Tibet Hotel, Lhasa

The train reached Lhasa at 10.30 pm. We had to walk a distance from the train station to the parking lot where our coach was waiting. I was completely exhausted from lack of sleep since I was constantly traveling. While I slept extremely well in the train, my energy was not completely replenished. I have to thank my excitement for keeping my energy constantly up. Despite the many warnings from the tour guide about having late night showers, I still went ahead. I haven't bathed for three days since I flew from Singapore and God knows when I last washed my hair, hahaha! The itch was unbearable, hahaha!

We were told to walk slowly as we've just reached high grounds and our bodies would take time to acclimatise. I was excited and was marching towards the hotel when halfway upon reaching the hotel's entrance, I caught myself panting from the thin air. I felt like an old lady, hahaha!

We stayed at the ground floor of the hotel where our room is near the stairs that led from the main lobby. After we placed our bags, the first to crash on the bed was my sister. We were worried of catching a cold as the warnings from our tour guide sounded serious. So, both mum and sis decided not to shower.

We were advised also not to wash our hair and if we did, we are to towel dry than to use the hair dryer and I am not sure why. I was the last to go and I had to shower with a cockroach lurking by the corner of the bathtub. I had a fear of cockroaches so having it there made me shower quicker than I had wanted. The shower head was faulty as only sprinkles of water came and I was caught between unpleasant temperatures because of the scalding hot water and freezing cold water. I had adjusted the temperature by turning the dial a little towards the cold side but the water immediately turned cold. It was a crazy shower! After having one felt like heaven despite the madness that went on while I was at it.

My sister was feeling extremely cold so we adjusted the temperature in our room. That night, both mum and I woke up in the middle of the night feeling extremely warm. It turned out that the control is for the heater and it wasn't an air-conditioner!

The following day, I had a terrible headache and it wouldn't go away until the next day. Many of us in the group had this problem and it is supposedly natural as our body is trying to adapt to the environment. The amazing thing was that I completely forgot about my headache when we were at the Potala Temple (photos in the next blog post). I am glad I had it for just a day because the days to follow became awesomely interesting.

The temperature in Tibet during the end of June is 15 degrees Celsius. Prior to the trip, we were advised to bring warm clothings and I brought a bulky winter jacket which I borrowed from J. I didn't want to bring my big Eskimo-looking winter jacket. I regretted bringing the jacket because it wasn't as cold as I'd thought. A t-shirt and a sweater would have suffice. Bring also a scarf for the trip to the Kambala Pass in Shigatsu where it is colder.

The front view of the hotel

Ahh BED!!




The hotels were stayed in Tibet all had loads of tea leaves for us to brew tea with. In fact, tea became the ultimate remedy towards fighting against colds and acclimatisation difficulty in the following days to come. We drank loads of tea everyday and we love the fragrance of the tea there. Tibet Hotel replenishes the white porcelain container with loads of tea leaves. My sister and I got so thrilled to find it filled whenever we came back from our tours. And, there are three porcelain mugs with covers for us. But, one of them had a crack on it and it leaked.


Beautiful tapestry of the great Potala Temple. I was looking for one throughout my entire trip and finally found one at the Lhasa Airport on the day I was leaving for Shanghai. Later I found out that the hotel actually sells them for 220RMB (one of our tour group members bought two) but I got it for 230 because the lady at the airport refused to lower the price.


That's me on the mirror reflection trying to get a picture of this side of the hotel room. Overall, the room is clean and the beds are comfy. The only problems we had with the room is the shower head, which we later lodged a complaint and had a plumber fix it.


In the morning, we had breakfast at this banquet hall, the Sunshine Banquet Hall. Everyday, we had porridge with loads of green veggies and drank loads of tea. What I realise is that there are no law enforcement on smoking in Tibet and Shanghai. I'm not sure if it goes for the whole of China. People smoke in restaurants and it was unpleasant.


A door to another banquet hall


Pinkish flowers in the hotel grounds


This is supposed to be a bar but, while I was there I haven't seen any signs of activities during both day and night.

Xining - Lhasa Train Ride part 4

The scenic train ride finally stopped at Lhasa. While the passing views were gorgeous, not having to go out and feel the lovely outdoors was painful. As we ran into the final hour of reaching our stop, I was excited.

We had met some friendly people in our rail car and they were surprised that we are from Brunei. In fact, they were surprised that there are many Chinese people in Brunei. And, they were impressed that Chinese people from Brunei can speak Chinese, hahaha! I was surprised that they were surprised! We even met two persons who could speak Hakka, the dialect I speak at home! Apparently, there is a Hakka community in Guangzhou.

I was also surprised that there were so many local Chinese people who were visiting Tibet. In fact, I saw more Chinese tourists than tourists of other nationalities when I was in Tibet.

From the time I arrived at Chengdu to reaching Lhasa, I was constantly impressed with China's public infrastructure. The airports that I landed in and the railway stations are all big and modern. The roads are wide and tarred, some with four lanes or maybe more. The long railway between Qinghai and Tibet stretches across difficult and harsh terrains and the train is equipped with facilities. While the journey was tiring, it was nowhere near rough as compared to getting from Siam Reap to Battambang in Cambodia. But, I am glad that the sense of adventure never left despite its modern amenities.

I wonder if the other trains in China are just as well-furnished. I just saw a Trans-Siberian train from a website and it looked less accommodating. Hmm.. A journey to modern Siberia would be another adventure!

I was feeling so hungry when I saw one of my cabin mate making cup noodles. We had only bought a packet each for ourselves, and thought we could rely on the oat biscuits and the chocolates. But, when the smell of cup noodles filled up the room, I was definitely tempted. The Chinese beef cup noodles that we bought were delicious. So much so that when I finished mine, I was already yearning for seconds.


One of our last station before reaching Lhasa, Dang Xiong (Damxung). We were not allowed out, so people clogged up at the closed entrance door to take photos of the station


Tibetan lady in a field waving to us


Meanders in a valley


Houses in a distance in a valley near Yang Ba Jing


Beautifully covered with green valley


Herd of farm animals




Man cleaning his shaver. He was shaving earlier in the train as he walked along the corridor to admire the view.


Herd of sheeps by the farmhouses


Lady with a herd of yaks


Factory in front of the Nyainqêntanglha mountains


Silver crescent on top of the green mountain


The Nyainqêntanglha mountain range has many speaks that goes beyond 6000m above sea level and is located here in Dang Xiong (Damxung) county.


A mountain pass with a blue sign by the road


A farming village


Train at Lhasa Railway station with a cracked window


Welcoming gift of silk scarf by our tour guide

Xining - Lhasa Train Ride part 3

This is another lake connected to Cuona Lake by a small river. This is found near Ga Nong.


Marshes


A farm yard with sheeps grazing in the distant


A house by a lake


Another house by a lake


Another rock formation on the mountain top near Naqu


A crow on an antenna


Children playing in the rail car


A Szechuan woman in traditional clothes


A complete rainbow in full sight. Please don't mind the whitish column. It's the reflection from the door. I should have closed it. I didn't realise it then and when I later did, the rainbow was gone.


No pot of gold there


There were farm houses built just beside the hills at Gupacun and Naka. The Naqu river meanders while farm houses sprouted just beside it.


The countryside of Naqu (Nagchu) is really full of green, rivers and beautiful mountains. In addition, farm houses can be easily spotted from the train as we passed by the town.


These are yak manure put out in the sun to dry. The farmers use them as fuel.


More farm houses


In Naqu, you can see the Tanggula, Nyainqentanglha and Kangdese Mountains, as well as the snow-capped Dargo Mountain in the west and the Burgyi Mountain in the east.