Scared Tibet - the nearest place to heaven

Traveling around the world has always been one of my big dreams, and Tibet was on my top list. I flew to the Qinghai province in China to get on board the world famous Qinghai to Tibet railway. I chose the train instead of flying directly to Lhasa for two reasons: 1) it's less likely to develop high altitude sickness as the train ascends slowly. 2) I was able to see the breath-taking landscape on the way to the holy city.


The train departed at 9 p.m. It was already too dark to see the outside world as the train ran. After a comfy sleep on the bunker bed, spectacular snow capped mountains appeared in a never ending panorama. I quickly grabbed my camera and took tons of amazing photos such as the one shown on top. At one point, the train passed by Tanggula Pass at 16,640 feet above sea level - the world's highest rail track. How magnificent was the nature wonder!


It was hard to imagine the city of Lhasa being so commercialized. It wasn't the pureand rural land as I had envisioned in the films "Seven Years in Tibet" and "Kundun". Below the sacred and grand Potala Palace were packed with gift shops and travel agencies. I suppose if the Dali Lama returns someday, he'd probably shake his head.

With more than 3,000 hours of sunshine annually, Lhasa is famed as " the City of Sunshine". I got sunburn on the second day even though I had suntan lotion on. Well, this was the highest place on earth after all. After wandering around the must-see sites such as Norbulingka (the Summer Palace ) and the historic Jokhang Temple, I spent some time shopping for souvenirs in the circular Barkhor street located in the center of old Lhasa, and enjoyed a traditional Tibetan dinner at the charming Makye Ame restaurant that illustrated the romantic love story of the 5th Dali Lama.

The next day I visited Yamdrok Lake (pictured above). It is one of the three largest sacred lakes in Tibet. The vista view of the lake from high above was splendid. The lake was so crystal clear like a polished emerald resting between the canyons.


It took virtually a whole day to get to any destination in Tibet. Thanks to the recent paved roads in some remote area, it only took several hours to the base camp of Mt. Everest after lodging halfway at a hotel.

I made it! I shouted as I stood on the highest point humans could possible be without climbing on Mt. Everest. It was interesting to see a tent based post office and several tents advertised as "hotels" by the base camp. Some young fellas was trying to sell fossils to me. The Himalayas were once submerged under the ocean while it was being formed, I bought some fossiles that could be millions of years old for a mere $5 U.S. bucks.

Tibet was so vast that after two and a half week journey, I've only scratched the surface. The friendly and religious people, the mystical and divine culture, and the amazing landscape made it an unforgettable experience.