Tibet: What's The Fuss About?

The Legend

I have this curse that I get jingles stuck in my head and I’ll walk around with that tune on repeat sometimes for months. This time is the Spiderman theme song. While traveling Tibet, we saw that some people simply stash heaps of prayer flags on top of each other like a heap of paper-mâché garbage. While seeing this, at the same time, I was also humming the Spiderman theme and came up with this little tune:

Spidermonk

Spidermonk

Goes around

Spreading gunk

In a tree

Up a hill

We don’t care

We call him “Bill”

Look out

Here comes the Spidermonk!

I’ve been sharing this rhyme enthusiastically all trip, but my creative efforts went unappreciated. I’m hoping I get another type of crowd here or at least get a giggle.

But, I know you’re not here for my artistic rhyming, you want what the title promises, you want the goods on Mount Everest. Even its name gives the impression of a stellar Titan. I’m trying to find a word to best describe what it feels like to stand in front of this giant celebrity. Small? I know that’s stating the obvious; this mountain is after all 8,848 meters (29,029 feet) tall.  But that’s not it. Amazed? Sure, it’s a gorgeous sight. Humbled? It is one of the seven natural wonders of the world and like I mentioned it’s almost 9000 meters high, but that’s also not it. I guess the best word would be privileged. 

Somehow, while standing at Base Camp, staring at it, I felt incredibly privileged to be there. Almost like this beloved, world-famous icon allowed me 5 minutes of her time. Like Everest was doing me a favour by letting me stand there and observe her. While gaping at her tip covered in snow and her waist playfully covered by clouds, I realised that there weren’t really that many people who’ve seen her in person. I wasn’t up since dawn to wait in a ridiculous queue to join a boring tour about her. I wasn’t pushing tourists away just so I can catch a glimpse or yelling at 20 people to get out of the way so I can take a photo. No, I was there with a handful of people all gawking at her, barely dressed in a cloud. We were all just silent and thankful because we knew, this was a marvellous sight, a top tourist attraction and we were some of the few who get to see her, take photos of her and just take her in. I think I will stick with privileged.

Getting to that moment of gratitude, however, was pure agony. We traveled two full days (I’m talking about 13 hours of driving - on dirt roads - a day). Everything that had bone or joints hurt once we arrived at Base Camp.  Even though it was an assault on the body, visually it was a delightful experience. The scenery from Lhasa to Everest was spectacular. There were so many friendly faces waving at our bus as we drove through their town, or friendly construction workers who grinned as we snap away at them with our cameras.

We felt welcomed and happy, as we got closer to Everest. These people really wanted us to see their home, their scenery, and their mountain. They appreciated our money to develop their tourism and infrastructure. And some also just appreciated a smile or a wave as we passed them on the road.

However, with the good comes the bad. I got really sick on the first day to Everest. There was no shortage of irony, as I knew our 2-day journey would consist of bumpy roads, long travel time, small local restaurants (meaning: not always up to par with health standards) and really, I mean really, disgusting bathrooms, or lack of thereof. 

So, here you have me, my stomach writhing in pain from some bad meat the day before, sitting on a rickety bus in the middle of nowhere, sweating from pain. It also didn’t help that we had to stop at checkpoints every hour, our the bus got stuck in a ditch, and there were plenty of construction on the roads. Lots of construction meant, there were no “nature bathrooms” to relieve my pain, which was also out of sight from the road workers. I was in pain and desperate, but a lady has her dignity. Lucky for me, Tibet is huge, and a private spot was soon procured for me. It’s safe to say, that Mother Nature and I became BFF’s (best friends forever) on this trip. While I was squatting by the bushes, I shared with her my tales, and she told hers. It’ll probably be one of my fondest memories of the entire trip. Go figure!

It’s safe to assume that travelling Tibet was, without a doubt, the most hygienically challenged trip of my life. And not just because I got sick from some local dish or my stomach was upset or the lack of bathrooms, but because of the bathrooms that were actually available to us. At every stop, a line of people stumbled off the bus in search of the bathrooms; only to find an old, sun-weathered lady, with her palm stretched out wanting 2RMB to use the bathroom. At first, she didn’t get any arguments from us, because we all expected it to be the cleaning fee. This 2RMB, turned out be just something she charged because she could. For your well-being and to keep my suppressed memories at bay, I won’t go into detail on the state of the bathrooms by the side of the road.  Just know that those bathrooms are what I imagined the waiting room in Hell to be like.

Our first bathroom hustler

At Base Camp, we overnighted in a bed and breakfast opposite the world’s highest monastery. The place was rustic and very basic, and we honestly didn’t expect much more, however, there were two incidents that need mentioning to give you a slight idea of what you’ll get yourself into if you ever decide to go visit Base Camp. I’ll give you two tips to help make your stay at the B&B as pleasant as possible.

Tip #1: Barter with the waitress for electricity. The homey and smoky lounge/restaurant has electricity 24/7 but that doesn’t mean it extends to the rest of the building. Also, in this case, just because your light can switch on doesn’t mean that electricity is actually flowing through the sockets in the room.  Yup, lights that work, do not mean you have the power to charge your phone or batteries. This you need to barter for additionally.

Tip #2:  Bring toilet paper and a torch. Remember my story about the dreadful bathrooms by the side of the road? Don’t expect your B&B bathroom to be any different. Everyone communed with Mother Nature that evening and got to know their fellow travelers on a much more intimate basis.

Other than my 2 tips for surviving the accommodation, the experience of overnighting there, knowing that Everest is so close and the anticipation of seeing her the next day, is an experience none of us would trade for anything.

My friend, Lina

The next morning we had our introduction with Lady Everest and it made all the suffering, pain, bad smells, potholes, and altitude sickness worth it.  We would all have endured it again  - and we did on the way back– because standing in front of her was magical. It’s just a mountain, right? Wrong. She’s an icon, she’s Tibet’s sweetheart, she’s every professional mountaineer’s wet dream, she’s a wonder of the world - she’s Everest. And she owned the room. Everyone was there just to see her and she did not disappoint.

After I got over my initial admiration and took at least 700 photos, I looked for a comfy spot, took out my long-range zoom lens and started my hunt for the Yeti. Now as most of you know, I’m sure, the Yeti or Abominable Snowman lives in the Himalaya in Tibet. I was so close to the mountain. I mean, how hard is it to spot something taller than us and looks like an ape? I ended up finding Mount Everest extremely distracting and my hunt for the Yeti was fruitless, but it was the only lacking experience I had my entire time in Tibet.

So the question stands: Tibet: what’s the fuss about? The fuss is about the sheer size of the heart of this region. The vast backdrop and nature have no bounds (God was not stingy when he landscaped Tibet), the smiles of the people have no limits and the dedication and loyalty they have to their faith are undying. Tibet should be called the Land of the Giants because of their biggest assets: the warmth of the people, the remarkable nature and the magnitude of their faith is too large for the normal mind to comprehend.