Xining and the Ta’Er Temple

Our next stop (by plane) was the city of Xi’Ning. Xining, as noted by our professor, isn’t really known for much, but has taken on a new importance with the completion of the railway to Tibet (hereafter referred to jokingly as the trans-Tibetan-Plateau-express). The city is fairly high, almost a kilometer, and the air was fresh and cool. Apart from a short lecture by a local professor who studies Tibet, the highlight was our trip to the Ta’er temple. I’m afraid I can’t recall much, but our group photo was taken here, and it was officially the first Buddhist temple (of many) we visited on the trip.

From Xi’ning, we boarded the train again, and made for Lhasa, capital of Tibet. The train traveled 1972 kilometers–about 1,200 miles–taking just under 24 hours–a long time to be on a train. Starting at one kilometer elevation, the train crossed the Tibetan plateau, one of the most desolate places on Earth, and climbed to a height of over five kilometers at it’s peak. The view is fascinating, if sometimes depressing.

One of the fascinating aspects: observing the people who live at these altitudes. Apart from passing the world’s highest freshwater lake, we also saw the definition of rural subsistence living. Typically, we would pass a yak herd, and spot a solitary Tibetan man or woman standing in the middle of the herd. Mountains in the distance, at least four miles away, and five miles away in the other direction, and the train would travel for up to twenty minutes before passing anything that remotely resembled a village. Even the villages, as it were, were not quite state of the art. These people, we reflected, what kind of economy exists here? What do they think about this trans-Tibetan-Plateau-railroad that, let us be honest, wasn’t built with overwhelming local support? Electric lines dotted the countryside, so it is clear that they are not “backwards,” but live this way either by choice, or economic necessity–but are obviously aware of the basics of modern technology.

The altitude, the constant rocking, and the small space made quite a few of us sick. I was consigned to standing for the last eight or so hours lest I grow sick, several of the group threw up, and most had a slightly pale look by the time we rolled into Lhasa late at night. We did arrive, however, and limped off the train with some measure of victory.