Alex's Asian Adventure

This morning at around 8-ish we loaded into our landcruiser and set off for our first stop, Gyantse. The Thriving Urban Metropolis of Gyantse is the third largest city in Tibet, which means it's about the size of a subdivision outside Toronto.

The road there is, in a word, stunning. First stop: Yamdrok Tso, an alpine lake at 4500m, by way of a 4800m pass, the Kamba La. The weather didn't cooperate fully and we had a bunch of clouds and rain and hail and other excitement. However, the views we got of the lake were pretty amazing.

The road continues through the village Nangatse and then into some canyon-gorge-like terrain that is totally out of this world. Most of the road is at over 4000m, and many of the peaks nearby are covered with snow, or have hanging glaciers. You're on the side of a mountain for several hours. This place needs to be seen to be appreciated.

Gyantse itself is nothing special, althoug there is an old fort here, Gyantse Dzong. This is the site of a pretty important battle between Col. Francis Younghusband and the local Tibetan army in 1904. The battle was a rout for the Tibetans, with the Brits slaughtering several hundred in just minutes. The brits were battled-hardened soldiers with the best gear. The Tibeans had... slingshots.

There's a place at the fort where, apparently, the remaining Tibetan fighters jumped off the cliff (the fort is on a big hill) rather than surrender to the British. Something like Thermopylae, maybe? Or Masada?

Anyway, the Dzong ("castle" or "fort") is pretty interesting and well-worth the climb up. Great views of the city and the nearby mountain ranges.

Incidentally, even though I am not really suffering from the altitude at the moment, my jeep-makes are to varying degrees. One girl, Megan, had to give up on the Dzong and head back to the hotel - way too tired, not able to move, etc. Not good. I have the benefit of having spent more time in Lhasa than these girls, took Diamox when I got here, seem to be sufficiently fit, and maybe don't suffer from altitude as much. It's fortunate. However, we'll see how it goes tomorrow and the next day, when we sleep at higher altitudes. Gyantse is at 3800m, not much higher than Lhasa. It is, however, way the hell colder!

And speaking of the girls..... they're really eager to bust my chops. Megan in particular. I don't know how much patience I have for an impudent 20-year-old, although so far it's certainly all fun & games.

So, a quick bio of my travel-mates:

• Caroline, 25, from Abitibi QC. Good fun.
• Demelza, 22, from Sydney - also good fun, but pretty quiet.
• Megan, 20, from Edmonton - runs the risk of getting on my nerves and being subject to the treatment in CICA HB3062 - although I doubt it'll get to that point.

Tomorrow we are off to Shigatse, Tibet's second-largest city.