http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOnikDMW1d0
Check this out :)
You will enjoy this video.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Theme 3: Accomodation, how to rough it out
Nomad Tent in Namsto 
Prison Cell styled room - Old Tingri Namtse Hotel in Lhasa
Gyantse Hotel
Accomodation is very key to one's comfort. I must say that our experiences were quite good! We went through the conventional Guesthouses in Lhasa (which's quite okay), the hardcore Nomad Tent, to one prison-cell-alike guesthouse in Old Tingri. All in all i think that we did well, managed to improvise and survived the ordeal!
1)Namtse Hotel - Guesthouse/hotel in Lhasa City.
I would name this as our homeground. The rooms are tidy and neat, and they serve both hot/cold drinking water. In additional to that, the beds are fine (just that the pillows ain too good). Beggars can't be choosers but all of us slept relatively well here..
The only problem would be the bathing facilities. Either the water was darn hot or cold, and it was such a chore trying to shower at night when the tempreature hit about 10 degs or so. It doesn't help when I have such long hair. Should have gotten a good haircut before I head off to Tibet.
Well well, we all learnt, don't we.
The breakie was bad, seriously bad. However Kelly seemed to love it. They serve porridge, with some pickles and hardboiled eggs. Hmm not that bad but I had to eat for 4-5 days..Too sick of it by the end of the trip. Also, the eatery has an odd smell which I don't fancy.
2) Lhasa hotel near the 'Red-light' District.
Unforunately I do not have the name of the hotel. The rooms were fine, however the switches to the lights were challenging to find. At first the girls did not really like the shower area as there wasn't a bathtub to contain the water. However the shower head was relatively strong! Haha the toilet flushed! Both Kelly and I were exhilarated when we realised that the loo did not give out a foul smell. Why are we so paranoid, let's read on.
3) Gyantse Hotel
It was quite a nice set up, very clean and neat with pretty wallpapers. The only problem was that the loo couldn't flush. We tried to get the lady to repair but she disappeared after getting help. Well well, I had to try to psycho myself not to make cake in the middle of the night , as this would be detrimental to my relationship with my roommate should I bomb the loo in the middle of the night and the flush is not working!
4) Old Tingri
Hmm quite a hardcore place. But it was actually kinda not too bad as our Namsto Nomad tent was the most hardcore out of all. At least we felt warm , thanks to structures known as 'Concrete Walls' that blocked the cold wind.
Basically its a row of little rooms, each room has 2 beds, one metal grill window and a door. Hence I nicknamed it as "Prison-cell". There's a little lightbulb that hangs from the ceiling. I think illegal immigrants would find the set up familiar to them, as we commonly watch on tv.
But we were quite entertained without our usual dose of Taiwan idol drama and HK drama serials. We were following the entire series whenever we had tv in front of us. Not in Old Tingri. No music/TV makes Jack a dull boy. We used Mavis' Sonywalkman phone and played some songs. No disco lights, no worries. Torchlights/Metlights were useful to create the sort of effect. 4 of us started dancing in one room and that was really effective to keep us warm! :) It was so crazy and fun!
Brushing teeth and washing up were challenging. We just made do with wetwipes and used our bottles of water to brush our teeth right outside the drain outside our homes. :D
5) Namtso- The ultimate Test.
It wasn't easy to keep ourselves warm in a NomadTent. We had some beddings and blankets. It was hard to fall asleep when the dogs howling was a direct stereo effect as soon the lights were off. Other animals were making tonnes of noise. :(
Plus the high altitude, it made it more difficult to fall asleep. I doubt i slept much.. I wore so many layers to keep myself warm... And there wasn't a stove in the camp that kept us warm. Hot bottles were key to keep us warm while we tried to get to sleep. The heavy blankets made it tough to for me toss around... Grrrr. Totally not enjoyable. But it was those 'been there done that' sort of experience! :)
5) Smelly-loo Shigatse Hotel
The room was big and spacious, but guess what, the loo was STINKY. It smelt of sewage... and we had to close the door all the time.
Grrrr. Ha never judge a book by its covers, Never judge a hotel by its pure physical look!
***
In short, we had a fair share of sleeping in different places. Packing and unpacking our haversack was a daily routine. What we care most are the following basic requirements:
1) Clean beds
2) Bathroom that works : Showers/Toilet flush
Well the pictures didn't come up to look really nice cos its not ez to navigate around this blogspot. Heheh.
Well. :D
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Theme 2: Learn from others/the art of bargaining
I must admit that I am not too good at bargaining. Well many people think that I am quite a good bargainer as my occupation requires sales skills. Let's just put it this way, being the sales person and buyer is very different. Anyway, I'm not really good at bargaining but I'm definitely very talented at buying things for people as gifts/souvenirs.
Let's recap the characters involved in this trip. Queen of Bargainer: Kelly (very agressive, direct, gutsy). Mavis (she's very practical and can correct gauge the price). Kate (pretty good at lowering the price, and sometimes the price she gave simply stunned the whole crew). Me (I look around at little things that I am keen to look at, I eye them, tell the other 3 which ones I really fancy..Quiet supporter).
We managed to get quite a few decent buys. I love the little Prayer Wheel. Check out the pics below... Gotten quite a few gifts for my folks and friends. Love the little accessories, the nice bracelets, the yakboned Fu Lu Shou..etc!
Fu LU Shou - 1 set for 50RMB, the lady wanted to ask for 180RMB. (locals told us we can get it for 30 RMB!)
Shawl - around 20RMB for one decent looking one.
Bracelets - Range from 10-40, depending on the quality.
Columbia trekking jacket - 300 RMB after fierce bargaining by Kelly.
Let's recap the characters involved in this trip. Queen of Bargainer: Kelly (very agressive, direct, gutsy). Mavis (she's very practical and can correct gauge the price). Kate (pretty good at lowering the price, and sometimes the price she gave simply stunned the whole crew). Me (I look around at little things that I am keen to look at, I eye them, tell the other 3 which ones I really fancy..Quiet supporter).
We managed to get quite a few decent buys. I love the little Prayer Wheel. Check out the pics below... Gotten quite a few gifts for my folks and friends. Love the little accessories, the nice bracelets, the yakboned Fu Lu Shou..etc!
Fu LU Shou - 1 set for 50RMB, the lady wanted to ask for 180RMB. (locals told us we can get it for 30 RMB!)
Shawl - around 20RMB for one decent looking one.
Bracelets - Range from 10-40, depending on the quality.
Columbia trekking jacket - 300 RMB after fierce bargaining by Kelly.
I like shopping in Lhasa as the stallowners are quite friendly. Compared to Shanghai/Beijing, I had to be seriously quite fierce and agressive to survive! Being familiar with the language beats trying to hit the calculators with numerals , as I compare my experiences in Thailand!
Places to visit: Bagkhor Street! A must-go place to shop and get your little gifts! We went there at least 4 times in total!
In short, speaking in Mandarin really helped in this case. We paid 50% lesser than what the Guailows did! Hehehe quite proud of ourselves.
Second tip: Buy in Bulk! You eye an item and check with your crew how many pieces you all wan in total. You can seriously push the price pretty low! Of coz, we still paid a premium compared to the little. Let's just think of it that we are boasting the local economy. The entire tourist season lasts for only 4 months. So well well :) Let's be nice.
Somehow I can't link the pictures. Next entry.
Be agressive, be quick and fast... !
Monday, September 3, 2007
Theme 1: Hiccups of the Trip
The hardest part of the trip was to plan the entire thing. It ranged from getting the people, looking out for quotation/getting a travel agency, reading about the place we were heading, visas, insurance, checking for airlines/connecting flights, getting med etc etc etc.
I started planning for the trip even before I went Beijing in late June. It was a chore, seriously. Thankfully Kelly managed to get Mavis and Kate to join the gang. I read up on books (both in English and Traditional Chinese) about Tibet.
While asking my pals who have been to Tibet, I gotten hold of this Nepalese travel agent. Finally got in touch with Shital with regards to quotation and itineary. We firmed the arrangements after sending emails to and forth. It wasn't easy to reach Nepal due to bad telephone connections, in additional to that, the connection wasn't too good.
We wanted to take the rail from Chengdu, so that we could witness the scenery along the way, as well as allow our bodies to climatise. Everything seemed to be properly in place, including foreigners visas for both Kelly and me.
1 day before we departed, we gotten news that the Chengdu runner for the railtickets ran away. Indeed the runner became a 'runner'. I was irritated, pissed off to a certain point. I was on sick day as well. After receiving the email, I calmed myself down and informed the ladies. It wasn't an ideal situation, and we seriously were not prepared for it.
Instead of bitching and screw the agent, we came up with alternatives. We found ways to obtain alternatives to get to Lhasa.
We came to a certain stage that we accepted the fact that obtaining railtickets were really difficult. Finally got ourselves to Chengdu at 9ish pm. Just as I reached the airport, I received email from my angry client. It totally spoilt my mood. That's major hiccup nos 2 for me.
What's hiccup nos 3?
When we got to the hotel which Shital told me his Chengdu counterpart has booked, they couldn't find our booking. It didn't help when the receptionists had really bad altitude, and they couldn' read much English. They couldn't check for us, and insisted we needed the Chengdu agent's name.
This was the first time I blew my top. Finally managed to get through to the Tibetan and Nepalese agents after calling a couple of times. It was pretty scary that we couldn't reach any of them. I was so mad and frustrated at the entire situation. Was it a scam?
I felt really bad for the team. Seriously. I was the one who coordinated the entire thing and we had such great trust on the agent and the entire arrangement. Sadly, they had to disappoint us badly. Finally got hold of one of the Tibetan agent and he told me we were at the wrong hotel. Finally we moved to the 'right' hotel, our names were not there. The point was the Tibetan side did not know we arrive in Chengdu. I called the lady Tibetan agent and seriously sounded so fierce. I demanded her to act on her mistake and get us 2 rooms. I blamed her for the entire mistake and wanted her to be ready to receive us in Tibet the following day.
She was shocked and scared. She stuttered throughout the phonecall, and spoke so fast in her Tibetan accent. I maintained a harsh voice, used my so-called-decent Mandarin and seek for a resolution.
We got our rooms, they weren't nice but beggars can't be choosers. I thank the crew for showing great patience and tolerance. Seriously. Thanks ladies. I can't express how irritated/frustrated/xxoo i felt at that point in time.
The following day, the Chengdu agent got us our plane tickets. We paid the little runner the tickets and they got us a taxi to the airport. The Chengdu agent was nice enough to get his friend who worked in the airport to receive us and send us off. We were really afraid that the TTB (Tibet Tourist Visas) would not be able to get through the customs. Our worries were unnecessary.
In the end, 3 major hiccups. a) The runner ran away with our rail tickets. We did not get a chance to travel via rail to admire the scenery, and to go through the experience of taking a train for 48 hours. b) The Chengdu leg was screwed up.
Finally we managed to get up to Lhasa. Upon reaching the airport in Tibet, we were stunned by the scenery that awaited us. It was amazing to watch our plane land on the little lane that was surrounded by the mountain ranges.
OMG. That's the first reaction when we were about to land.
In short,
1) It's better to ensure your tickets are purchased from places/agents which you have better control off. For e.g you can consider getting rail tickets from Guangzhou yourself. If not , go to a bigger agent and get your Chengdu tickets booked. The shortfall of going to a bigger agent means that you need to join their package which isn't so personal.
2) Be agressive while in China and Tibet. You have to fend for yourself. Being Bilingual is really useful in such situations.
I started planning for the trip even before I went Beijing in late June. It was a chore, seriously. Thankfully Kelly managed to get Mavis and Kate to join the gang. I read up on books (both in English and Traditional Chinese) about Tibet.
While asking my pals who have been to Tibet, I gotten hold of this Nepalese travel agent. Finally got in touch with Shital with regards to quotation and itineary. We firmed the arrangements after sending emails to and forth. It wasn't easy to reach Nepal due to bad telephone connections, in additional to that, the connection wasn't too good.
We wanted to take the rail from Chengdu, so that we could witness the scenery along the way, as well as allow our bodies to climatise. Everything seemed to be properly in place, including foreigners visas for both Kelly and me.
1 day before we departed, we gotten news that the Chengdu runner for the railtickets ran away. Indeed the runner became a 'runner'. I was irritated, pissed off to a certain point. I was on sick day as well. After receiving the email, I calmed myself down and informed the ladies. It wasn't an ideal situation, and we seriously were not prepared for it.
Instead of bitching and screw the agent, we came up with alternatives. We found ways to obtain alternatives to get to Lhasa.
We came to a certain stage that we accepted the fact that obtaining railtickets were really difficult. Finally got ourselves to Chengdu at 9ish pm. Just as I reached the airport, I received email from my angry client. It totally spoilt my mood. That's major hiccup nos 2 for me.
What's hiccup nos 3?
When we got to the hotel which Shital told me his Chengdu counterpart has booked, they couldn't find our booking. It didn't help when the receptionists had really bad altitude, and they couldn' read much English. They couldn't check for us, and insisted we needed the Chengdu agent's name.
This was the first time I blew my top. Finally managed to get through to the Tibetan and Nepalese agents after calling a couple of times. It was pretty scary that we couldn't reach any of them. I was so mad and frustrated at the entire situation. Was it a scam?
I felt really bad for the team. Seriously. I was the one who coordinated the entire thing and we had such great trust on the agent and the entire arrangement. Sadly, they had to disappoint us badly. Finally got hold of one of the Tibetan agent and he told me we were at the wrong hotel. Finally we moved to the 'right' hotel, our names were not there. The point was the Tibetan side did not know we arrive in Chengdu. I called the lady Tibetan agent and seriously sounded so fierce. I demanded her to act on her mistake and get us 2 rooms. I blamed her for the entire mistake and wanted her to be ready to receive us in Tibet the following day.
She was shocked and scared. She stuttered throughout the phonecall, and spoke so fast in her Tibetan accent. I maintained a harsh voice, used my so-called-decent Mandarin and seek for a resolution.
We got our rooms, they weren't nice but beggars can't be choosers. I thank the crew for showing great patience and tolerance. Seriously. Thanks ladies. I can't express how irritated/frustrated/xxoo i felt at that point in time.
The following day, the Chengdu agent got us our plane tickets. We paid the little runner the tickets and they got us a taxi to the airport. The Chengdu agent was nice enough to get his friend who worked in the airport to receive us and send us off. We were really afraid that the TTB (Tibet Tourist Visas) would not be able to get through the customs. Our worries were unnecessary.
In the end, 3 major hiccups. a) The runner ran away with our rail tickets. We did not get a chance to travel via rail to admire the scenery, and to go through the experience of taking a train for 48 hours. b) The Chengdu leg was screwed up.
Finally we managed to get up to Lhasa. Upon reaching the airport in Tibet, we were stunned by the scenery that awaited us. It was amazing to watch our plane land on the little lane that was surrounded by the mountain ranges.
OMG. That's the first reaction when we were about to land.
In short,
1) It's better to ensure your tickets are purchased from places/agents which you have better control off. For e.g you can consider getting rail tickets from Guangzhou yourself. If not , go to a bigger agent and get your Chengdu tickets booked. The shortfall of going to a bigger agent means that you need to join their package which isn't so personal.
2) Be agressive while in China and Tibet. You have to fend for yourself. Being Bilingual is really useful in such situations.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Tibet Adventure: 08/17-29.
The Tibet Adventure was a pleasant journey. A dream that I had upheld since 2005 while I was writing my Mini Thesis on Tibet. Finally this year in August, I managed to push through this entire project.
The journey was marvellous and this series of experiences is shared by a few priviledged few.
My crew consists of 1 Singaporean lady Kelly, aka my colleague, as well as 2 other of her HK friends Mavis and Kate. 4 different ladies with varying horoscopes and personalities embarked on this journey.
We met up twice before the trip and boom! We went to discover Tibet together.
Likemindedness bonded us together. The journey was exciting and fun, marked by much discomfort at times. However our personalities brought us to bond together, to overcome the difficulties with much humour.In this blog, I will share more tips on the Tibetan trip, on how to survive the altitude sickness, how much you ought to prepare to spend, as well as surviving the loos.
More entries to come!
The journey was marvellous and this series of experiences is shared by a few priviledged few.
My crew consists of 1 Singaporean lady Kelly, aka my colleague, as well as 2 other of her HK friends Mavis and Kate. 4 different ladies with varying horoscopes and personalities embarked on this journey.
We met up twice before the trip and boom! We went to discover Tibet together.
Likemindedness bonded us together. The journey was exciting and fun, marked by much discomfort at times. However our personalities brought us to bond together, to overcome the difficulties with much humour.In this blog, I will share more tips on the Tibetan trip, on how to survive the altitude sickness, how much you ought to prepare to spend, as well as surviving the loos.
More entries to come!
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