TIBET and the YAK

TACHI DE LAY (hello)

Getting to and from Llasa,Tibet is not always an easy thing to do. Sand storms and wind often delay or cancel flights as getting though the cut in the Himalayas can be tricky. We had a very early wakeup call as we were scheduled on a 7:20 AM flight from Chengdu, China to Llasa. Boarding passes, airport tax, tickets and other necessary documents were taken care of for us by our guide.  Then we learned that people going to
Lhasa the day before got sand-stormed out and were rebooked on our flight. We were off to the airport hotel for the morning until our noon flight.

I’ll spare you details of the once lovely hotel that catered to the wealthy. It definitely had seen better days!  The majority of our luggage was left in Chengdu, so we  left with only what we would need for four days. The plane was a large modern one and there were no complaints about it or any of the other three domestic flights we took while in China---all on different airlines.

Because of the hour,we were served a very good lunch. Most of the flight was well above the cloud cover, and the Himalayas did not appear until shortly before landing. The plane traveled through a narrow opening in the mountains down into the Yellow Valley. I swear I could have touched the side of the mountains if I’d been sitting on the wing tip!

Few people were able to visit Lhasa, Tibet’s capitol, before tourism opened 1980. Lhasa has been the heart and soul as well as the political and economic center of Tibet for 350 years.

Our sweet guide told us, “Use the bathroom on the plane before landing because the one at the Lhasa airport  is terrible.You don’t want to use it.”     We did as suggested, but on arrival we found ourselves in a brand new airport that had opened in late December 2003. The restrooms were clean with one western toilet. (We’ll talk about eastern and western toilets another day.)

It was riding over the rough paved road that I saw my first yak. Our van driver stopped so he could tell us about them as we watched two yoked yaks plowing a field. Bells were attached to the yoke and the animals wore red ribbons in their hair. An irresistible photo op!

Our local Tibitean guide told us, “The yak is locally referred to as the boat of the highlands because it is a great pack animal. The long-black-hair animal provides milk, cheese, butter and meat. Its dung  mixed with hay and sun dried provides fuel for heat. A yak head placed over the front door of a home is believed to protect the family.

“Not long ago nearly a million wild yak roamed freely on the plains, but due to increased demand for yak meat that herd  is estimated to be only 15,000 now. An adult yak stands nearly six feet tall at the shoulder, weighs about a ton, and has sharp three four-foot long horns. One yak of a certain color in a herd is considered bad luck, but two of the same color is considered good luck.

“Yak crowd tightly together. If they move to lower altitudes they become susceptible to disease and parasites and experience upset reproductive systems. Used to temperatures that range around 40 degrees below zero they have course shaggy black hair that covers a layer of fine undercoat, thus creating a natural all-weather coat. About 80% of the yak live in the highlands.

“Important to a Tibetan family the yak is well cared for. The number of yak owned by a family indicates the family’s wealth.”