smart phone apps. 

 

 

We were loaded into pedicab rickshaws and had a tour of a hutong neighborhood before having a delicious lunch in a hutong home restaurant

 

Next stop was a tea shop in the bell tower, the highlight of which was the star rated toilet. We are adjusting to the challenges of Asian bathrooms. I know that it was a little easier 11 years ago!

 

 

Our last stop was at the Summer Palace, which at one time was considered the outskirts of Beijing but now is well within the ever expanding city. We walked through the Long Corridor, saw halls and temples, and the marble boat. Our group also served as objects of curiosity for crowds of Chinese visiting the Summer Palace during the annual Dragon Boat Festival holiday.   Staring is not considered impolite here. Nor, apparently, is shouldering your way through the crowd to take photos of us either directly or in their selfies. 

 

 

Though not native to China, lions are symbol of imperial power and frequently appear in pairs in the palaces. Males have one paw on a ball, while females have a squirming cub pinned under a paw. Since the statues otherwise look the same, I'm guessing they were unaware females don't have manes.

 

 

Then back to our hotel for a short rest before walking to dinner at a nearby restaurant. Our guide ordered 12 dishes for our party of 10 and we did our best. Then back to the hotel to prepare for our 4 AM wakeup call and our flight to Tibet.

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Fun fact: Many Beijing women are conscientious about protecting themselves from the sun. They wear hats and long sleeves, regardless of the temperature. My favorite type of cover-up is a heavy quilted affair to be worn on a scooter, covering hands, arms and legs. No helmets necessary, but gotta maintain that lovely complexion! This one was at the Great Wall, where, you may recall, it was 97 degrees. 

 

 

2017 Himalayas - Beijing Day 3: Great Wall & Ming Tombs

We were picked up at the hotel at 8:00 this morning by our guide Allen and a driver for our tour of the Great Wall & Ming Tombs. We arranged the tour through Tour-Beijing.com before leaving home, and everything worked like clockwork. 

It was another scorching day so we really appreciated the air conditioned car. It was quite smoggy in Beijing this morning, and good to get out of the city.

 

We drove first to the Ming Tombs, which are usually about an hour out of Beijing. But as this is a holiday weekend for the Dragon Boat Festival, traffic was heavy and it took longer. The location of the tombs was selected for auspicious feng shui, including the encompassing mountains with water running through the site. 

Thirteen Ming emperors were buried there between 1420s-1644, along with their empresses and, for the first five Ming emperors, their unfortunate surviving concubines who were buried alive. Each tomb had its own complex with walls, gates, stelae, gardens and an underground palace which included tombs, marble thrones, documents, textiles, jewelry, gold implements and other artifacts necessary for a proper funeral. 

 

 

Dragon and phoenix symbols, representing the emperor and empress, are everywhere.

The Dangling tomb that we visited was built by and for the 13th Ming emperor. It was excavated in the 1950s after exploratory tunnels located a directional stone. Fearing traps had been sent against intruders, the archeologists put a rooster and a sheep into the tomb and when they emerged unscathed, they knew it was safe to continue. The treasures and preserved body of the emperor that were found astonished the world, but several items, including the emperor, did not survive well when exposed to oxygen and no further tombs have been excavated.

 

 

 

Headgear with dragons and phoenixes.

 

The drive to our lunch stop was lovely as we climbed into the mountains and passed though picturesque agrarian villages with occasional glimpses of the Great Wall snaking across the hills. There were dozens of vendors along the road with carts attached with buckets of cherries for sale. If only we'd had a way to keep them chilled until we were on our way back to Beijing!

After lunch we finally arrived at the Mutienyu section of the Great Wall. It was amazing! The wind had swept away the omnipresent haze and we could see forever. 

 

Looking towards watchtower 14

About 5 miles of the Wall have been restored here, and one can also see a stretch of unrestored wall which is overgrown with foliage between the walls.

 

Unrestored section

 

Watchtowers 3-2-1
 
For better or worse, I was determined to hike to watchtower 1 for the view back and to get a closer look at the unrestored section. It was SO hot, 97 humid degrees, full sun and nowhere to buy water. The walls felt like a pizza stone. It was necessary to make many many stops to catch my breath, which allowed ample time to think about reach exceeding grasp. I did make it, but will not be doing this again.

 

 

 

Descending from the Wall involved either another long hot walk or the modern accelerated transportation system (kind of like the bullet train). We opted for the latter. 

 

It was a memorable, if tiring, day. We'd highly recommend the tour company to anyone looking for a guide or advice on things to do and eat around Beijing.

Fun fact: Found my Beijing KFC (my initials)

 

2017 Himalayas - Beijing Day 1

This is the part where you hope to begin, "After an uneventful flight..."

Our Air Canada crew and accommodations couldn't have been better, and it was so nice to have seats that converted to flat beds for sleeping. Around 1 AM Philly time, an announcement came on asking any doctor on the flight to identify themself. No doctors, so I woke up Elaine (an ER nurse and the other kind of doctor) and off she went. She spent the last 3 hours of our flight helping a passenger in the next section of the cabin.  She was going to be extra tired when we finally got to our hotel.

 

After a long cab ride through congested streets, we reached our hotel in the Dongcheng neighborhood eat of the Forbidden City around 6:30. No need to adjust our watches, as all of China is on one time zone, conveniently 12 hours ahead of home. However, our bodies are going to require a major reset. Elaine wisely went to bed; I went walking for a bit to buy water and watch the nightlife after sitting on the plane so long. 

 

Outside the Forbidden City

2017 Himalayas - Beijing Day 2: Forbidden City

This was our day to explore Beijing, though the weather and jet lag curtailed plans a bit. 

First (and as it turned out, last) stop was the Forbidden City, where we encountered a long line to clear security into the area around Tiananmen Square and the Palace Museum. This process is new since I was here 11 years ago. 

 

One enters the Forbidden City after passing through the Gate of Heavenly Peace (below) and a series of enormous courtyards.

 

Inside there are guides offering their services, but we opted for a GPS audio tour which was pretty nifty; it knew what area we were in and provided the appropriate commentary as we wanted through the complex.

The palace was built in 14 years in the early 1400s and served until 1912 as the political center of China for 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The complex, which includes 980 buildings and nearly 10,000 rooms, is the most visited art museum in the world, with over 14 million visitors annually. Surrounded by a 170 ft wide moat and 26 ft high walks, the palace was well defended.

There are beautiful, impressively huge buildings and courtyards.

 

 

 

Auspicious creatures decorate the premises.

 

Workers are busy with never ending restoration efforts.

 

And intricately carved mythical beasts stand guard on the eaves.

 

 

 

Outside of the complex, northwest corner.

It was beautiful. But crowded. And hot (upper 90s). And we were jet lagged and thirsty. So we took a cab to a dumpling place recommended in our guidebook, but it was closed. We ended up dragging ourselves back to our hotel through the descending smog and humidity, grabbed a late lunch and crashed until early evening. 

We walked down WangFuJing street after sunset when things had cooled down, people watching and window shopping.  This famous shopping street is the epitome of China's blend of communism and capitalism, with an emphasis on the latter. You can buy anything from a Peugeot to a grilled sparrow on a stick. Or water, which is what we brought back to our hotel for our trip to to the Great Wall and Ming Tombs tomorrow.

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Fun fact of the day: our hotel room has a bathroom with an optional full viewing option (for those who can never overshare).

 

 

 

2017 Himalayas

I'm hoping to be able to blog from our upcoming trip to the mountain kingdoms of Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan. In case it works, here's a link to get you started.  As usual, new posts will show up in the side menu. 

Elaine and I leave today, and will be home June 15. We start with 3 days in Beijing and then join our Road Scholar group which arrives Monday morning. Early Tuesday we depart for Lhasa and the adventure begins.  

Wi-Fi access will be sporadic at best, but I'll post if and when I can, likely several days worth at a time. Namaste! 

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After a 2 hour classy and bumpy ride due to weather, we made it to our departure gate in Toronto just as they started boarding. Now we are wallowing in our  enormous work stations, I mean, sleeping suites while we await departure. Elaine remarked that you'd think we never flew before; we are oohing and ahhing over all the space and features as we sip our mimosas.

Next stop, Beijing!