Life on the Tibetan Plateau

Train Tickets To Lhasa During The Busy Season

Train tickets to Lhasa during the high season months of June through early October can be extremely difficult to get. It seems like Lhasa is the place where all the domestic tourists in China want to go. In 2007, over 4 million tourists (average of 11,000 people per day), mostly domestic Chinese, visited Tibet and most of them took the train to Lhasa. While 2008 was a down year in Tibet tourism, it looks 2009 will be much better. Already it is becoming difficult to get train tickets to Lhasa from Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and even from Xining. Most travel agencies arranging train tickets to Lhasa have to add sizable surcharge to the price of the train tickets. Here is the reason why...In Xining, train tickets to Lhasa only go on sale to the public 2 days before departure. However, large government owned travel agencies in China are able to buy up large amounts of tickets to Lhasa 7 days before departure, or 5 days before they go on sale to the public. So when the train tickets from Xining to Lhasa go on sale to the public, there are usually only a small amount of tickets available since the large government owned travel agencies have already bought up most of the tickets, which means that small travel agencies have a very hard time getting tickets. These large government owned travel agencies then sell these train tickets to the smaller travel agencies, but add a hefty surcharge to each ticket...usually between Y200 and Y400 per ticket for hard sleepers and up to Y500 per ticket for soft sleepers. This is not legal to do, but it happens all across China on the trains to Lhasa.

Tibetan Connections always tries to get the lowest possible priced train tickets to Lhasa by buying them directly from the train station. But, since during the summer season it is extremely difficult to get them from the train station because the tickets sell out so quickly. We always try and stand by our original price estimates, but sometimes we do have to adjust the price based on the difficulty of getting train tickets or by arranging flights to Lhasa instead of the train. We apologize for this inconvenience.

UPDATE

The Chinese government wrote an article on July 2nd, 2009 stating that they anticipate 1.1 million tourists to take the train to Lhasa during the months of July and August. This works out to nearly 18,000 people per day to Lhasa just on the trains. This does not include those who will be flying to Lhasa from Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou or Xi'an. For more about it read this article.

If you have any questions about tours to Tibet, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com

Sogwo: Mongolia in Tibet

Sogwo (སོག་བོ་) in southeastern Qinghai is a Mongolian Autonomous County, although it is located in the heart of the Amdo region of Tibet. The population is made up predominantly of Mongolian yak and sheep herders, though they speak the Amdo dialect of Tibetan. In fact, little of the culture in this area is Mongolian. In addition to the language, the customs, dress and religion are all the same as the native Tibetans who live in this region. The only real noticeable difference between the Tibetans and Mongolians in Sogwo is that most of the Mongolians still live in the felt style of yurts (pictured below) that are common in Mongolia.

Sogwo, known as Henan in Chinese, is located 39kms south of Tsekog and 140kms south of Rebkong. The area lies between 3500m and 3800m and consists mostly of grasslands. These grasslands are some of the best in the Qinghai region of Amdo. Sheep, yaks, goats and horses are seen throughout the area. Nomad tents are dotted all across the grasslands. Sogwo is a great place to go to experience nomadic culture (shearing a sheep below). There are daily buses to Sogwo from both Rebkong and Xining. It is also possible to go from Sogwo to the Tibetan towns in Gansu province such as Luchu (Luqu), Machu (Maqu) and Taktsang Lhamo (Langmusi).

Very few foreigners make their way to Sogwo. It is only listed in a handful of guidebooks, but is a great place to go with great scenery and an amazing culture to experience. It is one of the few places across the Tibetan Plateau to see Mongolians. In the county town of Sogwo, there are a few hotels and guesthouses to stay at, but the best way to experience this area is to bring a tent and camp alongside a nomad family. For more information about this area, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com

Lhasa-Yangpachen-Gyantse-Shigatse

The route from Lhasa to Yangpachen to Shigatse (via the Nyenchen Dangla Mountains) and then on to Gyantse and Yamdrok Lake is a great route for travelers who want to huge snow-capped mountains, lakes and Buddhist monasteries. The route from Lhasa to Shigatse via Yangpachen and the Nyenchen Dangla mountains is not a route many people take, but it is amazing. The Nyenchen Dangla mountains are home to many nomads living in traditional style tents. This high elevation area is the furthest southern region of Tibet's famous Changtang or Northern Tibetan Plateau. The highest pass alogn the route from Yangpachen is the Sugu La which tops out at 5420m/17,780 feet. At the Sugu La, there is an excellent view of the snow-capped Mt. Chomo Gangtse (pictured above) which rises to 7048m/23,118 feet. From the Sugu La, you drop over 1500m down to the Yarlung Tsangpo River. Here is what this itinerary would look like:

Day 1: Take the train from Xining to Lhasa. Xining is the starting point of the Tibetan Railway that opened in 2006. Xining, elevation 2300m, is a good place to spend a day or two to help your body acclimatize before going to the higher elevation areas of the Tibetan Plateau.

Day 2: Arrive in Lhasa

Day 3: Lhasa

Day 4: Lhasa

Day 5: Lhasa to Shigatse via Yangpachen. This rarely traveled route goes through the Nyenchen Dangla mountains near the small town of Yangpachen and past the 7048m Mt. Chomo Gangtse. The mountain is best viewed from the 5420m pass of Sugu La. This region is home to many Tibetan nomads living in tents and riding horses.

Day 6: Shigatse. Shigatse is the second largest city in Tibet and is home to the famous Tashilhunpo Monastery (pictured below). The monastery has a kora around it that offers great views of the city. The hike around the monastery takes about an hour.

Day 7: Shigatse-Gyantse. Gyantse is home to the Kumbum Chorten, the largest chorten/stupa in Tibet. Gyantse also has the towering hilltop fort of Gyantse Dzong which offers a stunning view of the plains surrounding Gyantse. 

Day 8: Gyantse-Yamdrok Lake-Lhasa. Yamdrok Lake is one of the most holy lakes in Tibet. It is a bright turquoise color and sits at 4488m/14,720 feet high. The snow-capped Mt. Nojin Kangtsang sits behind the lake and rises to 7191m/23,588 feet. Yamdrok (pictured below) is one of the most photographed lakes in Tibet.

Day 9: Depart from Lhasa

The 9 day trip from Xining to Lhasa on the train and then from Lhasa to Yangpachen, Shigatse, Gyantse and Yamdrok lake is a great route to take in Tibet. With high mountains, lakes, nomads, monasteries and old military forts it has plenty of things to see and do.

For more information about this tour, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com

 

 

Tingri

Tingri (ཏིང་རི་) is a small town along the Friendship Highway about 190kms before the Nepal border. Tingri, also known as Old Tingri, is a one street town that has plenty of small restaurants guesthouses, shops...and dogs. Most people stay in Tingri for a night on their way from Mt. Everest Base Camp. Though it isn't the most comfortable place to stay along the route from Lhasa to Nepal, the excellent views of the Himalaya's make it a worth while stop. The view looking south of the town offers a sweeping view of the Himalaya's including Everest and Cho Oyu, the 6th highest mountain in the world. Great views of Cho Oyu (below) can be seen about 20kms south of Tingri heading towards Everest.

Tingri has several good guesthouses to stay in and all of them have restauratns serving basic Tibetan and some wesern food. All of the guesthouses offer clean sheets and plenty of blankets. Tingri sits at 4300m/14,105 feet and has some very cold winters. No place in town has rooms with private bathrooms or showers, but most of the guesthouses have a separate shower house with plenty of hot water. Showers are around Y10 per person. Tingri often has limited electricity with the power coming on until around 7pm and staying on until around midnight.

For more information about Tingri or travel in Tibet, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com

Nepal to Tibet

I am frequently asked if there are any differences between entering Tibet from the rest of China and entering from Nepal. In this post, I hope to clear up some misunderstandings about entering Tibet from Nepal and the differences compared to entering from China.

1. Chinese Visa
If you plan to enter Tibet from Nepal, you can usually only get a 15 day group Chinese visa, though if you book a longer tour to places like Kailash you can get a 21 or 28 day visa. This visa is usually not placed in your passport, but is a sheet of paper that lists all of the names of the people in your group along with nationalities, birth dates and passport numbers. This group visa is usually not able to be extended, even though many travel agencies in Kathmandu will tell you that it can be extended. Many travelers find out the hard way when they go to get an extension and find out that instead of getting a visa extension, they have less than 48 hours to leave China. With the group Chinese visa, you have to enter AND EXIT with all of the members of your group at the same time and the same place. It is not possible for you to split from the group (prior to 2008 it was possible) since your group Chinese visa is only on one piece of paper. This can cause huge problems if some people in your group plan to exit China to Hong Kong while others are planning on flying out of Beijing. For most people, 15 days is not enough to travel overland to Lhasa and tour the rest of China.

The group Chinese visa can only be arranged through a travel agency in Nepal. If you arrive in Nepal with a Chinese visa already in your passport, you will NOT be able to use it (I tried this on my own as I have had a Chinese residence visa for over 7 years). The Chinese embassy in Kathmandu will cancel whatever type of Chinese visa you have (there are some small exceptions to this, but for 99% of the people reading this, those exceptions don't apply). Entry from Nepal into Tibet requires you to have the group Chinese visa that is usually only valid for 15 days of travel.

If you plan on going from the rest of China into Tibet, this visa restriction does not apply. From China, there is no need to be on a group visa. You can enter on a standard 30 or 60 day tourist visa. Tourist visa's can be extended for an additional 30 days at any city in China, however, visa's cannot be extended in Lhasa or anywhere in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

2. Tour Prices
Tour prices from Nepal to Tibet are generally higher compared to going from China to Tibet. I contacted dozens of travel agencies across China, Tibet and Nepal for their tour prices and found that 95% of the time the agencies based in Lhasa, Xining and Chengdu were the cheapest. There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is that the agency in Nepal not only has to arrange your permit, but they also have to arrange your Chinese visa for you. More paper work to process means more money.

The second is that most travel agencies in Kathmandu use travel agencies in Lhasa to arrange the tour. Arranging tours to Tibet in Nepal means that 2 or 3 agencies will be used and all of them add to the total price (example: a small backpacker travel agency in Thamel can arrange tours to Lhasa, but first have to contact a larger travel agency in Kathmandu who then contacts the agency in Lhasa. This means that 3 agencies are involved in arranging your tour). The third reason that tours from Nepal into Tibet are more expensive than going from China into Tibet is that most people go to Tibet from either Xining or Chengdu. Not nearly as many people enter Tibet from Nepal so that means that the tour prices are higher since there are fewer customers. Since there is so much competition in Xining and Chengdu, it keeps the tour prices lower. Chengdu has always been (and probably always will be) the traditional gateway to Lhasa, but now that Xining is the starting point of the Tibetan Railway, more and more people are going to Lhasa from Xining.

The last major reason that tour prices form Nepal to Tibet cost more is transportation. The only way to get from Kathmandu to Lhasa is to either go overland in a Land Cruiser for 5 days or fly. Since taking public transportation in Tibet is not possible, foreigners have to use private vehicles which are not cheap. The flight from Kathmandu to Lhasa only takes about 55 minutes, but usually costs around $325USD or so.

Entering Tibet from mainland China is cheaper because you can take the train to Lhasa. The train is a very affordable and comfortable way to get to Lhasa. Also, from China you can either arrange a tour from a travel agency in Lhasa or from a travel agency in Xining, Beijing or Chengdu that is well connected to a travel agency in Lhasa. Because of the high number of tourists who go from mainland China to Lhasa, prices are very competitive and considerably less than in Nepal.

3. Ease in Arranging

Arranging tours from Nepal to Tibet aren't difficult to do, but they do take some time. The travel permit will take at least 5 days to arrange (average time based on all of the agencies I contacted in Nepal) plus you have to wait for the Chinese group visa to be issued. This means that if you arrive in Kathmandu, don't expect to be on your way to Lhasa the next day. You will most likely have to wait up to a week. Since the travel agency will have to arrange your group Chinese visa, it is difficult to arrange tours from Nepal to Tibet in advance (they can't arrange your tour in advance because they need to have your passport in order to begin the process).

On the China side, travel permits normally take around 3 business days to arrange. Most travel agencies can arrange your tour in advance as long as you email them copies of your passport and Chinese visa 10 days before you plan to depart. It is very common for customers to arrive in Xining or Chengdu and depart for Lhasa the next day (this is only possible if the customers have arranged their tour in advance). Even if you don't arrange your tour in advance, it is possible to be on your way to Lhasa from Xining within 3 or 4 business days.

In general, it is easier, cheaper and you get a longer visa for China if you go from China to Tibet then to Nepal. Doing the tour in the reverse order (Nepal to Tibet to China) means that the tour will cost more, take longer to arrange and you will only have a 15 day group Chinese visa (again, if you book a long Tibet tour such as to Kailash, you can get a longer group visa). I am not writing this to discourage people from going to Nepal. Nepal is a great place to visit and the overland route from Lhasa to Kathmandu is one of the best in Asia. I highly recommend people to go to Nepal. However, it is important to realize that the travel regulations are very different regarding Tibet if you start your tour in Nepal rather than China. Again, it is much easier and cheaper to begin your journey in China and then work your way to Nepal through Tibet rather than beginning in Nepal.

Sometimes people's travel plans are quite rigid and changes cannot be made and they have to go from Nepal into Tibet. If that is the case, there is no need to worry! Please don't let this article discourage you if you have to go from Nepal into Tibet. There are many good and reliable agencies in Kathmandu that can arrange tours to Tibet. The point of this article is to point out the differences between the two and not to discourage people from going from Nepal into Tibet.

In Kathmandu, stop by my friend Jeet's office. His is the owner of The Trekkers' Society and arranges tours to Tibet, Bhutan and treks throughout Nepal.

If you have any other questions about travel in Tibet, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com

 

Jigdril and Mt. Nyenbo Yurtse

Jigdril, known as Jiuzhi in Chinese, is a county in Golog Tibet Autonomous Prefecture in southeast Qinghai province. Jigdril lies over 800kms from the provincial capital city of Xining and about 70kms from Ngawa (Aba) county in Sichuan. Jigdril (གཅིག་སྒྲིལ) is part of the Amdo region of the Tibetan Plateau. Most of the inhabitants of this area are Tibetan nomads. During the summer, black yak wool tents are seen throughout this area. This area does not get the coverage it deserves in guidebooks and is one of the true hidden gems of the Tibetan Plateau. Very few foreigners visit this area though it is perhaps one of the most amazing areas in Qinghai.

There are numerous Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the area, mostly from the old Nyingma Sect. The largest and most famous monastery in Jigdril is Tarthang Monastery. It has over 400 monks and has many nomads coming to worship at it each day. Monks at Tarthang come from all over the Golog region and from neighboring Ngawa (Aba) county in Sichuan province. The mountains behind the monastery are worth hiking to get a good view of the monastery and surrounding area.

Going southeast from Tarthang Monastery you cross over a 4400m/14,435 feet mountain pass offering a sweeping view of the Nyenbo Yurtse mountain range. A little over an hour from this pass you will reach the road leading to the holy mountain of Nyenbo Yurtse. Nyenbo Yurtse, rising to 5369m/17,612 feet, is the second most important mountain in the Amdo region of the Tibetan Plateau. Nyenbo Yurtse is an impressive looking mountain with a deep blue colored alpine lake surrounding the north side of the mountain. Thousands of pilgrims make the 12 day outer circuit or the 6 day inner circuit around the mountain each year. The entrance fee into the the Nyenbo Yurtse park is Y60 per person and is good for 2 or 3 days. From the park entrance to the mountain, it is a 3 to 4 hour hike. There are no hotels, stores or restaurants in this area so be sure to have all the food and water that you will need. Nyenbo Yurtse is one of the most amazing places in Amdo.

The county town of Jigdril is quite small, but offers inexpensive rooms in basic guesthouses. There are several small restaurants and plenty of small stores to replenish your stock. Getting to Jigdril is not easy. There are daily buses to Jigdril from Xining that take between 14 and 18 hours depending on the weather. There are also daily buses to Jigdril from Machen (Dawu) and from Ngawa (Aba).

For more information about Jigdril or tours to this area, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com

Tibet Travel Update June 2009

I have had a lot of requests for updated information regarding travel regulations in Tibet for 2009. I will do my best to keep accurate, up-to-date reports on Tibet travel regulations throughout the year. All of the following information is current as of July 5, 2009.

Lhasa and all areas of the Tibet Autonomous Region are now open to foreign travelers. The Tibet Tourism Bureau (TTB) said that it will take 3 to 4 days to issue travel permits.

All Tibetan areas in Yunnan province are currently open. No permits or tours are required to go to Dechen Tibet Autonomous Prefecture in northwest Yunnan. It is not likely that this area will close as Tibetans only make up about 1/3 of the population of the prefecture.

All Tibetan regions in Gansu province (Ganlho/Gannan Tibet Autonomous Prefecture), including Labrang Monastery, are now open! We have been waiting to report this for many months and it is finally true! Along with Labrang Monastery, the small town of Taktsang Lhamo (Langmusi) is also open. There are daily buses to Labrang from Xining. Lanzhou and Rebkong.

The Tibetan areas in Qinghai province are all open including Rebkong, Qinghai Lake, Golog, Jyekundo and Nangchen. There have been recent reports of foreigners being in all of these areas without any problems. Many foreigners have reported to me about being in Yushu without any problems.

Many regions in far western Qinghai (Haixi Prefecture) remain closed as they have been for the past 25+ years.  

The Tibetan counties in Ngawa (Aba) Prefecture in Sichuan are all closed except for Songpan and Jiuzhaigou.

The TIbetan counties in Garnze (Ganzi) Prefecture are all open. Many foreigners have reported going to Kangding, Dege, Manigango, Litang and Batang without any problems. For more information about the Sichuan Tibetan updates, contact Sim's Cozy Garden Hostel in Chengdu.

And again, Lhasa and the TAR are now open and will be for the rest of the year.

The following are the travel regulations that foreigners have to follow in order to travel to Lhasa and the Tibet Autonomous Region:

All foreigners traveling to the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), including Lhasa and the surrounding area must have a Tibet Travel Permit and a tour guide (yes, you need a tour guide even if you are only going to Lhasa). Your permit will be checked before you board the plane or train to Lhasa. I just recently returned from spending 3 weeks in Central Tibet (U-Tsang) and before I boarded the train in Xining for Lhasa, my permit was thoroughly inspected. A police officer inside the train station read it carefully and wrote down all of the information from the permit and recorded it in a ledger. People report the police doing the same thing in both the Chengdu and Beijing train stations as well as at airports when flying to Lhasa. The days of going to Lhasa without a permit are over...at least for now. If, by a miracle, you somehow arrive in Lhasa without a permit, don't expect to be able to pick one up in Lhasa so that you can continue down the Friendship Highway to Nepal or to Everest Base Camp. No travel agency will issue you a permit if you came to Lhasa illegally.

All travel in the TAR requires you to have a tour guide with you, even in Lhasa. Some people and a few travel agencies will report that a tour guide is not needed in Lhasa, but that is not true. I have someone from my office call the Tibet Tourism Bureau (TTB) every week. The TTB is the department of the government that sets the travel regulations for foreign travel in Tibet. Each week they report the same thing to us: that foreigners must have a government licensed tour guide with them while in Tibet and while in Lhasa. All hotels must be booked by the travel agency that you choose before arriving in Lhasa. You have your choice of government approved hotels, but you have to have all reservations made before you arrive in Lhasa. Most travel agencies in Lhasa, Xining and Chengdu have good relationships with hotels in Lhasa and can offer better rates than you can find on-line.

If you are traveling within the Lhasa City Municipality (Lhasa Metro Area), you can use public transportation for the most part, though your tour guide will have to accompany you. If you want to go to places like Ganden Monastery, Tidrum Nunnery or Drigung Monastery, you do not need to book a Land Cruiser tour to get out there. You can take public buses to reach all of these places.

If you want to travel outside of Lhasa to places like Kham, Kailash or down the Friendship Highway to Everest or the Nepal border, you have to book a tour that includes a Land Cruiser and a driver (as well as a tour guide). It is not possible to take public transportation anywhere outside of the Lhasa City Municipality. There are numerous checkpoints throughout the Tibet Autonomous Region that will be difficult to get around if you are traveling independently.

In addition to your Tibet Travel Permit, there are other permits that are needed for traveling to certain regions of Tibet. If you only plan on being in the Lhasa area or to Yamdrok Lake, Gyantse or Shigatse no additional permits are needed. However, if you plan on traveling west of Shigatse or east of Lhasa to Lhoka, Nyingtri or Chamdo Prefectures, you will also need an Alien Travel Permit. An Alien Travel Permit is usually arranged by your tour guide at the Tibet Tourism Bureau in Shigatse. (UPDATE: All foreigners going to the Everest region beyond Shigatse now need a Military Permit. This rule began on June 1, 2009). You cannot get this on your own. If you plan on going west of Lhatse into Ngari Prefecture or to Mt. Kailash (West Tibet), you will also need a Military Permit in addition to your Tibet Travel Permit and Alien Travel Permit. Military permits usually take several days to arrange and again, can only be arranged by a travel agency. If you plan on traveling to sensitive border areas near India, you will further need a Foreign Affairs Permit in addition to the 3 other permits mentioned above. Again, there are numerous police checkpoints throughout Tibet. It will be nearly impossible to travel without having these permits, a tour guide or a private vehicle with driver. If you are caught without having these permits, you can expect a fine between Y300 and Y500 and to be escorted out of Tibet immediately. In certain areas such as near the India border, you can expect the consequences to be even stiffer with the possibility of being detained by the police for a few days.

There are always going to be stories of people who were able to travel to Lhasa without a permit or who were able to make it to places like Kailash or Chamdo without any hassles, but in reality the chances of this happening are very low. If you are set on traveling through Tibet illegally, good luck to you! But keep in mind that your chances of success are quite minimal.

The Tibetan prefectures in Qinghai, western Sichuan and southwest Gansu do not require permits or organized tours. These great Tibetan areas can be explored independently using public transportation, though a private vehicle will allow you to see places that the public buses do not go to.

I will keep this post updated as situations change.

If you have any questions regarding travel in Tibet, feel free to send an email at info@tibetanconnections.com. We arrange travel to all areas of Tibet and offer some of the best prices around on tours to Lhasa, Everest/Himalaya's, Kailash, Amdo, Kham and the Nepal border.

Jomda

Jomda, known as Jiangda in Chinese, is a small county located in the Kham region of Tibet. Jomda (འཇོ་མདའ) is 70kms west of Dege and 230kms east of Chamdo and lies at an elevation of around  3200m/10,500 feet above sea level. The Dri Chu River, or Yangtze, separates Jomda county from Dege county and is used to mark the border between Sichuan province and the Tibet Autonomous Region. Jomda was once part of the Kingdom of Dege. Because of that, this area is still referred to locally as "Dege Jomda".

The county town of Jomda is a mid-sized town built along the banks of the Dzi Chu River. There are a few clean guesthouses to choose from and several decent restaurants. The town is full of Kham Tibetans with the men wearing black tassels in their long hair and the women wearing a large piece of turquoise above their forehead. If you are trying to travel this area without a tour (not recommended), stay away from Jomda. The police have a good eye for finding foreigners. Your chances of making it out of Jomda without the required tour (guide, multiple permits, private vehicle and driver) are very small, especially since March 2008.

The houses built around Jomda are quite unique to Tibet. Most of Tibet is treeless, but around Jomda there are large forests. Many of the houses are amazing log cabins. These types of houses are not found in other regions of Tibet. Timber and farming are major industries in Jomda. Unfortunately, many of these areas are being clear-cut and the trees are not being replanted.

Very few foreigners make their way to Jomda. Jomda is best visited as part of an overland journey going from Lhasa to Dege. If you have any questions about Jomda or tours in Tibet, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com

Responsible Tourism in Tibet

Responsible tourism is something world travelers should all be aware of, particularly while in Tibet. Tibet, with its vast grasslands, high mountains and alpine lakes has seen a huge increase in tourism since the train to Lhasa began operating in 2006. It no longer takes days or weeks to reach Lhasa. In 2007, over 4 million people visited Tibet...an average of 11,000 people per day. The Tibetan Plateau is the source of many of Asia's most important rivers and trekking in these head water regions has become increasingly more popular. With the drastic increase in tourism to Tibet comes the possibility of doing damage to its sensitive ecosystem and cultural ways. Unfortunately, a lot of times we as travelers do harm unknowingly to these places and people we came to see. Here are some ways that you can be a responsible tourist while in Tibet.

The first is to be responsible in the travel agency that you choose. There are now travel agencies in just about every major Chinese city as well as in major cities across the globe that arrange tours to Tibet. Try and choose a travel agency that is actually based on the Tibetan Plateau and is managed and staffed by Tibetan people. A Chinese travel agency based in Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou probably knows very little about Tibet and often times the person answering emails in these agencies has never even been to Tibet or seen a Tibetan person. By choosing a local Tibetan agency to use, more of your tourism money will be put back into the economy of the Tibetan people. Try and use as many Tibetan owned hotels, shops and restaurants as possible. This will also help to better the economy of the Tibetan people. If your guide and driver did a good job on your tour, don't hesitate to give them a tip. Since the tourism season is relatively short in Tibet, guides and drivers make the bulk of their money during the busy summer season. If your guide and driver took good care of you and helped to educate you more about Tibet, you should give them each a tip.

There are numerous guidebooks on Tibet available. Do as much research as possible regarding Tibet before you arrive. The Tibetan culture is quite unique and travel to Tibet is much different that other parts of the world. Try and research the area as much as possible to avoid confusion and frustration later on.

Traveling in Tibet is much different than traveling in the rest of China. Travel in Tibet is similar to travel in Bhutan in that you can only enter as part of a tour. You don't need to be in a large group tour with a bunch of strangers. It is possible to be in a group as a solo traveler or with your friends and family. Every person entering the Tibet Autonomous Region has to have a Tibet travel permit. This permit can only be arranged through a travel agency. You cannot get it on your own or at a Chinese embassy or consulate. Travel in the TAR has to be guided. You will have a licensed tour guide with you each day. If you travel outside of Lhasa, you will have to do so by private vehicle. You cannot travel outside of the Lhasa city limits using public transportation.

Over the years I have heard of many reports of foreigners breaking the law while in Tibet by traveling off to different regions on their own without their tour guide or by entering Tibet without any permits. I understand that a lot of people do not like the tourism policies of Tibet. I cannot say that I always enjoy them either, but by breaking the law and traveling off on your own, you can cause serious problems. If you arrange a tour with a certain company to go to Lhasa, your permit is only valid for travel in Lhasa and for the duration of your tour. After your tour if you decide to break the law and stay in Tibet and travel off on your own, as soon as you get caught by the police (there are checkpoints throughout Tibet) they will run your name in the tourism database and find the travel agency that arranged your permit. The police will then contact that agency and ask them why they allowed a foreigner to travel to restricted areas without additional permits, guide or private vehicle. The travel agency, which has no idea that you are still in Tibet, could then be fined up to Y50,000 and even lose their license and be forced to close their business. You will only be fined between Y300 and Y500, but you could potentially put Tibetan people out of a job. If you travel to Tibet, please be responsible and abide by the laws. Please do not travel to restricted areas without booking a tour. 

Be respectful when entering into a Buddhist temple or monastery. Dress appropriately by wearing long pants rather than shorts or skirts. Take your hat off before entering and take your shoes off when required. Try to avoid talking loudly while inside and do not take pictures without asking permission first (in popular monasteries there will be a fee to take photos inside a monastery). Walk in a clock-wise direction inside Buddhist monasteries and in a counter clock-wise direction in Bon monasteries. Most monasteries do not allow women to enter the protector chapel and some monasteries forbid women altogether (Rabgya Monastery in Golog is one example). Women should avoid touching monks and men should avoid touching nuns.

When trekking in Tibet it is extremely important to be responsible. Pack out all of your trash. Try to minimize your waste by not bringing food wrapped in excessive plastic. Use reusable cups, plates and silverware rather than plastic. Don't use the bathroom near lakes or rivers. Make sure your laundry and dish detergent is environmentally safe. Avoid using even environmentally safe detergents near water sources. Keep on existing paths and avoid making new paths. Soil erosion is a major problem in many regions of Tibet. When camping, make sure you get permission from the local nomads. Nomads always have large dogs that will attack people they are unfamiliar with. By asking permission first, the nomads will usually make sure their dogs are tied up and not trying to devour you.

Even though Tibet is extremely poor, try to avoid passing out money or candy as it encourages begging. Also try to avoid passing out medicine. There are several travel agencies and organizations that do projects across Tibet. Try to donate to these organizations rather than passing out medicine or clothes on your own.

Don't pay people to take their picture and never take pictures of people who do not want their picture taken. If you tell someone that you will send them the pictures, make sure you follow up on this. Most guides in Tibet go to the main destinations many times each year and would be quite happy to deliver your pictures the next time they are in that area.

Avoid political discussions while in Tibet. You could get yourself in trouble, but more importantly you could get the person you are talking to in worse trouble. 

Tibet is an amazing place to travel to. Most people don't just go to Tibet once, but try and go back as often as they can.

If you have any questions regarding travel or tours in Tibet, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com

Sershul

Sershul (སེར་ཤུལ), known as Shiqu in Chinese, is located in far northwest Sichuan in the traditional Tibetan province of Kham. This remote area has some of the best grasslands in all of the Tibetan Plateau. Located 140kms east of Jyekundo and 230kms northwest of Manigango, Sershul sits at 4100m/ 13,450 feet above sea level. Winters are extremely cold in this area and snow is possible even in the summer. There are around 45 Buddhist and Bon monasteries in Sershul county with Sershul Monastery being the largest with around 800 monks.

Sershul, knows locally as Dzachuka, is made up mostly of nomadic Tibetans who spend their lives herding sheep and yaks. During the summer, the grasslands in this area are an amazing color of green. There are mountains all over the county with the highest reaching over 5500m/ 18,000 feet. The county town in Sershul serves as a trading hub for the area. Each day nomads arrive in town, many on horseback, to buy and sell goods. Sershul has been modernizing over the past few years and now has several decent restaurants and hotels to choose. from. There are daily buses from Sershul to Jyekundo and Garze.

Sershul has a small horse festival each summer, usually in July. Nomads from across the area come to participate in dancing, yak and horse races and several different sporting events.

Most people only spend a night or two in Sershul before going to Jyekundo, Manigango or Dege. Sershul definitely has a "wild west" feel to it. Though remote and a bit wild, this area is safe and is a great place to see nomadic Tibetan culture. Though organized horse trekking is not available in the area, you should be able to hire some horses from nomads and go out for a day or two. If you arrive in town using public transportation, you can hire taxi's in the county town to take you out to the surrounding monasteries and mountains that cannot be reached using local transportation.

For more information about Sershul or tours to this area, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com

Xinghai and Drakar Tredzong Monastery

Xinghai, known as Tsigortang (རྩི་གོར་ཐང་) in Tibetan, is a nomadic county located in northwest Amdo in Qinghai province. Tsigortang sees very few tourists as there is not much information available about the area. However, it is one of the most beautiful areas of the Tibetan Plateau. Located 290kms southwest of Xining and 630kms northeast of Jyekundo, Tsigortang is remote and well off the beaten path. The Amnye Machen range sits just south of Tsigortang and the Yellow River is found in the eastern part of the county. All together, there are 15 Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the county.

The county town of Tsigortang is not what brings people to the area, but what is outside the town does. Driving to Tsigortang from Xining takes you across wide expanses of grasslands that are home to nomad Tibetans. From late spring until early fall the nomads in this area live in white canvas tents and spend their days grazing their yaks and sheep. Most of this area lies between 3300m/ 10,825 feet and 3700m/ 12,140 feet. The mountains in this area are usually snow-capped year round. During the summer, these grasslands are bright green.

The main attraction in Tsigortang county is Drakar Tredzong  Monastery. The "White Monkey Fortress" is one of the most famous monasteries in Amdo and brings many pilgrims each year. The monastery currently has around 400 monks, though in the past it has had close to 1000. Located at the base of a 5000m/ 16,400 ft. mountain, Drakar Tredzong has one of the few evergreen forests on the northern Tibetan Plateau. Wildlife such as wolves, deer, foxes, gazelle and a large variety of birds all live above the monastery. There is a pilgrimage kora winding around the mountain that takes 5 or 6 hours to complete. The mountains above the monastery offer abundant hiking routes and have excellent views of the area.

The Tsigortang area is very poor. There is a simple Tibetan style hotel located near Drakar Tredzong Monastery and some slightly better accommodations in the county town. Even though this area is poor, if you are interested in a remote Tibetan adventure, this area will not disappoint you. Most people traveling to Yushu never see this area since it is usually passed through during the night. Due to the high elevation of many areas in Qinghai, Tsigortang serves as a good place to spend a night or two before going to the higher elevation areas of Amnye Machen or the Yellow River source area in Maduo. Tsigortang can be visited as part of a tour that includes Qinghai Lake, Kumbum Monastery and  Amnye Machen.

For more information about Tsigortang and Drakar Tredzong Monastery, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com

Train to Tibet

The controversial train line linking Xining to Lhasa opened in July 2006. The train line from Xining to  Golmud was completed in 1984, but the goal was always to have the train extend all the way to Lhasa. In 2001, the construction work commenced. Over 100,000 workers were brought to the Tibetan Plateau to work on the railway. The railway was finished 2 years earlier than the projected 2008 date. The first few months after the new train line opened, it was extremely difficult to get tickets. I was very fortunate that I was able to get tickets for the new train only a few weeks after it began. Since then, I have taken the train many times across the Tibetan Plateau.

The official starting point of the Tibetan Railway is the city of Xining in the traditional Tibetan province of Amdo. However, there are also trains to Lhasa beginning in Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Lanzhou. Contrary to popular belief, there is no train to Lhasa originating in Golmud. All trains to Lhasa pass through Golmud, but there is no train originating in the central Qinghai city. It is possible to get train tickets to Lhasa in Golmud, but since there is no train originating in Golmud there is only a very limited amount of tickets available which quickly sell out. Plus, the travel agencies in Golmud that arrange permits for foreigners to go to Lhasa tend to charge far too much for their tours. Prices for permits and tours to Lhasa are much cheaper in Xining or Chengdu. Only arrange your permit and tour in Golmud if you don't mind being ripped off. There also is no train to Lhasa originating in Xi'an. The trains from eastern China pass through Xi'an enroute to Lhasa, but no train begins operating in Xi'an that goes to Lhasa. For this reason, Xi'an is not the best choice in trying to get tickets to Lhasa. Since the train only passes through Xi'an, there is a very limited amount of tickets for Lhasa and they quickly sell out. If possible, try and begin your train journey to Lhasa from Xining, Chengdu or even Beijing. It will be much easier and cheaper to arrange your permit and tour in these cities.

From eastern China, the train to Lhasa passes through endless farming villages. The scenery is good, but becomes quite monotonous, especially by the end of the second day. Beginning early on the third day from Beijing or second day from Xining and Lanzhou, the scenery has drastically changed. The train is now on the northern Tibetan Plateau heading south from Golmud. Gone are the farmlands and what you see instead are endless grasslands inhabited by yaks, sheep, Tibetan antelope and other wildlife native to the Tibetan Plateau. High snow-capped mountains can be seen in the distance. Around 120kms south of Golmud, the train passes the 6178m/20,270 feet Mt. Yuzhu, the highest mountain in the eastern Kunlun Range. On a clear day, the view of the mountain from the train is amazing.

Around 400kms south of Golmud you pass through the small village of Tuotuo He. Tuotuo He is located near the headwaters of the Yangtze River, known as the Dza Chu in Tibetan. Though Tuotuo He is listed as a destination along the Tibetan Railway, it actually is not possible to get off there. A couple of hours south of Tuotuo He you will enter the Kekexili Nature Preserve. This nature preserve located in far southwestern Qinghai and the far northern Tibet Autonomous Region is home to most of Tibet's remaining antelope, wild yaks and snow leopards. This protected area is basically uninhabited and is often covered in snow even during the summer. You should be able to see several herds of antelope from the train as you pass through this area. 

If taking the train from Xining or Lanzhou, you will cross the Tanggu La Pass, the highest point on the Tibetan Railway at 5072m, at around 3pm. This is the highest railway pass in the world and forms the border between Qinghai and the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). At around 3:50pm (from Xining or Lanzhou) you reach Amdo, the first town inside the TAR. This is the first stop from Golmud where pasengers are allowed to get off the train. Lying at 4702m, Amdo is one of only a handful of towns located on Tibet's northern Changtang region. This area is home to nomad Tibetans who live in black yak wool tents.

One and a half hours south of Amdo is the town of Nagchu sitting at 4500m. Nagchu has one of the largest horse festivals in Tibet each year in August. Nomads from across the Changtang arrive in town for the festival. Few foreigners stay in Nagchu, but it is actually a pretty nice place to check out for a day or two. After Nagchu the train continues heading south. About 2 hours after leaving Nagchu you arrive in Damshung which is near Nam Tso. Two hours after Damshung and a little over 14 hours past Golmud, you arrive in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.

The railway from Beijing to Lhasa is 4064kms long. From Guangzhou Lhasa is 4980kms away and from Xining it is 1972kms. Over 960kms of the railway lies above 4000m with 550kms being on permafrost. During the busy summer tourist season, over 5000 people arrive in each day in Lhasa on the train. The only way foreigners can take the train to Lhasa is to have a Tibet Travel Permit, which can only be arranged by a travel agency, and to book a tour. Permits are usually checked before boarding the train. If you don't have a permit and are checked, you will not be allowed to board the train.

For more information about taking the train to Lhasa, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com

Xining to Chengdu Overland Through Amdo

The overland route from Xining to Chengdu through Amdo has become more popular in recent years. This 10 to 12 day trip goes through some of the best regions of the northern Tibetan Plateau. This journey begins with spending a couple of days in Xining (ཟི་ལིང་). Xining (ele. 2275m) is the capital of Qinghai province and is the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. The city has an interesting mix of Chinese, Tibetans, Mongolians, Tu, Hui and Salar people. It is easily one of the most diverse cities in China. From Xining, you can take day trips out to Kumbum Monastery, Gonlung Monastery or Qinghai Lake. 

From Xining, the mid-sized Tibetan town of Rebkong (རེབ་གོངར) lies 180kms south. Rebkong (ele. 2400m) is famous all across Tibet for producing some of the most skilled painters, specifically thangka painters. Rebkong has 3 large monasteries in the vicinity. Rongwo, Gomar and Wutun monasteries are all great for exploring. Staying 2 or 3 days in Rebkong will give you enough time to see all of the major sites.

A little over 100kms southeast of Rebkong is Labrang Monastery (བླ་བྲང་བཀྲ་ཤིས་འཁྱིལ་) located in the picturesque town of Xiahe. Labrang (ele. 2900m) is the largest and most important monastery in Amdo. It is home to over 1500 monks. Labrang sits in a valley with mountains, rivers and forests surrounding it. It is truly one of the most beautiful places on the Tibetan Plateau. Along the way from Rebkong to Labrang, you pass through the Gangya Grasslands which are home to numerous Tibetan nomads herding their yaks and sheep.

Around 230kms south of Labrang is the small monastery town of Taktsang Lhamo (Langmusi). Taktsang Lhamo (ele. 3300m) sits along the Gansu-Sichuan border. Along the way from Labrang, you will pass through grasslands that are home only to Tibetan nomads. When it snows, the mountains surrounding the town are awesome. The 2 monasteries of Kirti and Setri sit in beautiful locations. Horse trekking is available for reasonable daily rates.

About 100kms south of Taktsang Lhamo is Zoige (Ruo'ergai). The town itself isn't that impressive, but the grasslands along the way definitely are. The grasslands around Zoige (ele. 3440m) are some of the best in Amdo. During the summer, most nomads around Zoige (མཛོད་དགེ) live in either black yak wool tents or in white canvas tents. The nomadic way of life in this area is very laid back. The Tibetans here are very friendly and always enjoy seeing foreigners.

From Zoige, the town of Songpan lies 180kms to the south. Songpan (ele. 2880m) is nice little town that is worth staying in for 2 or 3 days. Songpan is well known for its horse treks. Horse treks from 1 day to 2 weeks can be arranged. Near to Songpan is the 5588m Mt. Xuebao which is quite impressive. Songpan has a mixed population of Tibetans, Chinese and Hui Muslims. From Songpan, it is only a 2 hour drive to Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve.

From Songpan you will drive through Mao Xian to Wolong where the national panda reserve is located. At Wolong there are over 75 pandas who have been bred artificially. In addition to panda's, the nature reserve has golden monkeys, deer and supposedly some snow leopards. Wolong is a great place to go if you have small children. Around 350kms south of Songpan, you will finally arrive in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province.

The journey from Xining to Chengdu through Amdo is an excellent trip to take if you are interested in Tibetan culture. With a great mixture of monasteries, temples, mountains, grasslands and people, this journey is not going to disappoint.

If you have any questions about the journey from Xining to Chengdu through Amdo, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com

Zhangmu: The Tibet-Nepal Border

Zhangmu, known as Dram (འགྲམ་) in Tibetan and Khasa in Nepali, is an interesting town sitting along the Tibet-Nepal border about 750kms southeast of Lhasa. Unlike most of Tibet, Zhangmu sits only at 2250m/ 7380 feet and has a very humid, almost tropical climate. From the Thong La mountain pass at 5050m/16,570 feet, it is all downhill to Zhangmu. From the high pass to Zhangmu is 95kms/60 miles of winding road with more hairpin turns that you can count. The elevation drop of nearly 2800m/9184 feet is quite noticeable. You go from the frozen, barren, desolate Tibetan Plateau to the sub-tropics of Nepal in a very short time. It is quite amazing and can't be fully explained unless you see it for yourself. As you get closer to Zhangmu, the scenery changes drastically. Forests and dense vegetation appear as do numerous waterfalls that form from melting snow from the nearby Himalaya mountains. During the rainy summer season, the road can be quite rough and muddy to Zhangmu and the road closes periodically due to rock and mudslides.
Zhangmu sits along the foothills of the Himalaya. The town has one narrow, winding street that is usually blocked by incoming Tata trucks from Nepal. From the top of Zhangmu, it can often take 1 or even 2 hours to drive the 2 or 3kms down to the center area of town due to all of the truck traffic blocking the road. The traffic is unbelievable. The town itself has an interesting mix of peoples. The population is roughly 1/3 Tibetan, 1/3 Chinese and 1/3 Nepali. Most of the signs are written in these 3 languages as well as in English. There are several decent, though overpriced, hotels in the city and a few really good restaurants serving Nepali, Tibetan and western food.

Most people only stay in Zhangmu for an hour or so in order to catch a meal before crossing the border into Nepal. The town isn't a bad place to stay, though there really isn't any reason to stay longer than 1 night. If you have been on the road to Everest or Kailash, Zhangmu and its hot showers and good food will be a welcome treat. Most of the Nepali's in town speak decent English and are always eager to talk to foreigners that are on their way to Nepal.

The Chinese immigration office is open daily from around 9:30am until around 6:30pm. Leaving China is a pretty simple process. Your driver and guide will take you to the customs office, but you will have to cross the bridge into Nepal on your own. At Nepali customs you can get a visa, but make sure you have a passport photo with you. The visa will cost $30 of the equivalent in Chinese RMB or Nepali Rupees. From outside of Nepali customs you can hire a car to take you the 4 hours or so to Kathmandu.

If you have any questions about Zhangmu or tours in Tibet, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com

Sakya Monastery

Sakya (ས་སྐྱ་) is a small town 25kms off of the Friendship Highway and about 155kms southwest of Shigatse. The town, which sits at 4300m/14,105 feet, is famous for the great monastery of Sakya. Like Riwoche Tsuglhakhang in east Tibet, Sakya Monastery has a very unique architecture to it that is not found in other areas of Tibet. The walls surrounding the monastery are 16m high and are 3.5m thick. The structure looks more like a fortress than a Buddhist monastery. Sakya Monastery is the seat for the Sakyapa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The northern monastery, which is mostly ruins now, was founded in 1073 while the southern monastery was founded in 1268. Like all Sakyapa sect monasteries, it is painted grey, red and white. Of all the monasteries to see in Tibet, Sakya Monasery is one you shouldn't miss.

On the mountains behind the monastery, old ruins from the original monastery can be found. These ruins are great to hike through and you can get a great view of the town and of the monastery. Like most monasteries in Tibet, there is a pilgrim path (kora) going around the monastery along the side of the mountain.  The entrance fee to the monastery is Y45. Most people who go to Sakya just spend the day there before driving to Lhatse for the night, though it is possible to stay the night in Sakya as well.

If you want more information regarding Sakya, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com

Peiku Lake

Peiku Tso is a beautiful alpine lake located near Shishapangma, the 14th highest mountain in the world. This remote lake sees very few tourists, but is a great place to go if you are wanting to see some of the off-the-beaten-path areas of Tibet. The lake sits at an elevation of 4600m/15,100 feet and is a bright turquoise color all year round. The drive to the lake is amazing with excellent views of Himalaya Mountains. There is also usually a lot of wildlife in this area including wild horses, wolves, foxes, deer, gazelle, black-necked cranes as well as yaks and sheep.

To get to Peiku Lake, turn west off the Friendship Highway just north of the Lalung La mountain pass. The turn-off is approximately 72kms south of Tingri or 81kms north of Nyalam.  The lake is a 1 1/2 hour drive from the turn-off. After driving for about an hour, you will come across the small village of Seylong. Near the village there is a checkpoint where your driver will need to register and your guide will need to show your permits. You will also have to buy an entrance ticket for the Qomolangma Nature Preserve. The entrance ticket is Y65 per person and Y40 for a vehicle entry ticket. The road doesn't lead all the way to the lake. You will need to hike the last hour or so to the lake, though the hike is quite worth it. If you have time, hike around to the far side of the lake for an amazing picture of the lake with Shishapangma in the background.

Peiku and the area surrounding it are truly some of the best areas in Tibet. With bright blue water, the snow-capped Himalaya Mountains and abundant wildlife, it is strange to think that this area sees so few tourists. The road leading out to the lake is all dirt and is quite rough in spots, but the scenery makes it well worth the drive. There are no hotels or restaurants anywhere near the lake. The closest town is Saga, which is 4 hours away (the town of Dzongka is 1 1/2 hours away from Peiku Lake but is completely closed to foreigners). If you decide to camp in this area, make sure you are well equipped with tents, sleeping bags and food.

For more information about tours to Peiku Lake and Shishapangma, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com

Shishapangma

Shishapangma is the 14th highest mountain on earth and rises to an elevation of 8013m/26,289 feet. It is the highest mountain that sits entirely in Tibet. Other mountains in Tibet, such as Mt. Everest, sit on the border with Nepal or India. Shishapangma, known in Nepal as Gosainthan, means "crest above the grassy plains" in Tibetan. Shishapangma is an impressive mountain that few foreigners see. I recently traveled there and my driver told me that in his 15 years of working as a tour driver in Tibet, it was his first time driving to Shishapangma. Most guidebooks on Tibet provide little information on this area.

The journey out to Shishapangma is stunning, though the road is quite rough in spots. To get to Shishapangam you need to turn west off of the Friendship Highway just north of the Lalung La mountain pass. The turn-off is approximately 72kms south of Tingri or 81kms north of Nyalam.  The mountain is a 1 1/2 hour drive from the turn-off. When I did this journey in February '09, I saw just about every type of wildlife Tibet has to offer. I saw wild asses, gazelle, deer, foxes, rabbits, black-necked cranes, vultures, wolves, marmots along with the standard yaks and sheep. After driving for about an hour, you will come across the small village of Seylong. Near the village there is a checkpoint where your driver will need to register and your guide will need to show your permits. You will also have to buy an entrance ticket for the Qomolangma Nature Preserve. The entrance ticket is Y65 per person and Y40 for a vehicle entry ticket. About a half an hour past Seylong along a rough dirt road, you will come to Shishapangma Base Camp.

The elevation at Shishapangma Base Camp is 5000m/16,405 feet. There is an old stone marker there listing the elevation written in Tibetan, English and Chinese. Besides a brick bathroom there really isn't anything else at base camp. Unlike Everest Base Camp, there are no tent hotels, guesthouses or shops. Still, Shishapangma and the scenery along the way make it well worth going to. If you are going to go to Shishapangma, you also need to go out to Peiku Tso, one of the most beautiful alpine lakes in Tibet. Peiku Tso is about an hour past the small village of Seyong.

If you want more information about tours to Shishapangma or Peiku Lake, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com

Gyantse

Gyantse (རྒྱལ་རྩེ་) is a mid-sized town located 260kms southeast of Lhasa. It lies along the southern route of the Friendship Highway that links Lhasa with Kathmandu, Nepal. Sitting at an elevation of 4000m/13,125 feet, Gyantse has a population of around 20,000.  Most people only stay in Gyantse for a day and honestly, that's really all you need in order to see all the sights. In the early summer Gyantse hosts a horse festival which is well worth checking out.

The main attraction in Gyantse is the Pelkor Chode Monastery. Pelkor Chode was founded in 1418 and was originally a compound containing 15 monasteries from 3 of Tibet's 4 main sects of Buddhism. The Gyantse Kumbum (pictured at top) is the biggest and most famous chorten (stupa) in Tibet. It rises to 35m/115 feet high and the inside is covered in endless Buddhist murals. Unlike other chorten in Tibet, you can actually go inside the Gyantse Kumbum. The entrance fee into the Pelkor Chode Monastery is Y50/person.

The second attraction in Gyantse is the Gyantse Dzong. The Dzong is an old military fort that was originally built in the 14th century. The top of the Dzong is a 20 minute hike from the gate. The top (pictured above) offers great views of the city and of the plains surrounding Gyantse. Be careful hiking around the Dzong as there are a lot of places where you could twist an ankle...or worse. The entrance fee into the Dzong is Y30/person, but it is quite easy to bargain it down to Y20/person.

Gyantse can be visited all year long. Summer brings in a lot of tourists while winter is quite slow. Gyantse has several good hotels to choose from and several good restaurants with English menu's.

If you are interested in visiting Gyantse, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com

Gonlung Jampaling Monastery

Gonlung Jampaling Monastery is tucked away in far northeastern Amdo about 70kms from the city of Xining. This rare gem is not well known and sees only a handful of foreign visitors each year (monks recently told me that they haven't seen any foreigners in well over a year). Of all the guidebooks covering the Tibetan Plateau, only 1 gives a detailed write up on Gonlung and that is Footprint's "Tibet" written by Gyurme Dorje. The monastery is set on the base of a mountain at an elevation of 2900m / 9515 feet. The mountains around Gonlung rise to nearly 4000m. Most of the Tibetan Plateau is treeless, but there is a small evergreen forest surrounding parts of Gonlung. The mountains around the monastery are often snow covered in the winter and spring and offer some of the best hiking in the area.

Gonlung Monastery was founded in the early 17th century. The area was visited by the 3rd Dalai Lama in 1584 and the 4th Dalai Lama in 1602 while they were on their way to Lhasa so the area was revered before the monastery was built. It is one of the largest monasteries in the area with a monk population of around 300. At it's peak, it was home to over 7000 monks. Though there are some Tibetan monks at Gonlung, most of the monks there are Tu (pronounced "Two"). The Tu people are originally from Mongolia and settled in the area in the 13th century. Their language is still very similar to Mongolian. Along with their own native language, the monks at Gonlung also speak Tibetan.

Gonlung Jampaling Monastery offers excellent hiking with stunning scenery. The mountains surrounding the monastery have many beginner and intermediate hiking trails. It is a great place to spend the day. There is no public transportation to the monastery. If you wanted to get there on your own, you can take a public bus from Xining to Ping'an (32kms east of Xining). From Ping'an you can take a bus going north to Huzhu. Twenty-seven kilometers before Huzhu and 28kms past Ping'an, there is a road going off to the right leading to the monastery. You will need to get off at this intersection and either hike the remaining 6kms to the monastery or try and hitch a ride. Gonlung does not charge an entrance fee.

Another option in reaching the monastery is to arrange a day trip there through Tibetan Connections. For more information about Gonlung Jampaling Monastery or any other area on the Tibetan Plateau, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com

Amdo

The traditional Tibetan region of Amdo (ཨ་མདོ) is located on the northeast corner of the Tibetan Plateau. Though most of Amdo lies in modern day Qinghai province, large regions also are located in southwestern Gansu and northern Sichuan provinces. Amdo is broken up into 8 prefectures: Golog, Malho, Tsolho, Tsonub, Tsobyang, Tsoshar in Qinghai province, Ganlho in Gansu province and Ngawa in Sichuan province. Roughly 1.6 million Tibetans live in Amdo which accounts for over 25% of the total Tibetan population. Amdo is famous for producing some of Tibet's most famous spiritual leaders including Tsongkhapa and the late 10th Panchen Lama.

If you have ever seen pictures from Tibet of nomads herding their yaks, chances are it was taken in Amdo. Amdo has large expanses of grasslands which are home to nomadic herders.  These herders live in traditional style tents during the summer and usually move to small mud-brick houses during the winter time. The grasslands of Amdo lie between 3000 and 4000m above sea level. Along with the grasslands, Amdo is also home to several large mountains. The mountain that really symbolizes Amdo is Amnye Machen. Amnye Machen rises to 6282m and is considered to be the holiest mountain in the region. Each summer, hundreds of Tibetan families walk the 7 day kora around the mountain in an attempt to gain karma.

Amdo also has a large amount of beautiful lakes. The largest lake on the Tibetan Plateau is Tso Ngon or Qinghai Lake. Many of the lakes in Amdo have high snow-capped mountains behind them and often have nomads camped around them during the summer. Most of the lakes

Amdo has many areas that offer great camping and hiking. With a high amount of nomads and Buddhist monasteries, Amdo is not lacking in traditional Tibetan culture.

Though Amdo is often overlooked by travelers on their way to Lhasa, it is an amazing area that does not get the respect it deserves in guidebooks. Many people who are well traveled in Tibet say that Amdo is one of their favorite regions. Since Amdo is quite cold in the winter, the best times to visit is between May and October. The city of Xining (ཟི་ལིང་) the main starting point for travel in Amdo. From Xining, there are public buses to every Amdo county in Qinghai and to most Amdo counties in Gansu.

Chengdu is the main starting point for exploring the Tibetan prefecture of Ngawa. Most counties in Amdo are open to foreigners without having to book a tour through a travel agency. Some counties in Golog and Ngawa prefectures however, do require an Alien Travel Permit and some counties in northern Qinghai are completely closed to foreigners. Though you an travel through Amdo using public transportation, a private vehicle will allow you to really explore the area. Some of the best areas of Amdo cannot be reached by public bus. If you are interested in tours of Amdo, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com. 

Tibetan Place Names

Trying to understand place names across the Tibetan Plateau can often be difficult. Nearly every town has both a Tibetan name and a Chinese name (ex. Shigatse/Rikaze and Jyekundo/Yushu) and some places even have a Mongolian name (ex. Golmud and Kokonor). In this post I will try and give the Tibetan and Chinese name for various places across the Tibetan world (this is NOT an exhaustive list) in both Chinese characters, Tibetan script and the roman script that is most often used for each place. With this, it should make traveling in Tibet a little easier, especially for those who are traveling independently through the Amdo and Kham regions. Public buses across the Tibetan Plateau usually list the destination in both Chinese characters and in Tibetan script. I have done a lot of research on this, but there still may be a few mistakes, particularly with the Tibetan script. If you read Tibetan and notice a mistake, please let me know and I will look into it more and correct it if necessary. Most of these place names and their spellings in "English" are based on either the Lhasa or Kham pronunciation. Speakers of Amdo (roughly 20% to 25% of the total Tibetan population) will pronounce many (if not most) of these place names differently.

Places in the Lhasa Area

Tibet Autonomous Region   Tibetan: བོད་རང་སྐྱོང་ལྗོངས་  Chinese: 西藏自治区/Xīzàng Zìzhìqū

Lhasa   Tibetan: ལྷ་ས་   Chinese: 拉萨/Lā Sà

Barkhor   Tibetan: བར་སྐོར་   Chinese: 八廓/Bā Kuò

Jokhang Temple   Tibetan: ཇོ་ཁང་   Chinese: 大昭寺/Dà Zhāo Sì

Potala Palace   Tibetan: པོ་ཏ་ལ་   Chinese: 布达拉宫/Bù Dă Lā Gōng

Sera Monastery   Tibetan: སེ་ར་   Chinese: 色拉寺/Sè Lā Sì

Drepung Monastery   Tibetan: འབྲས་སྤུངས་   Chinese: 哲蚌寺/Zhé Bàng Sì

Ganden Monastery   Tibetan: དགའ་ལྡན་   Chinese: 甘丹寺/Gān Dān Sì

Norbulinka   Tibetan: ནོར་བུ་གླིང་ཁ་   Chinese: 罗布林卡/Luó Bù Lín Kă

Tsetang   Tibetan: རྩེ་ཐང་   Chinese: 泽当/Zé Dāng

Nam Tso   Tibetan: གནམ་མཚོ་   Chinese: 纳木错/Nà Mù Cuò

Samye Monastery   Tibetan: བསམ་ཡས་་   Chinese: 桑耶/Sāng Yē

Nechung Monastery   Tibetan: གནས་ཆུང་   Chinese: 乃穹寺/Năi Qióng Sì

Damxung   Tibetan: འདམ་གཞུང་   Chinese: 当雄/Dāng Xióng

Lhunzhub   Tibetan: ལྷུན་གྲུབ་   Chinese: 林周/ Lín Zhōu

Meldrogongkar   Tibetan: མལ་གྲོ་གུང་དཀར་   Chinese: 墨竹工卡/Mòzhú Gōngkǎ

Shigatse/Rikaze Prefecture

Shigatse   Tibetan: གཞི་ཀ་རྩེ་   Chinese: 日喀则/Rì Kā Zé

Tashilhunpo Monastery   Tibetan: བཀྲ་ཤིས་ལྷུན་པོ་   Chinese: 扎什伦布寺/Zhāshílúnbù Sì

Gyantse    Tibetan: རྒྱལ་རྩེ་   Chinese: 江孜/Jiāng Zī

Lhatse    Tibetan: ལྷ་རྩེ་   Chinese: 拉孜/Lā Zí

Sakya   Tibetan: ས་སྐྱ་   Chinese: 萨迦/Sà Jiā

Tingri    Tibetan: ཏིང་རི་   Chinese: 定日/Dìng Rì

Nyalam   Tibetan: གཉའ་ལམ་   Chinese: 聂拉木/ Niè Lā Mù

Nagchu/Naqu Prefecture

Nagchu   Tibetan: ནག་ཆུ་   Chinese: 那曲/Nà Qū 

Amdo   Tibetan: ཨ་མདོ་   Chinese: 安多/Ānduō

Lhari   Tibetan: ལྷ་རི་   Chinese: 嘉黎/Jiā Lí

Biru   Tibetan: འབྲི་རུ   Chinese: 比如/Bǐ Rú

Nyima   Tibetan: ཉི་མ   Chinese: 尼玛/Ní Mǎ

Bachen    Tibetan: སྦྲ་ཆེན་   Chinese: 巴青/Bā Qīng

Sog    Tibetan: སོག་   Chinese: 索/Suǒ

Nyanrong   Tibetan: གཉན་རོང་   Chinese: 聂荣/Niè Róng

Xainza   Tibetan: ཤན་རྩ་   Chinese: 申扎/Shēn Zhā

Chamdo/Changdu Prefecture

Chamdo   Tibetan: ཆབ་མདོ་   Chinese: 昌都/ Chāng Dū

Riwoche   Tibetan: རི་བོ་ཆེ་   Chinese: 类乌齐/ Lèi Wū Qí

Jomda   Tibetan: འཇོ་མདའ་   Chinese: 江达/ Jiāng Dá

Dengchen   Tibetan: སྟེང་ཆེན་   Chinese: 丁青/ Dīng Qīng

Markham   Tibetan: སྨར་ཁམས་   Chinese: 芒康/ Máng Kāng

Gonjo   Tibetan: གོ་འཇོ་   Chinese: 贡觉/ Gòng Jué

Lhoka/Shannan Prefecture

Nedong   Tibetan: སྣེ་གདོང་   Chinese: 乃东/ Nǎi Dōng

Gonggar   Tibetan: གོང་དཀར་   Chinese: 贡嘎/Gòng Gā

Lhozhag   Tibetan: ལྷོ་བྲག་   Chinese: 洛扎/Luò Zhā

Nangartse   Tibetan: སྣ་དཀར་རྩེ་   Chinese: 浪卡子/ Làng Kǎ Zǐ

Lhuntse   Tibetan: ལྷུན་རྩེ་   Chinese: 隆子/ Lóng Zǐ

Sangri   Tibetan: ཟངས་རི་   Chinese: 桑日/ Sāng Rì

Nyingtri/Linzhi Prefecture

Nyingtri   Tibetan: ཉིང་ཁྲི་ས་   Chinese: 林芝/Lín Zhī

Gongbogyamda   Tibetan: ཀོང་པོ་རྒྱ་མདའ་   Chinese: 布江达/ Gōng Bù Jiāng Dá

Medog   Tibetan: མེ་ཏོག་   Chinese: 墨脱/ Mò Tuō

Bomi   Tibetan: སྤོ་མེས་   Chinese: 波密/ Bō Mì

Nang   Tibetan: སྣང་   Chinese: 朗/ Lǎng

Ngari/Ali Prefecture

Gar   Tibetan: སྒར་   Chinese: 噶尔/ Gá'ěr

Burang   Tibetan: སྤུ་ཧྲེང་   Chinese: 普兰/ Pǔ Lán

Zanda   Tibetan: རྩ་མདའ་   Chinese: 札达/ Zhá Dá 

Rutog   Tibetan: རུ་ཐོག་   Chinese: 日土/ Rì Tǔ 

Gertse   Tibetan: སྒེར་རྩེ་   Chinese: 改则/ Gǎi Zé

Tibetan Prefectures in Qinghai

Xining Area

Silang   Tibetan: ཟི་ལིང་   Chinese: 西宁/Xī Níng

Tsongkhar   Tibetan: སྟོང་སྐོར་   Chinese: 湟源/ Huáng Yuán

Rushar   Tibetan: རུ་ཤར་   Chinese: 湟中/ Huáng Zhōng

Serkog   Tibetan: གསེར་ཁོག   Chinese: 大通/Dà Tōng

Haibei/Tsobyang Prefecture

Dola   Tibetan: མདོ་ལ་   Chinese: 祁连/ Qí Lián 

Gangtsa   Tibetan: རྐང་ཚ་   Chinese: 刚察/ Gāng Chá

Simnyi   Tibetan: སེམས་ཉིད   Chinese: 门源/Mén Yuán

Dabzhi   Tibetan: མདའ་བཞི་   Chinese: 海晏/ Hǎi Yàn

Qinghai Lake/Kokonor/Tso Ngon  Tibetan: མཚོ་སྔོན་  Chinese: 青海湖/Qīnghăi Hú

Hainan/Tsolho Prefecture

Chabcha   Tibetan: ཆབ་ཆ་   Chinese: 共和/ Gòng Hé

Triga   Tibetan: ཁྲི་ག་   Chinese: 贵德/ Guì Dé

Mangra   Tibetan: མང་ར་   Chinese: 贵南/ Guì Nán

Gawasumdo   Tibetan: གད་པ་སུམ་མདོ་   Chinese: 同德/ Tong Dé

Tsigorthang  Tibetan: རྩི་གོར་ཐང་   Chinese: 兴海/ Xìng Hǎi

Huangnan/Malho Prefecture:

Rebkong   Tibetan: རེབ་གོངར་   Chinese: 同仁/ Tóng Rén

Tsekog   Tibetan: རྩེ་ཁོག་   Chinese: 泽库/ Zé Kù

Jiantsa   Tibetan: གཅན་ཚ་   Chinese: 尖扎/ Jiān Zhā

Guoluo/Golog Prefecture

Machen   Tibetan: རྨ་ཆེན་   Chinese: 玛沁/ Mǎ Qìn

Mado   Tibetan: རྨ་སྟོད   Chinese: 玛多/ Mǎ Duō 

Darlag   Tibetan: དར་ལག་   Chinese: 达日/ Dá Rì

Jigdril   Tibetan:གཅིག་སྒྲིལ་   Chinese: 久治/Jiǔ Zhì 

Gabde   Tibetan: དགའ་བདེ   Chinese: 甘德/ Gān Dé

Badma   Tibetan: པད་མ་   Chinese: 班玛/ Bān Mǎ

Yushu Prefecture

Jyekundo   Tibetan: སྐྱེ་རྒུ་མདོ་   Chinese: 玉树/ Yù Shù

Nangchen   Tibetan: ནང་ཆེན་   Chinese: 囊谦/ Náng Qiān

Chende   Tibetan: ཁྲི་འདུ་   Chinese: 称多/ Chèng Duō 

Drido   Tibetan: འབྲི་སྟོད་   Chinese: 治多/ Zhì Duō

Dzado   Tibetan: རྫ་སྟོད་   Chinese: 杂多/ Zá Duō

Chumarleb   Tibetan: ཆུ་དམར་ལེབ་  Chinese: 曲麻莱/ Qǔ Má Lái 

Golmud/Gormo   Tibetan: གོར་མོ།   Chinese: 格尔木/ Gé’ěrmù (Golmud is in Haixi and not Yushu)

Tibetan Prefectures in Sichuan

Ganzi/Garze Prefecture

Dartsedo   Tibetan: དར་རྩེ་མདོ།   Chinese: 康定/ Kāng Dìng

Garze   Tibetan: དཀར་མཛེས།   Chinese: 甘孜/ Gān Zī 

Sertar   Tibetan: གསེར་ཐར།   Chinese: 色达/ Sè Dá

Sershul   Tibetan: སེར་ཤུལ།   Chinese: 石渠/ Shí Qú

Lithang   Tibetan: ལི་ཐང།   Chinese: 理塘/ Lǐ Táng

Bathang   Tibetan: འབའ་ཐང།   Chinese: 巴塘/ Bā Táng

Dege   Tibetan: སྡེ་དགེ།   Chinese: 德格/ Dé Gé 

Nyagrong   Tibetan: ཉག་རོང།   Chinese: 新龙/ Xīn Lóng

Dabba   Tibetan: འདབ་པ།   Chinese: 稻城/ Dào Chéng

Derong   Tibetan: སྡེ་རོང།   Chinese: 得荣/ Dé Róng

Aba/Ngawa Prefecture

Barkham   Tibetan: འབར་ཁམས།   Chinese: 马尔康 Mǎ’ěr Kāng

Ngawa   Tibetan: རྔ་བ།   Chinese: 阿坝/ Ā Bà

Zoige   Tibetan: མཛོད་དགེ།   Chinese: 若尔盖/ Ruò’ěr Gài

Dzamthang   Tibetan: འཛམ་ཐང།   Chinese: 壤塘/ Rǎng Táng

Xining

Xining, known as Siling (ཟི་ལིང་) in Tibetan, is the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau and sits at an elevation of 2275m / 7465 feet. Xining lies in a valley along the Huang Shui River, a tributary of the Yellow River, and is surrounded by mountains which rise to over 3500m. Lying in the traditional Tibetan province of Amdo (ཨ༌མདོ), Xining (pictured above) has a diverse population of over 1.2 million. Along the streets of Xining, Chinese, Hui, Tibetans, Salar and Mongolians can be found each speaking their own language and wearing their own unique style of clothing (the Hui of Xining speak 青海话, the Qinghai dialect of Chinese). Xining is easily one of the most visibly diverse cities in China. 

The east area of downtown is home to most of Xining's 350,000 Muslims. Mosques in the city number well over 50, many of which look like they are from Central Asia rather than China. Halal restaurants, butchers and stores are found everywhere. The Muslims in Xining are famous for their excellent bread, noodles and mutton kebab's. Most people who arrive in Xining are pleasantly surprised by the large and growing Muslim population. The largest Mosque in Xining is the Dong Guan Mosque (pictured above) which regularly holds 20,000 to 30,000 people during Friday afternoon prayer time.

Though Tibetans make up less than 10% of Xining's population, they are distinct and not hard to find. Many Tibetans from Yushu (ཡུས་ཧྲུའུ་བོད་རིགས་རང་སྐྱོང་ཁུལ།) and Golog (མགོ་ལོག་བོད་རིགས་རང་སྐྱོང་ཁུལ།) have been relocated to the city to live in modern apartment complexes. The area across from the main bus station on Jian Guo Lu has the largest Tibetan market in town that sells everything from exotic animal skins to tsamba. This area also has numerous Tibetan style restaurants and tea houses. Xining boasts many night clubs that feature some of the most famous singers from across Tibet. 

Xining often is overlooked by tourists due to the poor reviews it receives in guidebooks. Though it doesn't compare to places like Beijing, Chengdu or Shanghai, most people who go to Xining have a great time. The city is full of colorful markets, Buddhist temples and is surrounded by mountains that can be hiked. Xining makes a great base for exploring the Tibetan regions of Amdo (ཨ༌མདོ) (including Kumbum Monastery) and Kham (ཁམས་). The Tibetan areas around Xining have some of the best preserved Tibetan cultural areas remaining. Xining is also the starting point of the Tibetan Railway to Lhasa. From Xining, Lhasa (ལྷ་ས་) is a 25 hour train ride.  

Xining can be quite cold in the winter, but during the summer it is one of the most pleasant cities in all of China with an average high of 22C / 72F. Xining can be reached by air and train from all major cities in China including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi'an and Chengdu. There are several good hotels and youth hostels to stay at, such as the Lete Youth Hostel. Tibetan Connections (the travel agency I manage) is located in Xining inside the Lete Youth Hostel and can arrange travel all across the Tibetan regions of Amdo and Kham and also can arrange trips to Lhasa, the Himalaya and the Nepal border. If you have any questions about Xining, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com.

Lhasa

Lhasa (ལྷ་ས་) is the capital and most important city in Tibet (བོད་). It is home to Sera Monastery, Drepung Monastery and Ganden Monastery which are three of the most important Gelugpa Sect (དགེ་ལུགས་པ) monasteries of Tibetan Buddhism. In the heart of the old town of Lhasa is Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Square (pictured above). Each day thousands of Tibetan pilgrims walk the kora around the temple while chanting their prayers and spinning their prayer wheels. Though Lhasa is actually becoming quite a large and modern city, the best place to spend your time is walking around the endless circuit of the Barkhor. The Barkhor area is lined with excellent Tibetan restaurants and markets selling everything from the latest Tibetan pop music to yak butter. You can walk for hours around the Barkhor and never get bored. Pilgrims from all corners of Tibet arrive in Lhasa each day. The winter time brings the most pilgrims to Lhasa.

Lhasa sits at 3550m/11,645 feet above sea level, but sits at the same latitude as Cairo, Egypt and northern Florida. Lhasa is actually one of the mildest regions of Tibet with winter night time temperatures averaging around -5C/23F and rarely getting colder than -10C/14F. During the summer Lhasa is quite comfortable with an average day time temperature of around 21C/70F. Lhasa averages over 285 sunny days per year so even during the winter it can feel quite comfortable outside. Lhasa is relatively dry and receives very little snowfall. July and August are considered to be the rainy months, but even then the rain really isn't a problem.

The much anticipated train to Lhasa began operating in July 2006. It is now easier than ever to reach Lhasa. There are many hotel options in Lhasa. Everything from 5 star hotels to small Tibetan owned guesthouses are available. The best places to stay are around the Jokhang in the old town of Lhasa. The airport is located about 35kms outside of the city, but there are plenty of buses and taxis that will take you into town. The train station is about 8kms from town and also has adequate transportation into town.

If you have any questions regarding travel or tours to Lhasa please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com. We can arrange all types of customized tours to Lhasa and across Tibet. Even if you don't book a tour with us, we will do our best to answer your travel related questions with the most accurate travel information available.

Dege: The Cultural Heart of Kham

Dege (Derge) is located in Garze (Ganzi) Tibet Autonomous Prefecture (དཀར་མཛེས་བོད་རིགས་རང་སྐྱོང་ཁུལ་) in the Kham region (ཁམས) of the Tibetan Plateau. Dege (སྡེ་དགེ།) is famous across Tibet for being home of the Barkhang (Parkhang) Scripture Printing House. The Barkhang was founded in 1729 and took 21 years to build. It holds over 250,000 hand engraved wood blocks which are used in publishing Tibetan Buddhist scriptures and books on Tibetan culture. It is estimated that the Barkhang, pictured above, contains up to 70% of Tibet's literary heritage. The Barkhang is considered to be a holy place to Tibetans. Each day there are hundreds on pilgrims walking the kora around the printing house (bottom picture). Artisans continue to carve the wood blocks into scripture templates each day. It is incredible to see these highly skilled people carving portions of Buddhist scripture into the wood.

Gonchen is a Sakya sect monastery in Dege. Gonchen was founded in 1448 by the first king of Dege. Gonchen is home to several hundred monks.

You can't travel for long in Kham without hearing about the legendary King Gesar of Ling. Though Tibetans from both Yushu and Golog lay claim as being the birthplace of Gesar, the king was most likely born on the Axu grasslands in Dege, though it is impossible to know for sure. The Axu grasslands can easily be reached by car from the town center.

Dege sits in a wooded valley at an elevation of 3200m/10,500 feet. It has some of the best hiking in the Kham region. East of Dege about 100kms is the small town of Manigango which is another stunning area with Mt Chola and Yilhun Lha Lake to explore. Dege is remote and not easy to get to, but it is one of the most amazing regions in Tibet. Dege is considered the cultural heart of Kham. It is one of the best places to see traditional Tibetan culture. The few people who do make their way to Dege are rewarded with a beautiful setting and a glimpse of the old way of Tibetan life. For more information about Dege, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com

Tsamba, Yak Meat And Other Tibetan Food

One of the highlights of a trip to Tibet is sampling the food. Though Tibetan food is often given a bad reputation by foreign travelers, it really isn't that bad. The staple food in Tibet is tsamba. Tsamba is ground barley flour with salty butter tea added. Mixing the two together it turns into a dough. Often sugar is added to give it a sweet taste. Nearly every Tibetan loves to eat tsamba. When visiting a Tibetan home, it is usually one of the first foods served to guests.

Yak butter tea is another famous part of the Tibetan diet. Actually, there is no such thing as "yak butter tea" since yaks are male and do not produce milk. Females, called "dri", produce the milk. Butter is made by nomads using traditional wooden churns. Tibetans in towns and cities often will buy a machine that separates the milk into cream and butter. Tibetan butter is quite different than the butter used in western countries. The taste is quite strong...almost rancid at times. Butter is mixed with tea that is imported from China and with salt. The tea is more like a soup than a tea. Though the taste takes a little bit of getting used to, it really isn't bad. After living among Tibetan people for the past 6+ years, I actually enjoy drinking it. Tibetans don't serve tea in glasses, but in small bowls like in the picture below.  

Another popular tea in Tibet is milk tea. Nomad women milk their "dri" each morning (pictured at bottom). Some of the milk is then boiled on the stove with brick tea added. Along with butter tea, milk tea warms Tibetans everyday on the high plateau.

The most popular meat eaten by Tibetan is yak meat. Contrary to popular belief, most Tibetans in Tibet are not vegetarian. Yak meat is very important to most Tibetans diet. Yak meat is usually eaten boiled or dried, but in some areas of Tibet it is sometimes eaten raw (top picture) in the winter. Boiled yak meat is quite good. Dried yak meat, pictured below, is also good, but can be difficult to chew. I have had raw frozen yak meat on a few occasions. While it isn't bad, it isn't my favorite way to eat it.

Tibetans eat all types of dairy products including butter, cheese and yogurt. Tibetan cheese is dried out in the dry air of the plateau during the summer. It is made in small pea-sized pieces and is almost rock hard. Yogurt is usually not fruit flavored in Tibet like it is in other parts of the world. It has a strong bitter taste without any sugar. Some Tibetans add several spoonfuls of sugar to their yogurt which gives it a very sweet taste.

Tibetans who are farmers or who live in cities and towns with access to fresh vegetables often eat noodles called thukpa (mian pian in Amdo). Small noodle squares are added to vegetables such as onions, tomatoes and green peppers. It is very good, especially during the cold winter. Tibetans in the north eat it at least once a day.

Tibetans love to make fresh bread (pictured above) and it is amazing! If the bread has been sitting out for a few days it becomes hard as a rock and is difficult to eat, but when it is fresh it is one of the best foods in Tibet.

There are many good Tibetan restaurants across the plateau that serve these and other good Tibetan foods. In Lhasa, the area around the Barkhor serves up traditional style Tibetan food for very low prices. While in Tibet, you need to at least try tsamba and butter tea. If you are able to taste other Tibetan foods, that is great, but you have to try tsamba and butter tea.

I would love to hear from people in regards to their experiences with Tibetan food. If you have any questions about food in Tibet or about traveling in Tibet, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com.

Rebkong, Labrang and Langmusi: East Amdo Tour

The eastern Amdo (ཨ༌མདོ) region sits on the far edge of the Tibetan Plateau over 1800kms/1125 miles from the Tibetan capital of Lhasa (ལྷ་ས). Even though it is far from Lhasa, it is still full of Tibetan culture, Buddhist monasteries and amazing scenery. Most of the people along the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau are farmers who grow wheat, barley and potatoes along the fertile valleys of the Yellow River and its tributaries. There are many famous monasteries in this area such as Kumbum, Labrang (pictured above), Gomar and Longwo. With all of the monasteries in the area, it is no surprise that this area has some of the most devout Buddhists in all of Tibet. 

The starting point for east Amdo is Xining (ཟི་ལིང་), the capital of Qinghai province. Xining is the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau and is the official starting point of the Tibetan Railway. Xining, pictured above, has experienced massive development over the past decade. What was once considered the last Chinese settlement before entering Tibet is now a booming city with a metropolitan population of nearly 2 million. Xining, with an elevation of 2300m, is one of the most culturally diverse cities in China. Along with Han Chinese, Mongolians and Tibetans, the city also has a large Muslim population. Roughly 35% of the city's population is from the Hui and Salar people groups who are both followers of Islam. Though not well known, Xining is actually a good place to spend a few days exploring. The city is home to over 50 mosques and has several small Tibetan Buddhist monasteries.

Rebkong (known as Tongren in Chinese) is a mid-sized town famous across Tibet for its thangka. Some of the best artists in Tibet live in Rebkong (རེབ་གོངར་), pictured above, and make a good living from their paintings. Thangka's from Rebkong can be found in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries across the globe. There are several places where you can buy thangka's and even see artist's painting them. Rebkong has 3 large monasteries in its vicinity. Gomar, Wutun and Rongwo are brightly painted monasteries with rows of prayer wheels lining them. Rebkong sits at 2500m and offers some excellent hiking. 

Labrang (known as Xiahe in Chinese) is a very picturesque place and is one of the most popular destinations on the Tibetan Plateau. Sitting in a valley st 2900m, Labrang (བླ་བྲང་བཀྲ་ཤིས་འཁྱིལ་) is surrounded by wooded mountains that are excellent for hiking. Labrang Monastery is one of the largest in Amdo with close to 2000 monks. Several smaller monasteries are in the area and there and there is also a small nunnery not far from town. There are several good western restaurants in town that serve everything from yak burgers to burritos. Bicycles can be rented for a low daily price and the grasslands of Sangke offer horse riding. Labrang offers something for everyone.

Taktsang Lhamo (Langmusi in Chinese) is a beautiful small Tibetan town straddling the Gansu-Sichuan border in east Amdo. While Rebkong and Labrang are mostly farming areas, Taktsang Lhamo is mostly a nomadic region. Large herds of yaks and sheep can be found and Tibetans live in traditional style tents during the summer and fall. Two large monasteries, Sertri and Kirti, are in the area. The town, lying at 3300m, is surrounded by mountains which are covered in snow for most of the year. Taktsang Lhamo offers excellent horse trekking through the grasslands and mountains.

A tour through the towns of Rebkong, Labrang and Taktsang Lhamo takes between 7 and 9 days and can be done all year round. For more information about this trip or any other trip in Tibet, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com 

Guidebooks for Tibet

There are many good guidebooks on Tibet. If you plan on being in in Lhasa and the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), Lonely Planet's Tibet guidebook is the best option. It is well written, easy to understand and has the most reliable information for this area of Tibet. In addition to the TAR, Lonely Planet's Tibet also covers most of Kham except for the areas found in Qinghai and Yunnan. It does not cover any of Amdo.

The best guidebook for the Amdo and  Kham regions of Tibet is the Footprint Tibet Handbook  (new edition to be out soon). Though it is big, it covers all areas of Tibet including every county on the Tibetan Plateau. The only problem with it is that it often uses Tibetan place names that have either changed or are only known by the local villagers which can cause problems trying to reach really remote areas. Another good guidebook choice for Amdo and Kham is Lonely Planet's China guidebook. It covers the Kham areas of western Sichuan, northwest Yunnan and southern Qinghai as well as the Amdo areas found in Qinghai, northern Sichuan and southwest Gansu. Though it needs to be updated badly, Mapping of the Tibetan World contains several hundred maps which are still very useful. Mapping of the Tibetan World covers all of the Tibetan regions found in China as well as the Tibetan inhabited areas found in India, Nepal and Bhutan.

Other good guidebooks for Tibet include Frommer's China guidebook, Bradt's Tibet guidebook and Fodor's Tibet guidebook. You can always explore more of this site, Land of Snows, Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree travel forum or send me an email at info@tibetanconnections.com.

Tipping your driver and guide in Tibet

I am often asked if people should tip their driver and guide after completing a tour in Tibet. My answer is always the same: if you feel they did a good job, then give them a tip. A lot of drivers in Tibet own their own vehicles (the Toyota Land Cruiser, pictured above, is the most common type of vehicle used for tours in Tibet). They often work freelance meaning they don't necessarily work for just one agency. Most drivers and guides are connected to several travel agencies who call them when work is available. Since the tourist season in Tibet is relatively short (June-September are the most popular months, but Tibet can be visited all year long), drivers and guides need to make as much money as possible to last them through the off-season.

In Tibetan culture, most drivers and guides use their income to support not just their immediate family, but often their extended family as well. Most Tibetans are still quite poor and need as much help as they can get. Since most drivers own their own vehicles, they are also responsible for the maintenance of the vehicle. Labor is relatively cheap in Tibet, but parts for Land Cruisers are very expensive. Road conditions in Tibet are improving, but the driver still has a big responsibility in keeping the passengers safe. Accidents with foreigners are rare in Tibet, but unexpected rock slides, snow storms and high winds can make driving in Tibet difficult.

At the end of your tour of Tibet, if you feel that your driver and guide did a good job in taking care of you, I highly recommend leaving them a tip. The amount is going to vary from person to person. In the past I have given the driver between Y75 and Y125 for each day of the tour. I have had some tour guide friends of mine who have received as much as Y20,000 for leading larger groups on longer trips. When you do decide to leave a tip, give it directly to the driver or guide and remember that it is going to a good cause.

 

New Website: Land of Snows

I have been working on a new website for the past few months. I will continue to post on this site, but the other site I will use to show some of my more favorite pictures of Tibet . If you are interested in seeing the new site, please go to Land of Snows. I will continue to work on it through the fall, but there is enough on it now to make it fairly interesting. Thanks to all of you who regularly stop by this site to check out travel info for Tibet and just to see some pictures from the "Land of Snows".

The Yellow River in Guide (Trika)

The Yellow River in Guide (known as Trika ཁྲི་ག་ in Tibetan) is one of the most scenic sections of the 3400 mile/5460kms long river. According to the Chinese, the Yellow River is the cleanest in Guide. After flowing from its source in Yushu Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, it then flows through Golog Tibet Autonomous Prefecture before heading north to Guide county. Guide sits 110kms/69 miles south of Xining (ཟི་ལིང་) in the Amdo (ཨ༌མདོ) region of Tibet.

The area around Guide (pronounced gway-duh) is some of the most fertile land in all of Tibet. Most people are farmers who grow wheat and barley. Guide has a mixed population of Tibetans, Chinese and Hui (a Muslim people group). Though still relatively unknown to most foreigners, Guide is becoming a more popular tourist destination. Along with the Yellow River, Guide also has numerous hot springs and Tibetan monasteries. The drive from Xining takes you through nomadic grasslands full of yaks and sheep and through some beautiful red rock mountains which are great for exploring.

If you are interested in visiting the Yellow River or any other areas of Tibet, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com.

Yushu (Jyekundo) Tibet Autonomous Prefecture

Those of you who have followed my writings both here and on Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree Forum have read a lot about Yushu Tibet Autonomous Prefecture (ཡུལ་ཤུལ་བོད་རིགས་རང་སྐྱོང་ཁུལ་) in southern Qinghai. I have traveled from one end of Tibet to the other many times and Yushu is without a doubt my favorite place. It has everything: snow-capped mountains, rivers, lakes, forests, nomads, grasslands, monasteries and most importantly...it has Tibetan people. Yushu, part of the traditional Tibetan province of Kham (ཁམས), is a large 6 county prefecture covering over 191,000 square kms (nearly 74,000 square miles) or roughly the size of the US state of South Dakota. Yushu has a population of 290,000 with over 97% of the people being Tibetan. Of the 16 prefectures that make up the Tibetan Plateau, Yushu has one of the highest percentages of Tibetan people making it one of the best places to experience Tibetan culture.

The capital of Yushu is Jyekundo (སྐྱེ་རྒུ་མདོ་) Jyekundo is a large trading town 825kms south of Xining (ཟི་ལིང་) , the capital of Qinghai. Yushu county, where Jyekundo is located, has a mixed population of farmers and nomads. The valley's that surround the town are inhabited by farmers while the outlying areas of the county are mostly yak herders. Nangchen (ནང་ཆེན་) county is 185 kms south of Jyekundo and nearly 1000 kms south of Xining. Nangchen county has a large amount of monasteries, many of which belong to the Kagyu and Nyingma sects of Tibetan Buddhism . The Mekong River flows through Nangchen (Nangqian in Chinese) irrigating many of the farms in the area.

Dzado (རྫ་སྟོད་) county is located 240kms west of Jyekundo and 1050 kilometers southwest of Xining. Dzado is named after the Dza Chu, or Mekong River, which has its source in Dzado county. The head water region of the Mekong is stunning with the river being a bright turquoise color for most of the year (pictured above). Nomad Tibetans and ranchers make up nearly all of the 39,000 people who live in Dzado.

Northern Yushu prefecture is covered in high elevation grasslands giving way to snow-capped mountains (pictured above). The counties of Chende (Chengduo-ཁྲི་འདུ་), Chumarleb (Qumalai-ཆུ་དམར་ལེབ་) and Drido (Zhiduo-འབྲི་སྟོད་) have an average elevation of over 4300m/14,110 feet. Around 88,000 people are spread out over 130,000 square kms/50,193 square miles. These three counties account for nearly 70% of the total area of Yushu prefecture. Most of the people in this region live either in mud-brick homes or in black yak wool tents. Nearly everyone is involved in herding yaks or sheep. With the high elevation, the conditions are extreme during most of the year. Winter temperatures can easily reach -30C/-22F and snow can fall even in the summer. The source of the  Yellow River, known as the Ma Chu in Tibetan, is located high up in the Bayan Khar mountains in Chumarleb county. The source of the Yangtze River, or Dri Chu in Tibetan, is  also located in this region of Yushu. Northern Yushu prefecture sees very few tourists, but it is an excellent place to see nomadic Tibetan life (pictured below) which is rapidly disappearing.

In order to really see everything that Yushu Tibet Autonomous Prefecture has to offer, the best way to go there is by private vehicle. This will allow you to take a few days to get to Yushu from Xining stopping and seeing the lakes, mountains and nomads along the way. Late spring through early fall are the best times to visit, but Yushu can be visited any time of year. There are hundreds of Tibetan monasteries (pictured below) scattered throughout the area allowing you to see what monastic life is like. Spending 8 to 12 days in the area is enough time to see what Yushu has to offer, though if you have a longer time frame, there is still plenty to see and do to keep you busy. Take a look at some more pictures from Yushu prefecture. If you are interested in taking a tour to this adventurous area, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com. 

 

Tibet Winter Coat Project

In August 2008 I, along with a small team of volunteers, distributed 325 Tibetan style winter coats along with 1000 pairs of socks, 500 hats, 500 pairs of gloves, 350 pairs of shoes, soccer balls, basketballs and a computer printer to a small nomad boarding school in the town of Danglog in Golog Prefecture. Most of China and Tibet experienced  one of the worst winters on record in 2007/2008. The areas of northern Kham and western Amdo experienced temperatures as low as -40C (-40F) with snow well over a meter deep (40 inches). A large percentage of the yaks and sheep in this region died from starvation since they were not able to graze in the deep snow. The nomad people in this area depend on their yaks and sheep for just about everything: meat, dairy products, wool, fuel, etc. This area is not only one of the poorest in Tibet, but one of the poorest in all of Asia. While the local government did a superb job of quickly getting aid to most of the region, the supplies were not enough to go to all the small nomad communities.

I first started planning this project over a year and a half ago. In December 2006 I traveled through the remote nomadic areas of Chumarleb, Chende and Drido in northern Kham while doing research for The Discovery Channel. During that time, the temperatures were well below -25C/-13F and many of the children were wearing shoes with huge holes in them and had no socks or gloves. Their coats and hats were in very bad condition as well. I talked to a group of friends of mine back in the Pacific Northwest about the possibility of raising funds to purchase new winter clothes for nomad children. They happily agreed that something needed to be done and the plan was set into motion.

In October 2007 I traveled for 2 weeks through northern Kham looking for a place to do this project. The nomad areas of Tibet that experience harsh winters each year are huge...far bigger than the state of Texas. I wanted to find the perfect place to do this project. The two main criteria that I had in mind were a remote nomadic area with a large amount of children. During the trip in October 2007 I found a few possible locations, but none that really made a huge impression on me. In November 2007, my family and I returned to the US for a visit. When we returned in the spring of 2008 I went out again to the nomadic areas of the northern Tibetan Plateau. On this trip, I made a 3 day stop at a nomad Tibetan boarding school in the small village of Danglog along the south face of Mt. Amnye Machen (one of the 4 main holy mountains in Tibetan Buddhism). Though this school was extremely remote, it had a student population of nearly 400. All of the students were extremely poor and came from nomad families. Many of the students had lived in a hand woven yak wool tent their whole lives. I had a great time getting to know the teachers at the school. Nearly all of the teachers at this school were also from the area and understood the hardships of nomadic life in Tibet. A few days after leaving the school, I contacted the school headmaster (a Tibetan man who was native to the area) and asked him if I could do the winter clothes project there. It took him no time to tell me that he would love for me to come.He told me that he would arrange all the proper permits and permission forms for us to come.

All 325 coats (called Chuba in Tibetan) we purchased were homemade by a local Tibetan family. We thought about buying western style winter coats, but decided against it for many reasons. One of the main reasons was cost. A western style winter coat costs over 4 times what it costs to make a Tibetan chuba. Also, most nomads in this area prefer chubas over western style coats. Nomads have been wearing this style of coat for many centuries and they feel it is the best type of coat for the extreme cold environment of Tibet. Chubas are not just coats. They are more like robes. Boys chubas go all the way to their knees while girls chubas go all the way to their ankles. Both have extremely long sleeves. It is similar to wearing a sleeping bag.

We found a nice Tibetan family from Chabcha who gave us a great deal on the 325 coats. Their family (5 people total) worked around the clock (pictured above and below) and finished making the coats in less than 2 weeks. Since we were waiting for the bulk of the project money to arrive to us from the US, the Tibetan family agreed to begin making the coats with only a 2% deposit. The coats were all made according to the style of chubas worn in this area of Tibet. Chubas differ all across Tibet (ie. in Lhasa they are very thin and rarely are lined with wool, while in nomadic areas they are very thick and are always lined with many sheep skins).

With all of the coats finished being made, our next priority was purchasing bulk amount of shoes, socks, hats and gloves. My wife has a lot of experience in buying items in bulk so she knew right where to go. We got excellent prices since we were buying such large quantities. We were able to purchase very good quality shoes (350 pairs in total) for a very low price. Nomad boys and girls both wear hats, but different styles of hats. Boys wear a typical wool knit hat that is commonly worn in the West, but girls wear a wool knit scarf that they often pull up high to cover their ears, though it does not cover the top of their heads. In addition to all the clothes we purchased ($12,000 in total), we also bought several soccer balls (footballs) and basketballs for the children as well as 100 jump ropes, and 100 yo-yo's. Most nomad children grow up never having any real toys so we though these small little extra's would be well received, which they were.

Our date to leave for the project was August 10th. We had made reservations for a bus to haul all of the clothing items down to Danglog 2 weeks before we left and those of us volunteering to do the distribution would take a Toyota Land Cruiser. Three days before we were to depart, the bus company that we had contacted drastically raised their estimated price for the trip. Since we were working with a tight budget, we could not afford the extra price for the bus. So I started making some phone calls (through Tibetan Connections Travel Agency I know dozens of drivers) to different drivers and bus companies. None of them had a bus that was large enough to haul all of the clothes we had. With only 2 days to go before we had to depart, I started to panic just a little. I had no idea how we would get all of the clothes to the children in Danglog. I called a friend of mine from Singapore who spends a lot of time in this region of Tibet to see if he knew anyone who was able to help me. He said he knew a Tibetan truck driver who helped to deliver aid to this area earlier in the year. I called the truck driver, named Jokphu, and he not only was able to help us but he gave us a great price. With the problem of the truck solved, I thought everything was looking good for us. However, 24 hours before we were planning to leave, the driver of the Toyota Land Cruiser we were planning on taking called and said his vehicle had a blown axle that needed to be replaced (common on Tibetan roads). It would take at least 2 or 3 days to replace it. So I began to panic (just slightly) again. The roads where we were going were not good so I needed to take a big vehicle like a Land Cruiser. A car would be useless on these roads and I absolutely had to leave on the morning of August 10th. I couldn't wait for the other Land Cruiser to be repaired. I have 5 drivers that I consistently use for overland trips through Tibet so I began calling them. I have over 20 Land Cruiser drivers, but these 5 are the first ones that I call since they are good friends of mine. The first 4 I called were all busy with trips and would not be able to help me. The last driver I called, Wangphu from Trika, was available and said he would be happy to take me and my small team of 3 down to Danglog for this project. Finally we had the 2 vehicles with drivers ready to go.

At around 9:30 am on August 10th, we departed for Danglog. In the big truck was the driver Jokphu and 2 friends of mine from Danglog who helped us load up the truck. In the Land Cruiser was our driver Wangphu, Paul from Romania, Dan from the US, Brett from Canada and me.  Brett and Paul came along to film the project for a documentary. Dan came along because he had nothing else to do. I have traveled extensively in Golog Prefecture, including the town of Danglog. The scenery along the way (pictured above) is stunning. This area consists almost entirely of Tibetan nomads living in tents, though there are some that prefer to live in small mud-brick homes. The Amnye Machen mountain range has many peaks above 5000m/16,405 feet with the highest topping out at 6282m/20,611 feet. Green grasslands filled with yaks are found as far as the eye can see. Due to the remoteness of this area and the lack of coverage in Tibet guidebooks, this area receives almost no foreign tourists even though it is one of the most beautiful regions of Tibet.

The first night we stopped in Huashixia in northern Mado county. Huashixia sits at 4100m/13,452 feet and is about 200kms/125 miles from Danglog. When we woke up the next morning, there was nearly 4 inches/10cm of snow on the ground (pictured above and below) with steady snow falling. While snow in this region of Tibet does not happen everyday in the summer, it does happen from time to time. Temperatures were around -8C/18F and with the snow, it made driving very slow. The route on the second day took us very near to the south face of Mt. Amnye Machen. There are several high passes along this route including one that is over 4700m/15,420 feet high. As we approached this pass, the conditions grew worse. The snow was over 8 inches/20cm deep and falling heavily. The snow drifts along the side of the road were over 2 feet/61cm deep. This wasn't just a summer snow storm, it was a full on blizzard. It looked more like the middle of winter than the middle of summer! It wasn't hard for us to imagine what the conditions must have been like last winter when over a meter/40 inches of snow was on the ground with temperatures reaching as low as -40C/-40F.

Driving carefully through the snow, we finally made it to Danglog around 1pm on the second day of our trip. When we arrived at the school, all of the students lined up at the gate to greet us. Local Tibetan officials also came to meet us and put traditional khata (white scarves) around our necks. A huge meal of boiled yak meat, butter tea and fruit was waiting for us. After eating for around an hour, we began the task of distributing all of the clothes. It was quite chaotic at first with all of the students fighting to try to get close to us, but then the teachers came and organized the students according to their age and gender.

Most nomad Tibetan boarding schools have classes year round. Unlike the rest of Tibet and China, there isn't a summer holiday. The students are given a 2 or 3 week break for Losar (Tibetan New Year) and then another 2 weeks or so in May to harvest caterpillar fungus (a high priced medicine used across Asia). So nearly all of the students were present at the school even though it was mid-August. Boarding schools for Tibetan nomads are free. The government gives them a free education and pays for all of their room and board. The parents are only responsible to cover their children's personal needs, but since rural nomadic areas of Tibet are extremely poor, most families cannot afford to get their children new clothes. When the students began to receive their new Tibetan coats, shoes, socks, gloves and hats, they were all so excited. They began to throw away their old raggedy shoes and socks and quickly put on their new ones. It took a team of 12 of us about 4 hours to distribute all of the clothes. It brought a lot of joy to us to see all of these poor Tibetan kids with all new clothes. I have participated in several projects in Tibet and this was by far my favorite one.

After distributing all of the clothes, the children, ages between 6 and 12, all gathered in front of a traditional white tent used for festivals. The whole school sang a song for us. Then several groups of students took turns singing (pictured above) and dancing. They put on a great show and really showed their gratitude towards us. The headmaster and several local government officials also came and thanked us several times and gave us an open invitation to return anytime. There are a lot of people in the world who are aware of the needs of the Tibetan people, but few are actually doing anything about it (buying a sticker for your car with the word "Tibet" on it does nothing for the Tibetan people). I am very thankful that we had this opportunity to make a huge difference in a nomadic community.

The next morning it lightly snowed at the school (pictured above). Winter comes early in this region of Tibet and I am sure that when it gets to be the middle of winter (remember, it was only August when we we were there) the children will be even more thankful that they have new clothes. A lot of people worked hard to make this project happen. I want to say thank you to Paul, Brett and Dan for volunteering their time and services to film this project and assist in the distribution of all the clothes. Thank you to the drivers who got everything there safely. Thank you to all the teachers in Danglog for being such great hosts and for helping make this project happen. And most of all, thank you to all of our friends back in the Pac NW who worked hard in raising the $12,000 needed for this project. I know it was a lot of work, but it was well worth it!!

Danglog is a small community with no more than 600 people with 400 of them being students at the boarding school. There are no hotels, stores or restaurants in the town. Most people have never even heard of it. Many of the people in the town had never come across a foreigner before we arrived. But, for a few days in August, they were in the spotlight. I am already beginning the planning for another project like this to take place in the summer of 2010 in a different nomadic region of Tibet. If you are interested in helping with either your time or resources, please let me know.

                          

Summer Snowstorm

I was traveling through western Amdo/northern Kham last month and experienced a full on blizzard. Temperatures were around -8C/18F and there were snow drifts over 2 feet/61cm deep. August is supposed to be summer for Tibet, though blizzards can occur in the extreme high elevations of Tibet any time of year. This wasn't the first time I had snow in the summer. I have been in many areas of Tibet where there were light snow flurries in the middle of summer and in July 2004 I was traveling near Mt. Chola in Dege county (western Kham) and was caught in a blizzard. But, the one I was in last month was worse.

The weather was fine on the first day of our trip. We passed through the nomadic grassland of the far northern Tibetan Plateau and the weather was quite nice. Then we began to gain more elevation. We stopped in northern Mado county for the night at an elevation of 4100m/13,450 feet. When we woke up the next morning there was 4 inches/10cm of snow on the ground with more falling from the sky. The temperature was well below freezing with heavy wind. It was quite fun to be in the midst of a snow storm in August! We were driving a Toyota Land Cruise (the best vehicle for the terrain of Tibet) so we didn't any any problems driving (pictured below). We took it slow, but had no problems. We were heading for the small town of Danglog and still had to cross a high pass near Mt. Amnye Machen. By the time we reached the top of the pass at 4700m+, the snow was coming down even harder. Visibility was very low. We saw several trucks that had wrecked off of the road.

The snow died down once we got to lower elevation (lower meaning 4000m). All together we drove through the blizzard for a little over 3 hours. Once we reached our destination, the sky was blue and the temperature was a balmy 8C/46F. While weather like this does not happen everyday in northern Tibet, it does happen. I have learned over the years to always be prepared no matter what time of year I go out. This was just another of the many great adventures I have had in Tibet over the past 6+ years.

Tsekog Grasslands

Tsekog (རྩེ་ཁོག་), known as Zeku in Chinese, is located in Huangnan Tibet Autonomous Prefecture (རྨ་ལྷོ་བོད་རིགས་རང་སྐྱོང་ཁུལ།) in eastern Amdo (ཨ༌མདོ). Tsekog, 270kms/169 miles south of Xining (ཟི་ལིང་), has some of the best grasslands in Amdo and is filled with Tibetan nomads (pictured above). Though I had traveled through this area before, I had never spent any real time in the area until recently. A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to live with a nomad family for a few days and had an excellent time. The family I stayed with was extremely hospitable and really enjoyed having me there for a visit. Tsekog (elev. 3600m/11,810 feet) is a mid-sized county with the Tibetan population being well over 95%. The town of Tsekog itself isn't anything special, but the grasslands where the nomads live are amazing (pictured below). During the summer, white and black Tibetan tents can be seen everywhere. Yaks and sheep cover the sides of the mountains. The area is truly one of the most beautiful grassland areas in all of Tibet during the summer. Only a handful of foreign tourists see this remote place each year, unlike Lhasa which sees hundreds and thousands of tourists each day. While Tsekog can be reached by bus from Xining, in order to stop and visit the nomads taking a private car is recommended. If you take the bus, all you can do is look at the nomads through the smoke filled windows. If you are interested in traveling to this remote corner of Amdo or are interested in camping with the Tibetan nomads who live in this area, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com. Camping with a nomad Tibetan family will give you an opportunity to see a part of Tibetan culture that is rapidly disappearing and that few other foreign travelers get to witness.

Lhasa Tibet Tours

Lhasa (ལྷ་ས་) is the cultural and religious center of Tibet (བོད་). All Tibetans hope to one day make it to Lhasa on a pilgrimage in order to visit all of the famous monasteries and temples that are in the area. Over the past 20 years, Lhasa also has become a popular destination for travelers from around the world. With the completion of the train link to Lhasa, getting there is easier than ever. Trains depart daily to Lhasa from the cities of Beijing, Chengdu, Xining (ཟི་ལིང་), Lanzhou, Chongqing, Guangzhou and Shanghai. The train is a great way to see some of the amazing scenery of the Tibetan Plateau. In addition to the train, there are daily flights from most major Chinese cities to Lhasa.

Lhasa is the starting point of the Friendship Highway which links Lhasa to Kathmandu, Nepal. This is one of the most popular travel routes to take it Tibet and has some of the best scenery that Tibet has to offer including lakes, rivers and the Himalaya Mountains . From Lhasa, the high elevation lake of Nam Tso can easily be visited in a day trip.

Tibetan Connections can arrange train tickets, permits and tours of Lhasa starting from the city of Xining. Xining, located in the Amdo (ཨ༌མདོ) region of the Tibetan Plateau, is the starting point of the Tibetan Railway and is 25 hours from Lhasa. We offer competitive prices, experienced guides and safe drivers. For more information about tours to Lhasa, please send an email to info@tibetanconnections.com. We make getting to Lhasa easy!

For more pictures from Lhasa, please go here.