Anectdotes and stories

• Lake Manasarovar lies at 4,556 m (14,947.5 ft) above mean sea level, making it the highest freshwater lake in the world. It is relatively round in shape with the circumference of 88 km (55 miles.)  Its depth is 90 m (300 ft) and its surface area is 320 square km (120 sq mi.)  It is connected to nearby Lake Rakshastal by the natural Ganga Chu channel.  Manasarovar is the source of the Sutlej River which is the easternmost large tributary of the Indus river.  Nearby are the sources of the Brahmaputra River, the Indus River and the Karnali River (Ghaghara) which is an important tributary of the Ganges River; so this region is the hydrographic nexus of the Himalayas.
• We reached Lake Mansarovar on September 7 and had our first Darshan (view) of Kailash, and then for the next seven days.  On September 8, we took a bath in Mansarovar and prayed in Baba's memory.  
• From Mansarovar looking North, you see the South face of Kailash and adjacent snow capped range to the East - together that looks exactly like the Shiva Lingam (see picture below of Shri Vyadeshwar at Guhaghar - our family deity, or Kul Daivat.)  In fact, the actual terrain also is very similar - with valleys surrounding Kailash, and rivers flowing on both sides.  This was our "real" Kul Daivat.  I was so glad that Kedar was with me as well.  Both Mahadeo and Kedar are names of Lord Shiva.

• We brought back some Mansarovar water (two half liter bottles) with us.  After spending the morning of the 9th climbing the Fire Hill (where Lord Shiva cooked a meal.  So called because of the flint stones found there.) and visiting Chiu Monastery, we left for Darchen 30 miles away.  Parikrama started on the 10th with our closest view of Kailash North Face that evening.  Reaching Shiva Sthal (symbolic death) and Dolma La (re-birth) on the 11th, we trekked back to Darchen on 12th (Full Moon)  We left Darchen on the 13th, reached Everest Base Camp (Tibet) on the 15th, and back to Lhasa on the 17th.  Trip ended for me on the 18th, and for Kedar, on the 19th.

Normal routine around the trek is as follows:  

Large Indian groups carry their own food and cooking utensils (on Yaks, of course.), and bring chefs from Nepal to cook their special vegetarian meals.  Most Indian pilgrims ride horses for Parikrama (but have to get off from time to time in treacherous areas.), though there are some die hard trekkers who do walk.

Interestingly enough, Indians actually do only 60% of the entire Parikrama (not 100% from Darchen back to Darchen.)  On the first day, they are driven from Darchen to Tarboche (2 hours walk away) where they pick up their horses.  On the last day, a couple of hours from Zutul-puk Monastery, horses drop them off at a tea house, where their Land Cruisers come to pick them up to take back to Darchen, another two hours walk away.

Tibetans and Bons (pre-Buddhists), on the other hand, make the entire Kora in a single day (14 hours) on Full Moon day - these are families from the oldest to youngest, even babies.  Some stop overnight, but they just camp wherever they find convenient open space near the river/stream.  Others do Prostration (Sashtang Namaskar) Kora around, which could take up to three weeks.  We saw some of those as well.  Tibetan and Hindus go clockwise (left); Bons counter-clockwise (right.)

Then there are trekkers - we saw mostly Europeans - who start and end at their hotel/tea houses in Darchen for full 100% credit, and they are not even religious!  So did we.

On a typical day:

Yaks get loaded and leave first, so cooks could reach the next stop early and keep meals ready for their groups.  Horses and Horsemen (sometimes, these are women or children too.) also go pretty early.  By the time we reached the bottom of the Dolma La pass, most horses had already gone by and in fact, some were already returning from the top.  Fast trekkers also rush ahead.  Tibetans are seen at all times.  There is really no time when you find yourself alone.  If nothing else, Bons going in the opposite direction will be there.  

• Tibet - the land of Land Cruisers (and now minivans and even sedans.) - not to mention tractors, yaks, sheep, and even an occasional prostrator.
• High Mountain Passes - Western Tibet has a base elevation of 12000 ft (Eastern Tibet slopes downwards to much more reasonable heights.), and therefore a 5000 ft climb gets you to 17000 ft - easy.  Going West, we crossed so many passes over 17000 ft that it ceased to be a novelty.  Note that none of those were the highest in Tibet or in the world.  The highest point usually has a sign and guaranteed to have prayer flags - see https://photos.app.goo.gl/7DyT1pbn74xbViQ3A)
•  Owning the road - As mentioned earlier,
  - Hardy cars - for all the rough and tumble that Tibetan cars go through, I expected some car trouble during our trip.  Surprisingly, the roads were fantastic, and we had NO flat tires - although once the driver replaced the tire, just to be on the safe side.  We used to stop at the top of the passes to take photos - which also served to cool down the cars.  Occasionally, the driver would suggest that we stop a few extra minutes.  And he would refill the radiator often.  But those cars seemed to have no problems with the elevation or the lack of oxygen.  Thank goodness for that.
• Road construction - as part of China's growth story, you can see construction going on everywhere.  Most noticeable, of course, was the road construction.
  - Throughout Tibet, although the roads were only recently paved/repaved/built, potholes were constantly cleaned in square patches and later filled. There were stretches of roads - all two lanes, one lane each way - where traffic from either direction was swerving to avoid those pothole patches waiting to be repaired, while simultaneously avoiding oncoming traffic.  Thank goodness, the traffic was sparse enough to be an issue or cause for concern.
  - In most cities and towns, either the roads or the sidewalks were being torn down and re-built for no apparently good reason.  (As the story goes, each new mayor/governor of the city wants to show progress by using the plentiful government money.  I am sure contractors were happy.)
• Train from PEK to LXA in two days - with just a few stops (http://www.chinatibettrain.com/beijinglhasa.htm) would be a fantastic way to visit Tibet.  Where else would you experience oxygen pumped through air conditioning in your train cabin, or riding on perma-frost?
• Travelers Checks and transferring money to China - Do you know if you can even get travelers checks these days?  One of the benefits of my Bank of America account was FREE travelers checks.  This was when I opened the account decades ago.  Now, BofA doesn't offer travelers checks.
  - so where do you get them?  Well, American Express still offers travelers checks, sold in their offices.  And if you have a American Express credit card, the checks are free.
  - Of course, who needs travelers checks these days?  BofA told me that their debit card is accepted everywhere; and at China Construction Bank ATMs, there is no ATM fee.  (You will still pay foreign exchange fee - 1% I think.)
  - Why did I need travelers checks?  The travel agents in Tibet needs to be paid in full before the tour begins.  You send some deposit upfront (via Western Union - more about it later.), and the rest is due upon landing in Lhasa.
  - Transferring money via Western Union is easy (kind of!  Their website is awful, customer service bad, but the process is straight forward once you figure it out.  The fees aren't too bad for 3 business day transfer.  I paid $15 to transfer $2000 online.)  You debit your checking account and give full name of the person receiving money, City and Country - that's it.  You email the transaction code to the other party, and with proper identification, they get the money.  It costs more, but it is possible to send money in minutes.  (It costs much more to send money within US in some instances.  Go figure!)
  -  I could have paid the balance due via Western Union as well, but I wanted to meet the person and confirm that everything is in good order before paying the entire amount.  Thank goodness, everything was legitimate, and our trip went as planned.  Almost - as it turned out, cashing the travelers checks was a bit complicated.
  - I asked Sales Director Tony to cash travelers checks by signing in both places and depositing in to his account.  But his bank wouldn't accept because Tony had no source to US dollars.  Therefore, I needed to go to the bank (Only Bank of China handles foreign exchange, but they have branches everywhere.), sign the check to Tony in front of the teller (my signature didn't match exactly on one check!), and as a separate transaction, the bank deposited the Yuan equivalent in Tony's account.  That ended up being one hour "tour" of a Chinese bank.
  - Otherwise, we didn't really need much cash since most of the trip was all inclusive, and our food expenses were minimal. 
• English TV - In Beijing, CCTV 4 is the English channel.  There was usually one (max. two) English channel available in big cities.  Other places had none.
• Media Coverage - Conoco Phillips oil spill, Sino-Philippines relationship, Income Tax Reform, New Aircraft Carrier, AT&T - T-Mobile merger were the major items.  (At that same time, it was BP oil spill news in the US.)
• Electricity - Solar is available everywhere - every house in Paryang, for example.  Electric plugs in just about every place in Tibet had multi-sockets.  US plugs would fit without an adapter - as long as it could take 220V.
• Traffic - same as US, disciplined, a lot of pedestrians, 
• Traffic lights - blinking yellow or green before changing.  Seconds countdown clocks at major intersections.
• China Mobile - the only sign on the road to Everest Base Camp. 
• Jet streaks in the sky - while driving from Mansarovar to Everest, our driver suddenly slowed the car down and started chatting with the guide in a hushed tone.  After a while, the guide showed me jet streaks in the sky - like you see when the sky is clear and jet exhaust condenses to create two or four streaks behind it.  The streaks had suddenly disappeared and there was no plane to be seen ahead of it.  The Tibetans had apparently never seen those before and thought that they were military jets on a mission.  Soon the streaks re-appeared and we could see a commercial jetliner ahead of it.  Mystery solved, but I could imagine how someone could be scared unless they knew what it was.
• Coca Cola everywhere
• KFC - much more common than McDonalds
• Receipts and taxes - shop owners are required to collect sales taxes and pass it on to the government.  Because most transactions are in cash (debit cards are becoming popular in major cities now.), the possibility of tax avoidance is fairly large.  To encourage compliance, the government has scratchers on the receipt.  Like lottery tickets, you scratch off boxes on the receipts and you could win instant cash.  Winning over (I think) 20 Yuans has to be collected from somewhere else.  The first time I saw them was when I boarded the airport shuttle in Lhasa, and my guide showed me how they worked.  Later, in LanZhou, my students would automatically do it for me.  I never won anything!  
• Dinner courses - Like everything else, it takes some getting used to in a new country.  The dinner format is also different.
  - In Tibet, it was pretty much one size fits all.  Noodles/Noodle soup works for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  It may or may not include any veggies or meat, but is very spicy and of course, hot.  Veggies if any would be limited, and the meat usually was Yak Meat.
  - Tea is of course everywhere.  Standard tea was black tea (no sugar or milk) and Tibetan's favorite Butter Tea (Tea with Yak Butter and Salt), which takes getting used to.  Then, there are Green Tea, White Tea and so many other specialty teas.  Specialty teas have many types of leaves, flowers, spices and rock sugar, which is re-filled with hot water as long as you are sitting at the dinner table.
•  Cold appetizer first, then the main course, rice comes later unless specifically requested earlier, soup and then may be fruit.  Not many sweet desserts - although Shanghai apparently is changing their tastes towards sweets. 
• Yaks - Cows are considered sacred in India.  This is mainly because, since the agricultural era - which still continues, cows have served a very useful purpose - from milk, butter, leather, to, of course, plowing fields.
  - Yaks serve the same purposes in Tibet, and more.  Yak meat is the main source of protein (lamb is occasionally available as well.)  Yak hair adorn the center poles in monasteries (https://photos.app.goo.gl/zYNyFig6UvJvHbBs6),
  - For more, see http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/006/AD347E/ad347e0l.htm