robert j. mang cycling/travel

The descent was from 13,600’ to 4,500’ over the course of 47 miles.  We started our morning on the cold arid plain of the Tibetan Plateau surrounded by snow-covered peaks.  By lunchtime we were in a lush, humid jungle overgrown with vegetation and a cacophony of tropical forest sounds.  The contrast from this morning is astounding, and welcome.

Follow the road with your eyes, it’s the most unbelievable downhill ever.  Great road, serene canyon, no cars, and down, down, down.

Our drop was through a steep river canyon, the base of which remained in shadows for most of the morning.  Every 1,000’ of decent brought with it a change in climate zone.  First we started seeing low shrubs and wildflowers.  Then we saw trees (our first trees in almost three weeks).  The sounds of birds became more and more pronounced as my altimeter spun lower.

The road just goes and goes and goes.  The road looks like it’s bottoming out, but it’s not.  It just keeps going down more and more.

Broad leaf ferns were growing at 9,500’.  The air became more humid, and for the first time in weeks my throat was not sore from breathing in the bone-dry air of the high Himalayas.  A layer of clothing was shed every 3,000’.

Further down we went; the smells of the damp jungle was a welcome change from the no-smell of the plateau.  The smooth road surface was free of traffic, so we could fly to our hearts content, only stopping to take in the surrounding remote beauty of the shear canyon and boiling rapids below.

Staying focused on the road, the canyon, and the newly changing sensations made for a perfect cycling experience. The fact that my fingers were cold at the beginning of the decent was only noticeable for a few seconds, then staying intensely focused on the experience made that become a minor feeling that would fade away to insignificance.

Porters carrying the contents of trucks across the border to Nepal.  Most trucks are not allowed to make the crossing.

Then, as we were ready to enter Nepal, we were woken from our cycling nirvana to the harsh contrast of the quiet canyon to a quintessentially awful Chinese boarder town.  Crowded, smelly, dirty, and an architectural nightmare.  There was a line of about 50 trucks queued up at the border, which took up one lane.  The other lane was a long line of women porters hauling the contents of the trucks over the border to another truck on the Nepalese side.  Certain vehicles are not allowed (ours was one such type, and I have no idea how it’s defined) to leave China, so porters are hired to ferry the contents across the border.

We had to go through Chinese customs to leave and consequently to show our passport yet again.  Then we had to show it again just before we stepped off Chinese soil just in the event that we turned into someone else in the previous 5 minutes.  Then, we had to get a Nepalese Visa, more showing of passports, and voila, we were across!

The Nepalese side of the border was worse.   More poverty, strikingly worse roads, but I have to say, and maybe I’m imagining it, the Nepalese seem one hell of a lot friendlier than the Chinese.  The Tibetans are very friendly as well, but there are precious few of them relative to the huge influx of Chinese into Tibet.

Notice the suspension bridge.   Our resort is on the other side.

We’re spending the night at The Last Resort.  It’s a fixed tent complex with hot showers, a bar, and restaurant, and the very famous Bungy Jumping off the 550’ high foot-bridge that spans 300’ across the raging river below.   I cycled across the bouncy and wobbly bridge, and can say that under no circumstances would I even consider for one nanosecond jumping off it.   Insanity is a perquisite as far as I’m concerned.

I will NOT be jumping off this bridge!

Looking down.  People actually bungy jump off this????

My afternoon will be spent sitting in this chaise lounge overlooking the lush canyon in front of me, feeling the breeze, listening to the cicadas, and keeping my feet firmly planted on the ground.

The jungle came more alive when the sun dropped below the canyon walls.  Noises from the banana trees that I could not identify, praying mantises flitting about, and a wall of noise “out there” that grew louder as the sun set further.  Then came the rain.  This environment does not get green by fertilizer.  It rains, and when it does, it comes down in solid sheets.  Our tent structures had metal roofs, and the roar was deafening, and fantastic.  Then, in the morning, it was sunny, clear, crisp, and the leaves were dripping from the evenings deluge.

Posted in Tibet, Tibet, Nepal & India, Travels

June 1: It was a short ride today of only 24 miles, and our maximum elevation was 16,750’ at the checkpoint to Everest Base Camp.

For some unknown reason, we had to hand over our passports, yet again, to go pass the checkpoint to the Everest Base Camp.  This was the second checkpoint along the short and remote road from Rongbuk.

Then, the Chinese Military, in another example of their arbitrary, on the spot rule making, told us we couldn’t go more than 100 ft. beyond the checkpoint, and no, we could not walk beyond two large mounds about 30 feet tall and 200 feet wide with a small building atop that is just in front of us that would have allowed us to actually SEE the Base Camp.   No, not today.

The Chinese Police deleting images and confiscating a flag.

The other thing we were warned about is bringing any flag to pose with at the small monument for the Base Camp.  Apparently it’s a thing to do, and the Chinese Military don’t like it, for reasons that no one fully understands.   Well, as I stood there, a Chinese woman walked up to the small monument and posed with a red flag that had a bunch of Chinese writing on it.  Someone else photographed her.  Not good.

A military guard bolted from his tent and ran up to her, yanked the flag from her hands and grabbed the camera.  After much back and forth, the photographer was forced to delete the offending images.

As I stood there, watching this display and thinking about all the controls on our movements, I couldn’t help but think about all the Chinese who come to America and have free reign of the place.  No checkpoints (once in), no restrictions on holding a flag of their choice, no mindless and arbitrary controls over simple movements.  And most importantly, no sense of fear that if you mistakenly do the wrong thing that you’ll be incarcerated.

After leaving Base Camp, we then rode down to our campsite, the best one yet:  elevation 15,162’, but it feels like we dropped thousands of feet from the environment at Rongbuk.  The camp is along a stream, on a very small quite dirt road, and has a grassy flat area for us to settle for the night.   We got into camp early, so it’s a good laundry day.  There are clothes everywhere.

A long gradual climb.

June 2: Today we “only” rode 42 miles; however it was a real mixed bag.   The first portion was a fantastic 8 mile climb of about 2000’ topping out at 16,750’ on nicely packed dirt road with amazing views of the snow capped Himalaya’s.   I could have ridden that portion over again.  After that we had a rapid undulating downhill that taxed everyone’s bike handling skills.   I loved it.

Piles of rocks with meditation mantras carved into them appear in the most remote of places.

However, after lunch, we slogged down a “road” for 20 miles that followed – no was IN – the massive riverbed.  The surface was made of large worn river rocks and sand, resulting in 20 miles of rock pounding torture that followed the excellent first portion.  The only good thing was that we had a screaming tailwind.  At one point I stood up on my pedals and acted like a spinnaker letting the wind push me along, and it did at a pace that without the wind I would have been hard-pressed to match.  My arms felt like two pieces of overdone spaghetti from all the pounding.  I’m not sure I can lift a beer; though, I will certainly give it a try.

A lone stretch of road out of Tingri.

The rocky-riverbed road ended in the town of Tingri, where we rode on a paved surface for 8 miles to camp.   Tingri is known for it’s large quantity of mangy dogs.   Now THAT’S something to be known for!  There were dogs everywhere.  Before I left on this trip I read several resources that said the dogs in Tibet are wild, rabid, and mean.  Well, I can say – and not a great lover of dogs – that they may be wild, and they may be rabid, but they certainly are not mean.  On the contrary, they are afraid of their own shadow.  They skulk away from you way before you think you might need to make one get out of your way.   The only difference in Tingri is yes, they are mangy, and they are everywhere.  I never saw so many nasty looking dogs on one street.

June 3: The ride today was short (40 miles), and flat (as in dead).   However, I didn’t ride it.  Me and one other rider developed a case of “travelers tummy” in the night.  We ended going with the truck directly to camp where, once the tents were up, I immediately laid down.  I spent the morning and afternoon napping and running to the toilet tent.  Fortunately my bug was isolated to the lower intestine.

The women in Nepal are always dressed very nicely, wear jewelry, and look very smart.  Even if they are working in the gravel pits.  It’s quite a remarkable thing.   The men, however, don’t put the same effort in their appearance.

June 4:  Unfortunately I only rode one climb, and the one downhill.  Yesterday surviving on a half bowl of rice and some water did not give me the strength to do the second pass, and more importantly, did not give me what I needed for a 25 mile finish with a grueling headwind.

Posted in Tibet, Tibet, Nepal & India, Travels

Today’s distance was only 22 miles, and we only climbed 2000’; however, the road was dirt, rocks, and washboard.  We finished at the Rongbuk Monastary, which is at 16,400’.  We make camp here, so this will be our highest nigh sleeping on the trip. This campsite puts us 5 miles and 300 feet below Everest Base Camp.

Yak’s laden with gear heading to Everest Base Camp

The weather today was perfect, except when we were about 4 miles from camp, and we faced the legendary wind off Mt. Everest.  The ride was more than rewarded by our view of Everest from the campsite.  The mountain is often covered in clouds, and the group that was here in April were unfortunately, faced with an obscured Everest after that grueling ride. For us, the mountain was right in front of us in all its spectacular glory.  It’s truly an amazing sight.

Everest at sunset.

The camp however, is not great.  The wind coming down the valley from Everest collects speed and cold, and by the time it reaches us, it’s a steady 40+ mph that’s cold and relentless.  When outside, a down jacket is required even though the sun is painfully intense and harsh at 16,400’.  Going into the tent is no relief because the solar gain is collected inside the tent, which makes it at least 90 degrees or more inside.    Bake inside, freeze outside.  The only place of moderate temperature is the dining tent, which is where I write this.

Our camp, with spectacular views of Everest.

The Ronbuk Monastary sits behind our campsite.  It’s the highest monastery in the world, and is very much a working monastery.  These are some very dedicated monks.

A monk pouring hot water on the floor to then broom it clean. Their sleeping cots line the room.

After dinner several of us went to the restaurant to have a beer in the only such place that can claim to have a view of Mt. Everest.   It was my highest beer, at 16,400’.   Lhasa beer comes in large sizes, about the equivalent of two normal bottles.  We split one between the three of us.  Two small glasses of beer was plenty.  The room was heated with Yak Dung, so that smell mixed with clouds of cigarette smoke was almost too much to take after a while, so we braved our way back to the tents.

Everest at sunrise

Posted in Tibet, Tibet, Nepal & India, Travels

Today we rode 50 miles, most of which was on a dirt road.  The climb was 17 miles, with a gain of 4,000’.  I never in my life saw so many switchbacks.  Ever. When we reached the summit our elevation was 16,980’.

The climb today was, in terms of distance, elevation gain, and total elevation not too far off yesterday, and today we rode on dirt.  But today was much easier and enjoyable.  Mostly due to the fact that there was almost no wind, my cold is about completely over, it was warm and sunny, and the scenery was far more interesting.

Then there was the downhill.   It was amazing, with more switchbacks then the uphill side as we descended 3500’ over 8 miles.

 A fantastic downhill ride.

All the while, during the downhill, we were blessed with a view of the Mt. Everest mountain range.  The sight was unbelievable, and it was difficult to keep an eye on the road with such a spectacular view right in your face.

Mt. Everest is one of the most spectacular natural scenes I’ve ever laid my eyes upon.  Superlatives do it no justice.

This is not the best view we had, just one of the first.  When we slept near the Base Camp, we had an amazing view of Everest that I’ll post later.

Tonight is another night camping.  Right behind our tent is a glacial stream with its aquamarine, frigid waters making a serpentine cut through the grassy sheep grazing pasture.   This is the view from my tent.

Posted in Tibet, Tibet, Nepal & India, Travels

The ride today is only 45 miles, but we have our biggest climb yet, topping out at 17,080’. We camp today at 14,500’, our highest so far.

Today was one of the most difficult cycling days I’ve ever had.  There were several factors that made it hard.  First, I was just getting over a cold, and had yet to fully recover.  Second, we climbed 3600’; though, that in itself is not a big deal, but ending it at over 17,000’ made it hard.  The other two factors that made today difficult, was the headwind.  It was in our face the entire climb, and then there was the temperature:  it was cold, which puts more strain on your body, all things being equal.

Prayer flags at each pass.

Yikes…. we’re really up here!

The road up.

This father and son stuck their heads into our dining tent and wouldn’t leave.  Having a gold tooth (or two) is a Tibetan thing.

A gold tooth, and two earrings in each ear!

After this climb, I never thought I would consider going down to 14,500’ as a relief.  It’s warm in camp, and the sun is unbelievably strong.

Posted in Tibet, Tibet, Nepal & India, Travels

May 27 – We’re camping at 14,000′ on another grassy plain.  Today was a pretty easy day, only about 60 miles, and pretty flat.

There is a house/”bar”/”restaurant” near our campsite, the only structure visible for miles.  We went inside and had a beer.  There was a monk chanting in a small room off the “bar” area.   The two young women who brought us beer, along with the Tibetan 2 oz beer glasses, stayed in the room continuing to refill our glasses, which, when you’re drinking out of such a small glass, happens frequently.   They then sat down, stared at us while laughing continuously.  We could only image what they were thinking.

I went back later to see if I could photo the two women who brought us our beer. I looked in on the monk and he motioned for me to sit next to him, he had been chanting and reading for quite some time.  I sat there and listened, then showed him my camera.  He was most interested.  I took several photos, and he couldn’t get enough of looking at himself on my camera.  I also convinced one of the women to have me take her photo – she was very shy, but finally she got into it!

May 28 – Today’s ride was only about 50 miles, with a 12-mile climb of 1,300 feet topping out at 14,800’.  We camp tonight at 13,500’.

The weather today was fantastic, warm, blue skies, almost no wind.  Though, sitting here now in my tent, it’s raining, and a wind has kicked up.  Everyone is praying for good weather tomorrow.

Just around cocktail time at camp we were surrounded by a hoard of children all 8-12 years old.  They were very interested in us, and particularly our cameras.   Posing for us was not a problem.  The boys were kicking the soccer ball, the girls were playing jump rope games that I remember seeing girls play when I was a kid.

Posted in Tibet, Tibet, Nepal & India, Travels

Today’s ride was flat.  No, I mean really flat.  We cycled 60 miles down the fertile river valley.    This stretch of road had the most interesting Yak Dung covered walls I’ve yet to see.  Truly works of art.

This guy looks like he’s cycling out of Las Vegas after a day at the slot machines.

This man was sitting on top of some bags of grain that were stacked on a small trailer pulled by a even smaller tractor which had a horrendous water leak coming from somewhere in the vicinity of the engine.  They would drive the tractor about 300 yards, stop, go to the irrigation ditch running along the road and fill up a bucket, pour it into the tractor, and do it again 300 yards later.  It was a very slow and painful process to watch.

This farmer was plowing his field, singing the whole time, and apparently thoroughly enjoying his work.   Can you imagine dressing up your farm animals any more than this?  It’s not as though these are animals in some tourist district posing for photographs.  They are working!  Further down the road I saw some Yak with Tibetan Prayer scarfs around their necks.  Very chic!

Posted in Tibet, Tibet, Nepal & India, Travels

I now know why there was such a large military presence in Lhasa.  July is the 60th anniversary of the “liberation of Tibet from the oppression of the D.L.” (no Orwellian language there!)  Given that there was an uprising in 1998, I guess they are over preparing for the upcoming festivities.  No American or French visitors will be allowed into Tibet during July, except for a few special exceptions.  Apparently people from those countries are sympathetic to the D.L. and his cause (I can’t use the name because people who have, have had their internet access shut down).

We camped on the edge of a sheep-herding field, so I was expecting to wake up to sheep surrounding our tents. Instead, we woke up to snow. It was cold and blowing. The prospect of getting on a bike in this was not something I was looking forward to. Our guide agreed that it would be too dangerous, so we waited in the dining tent for a few hours. Once the snow stopped, we headed out. The ride was relatively easy, about 40 miles, and it turned into a pretty nice day, except for a bit of hail, and some rain, and, oh yes, a headwind that would have made my fellow Santa Fe riders take notice.

The people here have some of the most amazing looks.

This woman was very patient with me; though, I did have a very long lens, so I wasn’t in her face.  And quite a face it is.

At every pass there are prayer flags attached to everything and anything.  Also, cars that crest the pass will toss out small paper prayer flags (about 2″ square) that come floating down as the car speeds down the other side.

A (profile of a ) castle (not a monastery) in Gyantse, which like many small towns is completely torn up for the July festivities that accompany the 60th anniversary of the “liberation”.

Posted in Tibet, Tibet, Nepal & India, Travels

Our ride today started at the campsite elevation of 15,000 ft. We cycled up to 16,650′, but from that starting point it’s relatively easy as long as you go slow and don’t try to turn it into a race. Riding up to that elevation was easier than getting off the bike once there and walking around. The climb was only 6 miles, and the overall ride was 48.

If you look to the left, you can see th road we came up.  Unlike hill climbs I’ve done in other places, you normally can’t see the upcomming pass when you’re climbing over a thousand feet.  Not in Tibet, you can see what’s ahead of you from the beginning of the climb, sometimes thousands of feet up.

These stairways to a higher plane are painted on the sides of rocks all along the roads.

Something tells me she does not know what her hat says.

Gotta do the daily prayer flag photo.

The arrangements of drying Yak dung bricks are works of art.  I’m sure Alison could figure out an installation with them!

The Chinese are fascinated by us.   I’ve had my picture taken a hundred times in just a few days.

Posted in Tibet, Tibet, Nepal & India, Travels

[this is on a Chinese computer in a VERY seedy internet cafe, I’m the only person not smoking, and the the keyboard is anything but what I’m used to, so if spelling or punctuation is wrong, you’ll know why… plus under the best of conditions, I’m a lousy speller… and its REALLY dark in here]

Our camp today was at the base of the day’s big climb, to get us over a pass and onto the Tibetan Plateau.  The climb was 17 miles and 4700 feet of climbing with a maximum altitude of 15,900 feet.  The total day was 50 miles, all the rest being mostly flat after the climb.   The Tibetan Plateau in the area of our riding is consistently around 14-15,000 feet, so that will be our base altitude for the next 10 days, with climbs taking us to 16 to 17,000 feet.

Today’s camp is on a large plain along the lake.  The wind is howling.  I hope the support crew hammered the stakes in securely or we’ll end up across the lake. 

We woke up to a bunch of Yak around our tents. They are very skittish animals, so the slightest movement sets them running. 

Speaking of Yak, the Tibetans like to use a lot of Yak Bling.

This is our toilet tent, there was not a lot around us.

Posted in Tibet, Tibet, Nepal & India, Travels

In Lhasa, the city police, military, security police, and several other uniformed, gun-toting officials makes for a very weird experience while walking around.  It’s impossible, and I mean absolutely impossible to walk for more than a few minutes without seeing groups of uniformed officers.  The military travel in groups of five, one carrying a rifle, one a fire extinguisher (presumably NOT to put out fires).  Others travel in larger or smaller groups.  There are armed guards in front of every official-looking building, of which there are many.   And tonight I saw 20 police with full riot gear: shields, helmets, and batons.  A riot in Lhasa?

Today I was cycling over a bridge and stopped in a pedestrian pull-out area to take this innocuous photo of the snow-capped mountains down river.  An army guard appeared out of nowhere and started yelling at me (in Chinese) and pointing to my camera.  Apparently there is a restriction on taking photos of mountains from bridges, I guess. Anyway, it’s all very creepy.

There is a Muslim section of Lhasa with all the butcher shops.  Apparently Buddhists don’t approve of the killing of animals, so that job is relegated to the Muslims.

Look closely, not a great photo, but I had to shoot fast.  Lhasa is filled with people riding bicycle carts selling or carrying every imaginable item.  But selling goldfish?  Now that’s original.

We visited Braille Without Borders for a tour of their small school.  It’s quite an amazing story of how a blind German woman traveled to Tibet in the 80’s by herself to set up a school for blind kids.  In Tibet, and China, blindness was, and in many rural areas still is considered a curse.  Children were often locked in their rooms or worse, tied to their beds.  Our guide, as a child, was not allowed even to dress herself because her parents said she was not capable.  The are not allowed to attend school with sighted kids even to this day in rural villages.  This charity helps educate them, and it’s quite a moving experience to see.  This little girl sang a song for us in an amazingly strong voice for such a small person.

The wall behind the Potala Palace has over a thousand prayer wheels.  This line of wheels goes on and on and on with a constant stream of people praying and spinning.

The front of Potala Palace

These girls were singing songs and tamping down the dirt floor. They invited us to participate.  I’m not sure how efficient it was, but it certainly made for good theater.

Now I expected to see a lot of prayer flags in Tibet, but the shear quantity in this spot was something.  These flags are over a spillway that connected to the Lhasa River.  I’m sure there is some significance to this spot, but we couldn’t figure it out.

Posted in Tibet, Tibet, Nepal & India, Travels

Lhasa couldn’t be more different than Kathmandu.  The major roadways are new and clean of litter.  The vehicles follow the speed limit with a frightening obedience.  Actually, the best I can figure, everyone constantly follows all the rules with strict compliance.  And unlike India (or Belgium) where there are lots of rules but no enforcement or adherence, in China there are even more rules, and everyone follows them, always.  It’s like being in a giant ant colony.

We went to the Potala Palace today.  It’s an amazing place in size and grandeur.  You can only visit it with a guide, and then only after making a pre-arranged appointment.  You get a 60-minute time slot, and if you are a few minutes late, you forfeit your time.  We had to hand over our passport to our guide for the duration of the trip, and were only given it back at the end of the tour.

The view from my hotel room.

Once inside there are no photographs, one can not wear sun glasses (even though who would want to given how dark it is), no hats (I asked why no sunglasses and hats, and the guide said it was because Buddhism didn’t allow it… now I’m no student of Buddhism, but really?), no water (but you could buy some after you when through an airport-like screening).  We were told by our guide to not ask too many questions because he would not want to be slowed down because the security police would constantly be telling us to move along (which they were).  He told us to not talk about politics, or heaven forbid we mention The D.L. #14 by name, you know, the one that if I put his name in this post my Internet access will most likely be shut down.

All that aside, it was worth the visit.  The palace is more than just a museum.  There are a lot of tourists, but there are just as many people there to pray, add Yak butter to the massive candles that are everywhere; there is chanting, and incense burning.  It’s a very special place, but unfortunately, the Chinese make sure you enjoy it as little as possible.

Pilgrims prostrating as they approach the palace.  This is a very painful looking experience.

Posted in Tibet, Tibet, Nepal & India, Travels