The trip that made everyone go "Really?!"

Yes, I can. And I did! I survived the 18-day cycling trip from Tibet to Nepal in May 2010. Of course, I took forever to organize (>800 of them) and load my photos, but well, better late than never. =) Here's a little travelogue of my journey. One memorable journey during which I set many personal records.

Altitude chart

Before we begin, here's a chart that tracks the altitude changes through our 18-day cycling trip. The highest altitude was at Mount Everest base camp, where we spent a night.

Lhasa

So we started in Lhasa, where we spent 3 days acclimatizing. Being a rather un-outdoorsy person, this is the highest I've ever been (thus far) for an extended period at least. And I'm glad to report that I was fine. No AMS. Woo hoo!

Lhasa looked like any Chinese city to me. Except for the enhanced security. There were guards and security posts everywhere.

Easily the grandest structure in Lhasa (& an architectural marvel in the world), the immense 13-storey high Potala Palace in its current form was built by the 5th Dalai Lama in 1645 (the Red and White Palaces were added subsequently). It had been the residence of Dalai Lamas till the 14th century. Today, it is the site for state ceremonies and school for religious education. The palace also contains tombs of numerous Dalai Lamas and is the pilgrimage destination for many believers.

Yak butter candles instead of incense.

Pilgrims doing the kora (pilgrimage route). It's not obvious from the photo, but the pathway was thick with pilgrims.

The other well-known monastery that we visited is Drepung. Unfortunately, the place was under construction, so there was nothing picture-worthy. This is the entrance of the main hall. Aren't the colors brilliant? The interior was too dark for decent photos...well for a simple camera and its unsophisticated user.

The view from the top. The monastery was built on hill.

Mani stones and other offerings are all over the pilgrim route. The more prayer flags (& offerings) there are, the holier is the site.

Ok, I forgot which monastery we were at. But this was the only sky burial site we saw. In a sky burial, the body is first stripped of its flesh (the natural way). Then the bones are chopped up with sledgehammers (see them on the right hand side) and mixed with tsampa (barley flour with yak butter - staple in Tibetan diet) before being fed to the vultures. As anyone can imagine, this quite a sight to swallow...ok, that isn't the best word in this context. But you get what I mean. We didn't see a ceremony, but it appears that there were bits remaining...
That's a yak. The yak is very much part of the Tibetan lifestyle. Well, there's probably little choice given the high altitude and harsh climate. It provides milk, butter, meat, leather, yak hair etc. so one encounters yak-something everywhere. Yak horns are used as offerings too.

Other sights around Lhasa

As part of the acclimatization, we did some easy cycling around the city. These are some other sights in Lhasa. We slipped through this flimsy gate to take pics of the Potala Palace. As we were leaving, a couple of cows rammed their way through the gate as well.

One of the cows that got through the gate.

Mountain goats.

Picture stop. As funny as it sounds, I wasn't used to resting my bike on the ground like that. It felt so "careless". (Mountain bikes don't come with stands.)

This little boy was eating sponge. After I snapped the pic, he asked to see it. I told him not to eat sponge but I'm not sure he understood.

Dung patties = fuel

Prayer flags galore.

After 3 days in Lhasa, we finally set off! That means the real cycling starts. Ah, the great nature!

The endless mountains, sometimes obscured by clouds...

Blue sky! (Some of you might know that I have a thing for blue skies.)

This is our support vehicle (the personal vehicle of our very capable driver). This was usually ahead of us, while the other logistics vehicle (a 4WD) was behind (to pick up the laggers).

1st stop at a monastery. Legend has it that fresh clean water sprung from the earth upon pleas by inhabitants in the drought-hit area. The "well" remains filled to this day. (Em, that's the version of the story I caught...)

Our next stop was memorable for its many, many, many prayer flags. Which was an indication of how holy the place was.

The place was thick with prayer flags. It was quite a sight. Like a stylistic movie set.

The 5 colors of prayer flags represent the 5 elements.

Yamdroktse Lake

The next day, we encountered our first high pass, which our fearless leader "A" didn't even consider a high pass. It was a climb of 1,000 m to Ganbala, at 4,700m. The ascent was about 24 km and we managed about 7 km. For kicks, we cycled the last km or so when we were close to the top...so that was me cycling at 4,700 m above sea level. No AMS. Yay!

Breathtaking scenery. I focus on the scenery so that I'd "forget" how out-of-breath I am. The air is so fresh and it was so peaceful & quiet (till some vehicle comes along).

Purple blooms... no idea what they are.

Spot the cyclist! It doesn't look like a difficult climb, but when you're constantly cycling on an gentle incline, you'd still feel it.

Ride towards the vehicles. Sometimes, they're like optical illusions. They seem so near yet it takes forever to reach them. (At low gears, you'd be peddling a lot at relative ease, but you don't get the distance.)

Mini break.

Our reward when we reached the top. A breathtaking view of Yamdroktse Lake with its turquoise water, which probably isn't apparent due to my limited photography skills. You have to be there to appreciate the serenity and grandeur of the sight. (Being slightly out of breath helps too. It makes you feel as though you've worked hard to get there.)

We spotted a settlement in the mountain. I wonder how anyone could live in such harsh conditions. And what did they do for a living...really?!

Sheep is probably part of the answer.

A Tibetan Mastiff...these are expensive breeds. The choice pet for the rich. Managed to sneak a photo...there was a guy there who "collected fees" from those who wanted a photo.

That's part of the group. Leftmost is our amicable guide. Next to him is J, our fauna and flora expert (and all things nature actually). And the man in yellow is our fearless leader, A.

Why did the sheep cross the road? No idea. We stopped for them on the descent.

Kharola high pass

We visited Samding Monastery that morning, which was a short drive away. It was the 1st stop of the day before we set off. The monastery was the first to be headed by a female abbot.

We decided not to cycle today because we wanted to get to Gyantse in time to see celebrations at Baiju Temple (see later post). Note: Any excuse works. I was aching from the previous day's ride, mainly 'cos we faced headwinds even though the road was flat. And I was riding faster than I ought to have. And it was cold.

A rather grey morning.

Some locals we encountered along the way.

An inscription though the perspective's a bit off.

Snow peaks! I love to see them (and we'd see many more of them later). Did I say it was cold?

Kharola high pass. Yes, it was snowing. On our way up, we saw 2 Chinese cyclists cycling. Uphill. In the cold. They're the *real cyclists*, i.e. those who carry their stuff in saddle bags on their bikes and probably camp overnight wherever they happen to be. We had sheltered accommodation every night, even though some were really really basic (i.e. completely out of YSW's comfort zone). Ok fine, we're a pampered lot.

After the high pass, it was sunny skies! Interesting color contrast.