Ft & m

  Tibetan Plateau, China
Sunday, February 24, 2008

· The Northern Tibetan Plateau, Tibet, China
· GMT +8 hours

Into the unknown

01 Bunk Punks

So we got out of Xi'an as planned. Yes, we got onto the train for Lhasa, Tibet as planned and we even got onto it without so much as a hint as to where our permit was (in Pat's back pocket was where). You know, the permit foreigners are legally supposed to have to get to Tibet but knew we didn't need anyway, but still bought. We left Xi'an yesterday, Saturday, morning and it's now noon on Sunday. We've been on this train now for 27 hours and have 9 more to go.

02 Dining car

I'm sitting here listen to ABBA's greatest hits (sweet) and breathing in the oxygen that is been supplied to us by the on board oxygen outlets (the ever present hissing noise is the give away). We're passing through the world's highest, and one of the worlds most isolated regions, the Tibetan Plateau (average altitude of 15,000 ft, or 4,500 metres) on the new Qinghai-Tibet railway, most of which is running at altitudes over 13,000ft (4,000 metres). The 1,118 km track from a place called Golmud to Lhasa is quite a feat of engineering and the Chinese are quick to remind anyone who gives a damn about this sort of stuff that many an international expert said the building of the railway over ground, the majority of which is frozen, couldn't be done. Even the Swiss,

03 Pondering life's great mysteries

the world best tunnel builders, said the need for tunnels through ice-mountains alone made it an impossible task. But the Chinese pushed on nonetheless and no doubt raised a few in-your-face fingers to the naysayers when the first passenger services began on July 1st 2006. We're not sure yet if we've passed over the 16,640 ft (5,072 metre) Tanggula pass, the highest part of the trip, but even if we haven't we doubt we'll know when we do. We'll know for sure when we get to Lhasa though, the capital of Tibet, and we're both looking forward to that. The lure of the place is understandable - the sheer isolation, the fact that it was closed off to the west for most of its existence and the religious monuments that turned the whole region into the Buddhist kingdom it is today, a kingdom that so intoxicated early western travellers. Shangri-la, locked away in its mountain fortress in the Himalayas, here we come.

First things first

04 Watching the world go by

But until then we'll just continue to sit here for the next 9 hours, watching the clock and the monotonous white scenery ride by (it's very similar, if a little bit more hilly, to the Gobi desert scenery I experienced on a similar train journey through Mongolia two years ago). We'll eat our bananas, drink our water and every now and then wonder into the dinning car only to be told what we want to order off the menu isn't actually available, and if it is available then it actually costs twice the price as listed on the menu. Tourist price no doubt. Again, the tolls of travel.

Btw, there is a little bit of history to follow. Sorry, but I like to include a bit of history in my entries every now and then to give those who want it a better understanding of the areas I travel. If you're not a history kind of person, or just couldn't be bothered reading it, then fine; just skip to the observations below.

History... a bit of a mess
So who exactly owns this place? Tibet, I mean. Myself and Pat have wondered why anyone would actually want to own it. If the view from our train window is any indication there isn't much to see here, doesn't seem to be much to do and it's kind of inhospitable. Today this part of the world is, officially anyway, part of China, but Taiwan also has a claim on it and UNESCO & the Encyclopaedia Britannica consider Tibet to be part of Central Asia.

05 Barren

The Tibetans have never had it easy. A series of kings ruled the country from the 7th to the 11th century and by the end of the 1230's, the Mongols (Genghis, Kublai and the boys) turned their attention to Tibet and ruled it, on and off, for centuries. During this time Tibetan lamas (Tibetan priests) gained considerable influence and it was in 1578 that the Mongols introduced the first Dalai Lama, commonly known as spiritual leaders of the region and the predominant political power administering religious and administrative authority from the traditional capital of Lhasa (it wasn't until the 1630's however, that the massive conversion of the Mongols to Buddhism took place). Various invasions took place over the coming centuries and the Brits, under the command of some dude called Francis Younghusband, invaded in 1904, only to abandon the county in 1947. A period of somewhat self-rule followed until the Chinese invaded (they prefer to use the word 'liberated') the region in 1950. Unrest amongst the Dalai Lama-following Tibetans and the ruling Chinese was always an issue during the early Chinese years, unrest that culminated with the Dalai Lama and his entourage fleeing to India, where they remain today, in March 1959. The years following 1959 have been rougher that most for Tibet; its people, its culture and its religious buildings have been savagely oppressed - in 1959 there were 2700 monasteries and temples in Tibet but by 1978 there were just eight monasteries and fewer than a thousand monks and nuns - and today Tibet is a sad oppressed region of China. The influx of Han Chinese (traditional Chinese, making up 93% of the Chinese 1.3 billion population) into the region (helped by this train I'm presently sitting on) is slowly killing off old Tibetan traditions and values. Even so, Tibetans still hope for independence and for the return from exile of the Dalai Lama, although no one expects it to happen any day soon, the Dalai Lama himself included.

Day 194 & 195 Observations (February 23rd & 24th 2008)

· We're Doctors
Someone forgot to tell us but seemingly we're qualified to sign off on medical declaration forms. We had to sign a health waiver upon boarding the train yesterday, one on which we had to tick the box that stated,

'My health condition can adapt 3000 meter above high elevation area travel.'

That got us wondering, can it?. Ummm. The form also listed ailments that one might have that are most definitely not suited to high altitude travel. The old reliables of heart disease and high blood pressure where on the list, but it also included the following (typed here exactly as they were seen on the form):

Hypertension
Brian vein disease (sounds nasty)
Choric respiratory system disease
Moderate above blocking lung disease (wtf?)
Diabetes out of control
Hysteria
Schizophrenia

We couldn't find the area of the form where it stated,

'We're not trying to scare you. Oxygen supplied carriages aside, we're just covering our asses. Happy travels'

· Thin Air
Following on from that, the air is thin up here, even in the oxygen supplied carriages.
We've just passed a sign telling us the elevation is 15,100ft (4,580 metres) and as I type I personally have a slight light-headedness and feel myself breathing that bit faster, sensations everyone gets at these altitudes. These are similar sensations to the ones I felt on the top of Mona Kea in Hawaii, at 14,000 ft (4,250 metres) the highest point in the pacific (it's actually, get this, the highest mountain on EARTH when measured from its base under the sea to the summit... the top of Everest is the highest point above sea level on earth) and the highest I'd ever been with my feet firmly on dry land until today. As long as it doesn't get any worse that that we should be okay. Neither of us fancy getting AMS, acute mountain sickness (headaches, nausea, fatigue, dizziness), a condition brought on by going too high above what your body has sufficiently acclimatised for. To prevent this we'll be going through the whole acclimatisation process, letting the body adjust over time to the decreased availability of oxygen at high altitudes, in Lhasa in the coming days. Hopefully this will set us up nicely for our upcoming trip from Lhasa to Kathmandu in Nepal when we'll be on real high, hitting altitudes in excess of 17,000 ft, or 5,150 metres (Everest Base Camp is at 17,700 ft, or 5,200m). So you see, we are looking after ourselves.

· The breakfast of champions
Well, maybe we're not looking after ourselves that much. Our breakfast this morning was a half a bottle of Pepsi and a cup of coffee. Delish.

· The novelty has worn off
By mid morning today, 25 hours in, Pat proclaimed he had had enough of the train. He said he had cabin fever and that his arse was sore from sitting and laying down all the time. Oh, and he wanted a shower. I thought this guy was a traveller. Poor Princess. Now now, hang in there. Only 11 hours to go.

· Yak attack
Pat wants to eat yak. Maybe he's oxygen starved (it can effect your reasoning you know?) but in another revelation Pat he told me wants to eat yak, them large long-haired, often domesticated wild ox of Tibet. We've seen a few of them from the train, grazing on the plateau, and I have to say they don't look particularly appetising. Cold yes, appetising no. I doubt we'll have any problems finding one on some menu in Lhasa. Remember, the Chinese eat anything that fly's, except aeroplanes and anything with legs, except a table.