Overview
If you are considering this tour, there are a number of factors to consider. I’ve addressed some throughout my tale, but I believe a rundown of them all in one post is warranted.
HEALTH
The first thing to understand is that travelling in Tibet is a physically demanding activity. The altitude goes from 3600 metres (12,000 feet) in Lhasa to over 5200 metres (17,000 feet) en route to Everest with the highest night being at 4950 metres (16,300 feet) in Rongbuk at the base of Everest. To make matters worse, many of the monasteries are on mountain sides, which mean a lot of steps. Steps that could challenge people at sea level.
As no one can predict how they will react to the altitude there are some who should not consider tours at altitude. That includes anyone with any kind of cardiac or respiratory issues. Heavy smokers or those with excessive weight are also at risk of issues at altitude. Added to that, once in the region of Everest, the closest hospital is several hours away.
Overall, if one is unable to walk two or three kilometres or climb several flights of stairs at sea level, doing it at altitude would be difficult at best.
One can take Diamox to help with the altitude but it could mean a few more bathroom stops along the way and some find it doesn’t help. Another way to find out how one might react to altitude would be to consider a visit to another location at altitude around ten to twelve thousand feet like the Arizona, Colorado, Peru, Bolivia etc.
So, essentially, one has to be in reasonable health and be physically active for this tour. Ignoring potential issues could not only mean that you can’t enjoy the tour, it could potentially put your life at risk. (And yes, I was told of one person who did pass away in the Everest region and of others who ignored the advice and had to be evacuated).
Once in Tibet, I highly recommend that you listen to the guide’s advice.
Every. Single. Word.
If they tell you to drink two litres of water a day, drink two litres of water a day. If they tell you to walk slowly, walk slowly. If they suggest you sleep with your head higher, pile those pillows up and sleep in a reclined position. When they ask about your symptoms each day, do not lie. If you’re dizzy, short of breath, have a headache, stomach issues, do not lie.
Lying could not only risk your own health, it could also put tourmates out. If one hasn’t been honest and finds themselves in Rongbuk with issue they can’t handle, the whole tour could be forced to leave. (Intrepid will include a second guide after Sakya for just this kind of emergency which reduces the risk of tourmates losing out. That being said, an unprepared Chinese tour arrived in Rongbuk a few hours after me and had to turn around and leave because of altitude issues).
For myself, I had almost no issues. I have a minor bleeding disorder which means I have thinner blood and one doctor had suggested that it might help me cope with altitude. The only issue I had in Tibet was that I did have to stop to catch my breath periodically, especially when doing stairs. I never felt like I wasn’t able to catch my breath. I just felt the need to fill my lungs.
Kandol would never rush me and would make stops all the time.
I would sleep with pillows piled under me so that my head and lungs were not horizontal. This helped with sleep considerably (as most issues with altitude occur as you sleep in the hours around midnight). It wasn’t until my second last night in Tibet that I was able to sleep comfortably without the pillows piled up.
I drank water throughout the day and the dry air helped with this as my throat would constantly be dry. This kept reminding me to drink. I easily went through two litres of day. I also avoided soft drinks the day we headed to Everest as I didn’t need the caffeine making my heart work harder.
The dry air was also hard on the skin. By the end of the tour, my hands were cracking to the point of being red and raw in spots. I picked up hand moisturizer which helped. As well, sunscreen lip balm like Burt’s Bees All Weather helped keep my lips from cracking. By the end of the tour, I noticed my feet, knees and elbows were also dry and cracking.
I had a dry nose that blew red a lot. I had a steroid nasal spray that helped. I also took antihistamines.
Another suggestion was to drink hot liquids when possible. This helps avoid getting sick as it keeps the throat warm in the cooler air. Viruses don’t like heat.
Kandol warned against the use of sleeping pills and Aspirin. Both can mean it’s harder to wake at night when altitude issues could arise.
The sun was very hot in Tibet due to the altitude. It could be -1 C when I got up but by noon it was in the teens, and so hot, I could feel exposed skin burning.
I wore a buff around my baseball cap to protect my skin. Most Tibetans wore face masks for this reason.
ACCOMMODATION
The hotels went from very basic at Rongbuk, to very nice in Sakya.
Most were centrally located, and it was perfectly safe to walk anywhere. The beds were all very hard, but all were clean. There was only one English channel (China Global Television Network or CGTN) on TV. I had a staff member show me how the access it in Lhasa, and after that, I was always able to find it.
There were two types of accomodations at Rongbuk. During the high season, people share a tent. This is as basic as it comes. Kandol said the blankets in the tents may not always be the best and the company sometimes provides sleeping bags. One can also take a sleeping sheet to have between them and the blankets.
The off season accommodation is the monastery guest house.
That is where we stayed. The room was just the bed, a basin, a thermos of hot water to wash up with and desk.
There was no heater except for the heating pad on the bed. Without it, I would have been an icicle. With it, I was an icicle.
Both options are what I’d call roughing it. Some other tourists I spoke to loved it while others were horrified. But given the location, you do what you have to do. Long thermal underwear would have been worth carrying around for four weeks for that one night.
TOILETS
Bathrooms ranged from western style to squat to just holes in the floor. Most were fine, but some toilets in the more remote areas, which we called Adventurous, were holes in the floor with only a half wall separating the stalls, like the bathroom in Rongbuk.
I would just go to the last stall and rarely had company anyway.
Always carry tissues or rolls of travel toilet paper.
TRANSPORTATION
The roads were all paved though the driving style can be a little hard on the heart when you see trucks passing cars on blind corners. My driver was amazing and I never felt unsafe. There was one mountain pass with the switchbacks from hell, so if you get motion sick easily, these two will do it.
If you take medication for motion sickness, you’ll likely want it for that day which is the drive to and from Everest.
The speed of the tour vehicles is controlled. At times, we had to pull over to wait because the speed meant they’d reach a certain point too early. Photo radar exists in most towns and cities. The highway speed is 100 kph and was respected.
The minivan had two white boxes with black bubbles on the dash. They were dashcams that looked forward and into the van. They also recorded sound.
GPS followed the van and once in a while, I’d hear a woman’s voice on a radio. Kandol said it was reminding the driver to watch his speed, wear seatbelts and more.
Checkpoints outside Lhasa were frequent. Sometimes Kandol would only need to give them a photocopy of a sheet and other times I would have to go inside with my passport. None caused any issues. Kandol held on to my Tibetan visa for the entire tour and I got it back for departure.
WATER
Water from the tap can’t be consumed directly but can be boiled for tea in the morning. All the hotels except Rongbuk had kettles. I would fill it at night and boil it repeatedly before I went to bed so that it was ready for the morning. I ate in local restuaruants with Kandol and never had any tummy issues. Vegetable noodle soup was my favourite but I had yak a couple times and loved it. If you like beef, you’ll probably like yak.
INTERNET
Internet was slow and many western sites from Facebook to all things Google were blocked. Most VPNs are also blocked now. My VPN (NordVPN) had recommended checking with them before I left (which I didn’t know at the time) and wasn’t able to connect through them. If you want to use one, research which ones work in China and download one (or several) before you arrive in Tibet. I was eventually able to get Turbo VPN (orange icon with a white rabbit) on my cell phone and it worked great. I was only able to download it in Tibet when I figured out how to access the Bing search engine which was not blocked.
On my last morning in Tibet, Turbo VPN was blocked.
PLUGS
Plugs were generally able to accept three type. North American flat prong, European round prong and Australian slanted prong. The North American/European dual plugs did not have a ground, so for my laptop plug, I added the European adapter which mean the ground didn’t reach the plug.
MISC
Getting a clear day in Everest is hit or miss, but with two days, the odds are that one would be clear. In Nepal, seeing Everest from the air only revealed the top portion as most of the mountain is obscured by a curtain of rock. In Tibet, the whole mountain from 16,300 feet to the top is visible at the end of the valley. It is magnificent.
On my first day, Kandol noted some typical characteristics of the local people. First, they like to spit. Second, they can sometimes lick out their tongue at you. This is not being mean. It’s a sign of respect. And thirdly, like most Chinese, they like to push. They’re not being rude. It’s normal. As a Canadian, it took some effort to push, but if I didn’t, I’d still be there.
Granted, there was much less pushing in Tibet than I had experienced in eastern China.
With all this in mind, if Tibet is still a destination of choice, you will not be disappointed. The mountain passes, the scenery, the history, the people are amazing. The tour was an excellent combination of cultural, architectural, natural and culinary experiences.
It is the visit of a lifetime.
Go to Day One
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