IN LHASA

Fantastic flight to Lhasa over the Himalayas and we were blessed with perfect weather to get a great view of Everest (see photo from plane window!). Chinese airways a bit rickety, and the seats are so close together I could hardly fit in. In flight food was laughable apart from what looked like a bag of sweeties… I popped one into my mouth only to discover it was yak jerky, yuk jerky more like :-))

Arriving in Lhasa everyone concerned about altitude so a beer free disastrous meal in the hotel, yak tongue and yak tripe on the menu, had a bit of the former (tasted like smoked duck) but gave the latter a miss.

The next day off to the Potala which has got to be one of the most impressive buildings in the world, really takes your breath away as you come round the corner and see it for the first time, weather a bit cloudy but still managed to get some good photos, see below. I was quite keen on all things Tibetan as a schoolboy and had read Seven Years in Tibet, so it was really exciting to wander round the palace where Henrich Harrier had had his meetings with the Dalai Lama.

First we looked round the Dalai Lama’s apartments on the top of the White palace (the rest of it is closed by the Chinese) and it was spooky to see microphones all over the place listening to what we were saying. This is the most politically sensitive area as it is where the last and current Dalai Lama’s held court. On the left of the throne is a portrait of the 13th Dalai Lama but notable by its absence on the other side is the corresponding portrait of the 14th Dalai Lama.

The off to the red palace where you can wander around all the chapels showing throne rooms and resting places of all the Dalai Lamas since the 5th who built it all in the 16th century.

Off to The Jokhang in the afternoon which is the most holy temple in Tibet. Very few western tourists here, place is filled with Tibetan pilgrims walking clockwise around the temples with their prayer wheels, or even prostrating themselves all the way round and Chinese tourists, blissfully unaware of the irony of wandering around temples their parents tried to tear down (bit like German tourists visiting St Pauls…).

Spent the afternoon wandering round the old part of town, absolutely fascinating once you get away from all the stalls selling tatty prayer wheels to the Chinese tourists. One of the few decent things to buy here is a thanka, a religious painting on cloth done by the monks traditionally. Difficult to separate the authentic ones from those mass produced in Nepal. However, trusting the lonely planet guide I visited a shop they recommended and bought a beautiful geometric Thanka, used to aid in Tantric meditation – the more usual ones showing Buddhist gods were not to my western taste. So, lets hope I can get it home in one piece.

Tomorrow we start our main trip with a very gentle 50 miles of flat riding and three nights of camping. Which means that the next update will be a few days away.

FINALLY SOME RIDING

On thing is becoming very apparent – we have a very ineffectual group leader. Affable but useless – a south African who was a client on a similar tour in India last year and is now having a go at leading for himself. The main problem is he can’t make a decision and when he does it’s a bad one. The real decisions are made by the local tour organisers represented by a very smiley Tibetan called Loki.

There are various levels of anxiety in the group about altitude sickness. Heidi, vegetarian Ausie triathlete doctor quietly concerned but personally content as she is taking drugs to fend the symptoms off. Main complainer is Wolfgang, genome scientist and erstwhile mountaineer, who keeps banging on about there being no effect under 2500m. The fact that he has a strong Professor Heinz Wolf accent (remember The Great Egg Race?) somehow adds to his credibility. The plan is to head up to 2000m and cycle around there hoping it will do some good. Wolfgang is volubly sceptical.

Night before the first ride everyone clustered around a large table peering at maps, there then follows a classic case of what happens to a group if the leader has no idea what he is doing… various plans emerge, the favourite being: lets take the bus up there and then start cycling straight up to 3,500m. I realised that it was a waste of time getting involved so I grabbed Russel and Derek and headed off to find a beer.

A couple of beers later we headed back for dinner at 6.15 only to find all the mad plans had to come to nothing and we were indeed going to do what was originally planned – cycle north about 35miles up to 2000m. So no surprise there then.

By the way, I was in a separate hotel across the road from everyone else due to lack of rooms… on the way over there I walked on one of the concrete blocks supposedly covering up the main drain only for it to give way and me fall in. Could have broken my leg, but fortunately only some cuts and bruising – but would have been a terrible way to end my Tibetan adventure. The other group anaxiety is about infection, everyone has a bottle of hand wash that they use all the time and which, luckly for me, Ros gave me just before I left. So I washed it all down and poured disinfectant all over it .

So, back to my room for an early night, 8.30 except for the lottery kiosk below my room blaring out Hindi pop music till god knows when. At 5.00 am the next morning rudely awoken by the hotel shutters being opened. Nothing for it but to head off to breakfast.

Which takes us to Wednesday and the cycle up north. Cycling out early at 6.50! The road goes gently up then there is a taste of what is to come with a short steep hill on broken stones, an interesting interlude, I mistakenly think. From here on the rocky road continues with no tarmac at all as it winds up through tiny villages of unbelively poor people – astounded to see people sitting on piles of rocks and smashing them in to chips with hammers

Unbelievly hard cycling, as I got higher the sun disappeared and it started to rain, then the mist came in too. Finally after 2 hours of pain I come across a number of parked busses and people running around in a dither. Apparently there had been two rock slides about 8km apart making the road impassable. What should we do? Our intrepid leader decides we should take enough clothes for 2 days in rucksacks and continue cycling on as intended while the bus would return down the mountain with the rest of our gear. The deficiencies in this little plan were too many to mention so I simply told him I would be taking the 3 hour ride back down the mountain in the bus. Sense prevailed and everyone else decided to join me.

At the bottom of the mountain after a very hard day’s cycling with 10k to go, Heidi, the NZ doctor stops the bus in order to run back!! Locals very confused seeing her running after the bus, thinking we had left her behind.

Turns out we were going to stay in a different hotel as the Aussi women thought the communial lavatory/shower was not up to scratch in the other one and a cat had used Russel’s cycling hat for a dump… unfortunately, I’m beginning to realise things are not that easy here, we turned up tired, wet and hungry to be told they did not have 8 rooms as we had expected but they did have 8 beds in three rooms… even the Aussies voted to head back to the original hotel.

Thursday

Feeling tired from yesterday’s exertions, but fantastic scenery as I climbed up the mountain. Bottom getting a bit sore and as I got higher it started to rain, had to stop every half hour for relief. Finally called it a day 10 miles from the top. However, got back on the bike and headed down into the valley. Fantastic descent, when suddenly my seat pin cracked and I found myself without a saddle - not the best thing to discover heading fast downhill on a rutted road with mad bus drivers coming towards you…

Back in the hotel more shambolic leadership with confusion about which bags can or can not go to Tibet in the van.

FINALLY SOME RIDING

On thing is becoming very apparent – we have a very ineffectual group leader. Affable but useless – a south African who was a client on a similar tour in India last year and is now having a go at leading for himself. The main problem is he can’t make a decision and when he does it’s a bad one. The real decisions are made by the local tour organisers represented by a very smiley Tibetan called Loki.

There are various levels of anxiety in the group about altitude sickness. Heidi, vegetarian Ausie triathlete doctor quietly concerned but personally content as she is taking drugs to fend the symptoms off. Main complainer is Wolfgang, genome scientist and erstwhile mountaineer, who keeps banging on about there being no effect under 2500m. The fact that he has a strong Professor Heinz Wolf accent (remember The Great Egg Race?) somehow adds to his credibility. The plan is to head up to 2000m and cycle around there hoping it will do some good. Wolfgang is volubly sceptical.

Night before the first ride everyone clustered around a large table peering at maps, there then follows a classic case of what happens to a group if the leader has no idea what he is doing… various plans emerge to ensure maximum aclimisation, the favourite being: lets take the bus up there and then start cycling straight up to 3,500m. I realised that it was a waste of time getting involved so I grabbed Russel and Derek and headed off to find a beer.

A couple of beers later we headed back for dinner at 6.15 only to find all the mad plans had to come to nothing and we were indeed going to do what was originally planned – cycle north about 35miles up to 2000m. So no surprise there then.

By the way, I was in a separate hotel across the road from everyone else due to lack of rooms… on the way over there I walked on one of the concrete blocks supposedly covering up the main drain only for it to give way and me fall in (see photo of offending item). Could have broken my leg, but fortunately only some cuts and bruising – but would have been a terrible way to end my Tibetan adventure. The other group anaxiety is about infection, everyone has a bottle of hand wash that they use all the time and which, luckly for me, Ros gave me just before I left. So I washed it all down and poured disinfectant all over it .

So, back to my room for an early night, 8.30 except for the lottery kiosk below my room blaring out Hindi pop music till god knows when. At 5.00 am the next morning rudely awoken by the hotel shutters being opened. Nothing for it but to head off to breakfast.

Which takes us to Wednesday and the cycle up north. Cycling out early at 6.50! The road goes gently up then there is a taste of what is to come with a short steep hill on broken stones, an interesting interlude, I mistakenly think. From here on the rocky road continues with no tarmac at all as it winds up through tiny villages of unbelively poor people – astounded to see people sitting on piles of rocks and smashing them in to chips with hammers

Unbelievly hard cycling, as I got higher the sun disappeared and it started to rain, then the mist came in too. Finally after 2 hours of pain I come across a number of parked busses and people running around in a dither. Apparently there had been two rock slides about 8km apart making the road impassable. What should we do? Our intrepid leader decides we should take enough clothes for 2 days in rucksacks and continue cycling on as intended while the bus would return down the mountain with the rest of our gear. The deficiencies in this little plan were too many to mention so I simply told him I would be taking the 3 hour ride back down the mountain in the bus. Sense prevailed and everyone else decided to join me.

At the bottom of the mountain after a very hard day’s cycling with 10k to go, Heidi, the NZ doctor stops the bus in order to run back!! Locals very confused seeing her running after the bus, thinking we had left her behind.

Turns out we were going to stay in a different hotel as the Aussi women thought the communial lavatory/shower was not up to scratch in the other one and a cat had used Russel’s cycling hat for a dump… unfortunately, I’m beginning to realise things are not that easy here, we turned up tired, wet and hungry to be told they did not have 8 rooms as we had expected but they did have 8 beds in three rooms… even the Aussies voted to head back to the original hotel.

Thursday

Feeling tired from yesterday’s exertions, but fantastic scenery as I climbed up the mountain. Bottom getting a bit sore and as I got higher it started to rain, had to stop every half hour for relief. Finally called it a day 10 miles from the top. However, got back on the bike and headed down into the valley. Fantastic descent, when suddenly my seat pin cracked and I found myself without a saddle - not the best thing to discover heading fast downhill on a rutted road with mad bus drivers coming towards you…

Back in the hotel more shambolic leadership with confusion about which bags can or can not go to Tibet in the van.

DAY #2 - KATHMANDU

Bad start to the trip when Gulf Air asked for 12g of exess baggage payment, £240!! A bit of haggling later plus removing various bits and pices from my bag got it down to £60. Still not what i wanted and bodes badly for the flight up to Tibet not to mention the return trip home. Talking to people here it seems to depend on which check in person you get and its all a bit of a lotery. However, after my 2 hour wait at Bahrain I was delighted to discover that for no aparent reason I had been upgraded to 1st class, seat 1A. Surprising as there were plenty of seats in the rest of the plane and nobody else up front with me at all. Perhaps they felt guilty at charging me excess for my bike. Anyway, had a couple of hours sleep on the flat bed then woke up for lunch which was delicious and waited on by two hostesses exclusively for me. Not a bad way to arrive in Kathmandu.




The airport is as mad as you might expect but got my bags and waded through the crowds to our mini bus, and was told I had to wait for five more of our group. While I was waiting badgered by locals who said they helped in putting my bags in the bus... told them I had no change, but they insisted and eventually were happy to take a pound coin. I got off lightly, two of the others were persuaded to hand over £20 each!


Today went on an organised tour in a mini-bus - just the sort of thing I dread and was tempted to do a runner, however, really glad I didn't as we had a brillliant visit to the Holiest Hindu temple in the world (apparently) followed by a less impressive but nevertheless well worth seeing Budhist temple.

Was absolutely stopped in my tracks as I approached the temple when I realised the small crowds of people on the other side of the river were actually creamating their relatives, and that there were more bodies wrapped in orange robes lying in a row waiting for their turn.

What seems to happen is that the relatives first wash the body in the river then wait their turn for a funeral pyre to become available. Then they set fire to the body, starting at the mouth. Ideally the eldest son should do this which is why, we were told, Hindis really want to have sons.


After that we headed off in the interests of religous balance to see a Bhudist temple... impressive in its own way, we wandered around it the correct (clockwise) way spinning prayer wheels (the Bhudist version of rosary beads), all the time under the gaze of the all seeing eyes...

Tomorrow off on a four day cycle tour up into the foothills to try and get a bit of aclimatisation before heading up to Lhasa on Saturday. We should have been going on Wednesday but Chinese authorities insisting on five rather than three days to issue the necessary paperwork.

ONE FINAL ADVENTURE TO CLOSE THE YEAR OUT.

Was going to close this blog down having completed the Etape, however, have just decided to cycle Lhasa to Kathmandu before all the fitness I gained training for the Etape finally disappears. Not sure what is facing me as a lot of it is new to me: never cycled at altitude before; never camped before and never had three weeks without a beer before. The final one I'm not so sure about , though, as there is local beer in Lhasa but I have been heavily discouraged from drinking during the trip as alcohol encourages altitude sickness :-((

Here's details of the trip: Tibet to Kathmandu

Original plan was to spend three days in Kathmandu to obtain the necessary visas then four days in Lhasa acclimatising before heading off for the two week cycle down to Kathmandu via Everest Base Camp. Unfortunately, teh Chinese are being difficult post Olympics about visas so we now have to stay a week in Kathmandu. So now, we are spending four days cycling around Kathmandu hoping to acclimatise a bit before flying up to Lhasa for only one day of sightseeing before heading off on the cycle which is now two days shorter - we loose the rest day and the final two days have been condensed into one... so all in all, a bit tougher.

Preparation has been a bit rushed... so far, bought a four seasons sleeping bag plus fancy silk liner; two expedition mountain bike tyres ; a pretty cool rear rack and bag for putting my camera in and a polarised filter for the camera which is supposed to give better pictures of mountains, sky and lakes. But apart from that not much other prep...

With three days to go another bike maintainance incompetence story... given all the focus on road biking this year its been some time since I rode my mountain bike, so it took it out for a spin and, of course, the chain snapped. Off to wiggle for a replacement, can't be that hard to fit surely?? Reached for my chain-splitting tool, never used one before but there is always a first time. Bit fiddily but soon new chain was on the bike. Just assumed it would work so with three days to go went for a short ride with Ros. I was consious of an unusual noise coming from the chain area, but as always ignored it and hoped it would go away... it didn't and half a mile from home the chain snapped. Looks like I did not install the rivet correctly. Just got some new pins and have had another go... but not feeling confident. In the local bike shop yesterday, however, they gave me a very clever little chain link meant for Sram chains, which is a link which does away with the need for revits... got to be a good idea, I'll take it with me just in case.