by Vic

Created on: April 21, 2008   Last Updated: April 17, 2009

At the end of February I headed down to Tibet via the new train, a moral decision I wrestled with for awhile. I eventually decided that per the Dalai Lama's word, it isnt' the train that is bad, it's what it will be used for that is negative. Luckily neither I, nor any of the 8 people in the other 5 beds (eyes rolling) in our cabin got sick. Others were very ill. The scenery wasn't nearly as spectacular as I had expected but was well worth the money paid for the views the second night when we awoke to stars as bright as daylight and views of the milky way.

Lhasa, I believe the highest capital in the world (11,000 something feet) was an amazing city. Wandering through some of the smaller monastaries I was struck by how amazingly friendly all the Tibetans were. After months of the Chinese, who for better or for worse are very trying, the monks were friendly, open and excited to talk. I wondered, and still wonder, how a people so incredibly messed about in the past decades could still be so peaceful. Obviously, the Tibetan Buddhist philosophy has managed something our Christian-based ideologies seem to lack. I've been asked by friends, in light of recent activities in Tibet if I could feel there was something wrong. To be honest, I don't know how to answer the questions. I can honestly say that while I previously sympathised with the Tibetan cause, my traveling through Tibet made me really see that China does not belong there.

My Chinese students never seemed to lose an opportunity to tell me about China's 5,000 year history. Tibet may not have rivaled Ancient China in power, but here was real culture and real people, in many ways unchanged by modernization. The smell of incense and yak butter burning made my eyes red and my throat burn, but after awhile you begin to crave it. The smell still now puts me at ease. I joined up with a group to rent a land rover and head out across Tibet. I had initially desired to stay in Lhasa longer, but I guess someone was guiding me along and telling me to get going (we crossed the border the day after rioting began in Lhasa). This also turned out to be a fortuitous decision because the group was a great group to travel with.

On our 7 day, 6 night journey from Lhasa to the Nepali border we took in some amazing lakes, some of the best Tibetan monastaries and of course, Everest Base Camp #1. Everest is massive. At the time, we managed to convince the Chinese military to allow us a very rare experience-walking the 10 km from the nearest

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