This entry is dedicated to understanding high altitude sickness, a concern for a lot of people planning to visit Tibet on their Dream Tour to China. Also known as Acute Mountain Sickness (or AMS), it is estimated that 75% of people will experience mild symptoms of it. As Lhasa sits at 3,490 meters (11,450 feet), and the air only contains 68% of the oxygen compared to sea level, experiencing some form of AMS is a possibility.

It is impossible to predict if you will have any symptoms. It affects everyone differently and there is no high-risk profile like in other illnesses. It can affect the fit and not so fit, young or old, etc. (although some empirical studies actually show that elderly people are slightly less affected, however they cannot determine why) The good news is that if you do exhibit symptoms, most likely they will be mild.

Symptoms usually start 12-24 hours after arrival at altitude and begin to decrease in severity about the third day. The symptoms of Mild AMS does not impede your normal activity, just take steps (i.e. climbing) slowly and don’t exert yourself. Symptoms can be headache, dizziness, fatigue, shortness of breath, loss of appetite, nausea, disturbed sleep, and a feeling of malaise.

The last tour group to Lhasa that I was with ran the gamut from no symptoms to moderate symptoms. The ones that did experience AMS usually had one or two of the symptoms listed above, but no one really suffered excessively. The most common symptoms were shortness of breath, some headaches (easily curable with their preferred OTC pain reliever of choice (aspirin, ibuprofen, etc.)) and fatigue.

For the worriers of you (and you know who you are ), the major hotels all have on-site clinics complete with medical staff. One of our group who had more moderate symptoms decided to use the clinic in our hotel to great success. It was not that the symptoms were overwhelming, rather she just decided that she could get more enjoyment out of the tour if she dealt with the symptoms head-on with treatment rather than wait for her body to acclimate. A very logical choice for her, however for the rest the symptoms were mild enough to be handled with a nap or a couple of ibuprofen.

Just remember to drink lots of liquids and do try and avoid alcohol, at least for the first day or two. Dehydration impedes the body’s ability to acclimate and alcohol acts a dehydrator.

One other note, try and avoid the oxygen bottles that many places will be happy to sell you. While they make it sound tempting, unless you really need it, it will only slow your natural acclimation to the altitude.

If you want to read chapter and verse on the subject of AMS, Princeton University has a great fact sheet on the subject: Outdoor Action Guide to High Altitude: Acclimatization and Illnesses

All the Best!

Jia

Last time we were in Tibet we stayed at the Brahmaputra Grand Hotel, and it was a fantastic experience! The hotel was literally built as a hotel and museum. Classic Tibetan artwork and ancient relics adorn every wall, table and shelf  in every public room and hallway. Musicians and singers roam the hotel continuously singing and playing traditional Tibetan songs. Their haunting tones and melodies transcend language, touching your soul as you stand surrounded by so many splendors of Tibetan culture. The experience is like no other I have ever felt before.

I was totally blown away as soon as I entered the lobby. The cultural treasures were amazing, as was the decor. The grand staircase is beautiful (see picture).

Even before we finished checking in a beautiful voice drew us back to the grand staircase, where we shot the first video below.

The singers and musicians perform all day; you will encounter and enjoy impromptu Tibet folk songs all over the hotel, as the second video below video captures.

Of course Tibet itself is a spiritual experience unlike any other. You don’t have to be Buddhist to feel the holiness the land exudes, or the devoutness of the Tibetans. The streets are filled with voyagers on their holy pilgrimages to the temples. At every third step they prostrate themselves to show devotion, then rise and take three more steps before prostrating themselves again in painstaking repetition. These journeys take days, weeks, months and even years, however they must be taken. Their religion is placed above all other needs and desires.

Check out the Brahmaputra Grand Hotel’s website for much more detail.

Just let me know when you are ready to experience Tibet for yourself!

All the Best!

Jia

My fun memory came from my shopping experience on Bakhor Street. I wanted to find some real Tibetan souvenir back home and finally I found a beautiful carved bronze incense burner. It was very elegant and carved with dragon and other Tibetan lions on the incense burner. When I started asking price, as I expected the owner, a Han people (ethnic Chinese) looked at me trying to figure out where I’m from. You see part of the art of negotiating is knowing who you are dealing with. I spoke mandarin with him and told him that I’m no tourist, so to get rid of his confusion about whether I’m not a real Chinese. He was quite impressed by my standard Mandarin, but still suspiciously looking at my husband and a friend who were with me, and both of them are Caucasian. I started countering his price with one third of his asking price, as I expected he wasn’t offended at all, and just kept asking me to increase the offer. I told him we had almost finished our circle in Bhakor Street, so I know the market price pretty well. He agreed to drop one third, however we still haven’t got agreement yet. Many locals, including vendors, Tibetans, and tourists stopped by and started to watch my bargaining. Even the Tibetan monk who was sitting behind the vendor started to emerge and show interest to our negotiation. … Eventually I got it in between one third and one half of his asking price, which is quite a good deal in my opinion. The onlookers seemed didn’t have enough of the show and were reluctant to leave; so I teased them and said the show is over. The vendor appreciated my business and carefully wrapped my incense burner for me. After I went back to our group meeting place, I showed our guide Lobsong my hard-bargained incense burner and told him the price, he gave his signature sunny smile first, and as I expected he said “It was okay…” I knew by his smile that I could have got better deal if he was there. But I had great fun there, and even today that beautiful incense burner is still the center piece of our dining table, reminding me all those fun times I had in the Holy City – Lhasa!

First, because of its high altitude, not everyone is able to go there, so makes it even more mysterious. As soon as we landed at Lhasa airport, I could feel the thin and pure air, even the sun seemed stronger. What a direct, bold welcome to “the roof of the world”!

Our local guide was a sunny young Tibetan man, who was once a monk. So my group was very lucky to gain a lot of deep, insightful knowledge of Lama Buddhism. Our guide Lobsong, who was warm as the Tibetan sun in Lhasa and a smile that was just as bright, impressed my group with his genuine honesty, and warm-heart.

Lobsong’s English was beyond my expectation, especially after he honestly told the group that he taught himself English and had never been to college. I really got tickled that whenever he had difficulty with English, he would pause and ask me in Chinese right in front of the group “How do you say… in English, I don’t know.” Then flash a big sunny smile. But when people asked anything about Lama Buddhism, Lobsong instantly lit up and gave a sophisticated lecture, including those big religious words which was even first time for me to hear! Our whole group fell in love with this genuine Tibetan boy!

My highlight was the day we visited Potala Palace, which was even more impressive than its physical heights – especially after we heard and had seen how religious it is here. It is a several hundreds steps climb one way up. Not everyone in my group attempted the trek because once you start climbing, you can’t go back; since it is one-way you have to keep going forward. So standing at entrance to Palace after climbing all those stairs, I felt quite a sense of accomplishment. Even though it was so high and the air so much thinner, it was well worth it ! The dramatic architecture of the Potala Palace framed in the unusually blue sky, surrounded by the mountains around, it was quite a picture!

On the way out from the Potala Palace, there were some Tibetan ladies working on repairing the roof, they were patting some dirt or mud into the walls with some very primitive tools. Our group had just finished touring the Potala Palace and on our way out. After several hundred steps up and down combined with the altitude sickness, no one had energy to talk any more, we were just trying to breath in the thin air and at the same time enjoy the unusual blue sky. It was quite a picture: the dramatic Potala Palace with its shining gorgeous red and gold colors under the beautiful sunshine, framed against the pure blue sky! Suddenly, the sound of a deliberately rhythmic beating came to us. All of the young women were beating the patching mud to the same beat. Then so naturally, a beautiful song began to flow out of that rhythm… Listening to them sing to the beat so cheerfully, the performing was magical! What a peaceful and natural scene! No one could make it as perfect as the way it was naturally made. Everyone stopped and looked up: there they were – those Tibetan girls dressed in their traditional dress sitting on the roof, patting and beating and singing in perfect harmony… They didn’t even notice that we were videoing them, just enjoying themselves in their work. They were so happy, even though they don’t have fancy designer clothes or modern lifestyle; they were being true to themselves. No one was directing, no one was following, but it made such a harmonious symphony! I felt my heart lifted with this original beauty of human beings, and I truly hope they can always have and enjoy this true happiness! That video is one of my priceless treasures I took home form Tibet!