Tsetang
Wednesday, August 19, 1998 |
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We are up very early this morning, leaving the hotel at 5:30AM, in the dark, for our flight from Chengdu to Tibet. It is very cloudy for the duration of the two hour flight, so we don't see anything until the dramatic approach to the Gonggar airport, over the over-full and muddy Yarlung Tsangpo river. As always, the delightful lightness and clarity of the Tibetan air as we walk from the airplane to the terminal, accompanied by a bit of light-headedness from suddenly being at 12,000 feet above sea level. We are met by Ngudrup-la, our agency's representative, whom I had met on a previous trip to Lhasa, and Tsewang Choede (TseChoe), who would be our guide for our time in Tibet. She had gone to school in India - the Tibetan Childrens' Village (TCV) in Dharamsala. After we have collected all of our baggage, we load up the bus, our second home in Tibet, and start the two hour drive East to Tsetang. Everything is very green, and the river has flooded many fields. At a couple of stops enroute, we see that they are already harversting the grain (barley), and we naturally attract curious local people. |
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Tsetang itself does not seem very interesting as we arrive, small and a Chinese/Tibetan version of a strip mall, but the hotel is quite nice. We have a late (Chinese food) lunch, and head off about 3PM to see the Yumbu Lagang, the site of the oldest building in Tibet. For this excursion we are short a couple of our group - stomach and exhaustion/altitude problems already. |
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The Yumbu Lagang is beautifully sited, up on a ridge above a small town. That means a bit of a walk up to it, which slows everyone down quite a bit; we are panting, and our pulses are racing, with even with slight exertion, but it is a beautiful place, and exciting to be here. We visit the chapel, and are accompanied by helpful local children - the girls dressed fashionably. On the way back to our hotel, we visit the Traduk Temple, a very old Monastery. It was a long and tiring day, and many people in the group are feeling the effects of the altitude - Tony Varney, our pharmacist from Gravenhurst, is busy dispensing and advising tonight!
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