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Top 5 Options for Budget Travelers in Tibet

Posted on October 16, 2017 by TCR Team Posted in Uncategorized

Tibet Autonomous Region of China offers one of the most unique and unforgettable experience a traveller can hope from a destination. Located on Tibetan Plateau in Asia with an average altitude of above 4,000 meters, Tibet is the highest altitude location and is one of the remotest places on the planet.

Tibet’s remoteness and high altitude are combined with very mountainous terrain and make Tibet relatively difficult and expensive to access. Until 2006, flying was the only feasible travel option to Tibet and today, Tibet train is a good alternative. Still, the distances are huge here as Tibet is thousands of kilometers away from many major Chinese cities.

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The Top 4 beverages in Tibet

Posted on October 16, 2017 by TCR Team Posted in Asia

Tibet’s high-altitude environment has not only shaped its culture and lifestyle; it has also shaped its food and beverages. The high altitude does not only restrict the types of ingredients, it has also shaped the taste and expectation of Tibetan people from what they eat and drink. For example, dairy from yak and goat is heavily used, even in beverages as the most popular and famous Tibetan beverage, Tibetan butter tea, is made from yak butter. And high energy content of this beverage is also much-needed in 3000 – 4000 meters plus altitudes of Tibet.

When you appreciate these beverages and food, you should imagine how they were appreciated before and after a high-altitude, cold and harsh day of Tibet Plateau for nomadic ancestors of Tibetan people. Today many Tibetan food and beverages may have acquired taste if you look at them superficially (like Tibetan butter tea) but many tourists will appreciate them after a long hike in mountains for their Tibet tour.

Tea is the most popular and consumed beverage in Tibet. “One can live without food, but cannot live without tea” as Tibetan proverb goes. Tea houses are an integral part of Tibet and are great opportunities to sit down and relax. But the tea is not consumed in the form as it is done in the West. Yak butter (Tibetan butter tea) or milk & sugar (Tibetan sweet tea) are added to increase its energy content which is much needed in high altitude and cold environment.

After tea, alcoholic beverages are consumed a lot, despite the fact that alcohol consumption is contrary to Tibetan Buddhism. Farmer and nomads who cannot afford alcohol has invented simple but tasty alcoholic beverages like chang (a relative of beer) and raksi (homemade from kodo millet (kodo) or rice) which is widely consumed in Tibet and Nepal now. Beer is a relatively new introduction to Tibetan life but the Lhasa Brewery Company’s Lhasa Beer is now quite popular among Tibetan population.

There are quite a few beverages to try in Tibet but here are the top 4 beverages in Tibet you must taste during your Tibet holiday.

Tibetan butter tea

Every culture has some traditional drink which is an acquired taste. For Tibet, Tibetan butter tea (po cha) is that drink. But you will quickly appreciate it, and you may even like it after a long hiking or biking day and understand why this uniquely Tibetan beverage is so loved and appreciated in Tibet. A salty mixture of black tea and Tibetan butter made from dri milk (female yak is called dri), Tibetan tea is a sort of light, creamy, cheesy soup for outsiders rather than a beverage. Yak butter in fact feels more like a sort of cheese broth rather than butter and it has a smell and taste similar to blue cheese or Roquefort.

We highly recommend the traditional Tibetan butter tea made from yak milk. Butter made from cow milk is increasingly used because it is cheaper and more available. But yak milk is creamier and have a heavier flavour compared to cow milk and this is what makes Tibetan butter tea so unique.

Tibetan Butter tea is a must have for every Tibetan daily. They like to drink it before work and serve it to guests. If you are reading this in your typical altitude hometown, you may wonder how something heavy like this can be consumed like coffee or regular tea. But in Tibet’s alpine environment, butter tea’s high caloric energy content is much needed and appreciated.

Traditionally, yak milk was churned manually with a thick rod in a long upright wooden container to form butter. Today, many Tibetans use electric mixers to produce it.

Butter tea is usually enjoyed as it is but one of the most popular dish in Tibet is prepared by using tsampa, a nutty-tasting flour made from roasted barley, yak cheese and Tibetan butter tea. This easy to make dish (the ingredients are simply mixed and processed by hand until a dough is formed) is so integral to Tibetan culture that Tibetan people are collectively referred as po mi tsamsey (tsampa-eaters).

Tibetan sweet tea

For those who cannot take Tibetan butter tea, Tibetan sweet tea is an alternative since it is more familiar to western palates. Compared to Tibetan butter tea, which was probably drank by nomads of the Tibet for eons, Tibetan sweet tea drinking is a recent habit. It is probably introduced from neighboring Nepal and India by returning merchants or British troops colonizing India and was first consumed among well-off Tibetans because sugar was once a luxury on Tibet Plateau. Unlike Indian sweet tea where spices like clove, cinnamon and cardamom are used; preparing Tibetan sweet tea is simpler. Just mix powdered milk, black tea and sugar.

While touring Lhasa or any Tibetan city, you will find traditional tea houses serving this Tibet delicacy. Guang Ming Gang Qiong Sweet Teahouse, Tsamkhung Nunnery (Cang Gu Nunnery) and Laogeming Sweet Teahouse are among the most popular of these establishments.

Chang, home-made Tibetan wine

Drinking alcohol is contrary to the beliefs of Tibetan Buddhism but this does not prevent Tibetans to enjoy it. Tibetan Chang (or Chang), the most popular alcoholic beverage in Tibet, has been sold in street stalls and been consumed by Tibetans and even monks for centuries.

Chang is said to be the most favourite drink of the Yeti, Himalayan Snowmen, and he is said to raid isolated mountain villages to drink it. This alcoholic drink is made of barley, rice or millet and traditionally drank in every special event as well as for leisure. In summer, it is served at room temperature and in all other seasons it is served piping-hot in brass bowls or wooden mugs.

Chang is traditionally homemade. Farmers who cannot afford to buy alcohol can easily make chang on their own. Drank in highest place on the planet, chang is also famous as being the best remedy for the severe cold of the mountains. You can find homemade chang, bottled in plastic water bottles and sold in villages for passing by travellers.

Chang is a cousin of beer and the brew tastes like a cross between a traditional English cider and a traditional English bitter. Alcohol content is low but it creates a much-needed warm feeling essential for the cold and harsh environment of Tibet. Traditional, barley made chang is called Dru-caang and the Chang made from rice is called Dre-Chang. Dre-Chang is whiter and milkier than Dru-Chang.

Chang is the favourite drink of Losar, Tibetan New Year. In this most important festival of the year, you will see almost all Tibetans drinking it and celebrating with joy. Today, it is also very popular in Nepal, especially among Sherpa population.

Lhasa beer

Beer production is relatively a recent phenomenon in Tibet. The only international beer brand of Tibet, Lhasa Brewery Company, was founded by Chinese in 1988.

Lhasa Beer, “Beer from the Roof of the World”, can now be found in other part of the world thanks to Carlsberg’s investment in Lhasa Brewery Company, but nowhere it feels more authentic than drinking it at the roof of the world. This European style lager’s uniqueness is its unique ingredients: pure Himalayan spring water and native Tibetan barley. Tibetan barley gives a characteristic crisp clean taste to this beverage which captures the elemental essence of Tibet and the high Himalayas. Even if you are not on the lookout for exotic beers, Lhasa beer is a refreshing beverage to enjoy with Tibetan food.

A tour in Tibet has many great and unique experiences to offer. In Tibet, you will literally feel like you are in an alien but beautiful planet where man also lives. And Tibetan beverages alongside food are just another addition to this uniqueness. Although you will easily find many western and Chinese beverages in modern parts of Lhasa, just try at least these 4 beverages and you will appreciate the experience.

Traveling Tibet by Train

Posted on September 22, 2017 by TCR Team Posted in Asia

Traveling to Tibet is an adventure, and traveling by train is an even bigger one. Train to Tibet leave from seven major cities in China, most of the trains run every day, both ways. The railway lines from mainland China all run through the station at Xining, the start of the official Qingzang Railway, and then climb to the high-altitude Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau via Golmud, where the real ascent starts.

All of the Tibet trains are relatively modern, and have surprisingly excellent facilities. They are both comfortable and clean, and the staff on all of the trains are friendly and helpful at all times. The trains have three different ticket classes – Soft sleeper berths, hard sleeper berths, and hard seats – and all trains have limited medical facilities, which normally include a nurse and often a doctor, in case of any medical emergencies caused by Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), or altitude sickness, as it is more commonly known.

Facilities in soft sleeper

The soft sleeper cabins on the train to Tibet are the first-class accommodation, which afford the most comfort and privacy for the long trip to Lhasa. On each train there are normally two carriages with soft sleeper facilities, and each has 32 compartments, making a total of 64 soft sleeper cabins. Each cabin has four beds, two lower bunks and two fold-down upper bunks. The advantage of the soft sleeper over the hard sleeper is the lockable door on each cabin and fewer travelers in the same cabin, which promises better privacy.

Facilities in hard sleeper

The hard sleeper cabins on the train are the second best accommodations, and there are normally as many as eight carriages with hard sleeper cabins, each containing around ten cabins. Each compartment has 6 berths, on three levels, and are much less costly than the soft sleepers. Hard sleeper berths are more readily available, with more berths on each train, and it is often easier to get a hard sleeper berth than a soft sleeper is. The name “hard sleeper” is also a misnomer, since the beds are not really “hard”. All berths have a soft mattress and pillows, and are just as comfortable as the soft sleeper berths.

The berths are also around 30 inches wide, but are a little shorter at only five feet eleven inches long. Still enough room for the average traveler though, so it will not be cramped unless you are a lot more than six feet tall. Vertical space is normally the problem in the hard sleepers. There is around 30 inches between the lower and middle berths, 28 inches between middle and upper, and only 26 inches of headroom on the upper berth. So watch your head when sitting up in the berths. Access to each of the higher berths is gained by using the ladders at the outer end of each cabin.

There is also no door on the hard sleeper cabins, so it is open to the corridor outside. While there is very little crime on the trains due to excellent staff and the security patrol on all trains, it is still not advisable to leave valuable items in the cabin when you leave. Outside each cabin, in the corridor, are two pull-down seats and a large window for watching the landscape as the train speeds across the plateau.

Again, larger luggage can be stored under the lower bunks, while smaller bags can go on the rack above the cabin’s window. Hard sleeper berths are less expensive than the soft sleepers, but not as cheap as the seat tickets, and it is not recommended to buy a seat ticket, especially for the longer journey’s from gateway cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. Hard sleeper cabins and carriages are often more crowded than soft sleeper carriages, so if noise is an issue, the soft sleeper is probably better.

Oxygen outlets in the hard sleeper carriages are in the corridors outside the cabins, and are set into the wall of the carriage next to each pair of seats.

One of the main drawbacks to the hard sleeper cabins is that during the day, other passengers in your cabin will sit on the lower bunks to talk, play cards, read books, etc. This is normal on trains in China, and it is expected to let them to do this. If you wish for more privacy during your trip, the soft sleeper berth is the better option.

Oxygen supply on train — Oxygen supply outlet

Facilities in hard seat

The cheapest way to travel to Tibet is the hard seat ticket. While the name is another misnomer, and the seats are not really hard, they are not ideal for the long journey to Lhasa. Each carriage has around 98 seats, and there are normally four carriages on each train. Seats are set in a facing position, with a small table between, and are in rows of five, with two seats on one side of the carriage and three on the other.

Each seat has an individual oxygen outlet underneath, in case passengers have problems with altitude sickness, and there are luggage racks above the windows for storing bags and suitcases.

As the cheapest option for travel to Tibet, the seat tickets are normally used by locals traveling back to Tibet, and the carriages are often overcrowded. The seats are barely large enough for the small Asian frame, and for larger people, would be extremely uncomfortable. Some trains also allow standing passengers in the seating carriages, who normally pay a reduced cost since they do not have a seat. Standing passengers can spend the journey sitting in the dining car, while it is open. Standing is definitely not an option to recommend.

Other facilities

Aside from the sleeping facilities on the trains, each train is fully equipped with a dining cart and restaurant, where you can get a choice of both Tibetan and Chinese foods, as well as snacks and packaged meals, soft or alcoholic drinks, and tea or coffee. The cart usually comes around the carriages at meal times, and has box meals as well as snacks, drinks, etc.

*Only Chinese food is offered onboard the Tibet trains*

Hot water is also available on the train, and in each carriage, at both ends, are toilets and washing facilities. If you smoke, remember, smoking is not permitted in the carriages, washroom areas and toilets. Most trains have a smoking area at one end of each carriage. And there is no showing facilities on the train.

With the sleeper cabins, both soft and hard, it is possible that you will be sharing with members of the opposite sex, as well as complete strangers. If this is uncomfortable, you can ask to be placed in an “all girl” or “all guy” cabin at the ticket office when you book your ticket. Conductors will normally do their best to accommodate your request.