On The Highway To Heaven (I)

The lush rolling hills we ascended

The 725km Friendship Highway, so called because it links the Nepali capital of Kathmandu to Lhasa in Tibet, boasts some of the most scenic sights in the world because of its sheer height. It is also an ancient trade route that is part of the Silk Road. Winding through old Tibetan townships and crossing vast mountain plateaus where nomads herd their sheep, the road promises travellers the adventure of a lifetime. My girlfriend and I set out on a 5-day journey over the highway through the clouds, a trip plagued with hiccups right from the start.

------------------------------------------------------------------- By Tanny Chia

[eastciti.com, November 24]
Mythical Tibet is not called the roof of the world for nothing. Perched on the highest plateau in the world and averaging 4,875m (16,000ft) above sea level, it is bordered on all sides by indomitable mountain ranges, among them the Himalayas in the south and the infamous Karakorum in the west. To get to its capital, you can either hop onto the only airline that flies into Lhasa or transverse one of the several rugged overland routes, which was the route we chose.

We found out soon enough that traveling into the land of Lama monks is anything but your usual comfy coach ride. China had only officially opened the country to tourism in 1984 and even then, it imposed strict restrictions that severely limit the number of travellers. Tibet thus remained for the most part remote, with few tourist facilities. Only recently had it relaxed the restrictions, but travellers are still required to band together in a group of at least 5 to apply for special permits. Besides, the high altitude poses a host of other problems, among them extreme weather and physical symptoms, with almost every visitor suffering initially from horrid headaches and insomnia.

For the adventurous though, a visit to this vast land is rewarding in more ways than one. The very immensity of nature and harshness of its elements remind city folks like us of our place in a wider world order. And even though the poverty of most rural Tibetans is appalling, the simple acceptance with which they eke out a living serves as a slap to remind us of the excesses we live with.

Leaving the dusty streets of the awakening city, the bus soon started its ascent of the highlands, leaving Kathmandu valley sprawled below in a spectacular tapestry of rolling green hills capped with fluffy clouds. Carving a path through the valley was a swollen river, the Bhoto Koshi. We learnt from our Nepali guide that this was the route we will be following for the next 2 days onto the Tibetan plateau.

While we complained about our discomfort, these Nepalese women trekked up the hills with heavy loads		Ragged, yet cheerful village children

While Kathmandu depends mainly on tourist dollars, the rest of Nepal still subsists on agriculture, as evident on these highlands en-route to the Nepal/Chinese border. Despite the steep terrain, the slopes had been painstakingly terraced, and thin sunburnt Nepalese toiled the steep paths with heavy loads of soil or harvested vegetables carried in baskets and hung on straps from their foreheads. As the bus chugged along past tiny hillside settlements, dirty-cheeked children stopped their play along the dirt road and waved cheerily to us.

The rushing waters of the Botho Koshi

When the bus had climbed to a height of about 2,000m, the verdant slopes gradually gave way to more rocky outcrops and the asphalt road we were on ended in a narrow gravel path that hugged the sides of the mountain. At times, the bus veered dangerously close to the edge to give way to oncoming vehicles and all we could do was pray that our journey won't end in the gushing Botho Koshi below.

Kodari, a Nepalese town sitting on the Nepal/ China border

After a bumpy 7-hour journey, our bus rolled to a stop and spilled its load of weary travellers into Kodari - a muddy town with wooden shacks lining both sides of a dirt road. It certainly wasn't a place to linger in. While our guide went to clear immigration procedures, we waited impatiently outside a dinghy provision shop and swatted flies. Huge trucks with loads of soil rumbled by every 5 minutes and threw clouds of dust in our faces. We later learnt that the ever-entrepreneurial Chinese was building an immense dam to tap the Botho Koshi, thus explaining the presence of the trucks.

An hour later, our Nepalese guide returned with bad news. Our bus could not proceed beyond the border and the Tibetan guide and driver who were to meet us with 2 Land Rovers had not turned up. Worse, he was holding onto both my friend's and my travel permits, without which we could not go into Tibet. Since reaching Nyalam without any vehicles was out of the question, we decided that the rest of the group should proceed on to the Tibetan border town of Zhangmu while both of us stayed back and just hope for the best. As the rest clambered onto the back of a truck the guide had flagged down, we woefully went into the filthy shop to begin our long wait.

It was evening and 5 full hours after trundling into this horrid dump of a town. There was still no Chinese guide, the sky was turning dark, the temperature plummeting, and we were alone and very hungry. Then our Nepalese guide turned up and delivered what was to us the worst news: it was too late to proceed further even if the guide did turn up; we had no choice but to spend the night. I almost cried when we saw the room we were to sleep in - a bare wooden cubicle barely 6ft in width and lined with 2 thin, ragged mattresses. The only toilet - no bathroom existed in this town - was a literal shit-hole downstairs that looked like it had been used by everyone who ever passed through the town.

It was a horrid start to our journey, but at least we had our sleeping bags and rolls of toilet paper and wet wipes to thank for - these items were to prove absolutely essential in the following days.

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