10 Days at the Top of the World

...well, not quite, but we were pretty darned high!

Trying to become King of the World apparently has its pitfalls. Namely, upon reaching Tibet, we had 4-ish days of altitude sickness waiting for us. Nonetheless, the novelty of the whole experience shone through!

In July of this year, China completed the world's highest railroad line, which crossed into the Tibetan plateau, spanning over 500km of permafrost. Click here for more details on the Qingzang Railway. With seats being sold out since the railway opened, 9 of us decided to go out in search of tickets for the week before our October week-long holiday. Finally achieving success a mere 4 days before departure, we set out for Chengdu to begin our 48 hour train trek to Tibet.

The train ride was not as gruesome or difficult as we had expected. Laying in the back of every guy's mind was the thought being forced to use a squatter toilet...in the dark...on a moving train...for two whole days... Lucky for them, the One and Only toilet on the train was in our train car. With their worst fears allayed, the rest of the trip was actually a lot of fun. We played a lot of cards, ate a LOT of snacks, and caused a lot of racket.

Once we hit the Tibetan plateau and left civilization behind us, the scenery change was dramatic. Broad expanses of nothing but flat...most of it permafrost. The horizon was periodically dotted with snow-capped mountains, and animals roaming freely. Upon entering into Lhasa, we were greeted with a majestic view of Potala Palace, perched atop a hill, overlooking all of Lhasa. It was not until we drove up to the doorstep, however, that we realized that the palace is actually surrounded by the city...not at all like I had imagined.

The Tibetan people struck me as highly religious people who were happy living simple and traditional lifestyles. From what I could tell, it seemed their lives revolved around their religion, which believed that their life's purpose was to earn a good afterlife and reincarnation through prayer and good deeds. While driving through the massive province, we would on occasion, pass people praying alongside the highway. These people had sold their life's possessions in order to make their once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to Lhasa. Throughout the length of this trip on foot, for every three steps they took, they would kneel and lie flat on the ground, praying in the direction of Lhasa.

Here's a key difference in culture: in areas which primarily farmed, piles of yak dung represented wealth. The more dung you have on or around your house, the more yak you have, and hence the more wealthy you are.