Archive for December, 2007

Ahem, firstly, sorry Mum.

Now, on with the blog….

As Dean mentioned earlier, we had had quite a raucous night in Lhasa, what with finding out we were going to Everest, myself and the Aussie Donnacha challenging each-other to a Slapses ashes, Old Macdonald madness and drunken debauchery all around. It couldn’t get much sillier, or so we thought.

I mentioned my jokey desire to get T and M tattoed on each of my bum cheeks so it says “Tom”, at which point Dean said, why don’t you do it, and I said not a chance. Then Donnacha said (I think I should never ever get drunk in his presence again for fear of what we may do) why not get another tattoo. So I said “I will if you do”. Alas he agreed.

We wandered the streets of Lhasa and found a tattoo artist but it was shut, this was after Tori (Donnacha’s better half) had stormed off at his stupidity. We agreed to meet the next day at half past 2 for our tattoos.

By the next day Dean had decided that he wanted one too, and not only was Donnacha there to meet me but so was Tori. Not only had he brought her round to the idea but he had managed somehow to make her want one. So the four of us crazies along with Ruth and Jack went to the tattooist.

I decided to get “Om Ma Ne Padme Hum” tattooed on my arm in Tibetan. It’s an important mantra and it is written everywhere in Tibet (including carved in mountains), plus I’d seen it on a poster and it looked cool.

Here is my lovely left arm as it used to look:

Before you read on bear in mind that the needles used were brand new, the tattooist wore gloves and everything.

This was mid tattoo, as you can see it really didn’t hurt that much. In fact I kind of enjoyed it. Hope that doesn’t worry anybody, well not too much anyway. Oh and Dean went decidedly art house with the photography, and that’s how we like it.

This was the tattooist, enjoying injecting me with ink.

And lo, my new arm:

The tattooist said I had the best skin he had ever worked with as it hardly bled at all, so kudos for that particular Lerner organ.

I should also point out that throughout this escapade There was an audience there of more than just Dean.

We then went to mount Everest, which is another story. Upon our arrival back in Lhasa Tori decided she would go next. She had decided to get Lhasa Tibet 2007 on her ankle in Tibetan. I think she was comforted by watching me get my tattoo and seeing that it didn’t really hurt. This is her hairy ankle.

And here is her tattoo.

Next up was Donnacha, he went for a much longer one in Tibetan. I know it looks like “War and Peace”, but in fact all it says is “Everest Base Camp, Lhasa, Tibet, Two Thousand and Seven”. He had it done in two parts over two days.

Here he is psychologically preparing himself:

First part:

Final tattoo:

(I should also point out that at this point I showed my tattoo to the tattooist and his eyes widened even more. He couldn’t believe that after 5 days it had almost healed and was just a bit scabby. Like I said, superskin. Cut me and watch me heal.)

And finally we came to Dean.

Dean, veteran of many a tattoo, decided to go rock and roll and get a Tibetan pattern all around the edge of his foot. If you weren’t aware how hardcore the Danger boy Roskell was before then you are now. I can only dream of being as rugged as that, but at I have good skin so I don’t need to be.

The tattooists wife did the trace;

And here it is traced on his foot.

Now I can only begin to imagine how painful this was for Dean, it was harrowing enough for me to watch, but for a little insight, here is one of the 367 photos that I took of him in while he was in agony. I took these purely for scientific purposes, honestly.

And here is his foot after a quarter of the tattoo (OUCH):

And here is the final product, in the end he couldn’t get the full design finished due to time constraints, but I’m sure you agree, the work in progress looks really good.

The two couple in the tattoo parlour were really cool, and unlike most of the Chinese couples we have met were openly affectionate with each-other. He was a proper crazy artist and had even tattooed Spiderman on his own arm using a mirror, and her chosen name in English was Orange.

Afterwards we all went to the pub and got roaring drunk. They bought all the drinks. And what the heck, if you are going to get a tattoo, why not get it in Tibet. We were very pleased with ourselves as you can see from the photo below.

Whilst in Tibet we had come to the conclusion that due to time constraints Everest was out of the question therefore had agreed with Donnacha and Tori to join them in their buggy trip to Nam Tso Lake. The next time that we saw them they informed us that the pass to Nam Tso was blocked and that was a no-go, they had however arranged an alternative trip for 4 days and needed 2 extra peeps to join them. I volunteered us both and so we were signed up for a trip to the base camp of MOUNT EVEREST!

This was very exciting because we didn’t think we’d be able to do it.

Day 1: To Shigatse via Lakes, Monasteries and Anti-Britishness
We set of in a huge 4 by 4 jeep with a Tibetan driver called Peydre and a Tibetan tour-guide called Kessen. It was snowing on the morning we left Lhasa, the first time we had seen it in Tibet. This made the vistas all that more atmospheric. The first stop was at one of the highest freshwater lakes in the world Yamdrok-tso and the view was fantastic.

Incredibly at 5000 metres (over 16000 feet) above sea level in the belting snow there was still a gang of hawkers waiting for us. It turned out to be their day as Tori couldn’t resist the opportunity to mount a Yak.

We then arrived at the town of Gyantse home on another famous Monastery (yes you have gathered by now that there are an awful lot of Monasteries all over Tibet) We went around this monastery all the way to the top.

This time we gleaned a lot more understanding due to having Kessen there with us, as he explained the meanings of all the Statues, told us of the Panchen Lama, and explained the concept of reincarnation, gods and so on.

Kessen:

Also in Gyantse I had heard, and I really don’t know where, that there was an “Anti British” museum. SO I asked Kessen about it and lo and behold he took us there. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to pose for a photo.

The museum is about the time 100 years ago when Britain took over Tibet from it’s bases in the Indian subcontinent and commemorates Tibetan resistance. It is given a heavily Chinese slant and mentions nothing of the later arming and training and trading that went on between Britain and Tibet until we eventually abandoned them when China invaded after the 2nd world war.

The next stop was Shigatse on the banks of the Brahmaputra river. We booked into a hotel for the evening and went out to visit YAM (Yet another Monastery). This time we didn’t pay to go in and just wandered around the markets and pilgrimage area around it. After wandering for 5 minutes we actually bumped into none other than Holger, Stevia, Liz and Terry who were there on their own trip to Nepal. We arranged to meet up for food later. There was also a Potala Palace in Shigatse, this one was home to the Panchen Lama and was closed for renovations.

Food quickly descended into drinks and then a nightclub, the only one in Shigatse, it was a Tuesday night, and i think it may have been a gay night due to there being only men there and all were dancing by a pole. A very very funny night was had all around and for the 2nd time we said bye to our newest traveling mates.

Day 2: To Base Camp

The 2nd day we got up and had to jump start the Jeep due to the cold. We set off for Lhatse following the river. Kessen was much quieter today and we found out that he had a really bad stomach so he decided to stay in Lhatse with friends. We ate lunch there and set off for the Base camp with only Peydre, although as it turned out his English was more than adequate for the trip. The weather on this day was really clear although very cold due to the altitude.

We had been driving for several hours from Lhatse and had been through the checkpoint en route to base camp when after an hour of windy uphill driving we stopped. There in front of us was Chomo Luma, Everest, at 8848m the highest mountain in the world.

We took lots of photographs and then drove on to base camp which was conveniently next to a YAM. Luckily for us as we stayed in rooms there. There was another tour group also staying at the monastery, and in it was Victor Hugo, the Spanish guy I had met in the Potala Palace a week before. We stayed up playing poker and drinking beer (and in Donnacha’s case smoking, give it up Mr 5000+ metres).

We agreed with Peydre to get up early the next day so we could watch the sun rise over Everest.

That night was the worst night sleep any of us had, (for any of us read all of us except Dean), due to the shortness of breath, serious cold, racing hearts, and Deans Incessant arrhythmic snoring.

Day 3: Everest and an insight into the Chinese health system

On the third day the Jeep started straight away, due in part to my having convinced Peydre to put a blanket over the engine, and we drove through the pitch blackness to as close as we were allowed without paying the climbing permit of 50 000 US Dollars. It was still night when we arrived. Believe it or not Dean and I saw a shooting star go straight over the silhouette of Everest, it was breathtaking and a bit freaky. We found a hillock and watched the sun rise slowly.

After getting all the photos we wanted Peydre had a flat tyre to sort out,

and we all had a play on the ice. At sea level I would have kicked his ass.

Then we went back to Lhatse vie a small village for breakfast where myself and Donnacha had our second slapses game. At Lhatse we reunited with Kessen who wasn’t looking any better and drove to Shigatse. On the drive to Shigatse Dean and Donnacha were betting on how many cars would drive past in 5 minutes, who could hold their hand out for longest, how long it would take to get to Shigatse and so on. I think Dean ended up 10 Yuan better off (about 65p).As we were arriving Kessen said he thought it might be his appendix so we went straight to the hospital there so he could be treated. Wat happened next could only be described as farce if it wasn’t so real. The hospital in Shigatse (a Chinese military hospital) confirmed that he had appendicitis but wouldn’t treat Kessen as he was from Lhasa (a 5 hour drive away), and wouldn’t provide any transport for him to get there. He was going to get a public bus when we insisted that we go straight to Lhasa in the Jeep. After all I have an international driving license if Peydre got tired and both Donnacha and Tori can drive. On the drive from Shigatse to Lhasa there are checkpoints that you have to arrive at at a specific time depending on when you left the last one, you cannot get there before even if you are carrying somebody with a 48 hour grumbling appendix. Fortunately we arrived in Lhasa and got Kessen to the hospital before his appendix burst.It was a fun trip before that, and after asking Tashi, who arranged the tour, how Kessen was and being told he was OK we felt much better.

I’m writing this just after leaving Lhasa. Sitting on a two day train journey to Chengdu, the lights are out (it’s gone midnight) and the only thing to keep me company is the chugging of the train on its tracks and the sweet sounds of the women in my section spitting phlegm on to the floor from their beds. I just wanted to put some words down on leaving Lhasa, yes, I know I haven’t even told you about it yet, but they’re here fresh in my mind.

It’s strange, we’ve been on the road (and tracks) for just over three months now, and so far the journey has been amazing, we’ve met so many great folk, seen so many amazing things; but driving out of Lhasa in the back of a taxi brought in a strange atmosphere. That kinda feeling you get after a well deserved two week break in the costa-del-sun comes to an end and you know you have to be back in the office come Monday morning, desk piled high with work other people could have done but instead they saved it for you. The thing is, we don’t have to be in any office, we don’t have to work, and, fingers crossed we’ve got so many great things to see and do ahead of us. Lhasa, Tibet and it’s people left their mark on us, in more ways that one.

Lhasa and Tibet as a whole is like no other place we’ve visited so far, for a start it’s around 3800+ metres high, which puts even the highest of sky scrapers to shame, it’s seriously high. Altitude sickness (AS) can be a big problem, with around 40% less oxygen being taken in, it’s very easy to feel out of breath, or worse, with headaches and sickness bringing folk down. That shouldn’t dissuade anyone from thinking of visiting the place though, it’s amazing right from the get go (or maybe after the three days of AS recuperation). The people are amazing, so welcoming, so interested and indeed so interesting.

We arrived after our two day train journey feeling in need of a nice hot shower, luckily we managed to find a room in a hotel that provided us with just that.

We were put in a room along with two other guys, an Aussie called Holger (It’s a German name) and a fellow Brit called Terry. As well as the two guys, in the first few days we also met up with a bunch of other folk (Mostly Aussies, they get everywhere). So it was Lhasa for the first few days, as everyone fought with their varying levels of altitude sickness (I’m making a personal apology here for not joining you all with the sickness, I’m clearly just a freak of nature and should be cut up and experimented on to find out why I lack the basic human ability to get sick).

Note from Tom: Not entirely true, Dean had symptoms he just felt drunk all the time, lucky b*^$er

Lhasa is a fairly developed city, one we feared would be very Chinese and not in anyway traditional Tibetan. We were wrong in our assumptions, the place is fantastic, it has a very special vibe to it, the manic hustle and bustle, the amazingly varied outfits, the chanting monks, the sounds of the market sellers and the constant hollering of “Hello” and “Welcome to Lhasa”.

During our first few days, we did the walk around the Jokhang Temple along with the hundreds of other pilgrims, enjoying the greetings, the chants, the constant staring. Some of the pilgrims have a very strange (to us I suppose) way of performing their worship; they throw themselves forward on to the ground, using these clog like gloves to help propel themselves forward. It’s quite a sight to watch.

The food here is also fantastic, the two main local dishes are Bobi and Momo the first is a flour wrap of sorts that you fill with meat and veg, very nice indeed. The second is a steamed or fried dumpling that can contain pretty much anything from meat to dessert-like apples.

I have to confess though, with the great deal of rushing around, we didn’t always get to eat in the local style restaurants, and on a good number of occasions we ended up eating in Dicos, a Chinese fast food place, which to be fair does excellent fried chicken, as well as great happy meal toys.

We went to visit the magnificent Potala Palace, which in its hay day used to hold around many thousands of monks, now just a skeleton few hundred. Room after room of Buddhist deities and prayer points, with the constant sound of chanting echoing throughout the building.

Out the back of the palace is a large garden area, complete with frozen pond and homo-forest.

The first trip out of Lhasa was to a Monastery, which to see it at it’s best, required to get a bus at 6:30am, so that we’d arrive with the bulk of the early pilgrims to do the morning sun rise walk. It wasn’t easy getting up, darkness sticks around till about 8ish, and only Terry and I managed to crawl from our pit, Tom still feeling the effects of AS kept him in bed.Tom: Lies and falsehoods, it was just that myself and Holger could not be bothered to get up at half five for a 3 hour drive to another monastery when there is another perfectly good one an hours walk from town. If you don’t believe me, here’s a photo of the Sera monastery:

Tom: We (Holger and I) also ended up in a photoshoot with a couple of models. ROCK ON!

So, Terry, Stevie, Lizzy (Two other Aussies, told you, everywhere) and myself crawled sleepily on to the bus hoping to grab a few hours extra sleep on the journey there. Sadly comfort wasn’t on our side as the bus was already way too full, requiring us to sit on upturned buckets and little wooden stools in the central isle of the bus, amidst the packed crowed of coughing, sneezing Tibetan pilgrims.

It was cold when we arrived, very cold, even with the extra layers of clothes on; Tibet without sun is a chilly place indeed. But we didn’t want to miss out on the pilgrim tour round the outside of the monastery so we pressed on.

[Click on Image for Full Size]

Nights out in Lhasa started as a hunt to find local night life, we soon gave up on that idea deciding that there wasn’t any so we’d have to create our own. Teamed with our army of Aussie’s (The only two not yet mentioned will soon become known to you all) as well as two other Brit’s we found, we’d gathered enough people to produce some fun nights out. The craziest of which happened as follows.

We all went out for something to eat, a regular event filled with conversation and drinking; although I’d personally hung the drink up to dry for a while after the events in Korea, it didn’t last too long though, it’s hard to buy anything but beer and Bacardi Breezers in Tibet. Being a combination of Brits and Aussies, things turned to the ashes, with Tom and Donnacha challenging each other to a three day tour of slaps [Follow Link to read the full report].

Second to the Ashes was a fantastic surprise; talking about Tibet, one huge thing normally comes to peoples minds, one that we’d written off due to the amount of time left on our visa… Everest. I’d given up on the idea, it was too far from Lhasa, we had to get to Chengdu, it was something else for the future. Wrong, so happily wrong. Donnacha and Tori, the final pair of Aussie’s had booked a trip to go to Everest and back lasting only a few days, which meant that we’d be shortening our time in Chengdu, but overall it would still be possible to make. We jumped at the chance to go.

The night of surprises and shock decisions didn’t end there either, for some crazy reason, there was an impromptu version of ‘Old MacDonald’, which for the most I spend my time doubled up laughing, especially from the notable impression of a pterodactyl.

Then came the big one, the Ashes clearly weren’t enough of a showing of manhood, pain resistance became the key when the subject of tattoos came up. Tom came up with the idea of having T M tattooed on his bum (It’s not the appreciation of the abbreviation of Trademark here, you have to think of the other letter that comes for free), but he decided against the idea, I think the Altitude Sickness might have finally been wearing off by this point, but maybe not quite enough…