Page 18 - Cape-Camera-January-February-2021

January/February 2021 Cape Camera

tectural wonder is perched. It was not an easy climb as some were reluctant to discuss it with us. There seemed to be a sense
of the steps are very steep, so we took our time and enjoyed of fear.
the beautiful surroundings of the Palace at our leisure. As we Selecting food from a menu was also quite a challenge as
strolled through its winding corridors and explored a handful those were only in Tibetan script and Chinese - no English. So,
of its hundreds of rooms, we got a taste of what life within the when we went to restaurants, we would just point to dishes
palace was once like. that looked ok, although I think at some time, we may have
During our short stay in Lhasa, we saw and experienced little eaten dog meat. Anyway, we survived, and after three days
of the oppression of China, but when we tried to question our we returned to Kathmandu with some fascinating impressions
guides about what it was like to live under Chinese rule, they about a country that is so very different to our Western minds
Our return trip to Tibet in 2017 and culture.

(left) View of Mt Everest, North Side from base camp - the route taken by the 1924 British Mount Everest Expedition of which George
Mallory and Andrew Irvine were part; (right) Prayer flags framing the views of Mt Everest, North Side - taken on the approach road from
Shigatse.

On an earlier trek I had reached Everest Base Camp South Side, UK. Unfortunately, the drama did not cease there. As the China
which motivated me to retrace the steps to Everest Base Camp Air flight approached Lhasa, the captain announced that he
North Side of the 1924 British Mount Everest expedition of would not land in Lhasa but proceed to Chengdu in Western
which George Mallory and Andrew Irvine were part. Regretta- China “... owing to bad weather … “, which was total rubbish as
bly both mountaineers disappeared on their third attempt to we could see clear skies from the plane as we overflew Lhasa.
summit Mount Everest. Their disappearance has given rise to China is not a democracy. So, some hours later we landed in
the long-standing unanswered question of whether or not the Chengdu and were bussed to a hotel with horrible Chinese
pair reached the summit. food.
Our trip did not start without drama. We (my friends Reinhard By this time Wolfgang’s health had deteriorated to such an
Traub, Wolfgang Boehmer and I) had been hiking in the re- extent that we spent most of the evening arranging an emer-
mote Kingdom of Mustang region of Nepal. We arrived back at gency medical flight via Lhasa, Kathmandu to Frankfurt. Unex-
Jomson a day earlier and tried to fly back to Pokhara and on to pectedly, in the morning he seemed better and he decided to
Kathmandu, but the planes were fully booked, so we decided fly with me to Lhasa from Chengdu. I can’t begin to describe the
to drive down to Pokhara. We soon discovered that this was not outstanding organisation at the airport and flight boarding etc,
a road, but a track which was strewn with boulders. It was an because literally thousands of passengers were on the move.
extremely rough and uncomfortable ride and wreaked havoc On the tarmac were all the leading European airlines such as
on Wolfgang’s neck to such an extent that when we returned Lufthansa, Swiss Air, KLM etc - it was staggering. Our flight back
to Kathmandu and after a hospital consultation, he was about to Lhasa was scheduled at 07:30 and left on the dot.
to cancel the onward trip to Tibet and our goal of reaching base Once we landed in Lhasa we were met by our guides. This ar-
camp Everest North side. rival was a wholly different experience from 2004. The airport
However, after an overnight deliberation he decided to join me had been completely rebuilt, there was now a sophisticated
after all. So, he and I headed to Tibet while Reinhard returned to highway linking the airport to Lhasa, where we were surprised

(left) Lhasa – today a bustling metropolis; (right) Buddhist smoke offering outside the Jokhang Monastery.

17 Cape Town Photographic Society