Travel Memoirs - Let's do the Tsampa!

The crucial question on every Malaysian's mind during travel is - "How's the food??"  Unfortunately, Tibet is not known to be a gourmet's paradise for good reason.  The variety, quality and taste of food is often dictated by the fertilility and resources of the land of origin.  And Tibet, being the dry, arid, mountainous, province that it is, would hardly stand out as a food haven.  Yaks, Tibet's essential beasts of burdens, and more recently Tzors, the product of lust between yaks and cows, feature as the main meat dishes while root vegetables such as potatoes and carrots make their star appearances regularly.  And the grain of choice?  Barley, a hardy and enduring crop which can withstand the harsh weather of Tibet.  For processed foods, the ubiquitous yak butter, yoghurt and yak cheese are integral to the daily diets of the locals...

Yak butter sold by weight and yoghurt in pots....The stringy things are cheeses (which by the way, are rock hard and nearly broke my tooth!)

It is strange to now note that we really did not try that many Tibetan dishes during the trip.  I think all the AMS issues ensured that most of us stuck to "safer" choices of Chinese and Nepali cuisine, which was in abundance.  So, we ended up with only one major Tibetan meal, which took place on our very first day in Lhasa.  The theme for the day was Momos.  Momos are basically dumplings, very similar to the Chinese "wo tip".  They are usually prepared either steamed or fried, and come with various vegetable or meat fillings.  I found the momos adequate, though not particularly outstanding.  However, the sauce that they were served with was quite delicious and made all the difference - it was a little spicy and tangy, which made the dumplings really tasty....

Fried momo and the magic sauce

A more unusual dish was the fried cheese, which reminded me of the breaded mozarella sticks you sometimes find in restaurants.  It was pretty good stuff. 

Cheesy goodness!

Another dish that stood out was a murtabak-like pancake which was stuffed with meat.  By the time we were done with the momo madness, everyone seemed to have sworn off the stuff for good.  "No More MoMo" became the tagline for our meals for the rest of the trip - and we really did not ingest anymore!  So, the rest of our time in Tibet was a haze of noodles and fried rice, with some interludes of Chinese dishes with rice....

A foray into Tibetan cuisine, however, would never be complete if I didn't try a key dish which was a firm favourite with our local guide, Tseten.  He claimed that he wouldn't feel good the whole day if he skipped it for breakfast.  This was Tsampa, a concoction of roasted barley flour, yak butter, cheese, tea and sugar...

Roasted barley - which has a smoky aromatic flavour

Grinding the roasted barley into flour - the grinder is powered by a water wheel below the floor, which is fed by a rushing stream

Making the Tsampa is simple enough - just throw everything into a bowl and with your fingers, mix away.  Tseten did show how he could get an even paste by doing little deft turns of the bowl while mixing....

Tseten, mixing Tsampa

I tried the version without cheese.  Surprisingly, this humble little staple dish, which at first glance did not promise much, tasted pretty good.  As one of our group members put it, it reminded one of the almond cookies that you get for Chinese New Year.  Tseten claims Tsampa tasted like chocolate and espoused all the benefits of daily doses of the stuff - Vitamins C, B and a sunny, healthy disposition.  Just the thing everyone needs....

Back from the Roof of the World....In One Piece!

It is now Day 4 since I came back from my trip to Tibet.  And I still feel tired!  It is amazing how altitude and the lack of oxygen can affect the body.  A week prior to departure, I was starting to get mixed feelings about Tibet...no thanks to all the horror stories from "well-meaning" friends and family about terrible afflictions of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) which resulted in comatose, or worst, dead, unsuspecting tourists who thought they could take on the thin air with their weak, sea-level adjusted lungs.  It got to the point where I seriously contemplated drawing up a quick and dirty will to ensure my meagre assets are at least distributed to my loved ones should anything happen to me.  Well, even the prospect of imminent death couldn't shake me out of my usual procrastinating self - so, I ended up not doing anything about a will.  But I DID leave the key to all my bank books and deposits in an accessible location in the event my family had to make a quick trip to the ATM.....

Anyway, I hated the anxiety and decided to shove it aside.  I had trekked in places over 3000m before and I had grand dreams of doing more multi-day mountain treks in the mountains.  So I just HAD to see how I would cope with higher altitudes.  As my wise friend Rex said..."If you never never never go, you would never never never know!".  Humming to John Denver's evergreen tune, I packed my bags and got ready to go.  With one of the most complete medicinal kit I have ever assembled for my holidays.

How was Tibet?  Stark, desolate, arid, harsh.  But also beautiful - a mountainous dry land of beautiful blue blue skies decorated with clouds of various shapes and sizes.  And surprisingly full of gorgeous clear lakes too....

Yamdrotso Lake - one of Tibet's 3 holy lakes

Lhasa and Shigatse, the two major cities of the province, were surprisingly well developed. 

Bustling square in Lhasa

Square in front of Jokhang Temple, Lhasa - see the Potala Palace in the distance?

The smaller towns though, were reminiscent of the little one-street places you see on spaghetti westerns.  The locals were generally friendly - and extremely weather beaten!  The cosmetics giants would make a killing selling anti-wrinkle creams to these people.  Having to eke out their living under an intensely UV-saturated, sunshine filled land, it is no wonder they turn out as dark and deeply lined as they are.

Old and young - get the face creams early girls!

The main roads between key cities were generally good.  However, we did have to endure a bone shaking ride of nearly 8 hours when we veered off the main road to get to Mt. Everest base camp.  Toilet stops meant looking for a suitably big rock or tree - which was not really the problem.  The real challenge was the exhausting walk from the bus to the suitably big rock or tree.  Never has answering nature's call been such an exercise of willpower and effort.  Oxygen is everthing my friend.....I'm extremely glad to say my sea-level lungs braved the onslaught of dust and oxygen deprivation pretty admirably.  Despite suffering from insomnia and a mean headache or two while trying to sleep at altitudes over 4000m, I maintained a healthy appetitite and had enough energy to make it through the day.  Do fat cells store oxygen I wonder?  Hmmm... should look it up in Google - that might be what saved me.  On a more serious note, I did think perhaps my efforts at trying to build up my stamina jogging before the trip helped somewhat....It is with some glee that I now declare my altitude record  at 5248m - a height we achieved while going through one of the passes to get to the Mt. Everest base camp. 

Tibet is a place that have been romanticised somewhat by the media and the Western world, a place where most people harbour a certain curiousity, a place which seemed such a challenge to visit being THE roof of the world.  It was not an easy trip - most of my group members had to deal with one AMS symptom or another and we were not our usual chatty selves.   In restrospect (and cocooned in the safety of home), I am glad for the experience.  I hope to share more specific stories on some of the places we visited in Tibet in my next few posts - so, do watch this space!