Alex's Asian Adventure

Today was Lhasa Day for Alex, for sure. I headed over to the Potala (poe-tah-la) Palace with Julien, for an investigation of how the Dalai Lamas lived. Admission: 100 kwai. WTF MATE!

The wonderful thing about the Potala is its size and grandeur. This place is incredible. Think, Tibetan Versailles. Huge. Massive. And on a hill. The Potala overlooks the city - you really cannot miss it. To get to the entrance you need to hike up 150m, and for a barely-acclimatized bloke like myself that is no mean feat. A little uphill walk like that would be no trouble at sea level. At 3700m, it's a little different. More on altitude later.

Anyway, the Potala itself is big, white, and gorgeous. Google yourself some pictures, or wait for me to get back if you're patient. Inside, you walk through a maze of corridors, steep steps and tiny rooms exhibiting all manner of sacred jewels of Tibet. I'd like to make some points about that now:

1. How on earth did the Tibetans get this much gold?
2. How on earth did the poor, hard-living Tibetans manage to build the Potala in the 17th century? It took 50 years to build the whole thing. On a hill. At altitude.
3. The place is filled with the coffins of past Dalai Lamas. Each coffin is made of gold. I find it curious that the Dalai Lamas did not receive a sky burial, and instead have a big sarcophagus in the middle of this huge, elevated temple.
4. I hate tour groups that wander around the narrow corridors, such away the precious oxygen (it's quite stuffy already, and made worse by hordes of 30-ish Chinese yammering away....). I'm glad I am not taking a Potala Tour.

In the afternoon, I met up with Murray again and we went for a hike up Pumbo Ri, a mountain on the other side of the Lhasa River. I was strangely comfortable walking uphill on scree/prayer flags/dirt/crap at altitude. That's a good sign. It was a great hike, including some intriguing conversation.

I should disclose that Murray is a devoted Christian, of the type that is not afraid to ask about one's religious beliefs. I am... not a devoted Christian. We had some fairly stimulating conversation about topics like Truth, Science, Intelligent Design, and the notion of Divine Omnipotence. I can't say he swayed my view, but at least my brain got stimulated. I suppose that overcomes the hypoxia that comes with altitude.

Speaking of altitude, it's a weird thing. Your body doesn't like the change in air pressure and oxygen content. 3700m is quite low by mountaineering standards, but it's hardly a small jump from Chengdu (say, 1000m) to Lhasa (3700m). There are three things you can do:

1. Rest
2. Drink lots of water
3. Take Diamox, which accelerates your breathing.

I am doing 2 & 3. Julien was doing some of 2. Door 1 was out of the question. I think the Diamox is working (my fingers & toes tingle from time to time!) and I didn't have excessive trouble sleeping. No headaches, no nausea, no vomiting. I did, however, dream that I set off a nuke in New York and then had to apologize to the world over a PA system.... I don't know why I set off the nuke, but I think I could see myself apologizing about it. I was in the midst of screwing up the apology as I was waking up in a weird daze.

At the end of this week, I am looking to charter a jeep (shared with 3 other people, who I have yet to find) and make a 4-5 day trip to Everest Base Camp. 5 days should be pretty good. The elevation gain is a further 1400-ish meters, and doing it in 5 days rather than 4 will help with acclimitization. The last thing I need in life is pulminary edema (look that one up if you want to read about a life-threatening condition!). I would leave on Friday, since I really think it's worth being in town for the Buddha's birthday on Thursday. Apparently there ought to be some celebrations.

Anyway. Jokhang Temple and Sera Monastery tomorrow. Samye on Tuesday/Wednesday. Buddha Birthday on Thursday. Quomolungma on Friday-Tuesday.. and then maybe a day in Lhasa for some SHOPPING!! and back to Chengdu. Tell me if you want some specific Tibetan knick-knack. If you want a rug, tell me how much you want to spend and I'll broker a transaction (though you have to trust my sense of aesthetics!). Anyway, this schedule is subject to change.