Legendary Tibet: Adventurers Guide

The road our bus took into Lhasa is shorter now due to a very long tunnel drilled over the past few years through one mountain range. We dodged a few tuk-tuks (the universal, rural two-stroke engine utility vehicle) on the way through the tunnel. A shallow, boulder-strewn river bed followed parallel to the road, and the occasional concrete block homes on our right featured wind-torn yellow, blue, white, red, and green flags on clotheslines, bearing Tibetan Buddhist prayers. In the distance we saw pillars for a bridge that would soon carry the first trains into Tibet from China.

The most modern buildings appeared to be devoted to civic affairs, with official seals on the gates. We then noticed the soldiers, lots of them. "Police," our guide reassured us, "not military." A little later before entering Lhasa he gave a few details of the city. "No speeches, please," he said. We knew what he meant. He'd been born in Lhasa but left when he was a child to attend school with the Dalai Lama in India. He had crossed the Himalayas into Kathmandu with some other children and some Buddhist monks.

Our hotel was in the western part of the city of Lhasa. Though we'd been ready for cold weather and packed sweaters all the way from Hong Kong in suitcases limited to 44 pounds, we'd never need them. It was shirtsleeve weather; we even slept with our window open in the hotel, a nice place that catered to the western tourist crowd. Our room was large and comfortable by American standards. There was the ubiquitous hot water pot for boiling water for drinking or brushing teeth. Our room did not feature piped-in oxygen, unlike some others. We did not appear to be affected by the altitude, even when we climbed the hill to the Potala Palace the next day. Occasionally, we'd see people lying down clutching oxygen masks. One day we went even higher, near a large lake at about 16,000 feet. That trip was highlighted by having our pictures taken near or with some yaks.

The restaurants where we ate were large and featured family-style dining, very appropriate for tour groups. Typical Chinese dishes were accompanied by local specialties - Tibetan yak, boiled yak tendon (an acquired taste) and steamed vegetables. Beer and tea were served at lunches and dinners. Yak butter tea is a national drink that we found very salty and best left politely on the table. The hotel where we stayed has western-style breakfasts which, after a couple of weeks in-country, we appreciated more and more.

While it is hard to generalize about an entire country based on a few days, Lhasa seems to represent a good cross-section. The appearance of the indigenous Tibetan people is similar to that of other peoples from high altitude countries, such as Peru and Ecuador. Homespun fabrics of striking colors worn over black predominated. Women with long black hair worn straight or in elaborate braids led or carried their children down the street and through markets. In contrast to these native Tibetans were the "police," who became more apparent near the heart of the city. They were not Tibetan, but Chinese from eastern provinces. The Tibetan Special Administrative Region is similar to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, in that both regions have been brought into the fold of the Chinese government - Tibet through invasion, Hong Kong through a treaty.