August 29, 2019
Beginning the climb out of the Lhasa Valley. Many Chinese high rises under construction, as everywhere around the city.
Another 9am start with PinPin, pronounced PeenPeen. This day we are off on a 47 kilometer drive to a cave monastery up in nearby mountains called Drakyerpa Meditation Caves. The scenery is lovely once we get away from the city. We pass fields of wheat, corn and barley and gradually begin to climb into terraced hills.
Soon we reach Big Nose Pass, where there are thousands of Prayer Flags fluttering in the breeze. We stop to photograph the scene, and remembered other hillsides with many prayer flags—especially the hills of Bhutan. However, nothing so intense as this.
Shortly, we can see our destination in the distance and I am wondering how I will manage the climb. Even at city level the elevation is 11,992 ft. By the time we arrive at the car park the elevation is still 11,992. How curious is that?
It is a little after 10am when we begin the climb. PinPin takes my hand and helps steady me as we go up the irregular and often steep steps. After a short time we loose the tile steps and are going up partially carved dirt. Not east for sure. Thank goodness the path is not wet. Every few steps I must stop to catch my breath. Why am I doing this, I think to myself. After a hundred feet or so, we pick up the tile again and I am relieved. The view down the Valley of Drakyerpa is lovely and the monastery buildings and caves above are inviting. Up we go. Finally, we reach the first buildings, inside which are several caves. Each cave is a blackened rock enclosure with a nitch for meditating, one or more buddhas and candles. Some are a squeeze to enter, others are comfortable sized rooms. Women, some even with small children, have already come, deposited yak butter in the candles and moved on. We continue up to the next building and repeat the process. Currently, only 22 monks live in the whole monastery. We must have visited more than a dozen caves, all inside charming house facades. This place too was destroyed during the cultural revolution. There is still much more to be rebuilt and crews are working away at making it happen. The highest elevation we attained was 14,315 feet.
We came down a different path on descent, but still encountered a ragged dirt path without steps. While in that area we encountered several women carrying large, heavy stones up a wooden ladder. It was hard to watch, but Pin Pin insisted they were young and willing to work for the money, He said their husbands were probably home tending their children. They are not forced to do this work. Hmmm!
The sweet light of candles.
It was a relief to reach the parking lot and a restaurant…even if I wasn’t carrying stones. We each had noodle soup. I had mine with vegetables, Mark had his with yak meat. It tasted great. Never mind the dirty table. By the time we got back to the hotel, it was 2pm and we had only 3 hours to relax before our next appointment. I wrote and Mark read and napped. At 5pm we met PinPin again for a momo, or pot sticker, making class. Rather than noodle making, which we both already knew, we opted for pot stickers. The Chinese word for it is momo.
Learning to make momo, or pot stickers
I tried very hard and almost got the hang of folding it. Mark gave up early. It did not take long, however, before my tired body wanted to stop. So we sat down and waited for the momo to be steamed and served. The dough was a little too thick, but the filling had good flavor, which, of course, had nothing to do with us. We ate a bunch of them and called it dinner. All we really wanted to do was crash. I was in bed with oxygen at 8:15 and asleep soon after. Woke up at 6:15 the next day.
August 30, 2019
Up early and feeling more rested, if not completely caught up. This was a travel day and I hoped to get a post off before we left the hotel at noon. I had the text ready and most of the photos imbedded, but computer glitches slowed me down and I did not get finished. Sure hope I have WiFi in Urumqi. During our 2 flights I have continued to write and organize images, but am dead in the water without connectivity.
Strange flight plan we have had to endure. We had a short 1.5 hour flight from Lhasa to Xining in the north east, which was the wrong direction for us. Then a half hour layover in Xining before boarding another flight to Urumqi, this time the flight is going in the right direction, northwest. If you are following on a map, it will take 2.5 hours. It will be dark when we arrive. We will have only tomorrow to see Urumqi as we will fly off early the next morning.
Riding on Chinese aircraft is a lesson in Chinese rules. The English speeches are canned and very officious. You are told that the speaker is the head Chinese Security officer and that you are to do what the hostesses say or you will be incarcerated for refusing to obey. Even the usual speech about seat belts, exits, slides, etc. is presented very officiously. I was using my computer as a typewriter during the flight and was told, more than 30 minutes out, to put it away as it was not allowed. I told her it could have no affect on the flight crew, but she insisted I put it away anyway. Once the cabin crew were seated, I started working again. The young lady in the aisle seat called the hostess forward and I got another lecture—in Chinese. So I put it away, but was really incensed by the woman reporting me. How very Chinese. I thought about it and, when we were on the ground I tapped her shoulder and said “Thank You,” with a big smile, “for teaching me about Chinese people.” I think she understood, but I will never know for sure.
I’m sure it was against the rules to tear a page out of a Chinese magazine, but I took the page that will help me give you our direction of flight, the places we are visiting and the idea of distances we are covering. It was 1.5 hours from Lhasa to Xining, 2.5 hours from Xining to Urumqi and about an hour and 45 minutes from Urumqi to Kashgar.
A map of Xinjiang Province in far eastern China. We flew from Lhasa in the south to Xining in the north east, then to Urumqi or Urumchi in the northwest. Next we will fly from Urumqi to Kashgar or Kashe. From there we drive west to Tashkorgan and into Pakistan.
Adventures with Julia 
Comments
I gagged on Whitney so your experience must have been a real test. PinPin could have been a Sherpa.
I’m tired just reading of your endeavors. You are warriors 😘
I’d love to know – what was the filling of the momo? Your airplane experience is indeed very telling. How did you find the aircraft? In most domestic China flights I have been on, I find the aircraft very old and literally falling apart – a bit how you described the lack of cleanliness in an earlier post. Thanks so much again for giving us this amazing insight into your trip! Aseem