All Good Things Must End…

It's not the things you do that you regret, 

it's the things you don’t do...

...after exploring 17 countries over the last 14 months this amazing journey of mine has come to an end!

During this past year I have come to realize that the way to live life is to create memories because in the end that’s all we really have. When I think back over the last 5 years or so I can only recall a few major events that happened to me. Whereas this past year I remember almost every single day, be it the good times, the frustrating times, the boring times, or the absolutely amazing times.

I know that many people have wondered how I could financially afford to take a year off and travel. I can’t say that it was always easy, especially during those times when my bank account said I only had $30 to my name and my credit cards were maxed out. But with a few generous loans from friends and family I was able to keep traveling.

In the end I spent a total of $23,000 over 14 months. Traveling on such a tight budget I learned a lot about what mattered to me. Was it worth it to spend $4 on a Starbucks coffee when I could spend the night in a hostel in China for that same amount? Typically no, but occasionally I'd splurge on a coffee!

Thanks to all of you who have followed me on this epic adventure. And to all the amazing people I encountered along the way, it's been a real pleasure!

Until the next adventure (hopefully Central & South America)...

Living the High Life in London

For the last 14 months I’ve been mostly traveling 3rd world countries.  Living life as a backpacker I didn't care much that I’d been wearing the same clothes for days at a time because i was never in one place long enough to have my clothes washed.  I was enjoying this way of life and was not quite sure I was ready to re-enter the world of clean clothes, make-up, and high heels but I decided to jump in head first when my friend Afsoun invited me to join her for the Royal Ascot horse races in London. 

Afsoun & Jamie at the Royal Ascot Horse Races

My flight arrived to London just 12 hours before we were due to make our appearance at the racetrack and I had some serious shopping to do - specifically for a fabulous hat to show off.  Shopping is one of my least favorite activities but being that it was London I had luckily found everything I needed within a few “painful” hours (the pain coming from the insane amount of money being spent).

Race day began with a torrential downpour which dissipated in time for the Queen and Royal Family to make their appearance.  With the rain came lots of mud and the ladies dressed so fancy were caught wearing high heels all covered in mud. Actually it was quite funny!  While enjoying the races a few of Afsoun’s friends introduced me to a typical British cocktail called “Pimm’s” which we drank while watching the fabulous hats pass by.

I spent the remainder of the week dodging the never-ending raindrops, checking out the typical London sights, being utterly embarrassed when I accidentally walked into the men’s restroom at the Tate Modern museum (the sight of the man at the urinal will be forever burned into my memory), navigating the London Underground (Tube), having dinner with an old college friend who I had not seen in over 14 years, and of course getting my daily fitness fix at the local gym!

Tower Bridge in London

Hiking with Bears and Drinking with Poets in Georgia

Heading up to the mountain town of Kazbegi near the Russian border Hannah and I were about to embark on a little hiking in the Caucasus Mountains.  After a 3 hour ‘marshuka’ ride from Tbilisi - through some of the most stunning green mountains I have ever seen - we arrived.  Staying the night in a guest house where the owner “Mery” kept telling Hannah that she was a “good girl” because she could speak Georgian, Hannah and I shared a pullout sofa bed.  

Mt. Kazbegi

That evening we witnessed cows being led back from pasture by herdsmen.  It was hilarious to see the cows stand in front of their owners’ homes and moo until they were let in.  How do cows know where they live?

After buying a trail map of the Kazbegi region, Hannah and I opted to explore one of the “paths” rather than the typically traversed “trails”.  While we never quite found the “path” that we were looking, we found ourselves walking through a pasture where we encountered 3 local men and their donkeys.  Just before we approached the men we caught sight of two bears running in the hills above us.  At first we thought we were mistaken but nope... they were definitely bears.  The men, accustomed to shooting bears, were disappointed that they had missed them.  We on the other hand were thrilled!!!

Tsiminda Sameba near Kazbegi

Back in Tbilisi we took a trip out to Hannah’s newly acquired “Soviet-style” cottage - first so that I could see the place that was to be renovated over the next few years and second to grab a bicycle.  In some serious need of TLC, we took the bicycle to one of the few bike shops in the city which happened to be located next to an old Soviet velodrome (an experience in itself).  After getting the bikes tuned up we headed back to Hannah’s apartment and I will never forget the reactions we received while riding through the streets of Tbilisi.  Obviously NO ONE rides a bike in Tbilisi, least of all foreign women.  We had so many people staring, giving us thumbs up, and telling us we were crazy.  It was priceless!

The day before I was to fly to London, Hannah and I were enjoying an early dinner in this small café in Tbilisi.  As we were leaving, this table of 8 men were so impressed that Hannah spoke Georgian that they offered to pay for our dinner insisting that we have a drink with them.

Drinking in Georgia is a national pastime.  Georgians love to give toasts and typically drink shot glasses filled with “home-brew”, aka vodka.  It’s considered an offense to leave the table before you’ve sat through at least 3 toasts.  But being a woman you are allowed to completely forgo the alcohol or only take miniature shots.

The men at the table turned out to be famous Georgian Poets and what we thought would only be 10 minutes - turned into 3 hours.  Besides giving each of us a copy of their most recent publication, they also showered us with endearing toasts, talking about how happy they were that we choose to come to their country, a place of only 4 million people, and learn their language - a language spoken ONLY by these 4 million people.

I have to say I will always have a soft spot for Georgia and Hannah, I will be back!

Stranded Near Azerbaijan

Since Hannah and her husband plan to spend most summers in Georgia, they decided to ship a car over from the States.  We got the call that the car had arrived so Hannah and I headed over to the Port, six hours away.  After collecting the car we spent the night with her host family from her Peace Corps days - eating an obscene amount of food while “giving toasts” accompanied by drinking home brewed vodka and cognac.   

This is the Georgian way of life!

After a brief visit to the town of Gori, home of Stalin, we headed back to Tbilisi. The following day I set out on a 2-hour road trip with Hannah’s husband Austin, and their Georgian friend Nino, to a place called David Gareja - a Georgian Orthodox monastery complex built into the rock.  We spent a great day exploring and on our way back to Tbilisi decided to take a different route so we could stop by to see Nino’s aunt.

David Gareja Monastery

Driving through the countryside on very remote roads, close to the border with Azerbaijan, we realized that we were lost and were quickly running out of fuel.  We had two options:  turn back and hopefully make it to the main road without running out of gas or keep going and with luck find the road that would take us to Nino’s aunt’s house.

We kept going… and as we were swerving to avoid the potholes in the road we somehow ran into a big cement block hidden in the tall grass.  We hit it so hard that my sunglasses flew off and my head hit the ceiling.  We immediately got out to inspect the damage and realized that the front wheel was bent meaning that the car would not and could not move forward.

Stranded in the middle of nowhere!

We were stuck in the middle of nowhere, not sure where we were, and the sun was starting to set.  Lucky for us Nino’s aunt lived in the vicinity and we had cell phone access so Nino with the help of her aunt, was able to coordinate a search party. The men who came to get us told us that we were actually really close to town but had gone left when we should have gone right.  We all crammed into their tiny Russian made Lada, and headed into town to wait for Hannah.

Since Hannah was the only one listed on the insurance policy she had to pretend that she was the one driving the car when she was not even there!  After traveling for almost 2 hours on a bus from Tbilisi she met up with us.  The guys in the Lada had offered to take us back to the car so all of us (6 full sized adults and one kid) crammed into a space the size of a small economy car.  Talk about an uncomfortable ride!

Back at the car we finally made the call to the police so that we could get an official police report to satisfy the insurance company.  Waiting for nearly 2 hours on a dark, deserted road in the middle of nowhere was a little unnerving.  To pass the time and keep our minds from thinking about all the bad things that could happen, we sang songs. 

The police finally made it to the car at 11pm, charged Hannah 200 Lari for hitting the cement block and having to write up a police report, and the tow truck loaded the car onto a flat bed.  After taking care of all the paperwork at the police station we were finally allowed to head home at 2:30am!   Since there was not enough room for all 4 of us plus the driver in the tow truck the police told two of us to ride in the back of the car, which is illegal, but we were told by the police, “Lie down so you don’t get caught.  If you do get caught we’ll all go to prison...  but we the police will go to the nice prison and you will go to the ‘other’ prison”.  

Georgian Sulfur Baths

After leaving Krakow, Poland I flew to Kiev in the Ukraine where I had a several hour layover.  The plane from Kiev to Tbilisi, Georgia was the most uncomfortable and outdated plane I have ever been on.  There was literally just 5 inches of leg room between the two seats and when the person in front of me reclined he was practically in my lap leaving me with an intense feeling of claustrophobia. 

Most flights to Tbilisi arrive late night/early morning so my friend Hannah told me not to feel bad that she had to come and pick me up from the airport at 4am!  Luckily she was living in an apartment in the heart of Tbilisi with 2 other Americans and a Georgian so we were tucked in our beds (or should I say sofa) before 5am.

Map of Georgia and surrounding countries

After catching up on some much needed sleep we headed out on a walking tour of Tbilisi and seven "tired" hours later met up with two of Hannah’s Swedish friends for an hour long soak in a typical “Georgian sulfur bath”.  I was not sure what to expect but what I got was an experience!  

We found ourselves in this charming private room covered in mosaic tiles with a very hot 105 degree sulfur pool and a freezing cold 50 degree sulfur pool.  In this gigantic room there was also a stone table for getting a "scrub".  In the sulfur baths it’s typical for everyone to be naked (even in the public baths), and I have to admit that I was a little uncomfortable at first but quickly relaxed once I was emerged in the hot sulfur waters!  For an extra $5 each, everyone decided to get a scrub down.  A woman in her 70’s entered our room wearing only her bra and underwear.  One at a time she called us over to the stone table and with her scrub mitt covered in vinegar she proceeded to scrub all the dirt and grim off us (and I mean EVERY inch of us)!  Who knew that vinegar helps to life off the dead skin.  It was quite an experience but afterwards I felt so "squeaky" clean!

Exploring my Polish Heritage

After saying goodbye to John and Jaqueline I had another week until I was to meet up with my friend Hannah in the Republic of Georgia.  Since I had seen most of what I wanted to see in Turkey I decided I needed to go someplace new.  It was a tough decision but in the end I decided on Krakow, Poland since several friends gave it rave reviews and the flights were affordable.  I knew that my mom’s side of the family was polish so I asked my grandma if she knew where in Poland the family came from.  Turns out that my great-great grandparents lived in Krakow!  How fantastic is that…

Krakow

I flew to Krakow via Berlin, Germany and was surprised when I did not have to go through passport control upon leaving Germany.  And when I arrived to Poland no one asked to see my passport.  I guess that’s how it is when you travel within the European Union.

I arrived to Krakow airport at dusk and knew that I was going to love this place.  The temperature outside was perfect and I was surrounded by green meadows with red roofed houses.  I was quite content that I had missed the train into the city by 2 minutes and had to wait another hour for the next train.  I was just enjoying being outside in the beautiful Krakow countryside!

Krakow

I spent my time in Krakow wandering the streets of the “old town”, being entertained by the many street performers, and enjoying the smells which reminded me of my childhood days in my great grandmother house.

Levitating street performer in Krakow

Approximately 40 miles outside of Krakow is the infamous Auschwitz Concentration Camp.  It took about 3 hours to tour both Auschwitz I and Birkenau and at the end of the day everyone was emotionally exhausted.  I learned a lot that I had not known previously and there was one display that really got to me – the display case that contained heaps of women’s hair shaved off after the women were gassed.  Over 4,000 lbs of women’s hair had been found and that’s not including the hair that had been sold to textile industries for making blankets and clothes. 

Auschwitz entrance

Piles of prisoner shoes

There were also lots of pictures taken during that time showing how emaciated the prisoners had become.  The average diet in Auschwitz (bread/coffee/soup) permitted a prisoner to remain alive no more than three months.  There was one disturbing picture of a woman who had arrived to the camp weighing 165 lbs and 4 months later weighed only 55 lbs.

After the heaviness of Auschwitz I decided to do something fun and headed 2 hours south to Zakopane, a mountain ski town on the border with Slovakia, which in summer is a premier hiking destination.   The day I arrived it was sunny and warm and I spent the day getting acquainted with the city and figuring out the scoop on the hiking. 

Zakopane

I was excited about the day hike I was going to do - to this picturesque lake - but when I awoke the following morning it was raining cats and dogs and continued to rain the entire day and into the night.  I was so bummed but it gave me time to catch up on my travel stories and also to chat with other travelers - one of whom had been traveling for 4 years! 

Relaxing Greek Isle Style

After a whirlwind trip through Turkey (13 cities in 14 days) we headed over to Greece with the intention to relax… but first we had to endure a very long trip to reach our destination of Santorini.  We left Turkey on a 1-hour ferry headed for Chios, Greece and the following morning at 4am sleepily boarded a 10-hour ferry bound for Athens. 

Chios - our first taste of Greece

This was one time when I wish I had purchased the lightweight sleeping bag I was contemplating while in Nepal … everyone seemed to have the same idea - to sleep on the floor (and unfortunately right across the aisle from us, sleeping on the floor, was the loudest snorer I have ever encountered).  Slightly exhausted, we arrived to Athens with 5 hours to spare until the ferry to Santorini so we decided to check out the “must see” in Athens, The Acropolis. 

 The Acropolis in Athens

Back on the ferry bound for Santorini we felt like we were on a luxury cruise liner.  By far this was the nicest ferry I have ever been on.  Finally at 1am we set foot on the island of Santorini… 22 hours since we had last slept!

Santorini wins the prize for the most dramatic and stunning place I have ever laid eyes upon.  The island is a result of a volcano that erupted over 3,000 years ago, leaving a submerged crater in the middle of the sea surrounded by high cliffs of what would be the inside of the crater.  The villages on Santorini have white buildings with blue domed churches perched high on the cliffs and instead of streets you find winding paths of steps which make it easy to get lost but fun to explore this unique way of living. 

Stunning Santorini

Without a doubt Santorini is one of Greece’s most picturesque and most visited spots and the tourists proved that by arriving by the boat loads – in fact in was common to see 4 cruise ships in the harbor, and it wasn’t even high season yet!  The passengers were dropped off at the old port and from there to town you had to climb a switchback trail of 600 steps.  I was in heaven but those not looking for a workout paid to ride on the back of a mule.

Cruise ships in Santorini's harbor

After some much needed relaxation and exploring all there was to see on Santorini we headed over to the island of Mykonos which was touted as a “must see”.  We had one night in Mykonos before taking a ferry to the island of Samos and that turned out to be more than enough time for us.  We spent the day driving all around the island trying to figure out what all the hype was about.  Our only conclusion was that most likely Mykonos was a great place but Santorini’s beauty had ruined us.  

Mykonos

Getting back to Turkey from Greece the following day was a story in itself.  The travel agent who had sold us the ferry ticket forgot to check with the ferry company beforehand and we were in for a surprise when we showed up to get our tickets only to be told that the 8am ferry was not running and we’d have to wait for the 5:30pm ferry.  That gave us an entire day to explore the island of Samos.  Around 3pm with nothing to do we decided that we needed to drink the wine and ouzo we had purchased in Greece since we were flying later that day and most likely would not be allowed to bring it on board.  It was a fun way to pass a few hours – maybe a little too fun since we almost missed our ferry! 

The ferry was over an hour late getting into Kusadasi, Turkey and we were a bit nervous since we had a flight to catch.  With the taxi driver telling us to “close our eyes” while speeding down the roads and trying to calm our nerves by telling us that he had a 2-year old boy at home, he managed to get us to the airport 30 minutes before our plane took off.  What a stressful end to a relaxing time in Greece!

Whirlwind Travels through Turkey

For months I had been traveling amongst the filth and poverty of developing countries and was getting burned out (not to mention I had picked up a cough in China that was still bothering me 2 months later) so needless to say I was more than excited to arrive in Turkey.  The plan was to meet up with 2 friends of mine from California (John and Jaqueline) and travel together for a month.  After traveling alone for so long it was a wonderful treat to be in the company of great friends.

John, Jaqueline and Jamie

Arriving to Istanbul from Nepal (the poorest country in Asia) was a bit of a shock.  Long gone were the $4 hotel rooms and $2 meals.  Turkey was expensive!  Istanbul, a city of over 15 million people, was unique in that it is situated on 2 continents:  Asia and Europe.  For a city of that size I was surprised at how clean it was and how charming and hospitable the Turkish people were. 

Streets of Istanbul

After spending a few days in Istanbul exploring the sights we set out on a whirlwind trip of Turkey (10 cities in 12 days)!  Our first stop was Cappadocia where we stayed in a “cave hotel” and explored the fascinating cave dwellings unique to that area.  We also stopped off to visit one of the many underground cities that housed over 20,000 people at any one time.

Cave dwellings in Cappadocia

Leaving Cappadocia we headed to Konya, to visit the Mevlâna Museum where Rumi’s tomb in located and then continued on to Antalya, a city on the Mediterranean coast.

For the next few days we drove a lot!  Driving along the Mediterranean coast we stopped off at many of the seaside villages including Kemer, Ucagiz, Gocek, Olympos, Cirali, and Oludeniz.  After being on the go for so long we decided that we needed to stay in one place longer than just one night (mainly so we could do our laundry)so we chose to stay at a hotel on the river in Dalyan for two nights.

View from hotel in Dalyan

Leaving Dalyan we headed for Bodrum, on the Aegean Sea and were so excited to visit the castle and the archaeology, but were disappointed when we found out that it was closed on Monday’s, the day we happened to be there.  We continued on up towards Izmir and on the way stopped off to visit Ephesus, an ancient Greek city. For many years it was the second largest city of the Roman Empire.   Ephesus had a population of more than 250,000 people in the 1st century BC, making it the second largest city in the world during that time.

Ephesus, the ancient Greek city

We made it to Izmir in time to drop the car off which we had rented in Antalya and caught the bus to the port town of Cesme so we could catch a ferry over to Greece.  Unfortunately we missed the ferry connection that day and had to stay the night in Cesme which actually turned out to be a cute little town.

Hiking in the Himalaya's

After several chaotic days in Kathmandu I decided to head over to Pokhara, the second largest city in Nepal.  To get there I endured a very long 7-hour bus ride sitting next to a fellow American who felt the need to preach to me the entire time about how he found Jesus.  Needless to say, I was more than relieved when we arrived in Pokhara which turned out to be a small piece of paradise compared to Kathmandu.  Pokhara, situated on a beautiful lake, is a bit lower in altitude and much warmer than Kathmandu.  It was lovely to see palm trees with snow capped mountains in the background. 

                                                   

Nepal is a trekker’s paradise with treks through the Himalaya Mountains ranging anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks or longer.  Along the well-marked trails you typically encounter “teahouses” which are village-run guesthouses providing basic accommodation and food.  This was fantastic since there was no need to carry heavy backpacks filled with camping gear and food and you had the opportunity to interact with the local villagers.

Typical room on the trail ($2)

After talking to a few ex-guides around Pokhara I felt comfortable that there was no need to hire a guide or a porter to carry my things.  Being the independent person that I am, I decided to go it alone and was told that there would be lots of people on the trail so I would never really be alone.   My only concern was the weather.  The day before I left for my trek there was a torrential downpour in Pokhara that brought hail the size of quarters.  Imagine being stuck on the trail with no shelter while being pelted with hail of that size!

Porters would carry at least 3 backpacks each!

With a trail map in hand I caught the local bus to the trailhead and set out on a 6-day trek of the Poon Hill – Ghorepani – Ghandruk circuit through the beautiful and stunning Annapurna Range of the Himalaya Mountains. 

Annapurna Range of the Himalaya Mountains

For the next 6 days my days went like this: 

Wake up around 7am and eat a great breakfast at the guesthouse (sometimes with the most stunning view), pack up my gear and head out on the trail, hike for a few hours and hopefully find shelter from the daily rain (and sometimes hail), continue hiking and stop off at a little café for lunch, hike for a few more hours, find a guesthouse around 4pm and shower, enjoy a nice dinner, and then off to bed.

Typically I walked for 4-7 hours a day and most of it was either straight uphill or downhill, almost never was it flat.  The first 2 days were tough as it was a constant uphill battle but the views afterwards made it all worth it.  

View at Poon Hill

Along the way I met several trekkers headed in the same direction and we’d meet up at the end of the day and enjoy a great dinner together.  

Trekking friends along the way

The best part of my day was always arriving to the guesthouse in the late afternoon, taking off my sweaty and dirty clothes, showering in a hot shower, putting on warm - dry clothes and then eating a big dinner of Dal Bhat (the local Nepalese dish).  Such a fantastic experience!

Welcome to Nepal

Crossing the “Friendship Bridge” from Tibet into Nepal I could tell immediately that I was in a different country.  The people looked more Indian than Asian, the infrastructure was in disrepair, the food had more of an Indian influence, the streets were filthier, businesses closed down on Saturday (rather than Sunday), and even the time was a bit different.  When it’s 12pm in Michigan it’s 9:45pm in Nepal.   

Border town Kodari, Nepal

From the border the only affordable way to reach Kathmandu was to take a local bus.  I thought that a journey of 60 miles would be a piece of cake but instead it turned out to be the most grueling bus ride of my trip so far.  Besides being very uncomfortable (knees squished against the seat in front of me), people were crammed in the aisle, loud music was blaring from the speakers, both people and goats were riding on top of the bus, and it seemed that every 30 minutes we were stopped by Nepali soldiers who would board the bus, searching our bags.  The bus took 6 hours to travel 60 miles…  that’s 10 miles an hour!

After the long, excruciating ride on the bus we arrived to the bus station in Kathmandu.  A few fellow foreigners and I decided to share a taxi to save on cost.  It was quite hilarious to see all 4 of us (with our large backpacks) along with the driver try and fit into a car the size of a subcompact.  On the way to Paknajol, where the quieter hotels were located, we drove through Thamel, the main tourist area of Kathmandu.   The very narrow streets were crowded with people, taxis, motorcycles, rickshaws, and were lined with shop after shop selling trekking gear, restaurants which surprisingly served up excellent “western” food, internet cafes, and money changers (in Nepal you can easily change US Dollar to Nepalese Rupee but trying to change Rupee back into Dollar was impossible).

Nepali ladies in Kathmandu

I arrived to my candlelit hotel and soon realized that Kathmandu has some serious power outages.  The electricity is off most of the day and night on purpose, with “2 to 4 hours” of power twice a day (typically a few hours during the day and a few at night or early morning).  To make it more complicated, each day the power comes on at different time but to make it a little easier they publish a “schedule of power” so at least I was able to plan ahead to charge my computer, camera batteries, and to even take a hot shower.

Kathmandu for me was an exhausting place (and just walking around I could feel my blood pressure skyrocket to unhealthy levels).  Besides being a very dirty city with water that borders on being lethal, it was overcrowded with people, honking cars, motorcycles, and even cows.   It took some getting used to seeing cows wandering the streets with people and cars but after awhile it seemed so normal.  Being a country of primarily Hindus the cow is sacred and killing one carries the same penalty as killing a person.

Durbar Square in Kathmandu

The day I was to fly out of Kathmandu the entire city went on strike.  Nothing was open and there was no transportation.  Luckily the strike did not affect the international flights but getting to the airport was another story.  Also it was at this time that my ATM card stopped working.  After spending a very expensive 20 minutes talking to a representative I found out that in Nepal, someone had stolen my card number and now had access to my account.  Oh the joys of traveling…  

7 Days in Tibet – On the Road to Mt. Everest

After spending 2 full days in Lhasa and getting my fill of monasteries we set off for something a little different… Mt. Everest.  For the next 2 days we drove for 7 hours a day in order to reach base camp.  At the time I didn’t think 7 hours sounded that bad but the roads in Tibet are not so good and soon 7 hours seemed like an eternity.  Since the majority of Tibet is so high and dry the landscape was completely brown and the only thing that the surrounding villages grow is barley and wheat.  Along the way we passed by a village where the driver had come from.  He told us that it was very common in this village for the brothers of a family to share one wife!

 Tibetan landscape

We arrived to Everest Base Camp (EBC) in the early evening and our guide gave us the option of sleeping in the guesthouse at the monastery or in a tent near Everest base camp.  We chose the tent! 

Tibetan tent at Everest Base Camp

Since Mt. Everest was covered in clouds we rested a bit and then set out on the 2 ½ mile hike to reach base camp.  It was really just a simple walk along a dirt road but it felt like an uphill climb the way my heart was racing and how out of breath I was.  I guess that is what happens at 17,000 feet!

Everest Base Camp at 17,000 feet

Sadly when we arrived to base camp Mt. Everest was still covered in clouds but it looked like they were dissipating.  We decided to stick around for a few minutes but the chilly wind was blowing so hard that it took our breath away so we decided to give up and headed back to camp.   On the way back my hands were so cold that I couldn’t even use them.  I’m not use to this kind of weather.  Luckily when we arrived to the tent there was a fire going in the stove (using yak dung as the fuel source) and we sipped on hot tea to warm up.  The sun was getting ready set so we stepped outside just in time to see the most spectacular view of Mt. Everest lit up by the sun.  It was absolutely stunning!

Mt. Everest at sunset

The night in the tent was not one of my more enjoyable nights.  To begin with the Tibetans in the tent decided to play a loud card slapping and shouting card game into the wee hours of the night while chain smoking.  Imagine being stuck in a tent with 5 chain smoking guys!  Overnight the fire in the stove went out and the temperature dipped down to 20 degrees Fahrenheit.  In the morning the water in my water bottle was completely frozen (as was I)!

After eating a traditional Tibetan breakfast of tsampa (roasted barley flour mixed with water) and drinking salty yak butter tea, we set out on our final 7 hour drive to the Nepalese border.  We ended up making our own path “a shortcut the driver tells us” along a dried up riverbed, stopping occasionally to remove large rocks out of our way.  The drive was spectacular though, taking us through the Himalayan Mountains where it was snowing.

7 Days in Tibet - Lhasa

I arrived to Lhasa and was greeted by my Tibetan guide Gyalsten, and my fellow tour companion, Canadian Bill.  In the Tibetan language, Lhasa means the Holy Land or the Buddha Land and is the center of Tibet's politics, economy and culture. Our guide told us that it’s common for people to say that 87% of Lhasa is Tibetan but in reality it is only 60%.  The remainder 40% is Chinese who come to Lhasa to work.  Immediately you can see that Tibetans and Chinese are not similar in any shape or form.  In fact one tourist I met proclaimed, “Tibetans look more Mexican than anything else”.  And it’s true…

The city of Lhasa

Everywhere I went in Lhasa I’d see the presence of the Chinese army.  Soldiers and police were stationed on top of buildings, in front of monasteries, you name it...they were there just waiting for trouble to break out.  But to me Lhasa appeared to be such a peaceful place and the Tibetan people so harmless.

Arriving to Lhasa the first thing I noticed is how important Tibetan Buddhism is to the everyday lives of the Tibetan people.  Walking down the street (always clockwise around the temple) there would be hundreds of Tibetans making their daily pilgrimage around the temple, chanting, twirling prayer wheels, or fingering prayer beads.  I even encountered several people throwing themselves down on the ground in what the guide told me was prostration.  This was something I had never seen before.  In Buddhism, Buddhists carry out prostration before the image of the Buddha to show their respect for them. This was to become a common sight in Tibet… almost as common as prayer flags.  Tibetan Buddhists put prayer flags outside their homes and places of spiritual worship for the wind to carry the good vibrations across the countryside. They are said to bring happiness, long life, and prosperity to the person who put the flag there and also those in the vicinity.

Pilgrim performing prostration

We spent much of our time in Lhasa visiting the monasteries of which the most famous is Potala Palace.  This enormous monastery was the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until the current Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959.  The monastery is thirteen stories tall and contains over 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and 200,000 statues in addition to many tombs of previous Dalai Lamas.

Potala Palace

The other monasteries we had the opportunity to visit were Norbulingka (Summer Palace) which was where the Dalai Lama would spend his summers. In fact it was here that the current Dalai Lama made his escape to India disguised as a Tibetan soldier in 1959.  At Sera Monastery, the 2^nd largest monastery in Tibet, we had the fortune to watch monks debate the philosophies learned that day.  This was quite an intense experience with lots of shouts and claps as they try to get their point across.  And at Jokhang Temple, in the center of Old Lhasa, we witnessed hundreds of Tibetans making their daily pilgrimage to this very important temple.

                                                 

Monks debating

7 Days in Tibet – The 44 hour Train Ride

The train from Chengdu to Lhasa was to take 44 hours and instead of riding in the loud and very cramped quarters of the hard sleeper I decided to treat myself and pay a little extra money for the roomier and quieter soft sleeper.  At the train station in Chengdu there was even a separate waiting area for those with soft sleeper tickets, much like a VIP area.  This was a very welcome sight since most train waiting areas have been cramped and covered with litter all over the floors.

Chinese train ticket to Tibet

After boarding the train I was required to fill out a health declaration form stating that I was in good health and able to travel at high elevations.  The Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the world's highest railway with an average elevation of 13,000 feet.

The soft sleeper compartment was nice… the mattresses were bigger and more comfortable and I could actually sit up in my upper bunk.  There was a door to shut out the noise from the hallway and each bunk even had a TV but they didn’t work.  I was living it up… unfortunately I witnessed plenty of Chinese and Tibetan passengers that weren’t as fortunate.  They were stuck riding in a hard seat for the entire 44 hour journey.  I can think of nothing worse!

The comfortable "soft sleeper"

After 20 hours on the train we crossed from mainland China into Tibet.  The change was apparent.  No longer were there little villages and big cities scattered about.  We were now greeted by brown, barren, and empty land with the occasional wandering nomad with his herd of sheep or yak. 

Tibetan landscape

After 36 hours the landscape begins to change and we pass snow covered mountain ranges, turquoise lakes, and frozen rivers.  For as populated as China is, Tibet is not.  This entire time we have passed only a handful of tiny villages consisting of at most 5-10 houses. 

Tibetan landscape

Overnight I awoke several times to find myself uncomfortably gasping for air.  I could only assume that we were going over the pass that was at an elevation of 16,500 feet.   Luckily for those passengers that were having real difficulty breathing the train did supply oxygen masks (much like in an airplane) in each compartment.

Xi'an, China

After just one day in Chengdu I decided that it was not a place that could hold my attention for the next 6 days so I took a look at the map and decided to head to Xi’an, only a 16 hour train ride or 1 hour flight away.  I had hoped to take the train but Xi’an is a popular tourist destination and tickets for the night I wanted to depart were already booked so I settled for flying which surprisingly was only a little bit more expensive.

Xi’an is known for the Terracotta Warrior’s Museum.

Terracotta warrior 

In 1974 farmers digging a well near Xi’an uncovered pieces of pottery.  What they really uncovered was the underground terracotta army of the first Emperor of China, Emperor Quin Shi Huang (259-210 BC), which had been buried for over 2,000 years!  Emperor Qin had countless numbers of warriors made to guard his tomb and protect him in the afterlife.  To date over 7,000 life size soldiers, 1,000 horses, chariots, and even weapons have been unearthed.

Bits and pieces of warriors before being reconstructed

It took over 70,000 people to create this army and what’s amazing is that each warrior is about 6-feet tall and no two have the same facial features.  It is believe that the warriors were designed after actual people who were then killed since they knew the Emperor’s secret. 

Warriors as they were found - guarding the Emperor's tomb

Lijiang, China

After saying goodbye to my new Canadian friend (who bless her, thought I was 26!) and promising to meet up in Nepal for the Nepali New Year mid-April, I hopped on the bus heading for Lijiang.  The ride was quite scenic but very dusty and bumpy and 4 hours later we thankfully arrived.  After settling into my very hard to find hostel I set out to stretch my legs and explore town. 

Streets of Lijiang

Lijiang was a very scenic village filled with a maze of cobblestone streets.  If you weren’t paying attention you’d find yourself lost but eventually all roads led back to the center of town.  So far this was the most touristy spot I had been in China.  Outside of China I was use to the term tourist referring to “western tourists” but here the town was completely overrun by domestic tourists!  The Chinese are beginning to have more and more disposable income so it’s quite common for them to hop on tour buses to see the sights of their country.

Lijiang at dusk

Dali, China

I thought that with my English/Chinese map in hand, and having had the girl at the hostel write out (in Chinese characters) what bus ticket I wanted to purchase I could find my way to the bus station and get on the right bus to Dali.  Wrong… 

I hailed a taxi and pointed on my map to what I believed said “bus station” in Chinese since it was right below “bus station” written in English.  The taxi driver nodded that she understood and we set off.  A few minutes later she stopped the taxi and motioned for me to get off – signaling that this was my stop.  This was not the bus station and plus the meter was only at 8Y and it should have cost me 25Y.  I pulled out other maps that I had and looked in my Lonely Planet to see if the bus station it was spelled out in Chinese characters.  I find something and she nods that she understands. 

Surprisingly we arrived to the bus station and I walked up to the ticket window with my pre-written note describing exactly what I wanted (express bus to Dali) and just like that the woman gave me the right ticket with the best seat. 

Lesson Learned:  life is so much easier if you can anticipate exactly what you’ll need to ask or say and have the hostel write it for you in Chinese characters on a piece of paper.  Seriously, this makes life so much less complicated.

My $4 hostel in Dali

Since it was a warm night and Dali was such a cute village I stopped off at this little café for dinner with cozy outdoor seating right on the street.  Almost immediately I was approached by an older “traditionally dressed” woman asking if I wanted to buy some silver bracelets.  She then leaned over and in a quieter voice asked “you smoke the ganja”?  She was trying to sell me dope right there on the street!  Before the end of the night I had at least 4 other women approach me asking if I wanted ganja.   Crazy! 

The woman who tried to sell me ganja on the street