The Potala, Home of the Dalai Lamas
What a day! This is why I wanted to come to Lhasa. We made two visits to scared places: Norbulingka, the summer home of the Dalai Lamas and the Potala, the winter home of the Dalai Lamas. Both places were inspirational and gave me new insight into the culture of the Tibetans and the Buddhist religion. It is completely impossible for me to share with you via this dispatch what I saw and learned so I encourage you to research these places on the web or even better plan a visit here! However, here is a brief overview and some pictures of the outside since no photography is allowed inside the Palaces. NorbuLingka was the summer Palace for the Dalai Lama. It was built in 1755. Each year from mid-March to the end of October the Dalai Lama would move residence from the Potala Palace for the hot summer. It is a beautiful, peaceful and quiet campus of over 340 rooms in many buildings surrounding by flowers, grass and flowing water. It is easy to see how mediation could happen here. The winter palace was the Potala Palace. It sits on Marpo Ri hill, about 400 feet above the Lhasa valley. The Palace is 13 stories high and towers above everything in Lhasa. Early legends tell of a sacred cave that was the dwelling place of the Bodhisattva Chenresi (Avilokiteshvara). The cave was also used as a meditation re by Tibetan Emperor Songtsen Gampo who then built a palace on the hill in 637. The present Palace was built around this cave in 1645 during the reign of the fifth Dalai Lama. There are two separate Palaces, the Red Palace and the White Palace. Red is where the Dalai Lama lived and served as the religious center of the Palace and the White was for the government offices of Tibet. It took over 7000 workers and 1500 artists and craftsman to complete the Palace. It is built using mud, wood and straw mostly! There are so many people touring the Potala that you are limited to one hour. We quickly strolled through room after room after room. Each one more breath taking than the previous one. They held statues, living quarters, meditation rooms, beds, chairs, gold models and then the most stunning of all, the pagodas which hold the remains for eight previous Dalai Lamas. Just thinking of the history represented by the murals, carvings and the very vessels was amazing. In each room a Monk sat quietly on a bed of quilts observing the visitors. Occasionally he would ask for someone to remove a hat or not touch a mural but mostly he sat quietly often chanting prayers. At one point I saw a mother cat her her two kittens. I foolishly asked about the history of the cats … well consider where I was! “They are here for the mice.” I was gently told. Anyway, nice work if you can get if for a cat! The views of Lhasa were excellent from the Potala. All in all it was a great day and we were acclimatizing! Tomorrow more tourist activities before leaving Lhasa on the way to Shisha Base camp. Please remember – Memories are everything Climb On! Alan
Lhasa, Tibet
We made it to Lhasa! After an early morning start we made the short trip to the Kathmandu airport for our 10:30 flight on Air China to the capital of Tibet. I guess it is a commentary on modern times and Jamie’s organizational skills since our travels went quite smooth. The 2 hour flight on an Airbus 320 was punctuational and comfortable. It was somewhat cloudy over Nepal so we had limited views of the Himalayas but one 8000m Hill was poking through the clouds. I was excited to see Lhasa since it has so much history. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Was it the old city of legends or was it a modern Chinese city full of commerce and wealth? The flight path followed the Yellow River, ask the largest river in Tibet, revealing a large Monastery along the banks. The landscape was very mountainous without many trees or green areas. Soon we landed at a very modern airport and went through a series of straightforward entry procedures. Our Tibetan guide met us and soon all 13 of us were in a modern van for the hour and half trip to Lhasa. The airport is 30 miles from the city proper since it is quite mountainous around Lhasa. Our guide explained with great pride about the new tunnel that saved over an hour in travel time. The roads were all paved and commerce was in full force as we passed several multi story government buildings, an oil refinery and other sites for manufacturing as well as housing for the workers. Quite surprising when you consider just how remote we were. Take a look at a map and you will see that Lhasa is located in the middle of, well, nowhere! Occasionally we saw the small farm with prayer flags waving in the breeze or a local in traditional garb walking the roads. The traffic was well controlled, much different from the organized chaos of Kathmandu. We entered the city and one of the first sights was a Buick and Volkswagen dealership but late model Toyota Land Cruisers seemed to be the vehicle of choice. Arriving at the hotel, I was pleased and surprised to see two old friends. Ang Tshering who is a Sherpa who organizes and leads local logistics mostly for Adventure Consultants and was here to lead a Cho Oyu climb. I was with him on Ama Dablam and Everest so it was great to see his gold filled smile once again. I also saw , leading an RMI Cho Oyu trip, whom I was in Pakistan last year. Once again it goes to show what a small world it is. The hotel is quite modern. Aptly named The Himalaya Hotel, it seems to be the place for mountain expeditions and western tourists. The rooms are modern, clean and comfortable ( this is starting to sound like a Fodor’s report!) In fact there is an Internet connection with 100 mbs speed! We will be here for three nights and play tourist while acclimatizing (yes, we are on a climbing expedition!) since Lhasa is at 11,000 feet. So, Lhasa appears to be a modern Chinese city with all the trappings. But a quick walk about reveals another side. More on that in the next dispatch. Please remember Memories are Everything. Climb On! Alan
What Time Is It, anyway??
Kathmandu! What a city. After leaving Colorado early Thursday morning, salve I finally arrived in this wonderful city. Nothing has changed. The last time I was here was in 2003 for Everest. The arrival at the airport was what I expected – organized chaos. I had checked my bags through from Denver to Kathmandu via United and Thai airlines. Yes, I live dangerously. But one was 63lbs and the other 55 so I really had no choice. In Bangkok, they assured me my bags were on my Thai flight but the anxiety was still there until I saw the red one poke through the hanging straps on the conveyor belt. But where was the black one? After six million, five hundred and twelve more bags, it finally appeared. OK maybe it was only nine but it FELT like six million! I swung both along with my huge carry-on onto the 2.5 wheel trolly and headed through security. I always get behind a local family with four kids and nine bags tied with twine (no exaggeration this time). The inspectors usually wave me by while they deal with the family. It worked like a charm. Once through the exit, the combination of heat, humidity, a mass of humanity and being back in Nepal all hit me. Sensory and emotional overload. It felt good. The guys from Project Himalaya had their sign and somehow picked me out of the crowd. Hmm, maybe it was my blue jeans or sunglasses… I had met three of my teammates at the Bangkok airport and soon we were gathered together and jammed into the small van for a short ride to Hotel Marshyangdi. The ride was amazing as always. Cows sleeping in the middle of dirt roads, cars honking. cows grazing by the roadside. Women carrying huge baskets on their heads, Cars honking. Frustrated traffic cops directing everyone and no one from stands in the middle of the street. Cars honking. Small shops with their tin awnings open for business along the road. Trees barely hanging on for life line the streets. Dust penetrating everywhere. And cars honking. I will think about this during the still quiet of the night at 23,000 feet. I keep trying to get straight what time it is but here is the problem. Colorado is 13 hours behind Bangkok and Kathmandu is 1:15 behind Bangkok. When we fly to Lhasa it will be 2:15 ahead of Kathmandu. But when we drive to BC … well I have no idea what time it will be! Perhaps we will use Lhasa time or maybe Kathmandu time. But when the sun rise is even more problematic. Here is what the worldclock site says for Lhasa: Civil twilight begins at 7:08 AM, ends at 8:43 PM Nautical twilight begins at 6:39 AM, ends at 9:11 PM Astronomical twilight begins at 6:10 AM, ends at 9:40 PM I think I will go by Sherpa time – when the milk tea is ready in the morning and the Dahl Bat at night. More from Lhasa! Please remember – Memories are everything. Climb On! Alan I want to remind everyone that I hope to post a few videos on the site. Take a look at the the right side panel on the main dispatch page to see what is new. I will alert you when I post one but you will need to use the drop down menu to see it. I posted a Welcome Video the day before I left so take a look to see how it works. Also, my favorite video from Longs Peak and the attacking marmots!
Leaving This Week for Shisha Pangma
Later this week, prescription I depart for Kathmandu to meet up with the rest of the team for our Shisha Pagma expedition. I am very excited about this climb for a number of reasons. First, see this is the second climb of The Road Back to Mt. Everest – Memories are Everything journey. Second my health is excellent and I have checked out 100% after Denali. And third, this is a great mountain with only a couple of hundred summits thus far. Now for some details of the climb. The Expedition Shisha Pangma is the 14th highest peak in the world at 26,335 feet or 8,027 meters. It is located in southern Tibet and uniquely stands somewhat alone from the main Himalayan range. The expedition will start in Kathmandu, fly to Lhasa and the drive over the Steps of the Tibetan Plains to our Base Camp. The six week expedition will be my fifth climb on an 8000m mountain. We will take the “normal route” for the climb. After spending almost 10 days getting to Nepal then Lhasa then driving to the Chinese Base Camp at 16,400′, we will take a few days to further acclimatize in mid September. Next we will move to Advanced Base Camp with Yaks carrying the heavy loads. ABC is over 18,000′. The actual climbing will finally begin after more than two weeks in transit. We will use the second half of September for “climb high, sleep low” acclimatization climbs to Camp 1 at 21,000′ and Camp 2 at 23,300′. Most of the route is snow. It is generally safe to camp 2 but there are some big crevasses. The summit bid will start after a rest break back at ABC and waiting for a good weather window. For the bid, we will return to C1 and C2 then climb a steep slope to Camp 3 at 24,600′. From C3, we will go for the summit. Shisha Pangma has a false summit at 26,286′ or 8012m but we will go for the true summit at 26,335′ or 8027m. The climb from C3 is steep but not too difficult. To the true summit, we will either have to negotiate a knife edge traverse or take a slightly longer route that has crevasse danger. The summit bid should take place around October 8th. The Team Jamie McGuiness is leading the expedition and is based out of Kathmandu. This will be his fourth expedition to Shisha. We will have 14 people on the climb including a few just going to BC only. It appears to be a strong team with a few Everest veterans, a coupe who have attempted Shisha before and others with 8000m experience. My Health After what I am calling the “Denali Mystery”, I have spent a lot of time with spets trying to understand what happened. The bottom line is that nothing conclusive was determined and all signs point to focusing on the basics of nutrition, hydration and pacing myself. So that is what I am going to do. Follow this link for all the gory details! Dispatches I will be posting frequent dispatches on this site. If you have signed up you will receive an email notification of a new dispatch. I have access to more reliable technology than I did on Alaska so expect some text, pictures, video and voice over the next six weeks. I have also partnered with three sites that do Adventure news coverage: The Adventurist, The Adventure Blog and The Rest of Everest. I did a lengthy video interview with Jon at the Rest of Everest this past weekend and he will syndicate it using his Pod Cast Technology soon. All of these sites are first class with a great reputation of quality reporting. Thanks Kraig, Jason and Jon for your support. Finally Jamie will post updates on his company’s site at Project Himalaya The Purpose This is not about standing on top of a Hill. It is about trying to do something meaningful for Alzheimer’s research through something challenging, hard and personally fulfilling. Alpine mountaineering is deep in my essence. Each time I say this is the last climb, I come back for more. It is just the way it is. But The Road Back is more than just an old mountain climber’s dream. It is about letting everyone know that Alzheimer’s is a horrible disease that robs individuals and their families of precious memories and eventually the person them self. But the current research is promising and there is hope. And they need funding. Please consider giving a donation today – no matter how large or small it is deeply and sincerely appreciated by all impacted and involved. The Cure Alzheimer’s Fund has a donation page that makes this simple. Please go there now. Departing Thoughts OK, that’s it until I get to Nepal. I am ready for this next challenge. My body is strong after climbing 13 Colorado 14ers since Denali. My mind is confident after all the visits with the Docs. My resolve is purposeful. I need four things to align before I go on a climb like this: Time, money, support from my family and a deep personal desire. Once again the window is open and the alignment is right. If I don’t reach the summit it is not the end of the world and I will continue on my path to Everest. And I will be disappointed. I am going to Tibet to give it all I have. I will be honest to a fault in my dispatches. I hope you come along and tell your friends. This will be fun! Climb On! Alan