Journey to the West: Trekking through the land of snows
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| The Himalayas peeking over the clouds |
Tibet is known as the rooftop of the world. A reputation well deserved, as the Tibetan plateau occupies an average elevation of 4,500m, making your average foot path in Tibet higher than the peak of Mount Kinabalu. And lets not even get started about “Mount” Faber.
My challenge for
Augustman’s 2014 A-Listers campaign was to complete a 4 day, 80km, high altitude trek in Tibet to
raise money for charity. A journey that would take me 4,200m above sea level through 2 high mountain passes, including the Shuga-la pass (5,250m), between Ganden to Samye Monasteries. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but it wouldn’t have been a challenge otherwise.
The beginnings: Ganden Monastery
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| Ganden Monastery: Rubble and Reconstruction |
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| Workers at the Ganden Monastery |
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past 60 years, chances are you have heard of the Dalai Lama - the spiritual head of Tibet, who is now living in exile in Dharamsala, India. However, you may not know that the Buddhist order that he belongs to, the Gelukpa Sect, was founded at Ganden Monastery. While the temple was razed during the cultural revolution, but much of it has been restored in the years since.
It is a tradition in Tibet to plant prayer flags for luck when
embarking on a journey, usually along the
kora - a footpath for devotees circumambulating a monastery or at a
high pass. My companion and I did so along the
kora at Ganden Monastery
before setting off. The belief is that the wind carries prayers and
well-wishes represented by the flags up to the heavens. A Tibetan bon voyage of sorts.
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| Prayer flags at Ganden Monastery |
A Tibetan village: Dupshi
Our next stop was to pick up supplies and gear, as well as a small troop of 6 yaks to carry it all, from the small village of Dupshi an hour by road away from Ganden Monastery. In a place where dried yak dung is the primary source of fuel, we quickly discovered just how out of place we were.
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| Lunch by the stove |
We lunched together at the yak herder’s house nearby before setting off. The house was a simple stone walled building and the living room humbly furnished with yak wool blankets laid on wooden furniture. The city slicker in me immediately picked up the conspicuous lack of a television set in the living room. “No television? What’s all their furniture pointed at?” you might ask. The answer - a stove, right smack in the middle of the living room. Where the weather is often cold and harsh, people were more concerned about keeping warm than what the Kardashians were up to this weekend.
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| Yak butter tea |
Lunch was traditional Tibetan fare - Tsampa and yak butter tea, which has a reputation that precedes it. The Lonely Planet warns “
Tsampa with milk powder and sugar makes a pretty good porridge and is a fine trekking staple, but only a Tibetan can eat it every day and still look forward to the next meal.” And yak butter tea is, as the name describes, generous amounts of yak butter, tea and milk. When blended together tastes like liquid butter. Nepali Dal Bhat, another trekking staple in the Himalayas, is Michelin starred in comparison. But what the Tibetans lacked in cuisine, they made up in enthusiastic hospitality. With the unintended consequence of countless refills of yak butter tea and Tsampa that are impossible to reject. By the 3rd cup, I had resorted to sipping really slowly to avoid generous, and often insistent, refills.
On the mountain path: day 1
After lunch and loading up the yaks, we were on our way up towards the mountain pass.
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| Up towards the mountain pass |
Although the path climbed gradually as we went, nothing quite prepared us for how tough high-altitude trekking could be. The first hour was a struggle getting used to thin mountain air and we were often rendered breathless by the slightest incline. But by the second hour, we had settled into a slow but steady pace.
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| The nomadic life |
As we left the village behind, rural Tibet began to reveal itself. Our guide, the only one with breath to speak, entertained us with tidbits of rural life. After all, he had been born a farmer’s son just a valley away. He introduced us to marmots which, up to then, I had assumed was a brand of adventure gear. We also found out that
dong chong cao (or
cordyceps sinensis), a valuable herb in chinese medicine, grew in these mountains. But more appallingly, that they were actually worms petrified by a type of parasitic fungus. He also told us how nomadic lifestyle had changed in the past 15 years. While nomads used to roam the mountains throughout the year, moving higher during the warmer season sand lower during the colder seasons, they now keep to stone houses in the cold seasons, only leaving home during summer to tend to animals in the higher altitudes. Presumably the trappings of a hot shower and Chinese drama serials were too much to resist. I can't say that I blame them.
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| Still feeling good at the end of day 1 |
It was about 5pm when we arrived at the camp on the first day. Our troop of yaks had overtaken us midway and were grazing at the camp site. The herders had even set up tents and were already preparing dinner. Dinner was delicious and quickly gobbled down by the hungry trekkers. We even had time after dinner to enjoy the view before the setting sun heralded in a dramatic drop in temperature.
Day 2: A cold start
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| Long day ahead |
We woke up the next morning freezing in our tents. While it had been about 16 to 18 degrees Celsius in the day, the temperature had dropped to zero at night and the sun hadn’t even begun to warm things up. We only emerged when our team came to coax us out of our tent with hot beverages. I guess when the guide had told us it was a great season for trekking, we hadn’t counted on 6 degrees in the morning to be almost balmy to him.
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| A cold morning |
Jokes aside, it was a good thing that we got up early. It was looking to be a long day of trekking ahead. Apart from the altitude, which was a direct 800m ascent to 5,250m at Shuga-la, we were expecting to trek 10 hours straight before arriving at the next campsite. We were warned before setting off that this would be the hardest day of the trek, and not everyone makes it.
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| Flowering plants |
On our ascent, we were treated to what was harsh but beautiful terrain. As few things thrive in spring, only grass, littered with the occasional pattering of flowers, covered the ground. Wildlife came in the form of domesticated animals and the occasional marmot. And the silence, was deafening. At times, the only sounds were that of our boots trampling on grass, and gasping for breath.
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| Climbing above mountain peaks in the distance |
But what was harsh also made it beautiful. We climbed the entire morning, encountering patches of ice and bouts of snow along the way. And as we slowly rose above the mountain peaks in the distance, we were treated to a great view of the Tibetan landscape - unspoiled and untouched. At times, even the clouds seemed to be within reach.
Day 2: Top of the Shugal-la pass (5,240m)
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| Almost at the Shuga-la pass |
When we finally reached the top of the Shuga-la pass at 2pm, we were so exhausted but overcome with excitement! It gave us a burst of energy that we had been lacking for hours, and we quickly squandered it on a frenzy of photo taking and pats on the back all around. But there was no rest for the weary. Insisting that staying at altitude would be bad for us, our guide led us over to the other side of the pass and quickly to begin the descent.
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| Prayer Flags at Shuga-la |
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| Happy but tired trekkers |
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| Heading down |
Day 2: A rocky descent and an exhausting end
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| A rocky sandy descent |
Descent was a different challenge. While it was grassy, damp and cold on the way up, it was rocky, dry and warm on the other face of the mountain. Not only did it make the narrow footpath sandy, but the mountain face that it traversed was steep and rocky. Keeping balance and a secure foothold on the way down was tough. As luck would have it, my companion was also developing signs of Altitude Mountain Sickness (AMS). This meant headache and dizziness alongside piling fatigue. The rest of the descent was a blur of fatigue punctuated by shocks of adrenaline from accidental missteps and skidding over loose sand and rock. Somehow we managed to keep our feet and slowly crawled into 2nd campsite.
It was 7pm by the time we reached camp on the 2nd day. We would be edging sundown soon. We attempted dinner but even though the food was good, we couldn't find the appetite, and soon crashed in bed.
Day 3: Altitude Mountain Sickness and the evacuation
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| Evacuating the Yak Princess |
Having AMS really messes with your sleep, and often when rest is needed the most. My companion woke up numerous times at night complaining of shortness of breath, headache and dizziness. We got her some oxygen in the morning, but that was only temporary relief. It was then time to make a tough decision - to evacuate her off the mountain or risk it and complete the trek. It was a tough one to make. We both wanted to continue, not only because of the
Augustman A-listers’ challenge, but also because it was as just as much a personal challenge for ourselves. On the other hand, if we chose to continue, the terrain would close off any option of evacuating later in the trek, which could be dangerous. After consulting with our guide, we decided to opt for safety and evacuate down the mountain. A wise choice in the end, as we soon found out that my companion could hardly walk any further and had to be assisted down the mountain.
It might be tempting, when referring to an evacuation, to imagine a daring helicopter rescue, but nothing quite so glamorous happened. Evacuation in this instance consisted of taking a “spare” yak and hoisting our sick trekker on top. And there she went, trotting down the mountain, on top of a yak. Having avoided AMS myself, I kept pace just behind the yak herd.
The evacuation route was relatively easy, and we took it at fair clip. By 3pm, we had descended more than 1,000m to an altitude of 3,700m and set up camp by a small village accessible by road. Though still exhausted, my companion was breathing better and her headache had subsided.
Day 4: The long way round the mountain
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| A wet and misty morning |
The next morning arrived misty and damp. Much to everyone’s relief my
companion had recovered and we packed in a hearty breakfast before breaking camp. We hadn’t forgotten about our final
destination - Samye Monastery and, with the aid of our guide, had
formulated a plan the night before.
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| Rivers |
As our plan to cut through the mountain range on foot had failed, we were forced to circle round the mountain by jeep to reach the Samye Monastery - a bumpy and dusty 260km ride on undeveloped roads that would take us almost the whole day.
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| And Desert |
Along the way, we caught some of Tibet’s ever changing scenery. From
beautiful rivers and lakes, to dry sandy desert climates, all in the
same day.
Day 4: Samye Monastery
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| Samye Monastery |
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| Here at last! |
We finally reached our destination - Samye Monastery at 2pm on the 4th
day. Samye is the first Buddhist temple in Tibet. It was built in the
8th century under the patronage of King Trisong Detsen and still
retains great religious significance to this day. Buddhism was actually
introduced into Tibet much earlier during the reign of King Songtsen Gampo in the 7th century.
In fact, Tibet was such a powerful country at the time that both Nepal
and China sent princesses as tributes to marry the Tibetan King and
consolidate their relationship.
While the trek suffered from a serious bout of Murphy's Law (my least favourite legal principle) and AMS, I'm glad we made it there in the end. After all, putting one foot in front of the other in the right direction
to get you to your goal, is much of what trekking is about.
Raising Money for Charity
As you might know, this challenge was undertaken to raise money for
CARE, a registered charity for at-risk youths in Singapore.
A kind benefactor has pledged up to match all donations to this
Challenge up to S$10,000. As Community Chest will also be matching all
donations up to 1 million SGD made to CARE this year, every dollar you
donate to this challenge contributes 4 times that amount to CARE. Donations can be made on an online portal
http://giveasia.org/movement/journey_to_the_west
Please show your support by spreading this story to your friends and by donating generously!
You can follow me on twitter/Instagram at a1exisms or on
Facebook. Hashtags: #augustman #alister_alex
#alisters2014 #journeytothewest
