TIBET - What a Difference 100 Metres Makes!

With my dear friend Pema Nima Sherpa

At the moment my bladder is full of what feels like 5 litres of jasmine tea. I am not actually a huge fan of jasmine tea but it was the only warm fluid on offer here in Nyalam an hour or two inside the Tibetan border. Nyalam is at about 3800 metres (or 12,500 feet) above sea level so things are a bit on the chilly side.

My day started at the crack of dawn… 4:45 to be exact when I arose from my short but deep slumber in my guest house in Kathmandu, Nepal. I was doing some final organizing when I heard a tap tap on my door … it was Pema Nima and his son there to be sure I was up and ready to go. Pema is like a guardian angel... always by my side to ensure I don’t get cheated or to offer to carry a bag or to explain something about Nepal as we walked the streets of the city.

When you travel as much as I do, I become cautious and I am always on my guard. There are bad people everywhere in the world but there are also wonderful people. Pema Nima Sherpa is one of the most honest and thoughtful people I have ever met. When I arrived at the Kathmandu airport Pema draped a white silk scarf (a Kata) around my shoulders in a Buddhist sign of respect and this morning his son draped another to wish me a safe and peaceful journey.

I am now wrapped with 4 layers of blankets (and two Buddhist white silk scarves) in my tiny guest house. There was snow mixed with rain about 30 minutes ago and now it is just darn cold. I am the only foreigner here tonight and I spent my evening hanging with the locals downstairs. It is so very interesting to see the transition from traditional to modern … and the mix of Tibetan and Chinese culture … but I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s start at 5:30am when we departed Nepal’s capital Kathmandu for the border with the Tibet Autonomous Region a mere 111 km away.

My first meal in Tibet - Noodles!

When I first visited Pema Nima’s homeland it was called the Kingdom of Nepal, but today it is the Republic of Nepal. This is because the King was ousted by the Communist Maoist party and for much of the past 15 years Nepal has internal conflict between the Maoist and Nepalese armies. Today though things are relatively stable and foreign visitors can walk freely around the city but I was shocked at the number of police checkpoints we had to go through to get to the Tibet border.

I started counting after the third and I think in total we went through 7 checkpoints. Some we were waived through…. others my bag was checked… and another they wanted to see my passport. I made it through without a problem though and a few hours later arrived at the Friendship Bridge… the conection from Nepal to Tibet … and my goodness what a difference 100 metres makes!

Kodari on the Nepal side of the Friendship Bridge

Pema Nima joined me all the way to the red line half way across the bridge but could go no further. Only my guide and I were permitted to pass the Chinese soldiers and continue on to the border checkpoint. It took awhile to coordinate my transfer from the Nepalese guide to the Tibetan guide but it worked out fine and soon we were through customs. I was a bit worried about all the camera equipment I was carrying but they did not seem to be worried about that at all … they were more interested in whether I had any books or any CDs or DVDs. I showed them my Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (they were not all that interested) and also my Lonely Planet guides to Thailand and Malaysia…but what they were really looking for was a Lonely Planet guide to Tibet, which is apparently illegal to bring into the country.

As soon as I was out of the customs area I felt different. I was in China. There were police and soldiers here there and everywhere. They did not question or bother me but … they were there! And … the script on the signs turned from Nepalese to Chinese characters. The music on the radio was Chinese and the smells coming from the small restaurants were … Chinese.

The upcoming week should be most interesting!