Well we are now in Zhangmu at the border of Tibet and Nepal and it is our last day here before we cross over and make the four hour journey to Kathmandu tomorrow. Tibet has definately been the highlight of our trip and the last four days the most special.... this is what we have been up to

16th February

Yesterday we had tried to go to Jokhang temple in the centre of Lhasa but it was closed because of the new year festivities. Tashi had asked the police and was told that we could get in this morning so we met him in the lobby of our hotel and walked to the main square. When we got there the queue to get in went on for miles and as usual the police were being very heavy handed- pulling out people trying to get in no matter what their age, chucking them on the floor and shouting through megaphones. Tashi said that the police yesterday had told him that tourists didn't have to queue and so was determined to get us in. We felt really awful as all of the pilgrims that had walked for hundreds of miles took priority as far as we were concerned and so we didn't want to jump in- this didn't affect him at all though and he ran round asking everyone, jumping over those praying and being very insistent. After us telling him to give up a number of times he managed to give a policeman some "entry money" and we were ushered in. It was very beautiful inside with lots of small side chapels housing hundreds of statues. As with every place we have visited it was covered with beautiful paintings in bright colours and made even more lovely by all the pilgrims walking around chanting. We circled the big gold buddha at the back (rebuilt after being destroyed in the cultural revolution as so much has had to be) and were greeted by a very friendly monk "hello where you from?" when we replied England he smiled happily and when we came back round we were presented with two oranges from the altar! I asked Tashi why this was and he said that the monks knew that we were sympathetic as a country and they were always happy to see us in their country witnessing the situation for ourselves. After coming back out into the sunshine we returned to the hotel and loaded our bag into the boot of the car to begin our trip across the country. As we left town Tashi pointed out the prison where thousands of monks are being held as we had asked him too. He said that when he goes up into the mountains he often takes a radio as he can pick up signals from Nepal and India where people can speak a lot more openly. Last time he went he heard a Monk on there who had just been released and fled to India. He was talking about the horrific conditions in the prison where he had been kept underground with no light and beaten on a daily basis. All this for believing in a religion that just wants to create a peacefuil society! Also on view as we headed out of town where Chinese flags on the roof of every Tibetan house. When I asked why on earth the people would fly them the answer was obvious "This is the road to the airport and the Chinese want tourists to see their flag being flown. The people have been made to move here from the mountains and get a huge fine and beating if the flag is not flown" Tashi reported gravely. We continued out of town and our first stop was by the prayer flags at Chusul bridge. We peered down into the fast moving water as Tashi told us that this was a popular site for a water burial. Traditionally Tibeans have preferred a sky burial- the body is keft for 3 days after death until a close family member carries it to a point high on the mountains. It is then cut into pieces and left for the vultures to eat. No sentimentality is attched to this as it is considered that the soul has already left the body. In cities where this isn't so practical a water burial is considered a good alternative and where we were certainly looked very beautiful and peaceful. After contemplating that we got back into the car and continued on our drive to our first main stop, Gyantse. As every drive we have done the scenery out of the window was stunning all the way, huge mountains surrounding us on all sides, prayer flags at every peak and all accompanied my Nam-tso our driver singing along to lovely Tibetan music! After 3 hours we arrived in the small town of Gyantse to see the monastry. The great thing about this one is that it wasn't destroyed too much by the Chinese. It even has the original fort next to it and a huge wall surrounding the outside- the only original one left here. Perhaps the Chinese have realised how stupid they ahve been as they have just rebuilt a brand new fort next to the monastry in Shigatse- everyone refuses to visit it though and as Tashi put it "what are they going to put inside when they have stolen everything of ours?" Anyway the highlight at Gyantse is the Stufa- a six floored building with 108 individual chapels. We were the only ones bothered to climb it so were afforded a ovely pricate peek into all of them- the rooms are tiny and mostly just house a huge statue- truly amazing. After exploring there we got back into the car for another 2 hour drive to Shigatse. We have done a lot of driving but didn't mind one second as the constantly moving tableau keeps you entertained- small villages, yaks and donkeys, rabbits running and hundreds and hundreds of dogs!

We arrived in Shigatse, Tibet's second largest town, in early evening and checked into our hotel which very confusingly had at least four names that we could count. We headed up to our room and then I proceeded to get locked in the bathroom for half a hour- I was only freed when maintenance were called with a pair of pliers- pretty typical really! We met with Tashi and Nam-tso for dinner and they took us for a typical tibetan meal- potato momo (dumplings) noodle soup, vegetables and Yak curry for the men- yummy! All made nicer when the ever lovely Tashi paid without us realising- he really is the most fantastic guide ever. Afterwards we headed for a few seconds on the internet as I wanted to look up the news about the Dalai Lama's meeting with Barack Obama for them- obviously it has not been covered at all here. It was quite tricky though as I gathered a crowd of curious Tibetans round me who had no qualms about obviously staring at my screen from about a foot away!

17th February

Tashi had told us that this was the last time we would have access to a shower and hot water so we got up early to make the most of it. Sadly he was wrong though- the water was freezing and the bathroom got completely flooded when we tried to use the shower so it was just a wash in the sink for us before we headed out to breakfast and then to see Shigatse monastry. .The monastery was built under the supervision of the first Dalai Lama Zhuba in 1447, a discipline of Zongkapa, the founder of Yellow Sect. The complex is built symmetrically against the Nyima Mountain and its wall, over 3,000 meters long with 57 buildings and more than 3,600 rooms. When we arrived the queue for the main building was huge so Tashi suggested we leave that until last. Instead we first walked around the Stufa in a clockwise direction with the locals. It is said that if you do this three times then peace and harmony will come among men- we certainly hope so. Watching everyone curiosly were two very friendly mountain goats standing on top of it who came down to have their nose patted when we encouraged them! We then went to see the tombs of the number 10 Panchen Lama and the 4th panchen Lama. The number 10 Panchen lama is very popular here and there are pictures of him in every home (no pictures are allowed of the current Dalai lama) so we knew who we were looking at. The tombs were as stunning as the ones we had seen in Potala palace in Lhasa- huge gold Stufas covered in massive stones of Amber, turquiose and diamonds. On the walls 1000 buddhas are painted and when you walk around the stufa it truly takes your breath away. The third tomb we visited was rebuilt in 1985 after being destroyed by yes you guessed it the good old Chinese who took it to bits and sold the gold. It contains the ashes of the 5th to the 9th Panchen Lamas and is as beautiful as the others. When we walked outside we were very priviledged to be witnesses to the swearing in of new Lamas. The highest monks were dressed in yellow robes and chanting and it was beautiful to see. We stayed and watched that for a bit before going back to the first building. Tashi as always was right- the queue had dissapeared and we were the only ones inside to see the huge bronze Buddha sitting on a lotus flower- the biggest of it's kind in the world. Truly dumbstruck we walked back out into Shigatse and after waiting for Tashi to get our permits ot visit Everest we went for some lunch in a tiny restaurant filled with locals. It was one of those places you would never walk into on your own but we were rewarded with another bowl of yummy noodle soup and some delicious curried potatoes. Fully refuelled it was back into the car for another long journey to New Tingri. We knew we had arrived when we hit another police checkpoint but it was a very tiny place- just a load of typical Tibetan houses along a road with lots of horses and carts and stray dogs. We went to our guesthouse for the night and were shown our room which was absolutely freezing cold. Tashi also showed us the toilet- a hole in the ground at the end of the courtyard outside with no roof or anything. I would describe it as the definitition of basic. The hole in the ground there, however was better than the toilet in the village that we were to use until nightfall (for obvious reasons- remember it is uncovered and looked on by the house) This was a block that did have a roof and consisted of 3 holes in the ground in a row. not so bad and what we were used to by now but it was completely overflowing with excrement- quite lovely. Anyway we were happy to be staying in a little village in a Tibetans home and warmed ourselves by the stove downstairs whilst we taught Tashi and Nam-Tso to play Rummy. Of course they trounced us and everyone was happy when it was time for dinner- you guessed it- another steaming bowl of Tibetan noodle soup- lucky it's good! After watching the telly in Chinese for a while and Tashi translating the news propaganda "everything is fantastic, all countries love China, tourism is going up" (as an aside Tashi told us something that would be funny if it wasn't tragic- after the protest in 2008 all tourism to Tibet was banned but the Chinese tried to pretend this wasn't true and filmed bus loads of army soldiers in plain clothes being shown around the temples) we headed up to our room. I cannot describe to you how cold it was. The thermometer said minus 15 and as with all Tibetan homes there was no heating at all. I slept in leggings, ski socks, combats, 2 tops, 3 jumpers including one thermal one, a scarf, my hat, sleeping bag and three duvets and was still freezing. Poor Charles had a strop about carrying his sleeping bag around in Japan and so had given it to a homeless guy there so he had a seriously bad night shivering and actually was finding it hard to breathe with that combined with the altitude.

18th February

After that great night's sleep we rose early before sunrise to try and get to the highest pass where we could see the sun come up over Everest. It wasn't hard to get up- we just stepped out of bed with all our clothes still on and headed shivering furiously outside. Did I mention there was no electricity so this was all by candlelight?! To get out of the village we got to the first Checkpoint where we had to get out of the car and go inside. Of course it was really warm in there for the Chinese Army with the whole room literally lined with radiators. After being given the nod we began our bumpy trip up the unpaved road. The Chinese tried to pave the road so they could carry the olympic torch from everest base camp to Beijing but the United Nations put a stop to it thank god. We had to stop to help another car over the ice but an hour later we arrived at the pass to the most beautiful view- 5 mountains over 8,000 metres facing us (of which there are only 14 in the world) with the sun slowly lighting them up. It was our first sighting of the world's highest mountain Everest but we were also looking at Lhotse (3rd Highest mountain the world) Makalu, Shishma Pangma and Cho Oyu. It was breathtaking and freezing and Nam-Tso couldn't stop laughing as I sat watching it wrapped in my sleeping bag. What an experience! After sitting there and taking it all in it was breakfast time and Nam-Tso was obviously hungry as he decided that the road down to the village of Tashizhom where we would eat was far to slow- instead he just pointed the 4x4 downwards and drove down the side of the mountain! We got to a very sweet couple's home who Tashi said made the best pancakes and huddled together to keep warm whilst he lit the fire. The pancakes were indeed yummy although the 2 he ordered too much- I managed to palm my second one off on the kid working hard whilst charles pocketed his! Whilst we were there we were asked if we would mind giving a nun a lift up to Rongbuk monastry which of course we didn't. In she climbed with a big goat leg and she happily munched on Charles' spare pancake as we continued bumping along. Two checkpoints (one of which was put in after 3 Americans flew a banner saying free tibet at Everest base camp in 2007- having been driven there by Tashi's brother) and a lot of teeth rattling later we dropped her off and continued onto Everest base Camp. I cannot describe to you how lovely it was. At the beggining there were a couple of other people there but after a while it was just us. We sat on the mound looking up at the huge beast with the sun shining and feeling very happy. Again Pacchumama must have been looking out for us as there ws not a cloud in the sky- the first time Tashi said he had seen it like that. We laid out the prayer flags we had written all of our names on (and a couple of small Free Tibets!) and had our picture taken next to the sign. It was very hard to tear ourselves away an hour later and definately somewhere we will never forget being. After getting back into the car and going back the way we had come Nam-Tso pulled over at what looked like a tiny ruined stone hut up a hill at the side of the road. Tashi and him jumped out and ran up the slope- not easy at 5,200 metres especially hen you chain smoke like Nam-Tso! We huffed and puffed behind and when we got up ther could hear someone's voice inside. Tashi called out to him and an old man emerged. "Tashi Delak" we greeted and he smiled like everyone here does when we say that. he ushered us into a room higher up and then opened a small square in the floor which Nam-Tso dissapeared down. tashi followed and then instructed us where to put our feet in the pitch dark. When we got down and our eyes adjusted we were in a tiny cave filled with candles. This was where Guru Rampoche meditated for three years and this monk had been looking after by himslef without leaving for 18. He gave us a blessing with holy water which we drank (trying not to think about our stomachs) and after inspecting the Guru's foot and hand prints we climbed back up. Only Tashi who is the monk's friend goes there- no other tourists do- we felt so lucky and priviledged to be able to see it. Continuing on down the road we stopped at Rongbuk monastry where we had dropped the nun off the highest in the world. It used to house 2,000 monks and nuns before the invasion but is now limited to just 25. When we got there they were chanting away and it was very special to stand and listen to them. It was tiny though and didn't take us long to look around- it had to be rebuilt after being destroyed so thre is not a massive amount there. The next drive to Old Tingri was truly the most unique. Tashi assure us that we were driving on a road but we certainly couldn't see one. For 3 hours we drove seriously close to huge ravines, across river beds, over dirt and up hills bumping and shaking until we finally arrived where we would stay. it was another typical tibetan home with rooms outside around a courtyard. We got there quite early after our start but this gave us lots of time to play with the stray dogs, look after a puppy the children where throwing around and talk to Tashi more about th problems here. We talked about many many things but one horror story stood out. In the 2008 protest 1,000 Tibetans were killed and left in the street. Their families weren't allowed to collect them to give them the burial rituals and instead they were driven to a crematorium set up by nam-tso lake. Only not all of them were dead and the people who worked there tell horrible tales of people shouting out that they were alive and being thrown in the fire anway. Not something that we can imagine happening in our country in this age and something that will stay with me forever as I take up the cause. Anyway after another bowl of noodle soup we headed to our now familiar freezing cold room with the hole in the ground toilet a good distance away and settled down for another restless night again in all of our clothes.

Today

This morning washing up bowels were filled in the kitchen with water warmed on the fire and we rinsed our hands and faces and brushed our teeth- the most cleaning we had done for days. Poor Nam-Tso got attcked by the wild dogs- something we couldn't work out as they were really friendly to us and we had a pancake shared with them in secret for breakfast. We climbed into the car for our last journey but it was a stunning one. As we came to the first pass the Himalayas were laid out before us in all their snowy glory- when you look at the photos it looks like a fake background. Today is the day after new year that the people take prayer flags to places as offerings so the roads were busy with locals on horseback carrying bright colours flapping in the wind. We drove for 4 hours through the huge mountains with Nam-Tso constantly beeping the horn to get the huge yaks out the road. Now we are here at the border very sad that our trip is over. We are about to go to a party at Tashi's friends house and have bought a goat leg as instructed so that is quite exciting but we will be devastatd when we have to say goodbye to the most friendly, strong and kind hearted person we have met in our whole time away and the country that has really grabbed us by the hearts. I have had to write this really quickly and am worried I have not even described the beauty of what we have seen...

Thoo Jay Che Tibet..... We hope one day you will be free.