TIBET AND MT. EVEREST BASE CAMP - 11-21 May 2014 - PART 1

"Tibet?  What, you went to Tibet?  Wah, so nice, it is one of those places that I would love to visit..."

The above seems to be the general response I got from friends and acquaintances when they heard that I just got back from Tibet.

Tibet here we come!

However, many are wary of visiting because of the 'warnings' they heard - the high incidence of acute mountain sickness (AMS), the unhygienic conditions of the toilets and concern over food hygiene.  Most of them are true except that food poisoning isn't really that rampant as, maybe, compared to Nepal or India.  But of course one has to be careful to order food freshly cooked and steaming hot when they are served.

The whole time we were there, we had food prepared by the locals and there were no incident of diarrhoea among our group, and neither did we hear about it from any other groups. 

However, one can never be too sure about AMS, though, as it seems to hit quite a number of people, including those in my group, although the symptoms may be just mild headache to severe pain and vomiting.  Nevertheless, even for those who did not experience AMS like myself, the thin air effect is still felt, and this was more acute as we headed towards Mt Everest Base Camp (EBC), i.e. needing to draw deep breaths now and then.  I was reminded time and again by the guide to walk slowly on the first 2 days until our body acclimatised.

The mountain range flanking the Lhasa airport tarmac gave us a glimpse of what to expect.

My advice?  Seeing how my travel mates suffered, I would advise others to be safe rather than sorry.  Take the high altitude medication (diamox) as a percaution before AMS hits you!  The side effects may be a bit discomforting but it beats the suffering should you get AMS.  (I understand from my travel mates that they felt some numbness in their finger tips or tongue felt funny but these effects were not too distracting.)

On our train ride from Lhasa to Xining on our way back toChengdu, we shared a car with a group of senior citizens from Taiwan.   Of the 16 of them, 12 were stricken by AMS and had to take injections in Lhasa, costing them RMB880, which is close to RM450 for that one jab!

Arrived! Adorned with the khata* presented to us by our guide, Jamba

*Khata is a traditional ceremonial scarf used in Tibet and Mongolia.  It symbolizes purity, goodwill, auspiciousness and compassion. It is usually made of silk. Tibetan khatas are usually white, symbolising the pure heart of the giver, though it is quite common to find yellow gold khatas as well.  It is a Tibetan custom to offer a Khata greeting scarf to another as a way of indicating your honourable intentions, and wishes of happiness.

Travelling along the Friendship Highway from airport to Lhasa city.

May 2014