Terracotta Warriors of Xi'an

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Though not on the top of my list, Xi'an, the ancient capital of China, is a sort of must-see destination in the country, so I decided to make a quick two day stop on the way back from Lhasa before heading South. The star attraction are the Terracotta Warriors, a massive collection of clay, life-sized warriors, horses and chariots numbering around 7 or 8 thousand (thus far), unearthed by a farmer in 1974 while digging a hole for a well. These warriors were constructed over 2,000 years ago by the emperor of China to protect himself in the after world. It is also said that all of the workers on this massive project were killed to protect the location and preserve the secrecy of the whole idea, explaining why it had not been discovered until fairly recently. Even now, excavation and new finds continue, as the Chinese also restore some of the fallen soldiers to their past glory. Part of the incredible sight is the fact that each soldier has a different face, allegedly designed after the real soldiers, though they did take a few liberties with the size of these guys, each of them a little over two meters, which is not very likely two thousand years ago. Going on a tour with my hostel, we piled into a minibus and temporarily escaped the heavy rains of the day. We first visited a small factory specializing in making replicas (life-sized and otherwise) of the warriors, partly to show us the process that would have been used to make these statues two thousand years ago but moreso to get us to buy some souvenirs, resulting in commission for our guide.

Soon, we did make it to the actual site, requiring a 10-15 minute walk through the pouring rain from the parking lot to the massive buildings housing the soldiers. Housed in three separate buildings/warehouses, we walked among the soldiers for a few hours, getting overhead views of the lines of ancient guardians below. In the most impressive of the buildings, lines of thousands of soldiers, horses and generals stand at attention, much like they would have been originally placed around the tomb. It was a fascinating sight, though the masses of tourist groups pushing past were a stark contrast to the wild feeling of coming from Tibet. After splitting up with our group for a while, I eventually met back up with our guide, who began to confide in me about the troubles of her job, as she was getting the short end of the deal on the commissions, as the driver who had more experience than her, decided that he deserved 70% of everything, knowing that the company would trust him more than her. It was all a little odd, but soon the trip was over, having experienced one of the greatest archaeological finds of the last century.

(You can tell the rank of the soldiers and officers by their outfit and their hairstyle. You are not actually allowed to get this close to the real warriors...this is from the replica factory nearby.)

(Smiling replicas, ready to rake in the tourist money. These are life-sized statues, so I decided that I didn't want to carry one around with me for the next month.)

(All different sizes, for any bag or any budget.)

(The entrance to the warriors. In one part of the building, we saw a short 360 degree film about the creation of the warriors and the history of the time. Just outside, we were lucky enough to see the actual farmer who discovered the warriors, sitting at a small table, autographing books and holding up a large fan to prevent people from taking pictures of him. Other than the people surrounding him, he, of course, just looked like a typical, little old Chinese man with round glasses and a bit of extremely short grey hair.)

(The first warehouse and something like 2,000 or 3,000 warriors. This was by far the most impressive, as the other two open buildings are in much earlier states of restoration, mostly just showing off some ruble with pieces of soldier mixed in.)

(Don't mess with these guys.)

(The guy in the front lost his head, but it doesn't really matter. They're not real, anyway.)

(Another line of soldiers, ready to protect the emperor in this life or the next.)

(As with other parts of China, there are many, many people almost everywhere you go. Oh wait, these are just the warriors again.)

(I must say, they do a much better job of lining up than real Chinese people who are fond of pushing and cutting to the front, no matter what the situation.)

(An elevated platform encircles this entire building, so you can never get next to the warriors. Unless, of course, you are Bill Clinton or another foreign leader, whose pictures are displayed along the side, showing them mingling amongst their new inanimate friends.)

(More of the thousands of warriors. Apparently I tried to take a picture of every single one of them.)

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Last Day in Lhasa,Tibet

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Our last day in Lhasa was rather uneventful, with Rami, Betty and David all leaving on the early morning train, leaving me with most of the day to wander around the city before taking a 4 pm flight to Xi'an. As usual, I found myself pulled back to Potala Palace, the majestic centerpiece of the city. I came back for both night and morning views, always impressed by the place. Other than that, I shopped for a few trinkets, bargained for a cheap t-shirt and returned to a nice Nepalese/Tibetan restaurant for both dinner and lunch. Wanting to try more local food before I left, I ended up with a rather bland set of dumpling-looking pieces of wheat dough and brown sugar called tsampas and a fried, yak filled piece of crispy bread called shabaleb. As usual, I couldn't resist a cheap piece of naan, so the starchy combo was a good, cheap local meal for my last night. In the afternoon, Wu and Dawa came back to take me on the one hour drive to the airport, passing by my final views of Tibet, replete with the wide river and ubiquitous mountains that had followed us for the entire eight days. The weather also seemed to be changing, with big dust storms sending dirt, debris and fallen leaves all over the sky, possibly bringing with it some colder weather, just in time for us to get away.

(The illuminated palace at night, just a short walk away from the small light and water show at the main square.)

(And a similar view from the next morning while the water was still calm.)

(Don't worry, this is the last picture you'll see of Potala Palace. Not having much to do, I joined the pilgrims in their circuit around the palace, ringed by prayer wheels, nice views and the occasional beggar.)

(The last shot of our group as they left for their train ride. Again, L to R: 77 yr old David from Israel, Wu - our friendly guide, Betty and Rami the Israeli couple, though Betty is originally from Costa Rica, Dawa - the driver, and me. We also met some extremely nice (but overworked) workers in this hotel who took this picture for us and served us at breakfast and dinner every day.)

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The Friendship Highway back to Lhasa

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On the way back to Lhasa from Shigatse, we opted for the more direct route, skipping a few of the mountain passes and instead following the Friendship Highway, the main link between Tibet and Nepal. This scenic road follows the rocky canyon/valley created by the Brahmaputra River before it eventually flows down into India. Though it didn't feature the extreme altitudes as the other road, this too was a beautiful drive through the untouched terrain of Tibet, showing off the dry, rocky areas along the river side, split by the greenish brown river always at our side. David was a bit sick from the cold of the mountains two nights before, but the rest of us were feeling better, enjoying the views along the way. Due to a tragic bus accident last year in which a speeding driver careened off the cliff, into the freezing river below, killing 16 tourists and injuring the other 16, strict speed limits are set on the majority of the road. Though, in Tibetan fashion, these limits are not enforced by patrol cars. There are simply checkpoints every hour or so where you are given a pass card with the time you left the last checkpoint and the time you can arrive at the next checkpoint. There is about a $15 fine for every minute that you arrive early, attempting to keep the speed on this fairly easy road at a ridiculous 50 km/h (36 mph). Of course, no one really drives this slowly, instead opting for lunch and smoke breaks, or just picture stops, so it's fairly common to see groups stopped along the side of the road for a few minutes before speeding ahead to the next stop. At one point, we stopped alongside a few local women doing some farming, separating strands of canola, so we took a few pictures and eventually decided to join in and try our hand at the job. The ladies loved it, though I don't think we were too effective.

(One of our stops along the river. At other points, the road was much higher above the river, particularly at the point of the bus crash of last year.)

(Dawa, our driver, couldn't resist the urge to play around on this stationary tractor. Despite speaking very little English, we had a good time with him.)

(More views of the river below at one of our stops, making sure that we didn't arrive too early at the checkpoint.)

(This was actually taken from the window of the moving car, but it turned out pretty well. As with other parts of Tibet, everywhere you look is marvellous scenery.)

(We made a stop here to see the locals producing incense down by the river, with this tiny outpost being the major supplier of incense to the province.)

(Our lady friend taking a quick break from her work to analyze our cameras.)

(While the others hung around the car, I made my way down to the river for this view.)

(Another great photo courtesy of Rami Amir of the farmer we met. I don't like to use other peoples' photos, but he had some great pictures of the typical people we saw throughout the trip.)

(All in a day's work for me. Dawa and Wu look on as I do my one minute of manual labor for the day.)

(Back outside of Lhasa, we rejoined the road following the Lhasa River back into town. Yellow trees and numerous police officers lined the road, so we took it easy, in no rush to get away from these landscapes.)

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Tashilunpo Monastery in Shigatse

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On the way back from our incredible day at Everest Base Camp, we again spent the night in Shigatse, happy to find that the hot water had returned to the hotel, affording us a nice warm shower after some prolonged cold due to the high elevations. Though I really wanted to go back to the same restaurant for my yak noodle dish, we found another place nearby where I found a Nepalese curry with rice and vegetables, also a good option. The next morning we toured Tashilunpo Monastery, sitting on the base of a hill/mountain on the edge of town. Built in 1447, this was the largest monastery in Tibet, housing about 900 monks. It is also the center and burial grounds for the Panchen Lama, the Dalai Lama's less popular counterpart for Western Tibetan Buddhism. Inside this sprawling complex of houses, monks in their traditional red and yellow robes, and temples, we found a 26 meter (80 feet) Buddha, some tombs with up to 300 kilograms of gold and lots and lots of representations of the past, present and future Buddhas. This was probably the most impressive of all the monasteries, just for the sheer size of everything and variety of rooms and statues. David was glad to find out that it was also our last visit to a monastery.

(Two monks survey the scene outside one of the temples.)

(This is the traditional centerpiece on top of many monasteries. For one fleeting moment, I knew what all that represented.)

(I believe this is the tomb of the most recently passed Panchen Lama, #9, I think. Just below this area is an open courtyard where monks can often be seen debating theology and other beliefs.)

(Some locals sitting on the steps, getting ready to go drop bits of yak butter into the candles at the front of the temples, place their head on the sacred monuments and other Buddhist rites. You can tell what part of Tibet certain people are from based on their clothing. I'm not sure what area it is, but if you look closely, you can see the woman in the back left has very long hair, braided together with strands of orange hair, something that I saw a lot of in this area.)

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Tibetan Villages (and Kids)

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On the road back towards Shigatse, we made a quick stop to get some pictures of the typical villages. Stopping in a small town, our group of four tourists became an attraction and soon a mob of local children flocked towards us, wanting to look at our cameras and pose for pictures. Of course we obliged, happy to share some time with the local people. One boy even arranged a pecking order for the pictures, of course making himself first and refusing to get in the group shot, wanting one of just himself.

(The typical white buildings, with prayer flags on top. The black roof is helpful for attracting heat and often used to dry their crops as well. In this area of Tibet, many of the houses have three stripes painted near the middle, black, white and red, symbolizing something like power, wisdom and justice.)

(Some windows and yak dung. Like cow pies, these things are useful for burning for heat and other dung-related uses. I'll let you come up with others.)

(In Tibet, they call this a motorcycle.)

(The group of kids and one older woman spotted us across the street and quickly came over.)

(Here's the group shot, minus Bossy who didn't want to appear with these guys.)

(Here's Hatty and No Sleevy. Just a cow in the background, too. The yaks in the village were apparently too shy.)

(I guess it's a nervous habit, but she wasn't doing this until the moment right before I took the picture. Hey, everyone does it.)

(At this mountain pass, we met a 60-something year old German bicyclist on his own, travelling from the NE border of China and Russia through Tibet and on to India, I believe. He was just sleeping with locals (no, not "sleeping with local") or in a tent along the side of the road, and we all thought he was crazy when we passed him going the other way two days earlier. We still maintain that belief.)

(The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.)

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A Clear Morning in the Himalayas

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Our luck with the weather continued as the clearing night turned into a cloudless morning, providing unobscured views of the mountain all morning long. We had a long drive ahead of us, and it was still bitterly cold, but I wasn't feeling any of the effects of the altitude, and I was ecstatic with our luck, wanting to stay in this place for as long as possible. Everything had worked out - the weather, the clouds, the hotel, no altitude sickness, etc, and I couldn't have been happier. Betty, on the other hand, was not feeling well at all, and David didn't seem to be doing great, so we decided to get back on the road around 10 am. I had woken up early, around 6:45 to make sure to catch the sunrise. Of course, watching the sun first hit Mt. Everest is quite a sight, though the spectrum of colors from the night before couldn't be matched. I also headed over to Rongphu Monastery across the dirt road from us, the highest monastery in the world, though there's not really much going on over there. Driving back to Tingri, we saw how magical the approach road could really be. Along every pass, every bend, every small hill, we were treated to views of Mt. Everest and the white string of Himalayan peaks. Sitting just above rows of brown mountains and the winding road below, we stopped for innumerable photo shoots, just as amazed every time we were treated to the spectacular views. This was the shot shown on the Everest brochures and entrance pass, and we were lucky enough to see it with our own eyes. Wu, our guide, mentioned that this was the clearest that he had seen the place all year, in 7 visits, so we were quite lucky. Stretching out before us at the stops, the white peaks piercing the deep blue sky contains something like 3 of the 5 highest mountains in the world, with 5 of them over 8,000 meters (24,000 feet). David may have put it best, exclaiming "Wow, wow, wow, wow," pretty much after every corner, as though he forgot the mountains were there until he saw them again. Another classic line from him, he asked Wu, about halfway through the evening at base camp "This is Everest?" In spite of some random comments, he kept us entertained, and we were all impressed for someone of his each to be doing such extreme travelling. Eventually, many stops later, we made it back to Tingri and Gyantse, back for lunch at the same place we had stopped before, again marvelling at the scenery along the way.

(Mt. Everest awakes. Actually, I think he got up before me. You have to try hard to beat this guy.)

(Here's our hotel and the group of Land Cruisers carrying us and a big group of Polish and German tourists. Our little box/room is in the right corner of the picture, on the second level. You can't quite see it here, but we had to walk from that group of rooms above the two windows on the bottom right to the door in the middle of the picture on the second level. This is also where the balcony is located.)

(The classic view of Everest and the pagoda of Rongphu Monastery. Rami and I wanted to wait for better light, but that wouldn't happen until around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, so that wasn't really an option.)

(The finest view I've ever seen from a urinal. This really is one of the bathrooms outside our hotel. "Where peeing is a pleasure." Man, I should have written that on the wall.)

(One of the inspiring views of the brown mountains and snow capped peaks on the road out, looking back towards Everest and his friends. I believe this one is Cho Oyu, the 3rd highest in the world.)

(As you may have guessed, Everest is the highest one in the middle. If you didn't guess that, you may need some help with the whole concept of being the highest mountain.)

(The long and winding road. This is one of my favorite pictures from the whole trip, almost capturing the incredible beauty of the place.)

(Same beauty, different view.)

(Our Land Cruiser at the last pass with this incredible view. This is also where I talked again with one of the young vendors, who wanted to try to trade jackets with me but eventually just gave me a nice beaded bracelet. Little did he know that my last name is Brace. Ooohhh.)

(And this is the view just minutes later to the North. Not the Himalayas anymore, but I think that's Snow Mountain again in the distance.)

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