Sanghamitra Chakraborty 2/6/22 Sanghamitra Chakraborty 2/6/22

On The Roof Of The World-TIBET

Amazing travel experience in Tibet. This blog by Sanghamitra Chakraborty covers where to travel in Tibet , how to travel and what precautions to be taken. Also covers a pictorial journey through the lens of Chiranjib Chakraborty (instagram @chiranjibc).

The very mention of the place ‘Tibet’ takes us to a dreamland where the sky is magnificently blue, the sun shines brightly on the snow-clad mountains dotted with countless monasteries inhabited by monks of all ages and the Buddhist hymn humming in the backdrop.

In October 2021, during the Chinese National Holiday, after months of planning our dream of visiting Tibet came true. There are a few different ways you can visit Tibet. However, to enter Tibet, you first need the tourist visa for China followed by the special permit to visit Tibet. There are agents in China who can help you with the permit for Tibet and for China visa you can check with the local Chinese consulate or embassy.

For reaching Tibet, you can either fly directly to Lhasa via Nepal or you can come to China and then take a flight to Lhasa – almost all major cities in China like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and many others have direct flight with Lhasa. The third option is to take a train from the Chinese city of Xining to Lhasa. The Qinghai-Tibet railway is the highest passenger railway track in the world and passes through one of the most breathtaking landscapes and takes around 24 hours. The highest point is around Tanggula with an altitude of 5,068 meter.

Our trip was from October 2nd to October 9th. The itinerary looked as follows:

October 2nd – Reach Lhasa early morning and leave for Yamdrok. Overnight stay at Yamdrok.

October 3rd – Visit Yamdrok lake and travel to Shigatse – overnight stay at Shigatse

October 4th – Start from Shigatse and reach Old Tingri – overnight stay at Old Tingri

October 5th – Reach Rongbuk Monastery near Mount Everest Base Camp – overnight stay at the monastery.

October 6th – Back to Shigatse – overnight stay at Shigatse

October 7th – From Shigatse to Namotso Lake – overnight stay at Damxung

October 8th – From back to Lhasa – overnight stay at Lhasa

October 9th – Back to Shenzhen via Guangzhou

October 2nd

We reached Lhasa from Shenzhen via Guangzhou – Chengdu in early morning at around 8 AM. We were greeted by our agent Mr. Tashi in a very traditional Tibetan way. The airport is slightly in the outskirts of the Lhasa city and it takes around an hour the reach the main city from the airport. Once we reached the city center, it took us some time to complete all the permit related formalities after which we visited the main shopping street of Lhasa to buy the essential medication which might be needed for the trip and also to have a traditional Tibetan lunch at the oldest coffee shop of Lhasa. It is around 200 years old and quite famous for its Thupka and Tibetan tea.

From Left to Right Lhasa Airport , AnotherMile Team , Tibetian Thupka , Mighty Brahmaputra River , With Great Tibetian Mastiff Dog , 200 year old Tibetian Tea House

Post lunch we had to hire our camping equipment which took around an hour and we started for our journey towards Yamdrok Lake which is approximately 108 kms from Lhasa. The road was picturesque with the Brahmaputra flowing alongside for a considerable distance and vast Himalayan range on other side of the road. Yamdrok lake is situated at an altitude of 4,441 meters which meant that we were moving higher in altitude. It is important to mention here that the height of Lhasa is 3,660 m which itself is quite high for most people. Hence, it is advisable that you stay in Lhasa for at least 24-48 hours to acclimatize to the local weather before moving to higher altitudes.

We reached Yamdrok Lake at around sunset. It is not a very popular destination for night stay but we wanted to capture the milky way and also the sunrise on the snow peaks behind the lake. We stayed at a local hotel in the village, however there was no dearth of basic facilities like room heater, hot water in the bathroom and warm water for drinking. Breakfast and dinner were also available in the hotel. The hotel balcony and the terrace provided a beautiful view of the lake along with the snowy peaks behind.

October 3rd

After a midnight photoshoot of milky way and early morning photoshoot of sunrise, we headed towards Shigatse. On the way, a few kilometers from our hotel, was the main viewpoint of Yamdrok lake where we stopped for some time to capture some more breathtaking snaps of the crystal-clear turquoise water of the lake. Yamdrok lake is also known as Green Jade Lake or Coral lake for the color of its water and smooth crystalline surface. We also visited the Kamba La Pass and Karola Glacier on our way to Shigatse. We reached Shigatse towards the evening. Shigatse is the second largest city of the Tibetan region and we stayed at the Tashi Choe Ta Hotel in the city center. We decided to have a relaxed evening as we had to start early next morning for Old Tingri.

October 4th

Excitement was at all-time high this morning as we were finally on our way to see His Highness Mt. Everest. We started early from Shigatse but the base camp permit took around 2 hours. Shortly after lunch, we reached the entrance of the Mount Everest National Nature Reserve. Mount Everest is called Mount Qomolangma in Chinese. The entrance was at a height of 5239 m situated at 87 east longitude and 28 north latitude. From there it took us around 3 more hours to reach Old Tingri, our home for that night. There is one check-point on the way to Old Tingri which takes around 30 minutes to cross and an additional stop to pick up the oxygen cylinders which we might need in the base camp. Just after entering Old Tingri, our tour guide drew our attention to left and we could see the Mount Everest standing tall. Honestly, we all had goosebumps on our first sight of the magnificent.

Entering Mount Everest National Reserve Area

Old Tingri is also not a popular destination on the way to EBC. Our main purpose of staying overnight at Old Tingri was to shoot the milkyway and the magnificent Himalayan range from a distance at sunrise. The hotel was small but nice and clean with a clear unobstructed view of the Mt. Everest.

October 5th

After an early morning photoshoot and a sumptuous breakfast with dumplings and Tibetan tea, we started on our journey to EBC.

Private vehicles are not allowed in EBC, so we had to change to the shuttle bus service managed by the National Nature Reserve authorities. It took us around 3 hours to reach the Rongbuk monastery which was 8Km away from the EBC. This is the farthest normal tourists like us were allowed to go. Since we reached quite early, getting a room in the monastery was not a problem. The rooms are given on a sharing basis – we had a room for 5 people and since we were a group of 5 people, it was just right for us. The rooms are basic with common toilets but had room heating arrangements and provided thermos for hot drinking water. After a relaxed lunch in the monastery, we went ahead to the Mt. Everest viewpoint. Words cannot describe the feelings we had when we first saw the Everest and beauty of the place. From the Tibet side, the south and west face of the mountain is visible, hence sunset was gorgeous. We were extremely lucky to get a clear weather for the sunset.

After dinner we went outside to have a look at the starry night sky and the Milky Way. We have seen Milky Way many times before coming to Tibet, but the sky we got at EBC was unparallel and mesmerizing…we have never seen anything like it before. A small disclaimer needs to be added here for those who are interested in night sky and Milky Way photoshoot – the ideal spot is on a small hillock just at the front of the Rongbuk monastery. There are very few people there and almost no neon lights. The Mt. Everest viewpoint area is too crowded and people use laser lights and flashlights – so there is a lot of light pollution.

October 6th

After experiencing a gorgeous sunset and a memorable night at the base camp, we were really looking forward to a sparkling sunrise the next morning but His Majesty Mt. Everest had decided not to show up that early. A thick cloud had completely covered the summit and the sunrise was a total dampener. Anyways, we didn’t have much time as we had to travel all the way back to Shigatse, so after waiting for a while for the fog to clear up we decided to have breakfast and leave.

108 Hair Pin bends at 5 peaks at Gyawo High Pass

On our way back to Shigatse, we traveled through the famous one-hundred hairpin turns and also stopped for the scenic view of the entire range of the 5 eight-thousanders that include Mt. Makalu, Mt. Lhotse, Mt. Everest, Mt. Cho Oyu and Mt. Xixibangma. We reached Shigatse early in the evening and retired for a well-deserved good rest for the night.

October 7th

Today we were off to experience another beautiful lake – the Namtso Lake. We had to start early as the distance was around 600 kms from Shigatse to Namtso Lake. We reached Dumxung around 4 pm. From there we had to take a shuttle bus to the lake. Our plan was to spend the sunset there. The spectacular beauty of the lake is beyond any description. At an elevation of 4,718 m, it is a salt water lake and is the largest lake of the Tibetan region. The water is sparkling blue with a vast expanse of green meadows on one side and snowcapped ranges on the other side. A huge flock of migratory birds were flying around the lake adding to the beauty of the lake. The sunset was definitely one of the most spectacular ones that we have ever seen. We took the last shuttle bus from the lake to Dumxung and after having dinner reached our hotel quite late at night.

October 8th

We were at the last leg of our journey. After a relaxed breakfast at our Dumxung hotel, we started our journey back to Lhasa. On the way we visited the famous Tsurphu monastery. An honest confession here, although Tibet is a land of monasteries, we had not really visited a single one in our entire trip as we were more interested in experiencing the natural beauty of Tibet.

The Tsurphu monastery was around 70 kms away from Lhasa at an altitude of 4,300 m. It used to be the seat of the 17th Karmapa who had left Tibet in 2000. It was quite an interesting experience visiting the monastery, listening to the stories of the 17th Karmapa and other monks who resided there.

After reaching Lhasa, we checked in to Gang-Gyan Lhasa Hotel which was quite near to the Potala Palace. After dinner, we walked to the palace, watched the Potala Palace in all its night-time glamorous avatar and spent some time in the garden opposite to the palace.

October 9th

The last day of the trip and we had planned to end it in style by visiting the Potala Palace. Entrance to Potala Palace is quite a task and you have to be perfectly on time as per your ticket. There are multiple checks and you will not be allowed inside if you are not on time.

Potala Palace is beautiful and but it takes around 3-4 hours to go around the entire palace, however it is totally worth it. So, it is recommended that you visit the palace with sufficient time in your hand. After a sumptuous lunch, it was time to go to the airport to catch our flight back home.

Few important information about Tibet travel

1. For a trip to Tibet, you need to have few permits (depending on the places you plan to visit). It is difficult for us to apply for the permits ourselves, so it is better to go through to an agent. Most of the tour companies that you can find on the internet are based in the mainland China. They will make the contract with the customers and then sub-contract them to local guides and companies who are based at Tibet. We have also gone through such an agent but we had an amazing guide who went out of his way to make our trip comfortable.

Our guide’s name was Tashi and his email ID is tsampa_tashi@hotmail.com. He can speak fluent English, Chinese, Tibetan and a little Hindi.

2. Do not ignore the acclimatization stay in Lhasa for at least 24 hours and preferably 48 hours.

3. Carry portable oxygen cylinders in your bag/backpack as they may come handy in times of emergency.

4. Public toilets in Tibet are not very clean. So please carry hand sanitizers, sanitized wet tissues in sufficient amount.

Tibet is a must visit and once in a lifetime experience.

All photos taken by Chiranjib Chakraborty. For more photos visit instagram @chiranjibc.

Sanghamitra Chakraborty 3/28/21 Sanghamitra Chakraborty 3/28/21

Changbaishan Travel Story

During the 2020 Christmas and New Year vacation AnotherMile team decided to travel to Changbaishan, a small town at north east of china to capture beautiful snowy landscapes, enjoy the serene beauty and experience the extreme cold weather.

Shan in Chinese means mountains and Changbaishan, as the name suggests, are a major mountain range that extends from the northeastern provinces of Chinas – Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning across the Chinese border with North Korea. They are also referred to as the Jangbaek or Ohnan Mountains in Korean, and as the Šanggiyan Mountains in Manchu. Most peaks exceed 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) in height, with the highest being Paektu Mountain. Changbaishan scenic area is adjoining to the Baishan town in Jilin province.

Struggling with holidays, as we always are, we tried to make an itinerary that fits within 7 days and visit some of the gorgeous places around the Changbaishan scenic area. Our itinerary for 4 days and 5 nights was as follows:

1. Dec 29 – We flew from Shenzhen to Beijing. Overnight stay at Beijing airport hotel.

2. Dec 30 – We took the morning flight from Beijing to Changbaishan Airport. Overnight stay at Erdaobaihe Town, Changbai Mountain at Lanjing Hot Spring Resort.

3. Dec 31 – We visited Changbai North Scenic Area , Tianchi lake , Lvyuantan , Changbai Waterfall. Overnight stay at Baishan City.

4. Jan 1st – early morning we visited the Jianhua Pinggang , Orchard Folk Village and in the afternoon we roamed around the small town of Baishan.

5. Jan 2 – Visited the Swanlake Scenic Area , Tashan Park

6. Jan 3 – Flew back from Changbaishan Airport to Shenzhen.

Arrival At Changbaishan Airport … AnotherMile Team

Changbai North Scenic Area

This was truly an amazing place. The weather in the morning was clear and the sun was shinning brightly but as the day progressed it got worse. However, even in the morning, there was a strong wind blowing which gave a real-feel temperature ofas against the actual temperature of. The hotel bus dropped us off to the base of the Changbaishan Scenic area where we were greeted by a severe gust of freezing wind. Somehow, we braved through the wind and got into the jeep that was supposed to take us to the top of the mountain near the Tianchi lake. The trip took around 20 minutes through the vast stretches of beautiful snow-covered mountains. When we got down, we probably experienced the most extreme cold weather that we would ever experience in our entire life. The wind was so chilling and strong that it almost cut through us and tried to blow away the 7kgs camera kit. We somehow reached Tianchi lake but unfortunately it was covered with thick fog with no visibility at all.We waited there for sometime expecting the fog to clear but we were in no luck that day. So we had to move ahead from that spot with no good pictures. Here, we need to give you an idea of the Changbai scenic area. There are multiple spots along that mountain and Tianchi lake was one of the spots. Other spots are the Changbai waterfall and Luyuan Tan. When you book a trip to the scenic area, the ticket will cover the expenses of visiting all the different spots. The jeep that we took from the base of the scenic area to the Tianchi lake was a part of the scenic area transportation. From the Tianchi lake, there are buses at short regular intervals to take us to the next scenic spot. Our next spot from the Tianchi lake was the Changbai waterfall. Fortunately, in between, there was a huge cafeteria where we could warm ourselves up. The Changbai waterfall was completely frozen. When the bus dropped us off to the Changbai Waterfall spot, our guide told us that we had to trek for sometime to go up to the mountains. The trekking fully covered with snow and the strong freezing winds made it even harder. Along the way, we could see the trees with hanging ice crystals,hot waterwhere the locals were boiling eggs without any fire. It was nature at its utmost beauty. For us it was like heaven in earth. Although the weather was foggy and cloudy, we managed to get some pretty good shots those actually bear a testimony to the freezing cold. Other than our DSLR camera, our mobile phones and GoPro had completely stopped working by that time. By the time, we returned to the base of the scenic area, it had already started snowing.

Changbai County

From the Changbaishan Scenic Area, we headed to Baishan City administrative town of Changbai County which took us almost 3 – 3.5 hours. It is a small town bordering North Korea, but extremely well planned, beautifully decorated and very peaceful. People are very friendly and local food was amazing. We stayed in a nice hotel Changbai County Hotel at the city center. During the winter, the sun sets by 4:30 PM and by 6:30 PM, the roads become empty and quiet.

Jianhua Pinggang

Jianhua Pinggang is not a tourist spot. It is actually a vast stretch of open land on the top of mountain fully and during the winter, it is fully covered with snow. All the trees are covered with ice crystals and it makes the whole area beautiful as heaven. However, we were not that lucky. This year the snowfall was less and the trees barely had any snow on them, although the ground was covered with snow. In spite of that, the overall beauty of the place was mesmerizing. The weather had also cleared up after the snowfall the night before and this time we were lucky to capture some great composition with the morning sun.

We spent a lazy afternoon by visiting a small but beautiful garden in the Baishan City followed a great dinner at a local restaurant.

Swan Scenic Area

The next morning we went to the Swan Lake Scenic Area. This was another amazing place full of full of snow and ice. The area is to the outskirts of the Baishan town and the road to the scenic area was as beautiful as the area itself. The weather was clear and the sun was shinning brightly, which made everything even more beautiful. On the way, there was a spot, where all the tree had ice crystals on them shinning like diamonds.

The entire scenic area was actually a hike with the mountains on one side and river on the other side. The waterfalls from the mountains were completely frozen creating unique patterns and ice caves. The ground along with the small bridges across the river, the wooden cabins were all covered with thick snow and made a unique combination. It took us almost three hours to cover around 60% of the entire area, however, we were very slow as we preferred to enjoy the serenity of the place rather than rushing through it. The hike along the snow-covered trail was a new experience for us. The river was not completely frozen which made it even more beautiful and we could actually see the snowflakes floating on the ice-cold water.

Journey Back

This was the last day of out trip and the next morning we started our journey to the Changbaishan airport saying goodbye to our guide and driver who had become our good friends in those few days.

Overall it was an amazing and new experience for us. We are very tropical people and have never stayed anywhere with a temperature below the freezing point. That probably made it a bit more difficult for us to acclimatize, but again the first experience is always very special. There is natural beauty everywhere and there are great opportunities for camera shoots.

Things to take with you:

1. Camera Kit – Take with you both tele photo and wide angle lens. Your mobile battery will die very soon, so don’t depend too much on mobile or equivalent battery driven camera. Best is to use the DLSR. Take atleast 2-3 spare camera batteries.

2. Clothes – Take ultra-warm inners, heavy winter jacket designed for temperatures below , two or three layers of woolens, woolen caps and scarves, two layers of gloves, woolen socks and snow shoes, and hiking sticks.

You can contact Mr XUI of Changbai Mountain (international)Travel Services for car and tour guide. Contact 13904498495. Also contact Ms. San Mao for photography guidance. You can ask Mr. XUI to connect to her.

All photos taken by Chiranjib Chakraborty