Tibet

 

March 14, 2026

For Spring Break the students got to choose someplace in Asia to spend their week. Most of them selected to see another location in Japan. Three went to Malaysia and one went to South Korea. We decided to tour Tibet! We met up with Karl's grad school roommate and his wife in Xining to board the train for a 22-hour trip to Lhasa!

Karl and Jeff checking out the bunk situation in our cabin.

The train departed at 10:00 pm. We had the cabin to ourselves. We got in, found space for us and our luggage, made our beds and settled in. About three hours later I woke up with symptoms of altitude sickness. I didn't want to wake anyone so I thought I would get out of bed and get some fresh air in the hallway. That was a bad idea! I quickly learned just sitting up made me feel like passing out. We had the ability to have oxygen in our room but you had to call the steward and I didn't want to wake anybody up at 3:00am. So, I lay down again, focused on my breathing and fell back as we continued to climb through the night.

View from the train.

We had some games and a movie to watch as we made our journey, but we ended up not being able to stop watching the view. The scenery was stunning! We saw plains of permafrost, glaciers, rivers, herds of sheep, yaks and an animal the Tibetans call a blue sheep, that really isn't a sheep. We also watched the traffic outside our cabin door. The train wasn't policed in the same way the trans-Mongolian train we took in 2017 was. We had plenty of "hard berth" passengers sitting on pop-down stools in our hallway and sleeping on the benches (and floor) in the adjoining dining car. We were the only Western people on the train, as well as in the city of Xining where we began. In fact, the only foreigners we saw on our entire journey were the fellow companions on our tour and one couple on a private tour.

This sign, halfway on our journey, says we were at 15,426 feet--higher than any mountain in the continental US. After we woke up, we ate breakfast on the train. After we saw the kitchen crew washing the dishes in the bathroom sink in the hallway, we decided we would not partake of any more meals in the dining car. I'm suffering from a bout a food poisoning as I write this, so I will not dwell too much on the food. Also, having access to Google products behind the Great China Firewall means I will just briefly describe a few of the things we saw.

Rocky hills behind the Drepung Monastery

Bonism is the local animistic religious tradition of Tibet. Buddhism was introduced to Tibet in the 8th century by King Songtsen Gampo. The people of Tibet adopted Buddhism but retained some of their Bon traditions. If you zoom in on the rocks, you can see ladders painted on them. They paint ladders as a spiritual symbol representing their aspirations for a path to enlightenment, higher consciousness and desire for a better reincarnation.

Pictures were not allowed in the monasteries. We visited many and there are many uniquely Tibetan characteristics. Instead of burning incense, they burn yak butter. In fact, Tibet smells of yaks from the butter burning in the altars of the temples and monasteries, and in their kitchens and at night they burn yak dung for cooking and heat. The monasteries are also filled with chapels honoring the Dalai Lamas, the Panchen Lamas and Je Tsongkhapa, the founder of the yellow hat school of Tibetan Buddhism.

At the Sera monastery we got to watch the monks debate. The monks who are seated are the defenders and the ones standing are the challengers. The seated monks offered a Buddhist philosophical thesis. The standing monk tries to find the weak points in their thinking. The discourses go back and forth between the two demarcated by a loud clap of their hands which symbolizes the destruction of ignorance and the unison of wisdom. The monks compete and those who win are often awarded prized opportunities for further study.

Getting ready to climb the steps to Potala Palace.

We spent a half day at the Potala Palace. I read that climbing the steps to get to it is the equivalent of climbing to the top of a 13 story building. But doing that at 12,000 feet is much more difficult! It took only  about 5 to 6 stairs before we felt winded! We took it nice and slow, pausing to enjoy the views. The Palace was the winter residence of the Dalai Lamas from 1649 - 1959. It is a tightly guarded tourist spot where we had to pass through security and show our passports. The white walls are refreshed each year by using a "paint" of yak milk and sugar. Tibetans gather as a community and throw it at the walls. Chinese tourists sometimes lick the building to see if the rumor they have heard is true! The deep red portions are painted yack fur. Pictures were not allowed inside but we saw the chapels, meditation rooms and reception rooms of many former Dalai Lamas.

Pilgrims crossing the street.

There were throngs of local pilgrims at all of the sites we visited. The women, if they are married, wear aprons. Most of the men wear cowboy hats! Tibetans go on pilgrimages to purify themselves and to accumulate merit in hopes of a better reincarnation in their next life. We saw parents bringing babies to be blessed. We saw sons carrying their lame father on their back up incredibly steep steps to make the rounds of all the chapels in a monastery. They are a devoted people!

When they arrive at a holy image, they prostrate themselves to the ground and use slippery hand paddles that allow them to quickly slide completely flat. They then sit back on their legs and fully stand up. They do it over and over--perhaps 10,000 times over weeks or months. It is an impressive feat! It is a symbolic representation of humility and the act can absolve them of their sins.

Road trip!

We took a 7-hour overnight trip to see Shigatse, the seat of the Panchen Lama (second in command). We were a group of twelve: 4 Malaysians, 1 Canadian, 2 Australians and 1 Mexican. The fellow travelers were one of the highlights of the trip. We enjoyed their insights and company.

Blue Sheep

We pulled over to get a picture of these blue sheep. Our guide said they are usually only seen in the high country. (I thought we were in the high country!) They are really goats with sheep-like traits.

We saw incredibly still lakes with mountain peaks behind them. The humidity was 1%, so it is very, very dry this time of year.

We saw glaciers. Our guide was upset that a Chinese movie company intentionally blew up part of this glacier for a scene in their film.

We saw lots of prayer flags! Each of the colors are symbolic and represent the five elements. They are not intended to convey the prayers to the gods, but rather to bless all beings. They are stamped with these prayers and hung horizontally on mountain tops and across streams. When they become tattered, they are burned. We also learned that Tibetans prefer "sky burials" for their deceased loved ones. The body of the deceased is carried to the top of a mountain where carrion birds can consume the body. 

The entrance to a monastery in Shigatse that also served as the Panchen Lama's residence for many centuries. The current Panchen Lama is in Beijing and has not visited this sight since he was seized by the government. We did not discuss this point. Our guide only said "he comes here sometimes."

Yellow Hat lamas walking the monastery corridors.

We drove back to Lhasa and the trees were starting to bloom! We anticipated that Tibet would be one of our coldest locations, but it was in the 60s and beautiful! We spent the night and went our separate ways. We flew on to Fuzhou to meet the students and class starts on Monday morning.