Enroute to Lhasa

Nov 9th and 10th

I­ woke this morning (Nov 10th) to a brilliant sunrise, 15 hours into my train ride to Tibet. For the first time since my arrival, the sky was a crisp blue color and the sun rays had the power to prevent me from staring too long at its golden radiance. Even in Guilin and Yangshou there was a perpetual haze that clouded the horizon. In the cities the sun, if you could see it, rose as an angry red orb. You could stare at it without risk as the thick clouds of pollution smoke obstructed both its rays and the visibility around you. At times, the pollution was so bad that visibility was limited to a few meters. On my last train ride, I went through an industrial center and the window was a grim, gray cloud. It was really sad to see such a display of environmental rampage but it is just as much our fault, the people that buy the shit that fuel these factories, as it is the Chinese. I consider myself very privileged to live in such a clean country.

Now the views challenge Canada’s cleanliness and beauty as the train rides through crisp air, growing mountains and empty space enroute to the Tibetan plateau with a final destination: the city of mystery and beauty, Lhasa.  The train is a very long ride however, 33 hours.  

It is now 6 PM and I sit in the meal car, looking out on the endless plateau. In the distance I see snow capped peaks that are mere foothills of the Himalayas. I still have hours to travel before I will arrive in Lhasa. In true underestimation of train duration style, I have found out that this train is 45 hours in length. I have only covered 20 of these hours. I have walked the entirety of the train and have found only a handful of English foreigners on board but already Tibetan dress and language is quite visible. .

Outside the window, light flees the barren plateau and unforgiving winds rip the tattered prayer flags and frozen land while I sit in the comfort of the train. I’ve finished reading The Climb, Anatoli’s take on the 1996 Everest disaster. Hearing names of the places I will soon visit, I feel steeped in the lore of the Himalayas. Also the magnitude of the Plateau which I have barely scratched the surface of, has a humbling way of making one feel insignificant in the most sublime of ways. 25 hours till Lhasa.

Nov 11,

45 hours after departing Chengdu by train, I finally arrived in Lhasa.  The train ride had a few thin air moments, topping out at over 5000m.  For the most part, the ride was amazing. Gazing out the window at the endless plateau 4 to 5 km above the sea was pretty astounding. The barren landscape had this raw beauty with such a sharp clarity thanks to the cold, thin air.  It was such a stark contrast to the overcrowded and heavily polluted China. The morning sun rise over the plateau was pretty astounding, something that pictures just can’t capture but will remain in memory for some time to come. 

Arriving in Lhasa, I was greeted by my guide and taken to my hotel where I have a private room.  Before meeting the other tour members, I had 3 hours to roam around the city, and much to my surprise, the beautiful sights and buildings were not that interesting. I was captivated by the beautiful people of Tibet.

Lhasa is a city in which many nomadic people make pilgrimages to the holy sites; throngs of these amazing people of the plateau were paying their devotion. Older people and children were everywhere, each with a captivating appearance, and if they looked your way, an even more captivating smile. Tibetan beauty could be called ugliness by some, many of their features worn from the harsh environment in which they live their lives, but in their appearance there are so many stories that could be told. Even the children, with dirty clothes and faces have this haunting aesthetic of a person who has grown up in such an incredible environment.

I learned from my guide that many of them have traveled by foot for up to two years to get to Lhasa and that this visit is a once in a lifetime opportunity for them. I am humbled by these people and considering my petty concerns, and the concerns of so many others, I feel as if I could learn a lesson from them. Meanwhile, Chinese soldiers, many of them children themselves, are posted at every corner.  They hold automatic rifles and are dressed in full combat gear.  They ask for my travel permit and will confiscate cameras if you dare to take a picture of them. It is a sad thing to see and it seems completely unnecessary. Despite obvious poverty, Lhasa is the most peaceful city I have been in. It is full of pilgrims and is free of the usual worries.  I hope that this problem will solve itself in the near future as it is so very sad to see such repressive force in such a magical place.