YSES DYEG 2007

Right so… overall impressions of the last month…

Obviously had a really amazing time, not sure I could pick one favourite thing but highlights include Mustagata, the drive from Narat, swimming in the lake today and, of course, that first night at Manosarovar. The hardest part was probably the first week because there was just too much time spent on the mini-bus like tourists, although we did see some really impressive things.

Despite being dubious about how small the group was at first I think it’s actually turned out to be an advantage; we’ve all got to know each other really well and had a laugh. If I came back here in the future I would definitely like to see more of Kyrgyzstan as it’s beautiful, and I would bring my own breakfast supplies for travelling in China. J

Giles.

Overall, I think our journey has been great! Especially with the amount of distance we had covered. From Xinjiang to Xi’an, around Tibet and back up, almost the entire North West region of China! I think what I’ve gained from the trip is that other view of China I had never seen. The difference in their styles of living was fascinating for me, because of my background from Hong Kong. It makes me realise that China is a multi-cultural country with minorities that do integrate and unite as a whole.

One of the surprises I had was the time we’ve spent in Kyrgyzstan. I did not expect much, and did not know what to expect from the region, but the places that we went were just amazingly nice.

Time has gone quickly! It is sad to say that we’ve nearly come to the end of the trip. One thing that I will really miss is the friendship we’ve built up within the past 4 weeks. I think we had made such a brilliant team together and having everyone being sensible and friendly to each other (really had a good time out here!).

Sam.

Right. Highlights, low points, things I would change, things I would keep the same;

For me, the highlights of the trip would be time spent in tents; at Manasarovar, Mustagata and our night in the desert. I also really enjoyed the experience of the sleeper trains and ‘over-landing’ in land cruisers. In terms of low points, for me these came at times of feeling physically ill combined with the boredom and homesickness in various measures. If the trip were run again, I would like to see more trekking and less travel but I would, as others have said, encourage a small group. I think that the group size has been a key factor allowing us to come out of this not as simply fellow expeditioners but as friends. What a cracking August!

Anna.

Best bits: hiking around Mustagata – challenging because of the altitude but staying in the summer yurt camp and the views from the glacier made it worth it. I had been expecting a lot more trekking during the expedition and had been very disappointed when first the Kailash Kora was cancelled and then the desert trek was not so much of a trek as a quick ride over the dunes!

Overall, we have experienced diverse cultures and covered a huge amount of ground, but the physical challenges and experiencing the wilderness areas have been a less important part of the trip than I expected.

I loved Lhasa and hope to go back there before if changes out of all recognition.

Worst bits: Paryang and everyone feeling ill with the altitude, including myself. At least it will give me something to remember and talk about, but it was difficult to manage feeling ill myself with a banging headache and being really spaced out with trying to make sure the rest of the group were OK and discussing safe contingency plans.

How to improve?

I have really enjoyed being in such a close group of fantastic people. Perhaps if we’d lost Richard somewhere along the way our trip might have been a little less boisterous!

Really a lot of travelling, but that’s the nature of the environment we were in. I loved our time in tents most, so I guess more of that would be a good thing.

What I have learnt from the trip is that coming back as a doctor is just as enjoyable as participating as an expeditioner. I hope to go on more trips in the future and have realised that the age gap is no barrier to making friends. (Sorry it’s so long!).

Kris

This trip has been one of the only times I have been away for so long without family. Looking back at being in Manchester Airport on the first day I think how excited I was and now how exciting it has been and how glad I am to have done it. I think what I will take most from having done this trip is an ambition to go out and “just do it”. The physical achievements have been less than I had hoped for but the experience was awesome. The fact I lost my bag and didn’t get it back until the last day is a farce, although it may not have been comfortable it was a fantastic experience. I have loved this adventure but it has been tough at times but overall a good experience. Thanks everyone for a great trip!

Lucy.

‘End of term’ thingy underway… …

My favourite bits have been many, particularly visiting Lhasa, having read about it before coming and being pleased to see that it is as magical as it has been described. I also loved the Mustagata bit of the tip and also the first yurt camp night in Kyrgyzstan with the sauna. Overall, I’ve had a fantastic month, though I would have preferred a little less driving in the first half of the trip.

I also feel that having such a small group has made the experience really special and that I have got to know everyone and had time to make friends.

I has also been a little odd for me to be in the middle of the age range, not quite so ‘old and mature’ (sorry Paul) but not quite a teenager. This, however, has been one of the amazing things about the trip, seeing that there is no difference when everyone is enthusiastic and having a great time. I hope that everyone will keep in touch and that we will all enjoy many more travel experiences, as much as we have this one.

Richard.

Well, I believe that my favourite parts of the trip were when we were at Mustagata and in the desert, this is probably because we were walking and we were all having a great time, great view, and a great (as in big) relax!

I also quite enjoyed our time in Kyrgyzstan because the people are really friendly, our tour guide did not make a bad impression and also because of the amazing scenery and food.

I believe that the best meal was probably at ‘Tash-Rabat’ because it was so so good. Also, we had a month of Chinese oversized portions and finally it felt like the food was normal.

I think that I probably least enjoyed the beginning of the trip as we had such a long time on and off mini-buses and not walking as much as I would have liked.

Improve?

Probably just the beginning, making it so that we did more walking in between the bus journeys, in-fact, I also may improve the quality of the ’Tour Guides’. As they were not as good as I was expecting, especially the hanging around that one individual put us through! (not mentioning any names – of course!).

Allie.

Highlights for me have included Mustigata, Manasarovar and our brief trek at Kailash. I also really loved Lhasa, and it’s definitely on the list of places to come back to. The colours, the smells; the sound of shuffling feet and muttered prayers in the temples, a complete sensory over-load – and so many smiling faces.

I was also pleasantly surprised by Kyrgyzstan. As it came so near the end of our trip I’d not really thought much about it, but wow! So beautiful and the people so friendly and welcoming. It immediately started me thinking about planning a new expedition – something I’ve not really thought about before.

Worst times. I think other than times when I’ve felt physically ill, my absolute worst part was DOING the short Kailash walk, and having to turn back. That was devastating. I’d built Kailash up in my mind to be the high point of the trip, and in particular felt so well with my asthma. It did, however, make me determined to return and succeed!

How to improve? In this, I think I echo most of the group. Though it was interesting travelling so widely, I feel we missed out on a lot of the trekking we’d talked about. To reduce the distance covered and to somewhat lessen the ‘breakneck’ speed at which we seemed to do a lot of things. I’d have liked to increase our time in the desert too.

Overall, a brilliant trip. I’ve enjoyed it hugely and will miss our little family. Like Giles, comparing mainland China to Hong Kong was a big thing for me, and to have my own adult experience of something my parents talk about a lot is really good. But, also, the huge contrast with the ‘China’ I experienced as a child was interesting. Waffle over!

The nine strong Derbyshire / Yorkshire based group spent the whole of August travelling through China, (particularly Tibet & Xinjiang), Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Initially we flew out to Almaty, (Kazakhstan), and then travelled overland to Xinjiang, crossing the border at Khorgos, which was time consuming and quite expensive.

Unfortunately two members of the group found that their main baggage failed to reach Almaty on 2^nd August. The airline was less than helpful in tracing and returning the bags. Both bags were only returned to the group members on 30^th August – two days before returning to the UK, (more of this sorry tale later).

Once in China the group fell into a smooth routine, which was professionally organised by Osman Mamtile, (Alip), of Xinjiang Caravan International Travel Service. We travelled to the mountain pastureland near Yining, then south to Korla and Turpan before catching the sleeper train to Dunhuang and on to Xi’an. Throughout this period the group took the opportunity to view some of the cultural riches of this part of China, (including the Terracotta Warriors, The Emin Hoja and the Mogao Thousand Buddha Caves).

From Xi’an we flew to Lhasa for an unforgettable few days in the city. We then travelled by road to Lake Manosarovar and Mount Kailash. This remote area of Asia offers some spectacular sights; I’m sure that the cloud shrouded pyramid of Kailash and the wide horizons of Manosarovar will remain with all participants for many years. Possibly the most striking feature of our journey through Tibet was the positive impact that almost all the Tibetans that we met had on the group.

Whilst in the Manosarovar / Kailash area we intended to undertake at least one demanding trek, which we had to foreshorten. This disappointment was due to a combination of reasons; some members’ difficulties with the altitude, missing equipment, poor weather on the mountain and an element of confusion over catering logistics. The prudent course of action was to curtail trekking activities and to return to Xinjiang.

On a further disappointing note I need to mention the poor condition of the camping ground at Manosarovar. The area, spiritually the centre of several Asian faiths and an important pilgrimage site, was marred by large quantities of non-biodegradable litter an d human faeces, which I for one found very depressing given my longstanding ambition to visit this area. I’d like to say thanks to the expeditioners for making some effort to dispose of the plastic litter in the immediate vicinity of our tents.

From Ali in western Tibet we had to swap our Landcruisers and our fantastic Tibetan drivers for a difficult 35 hour ‘sleeper bus’ journey back to Xinjiang. Not too bad if you’re a 5’2” smoker, but very uncomfortable for a 6’2” non-smoker who needed to breath!

In Xinjiang we first visited Kashgar and then went into the mountains at Karakul, spending several days living with a group of Kyrgyz yak herders on the lower slopes of Mustagata. In addition we managed to ascend to Mustagata Basecamp and had a close inspection of the lower glaciers on the mountain.

Following a second spell in Kashgar and some determined shopping at the Sunday bazaars, (fortunately no livestock was purchased); we travelled on to Kyrgyzstan. After an easy(ish) border crossing, where we lost Alip and gained Olga, we travelled to Tash Rabat in the Tian Shan where we stayed in a yurt camp, (looked after and fed by Uri and Zoya). The landscape, food and people of Kyrgyzstan came as a pleasant surprise to everyone on the group. From Tash Rabat we moved on to another yurt camp on the shores of Issyk Kul where everyone enjoyed the food and the swimming. Then we travelled to Bishkek for a last night in a hotel and a welcome reunion with the two missing bags.

Our return journey was difficult with a long road journey and difficult border crossing into Kazakhstan followed by a long wait at Almaty airport, a four hour delay on our flight resulting in missing our connecting flight from Istanbul, an unexpected diversion to Zurich, a dash across the airport to catch our connecting flight to Manchester, which we reached some 8 hours late. Oh, and losing all our bags including the two returned only 48 hours earlier.

Fortunately all the lost baggage was returned on 3^rd September!

As group leader I’d like to thank the guides in China and Kyrgyzstan and all participants in the trip. The leaders did a fantastic job; Allie in getting Chinese and Kazakh visas organised and in controlling Crossley Minor in his wilder moments, Dr Anna in looking after us, especially when she didn’t feel to well herself, and Lucy for organising the training and helping throughout the trip. The expeditioners were exceptional Richard for his haggling skills, Sam & Chris for stoically managing without and bags for 30 days, Emily for coping with the boys and Giles for acting as unofficial interpreter. Several people said that the group didn’t function as a traditional expeditioner / leader group, but as a group of friends on a challenging trip.

Thanks to you all for making the trip so enjoyable.

Staying Healthy in Tibet

Common travel-related ill-health:

• Diarrhoea and vomiting
• Sunburn
• Dehydration
• Foot problems e.g. blisters
• Pesky insect bites
• Common infections: urine infections, chest infections, thrush, eye infections
• Travel sickness
• Accidents
• Altitude sickness

Step 1: Make sure you are prepared by having the recommended vaccinations, obtaining supplies of your regular medication and making sure your teeth are healthy. You may wish to bring a small medical kit (suggestions made previously). Please return your health questionnaires!

Step 2: Travel tips for flying: drink plenty of fluids to stay well-hydrated, wear comfortable clothes and move about the cabin regularly. Avoid eating and drinking anything remotely dodgy in overseas airports.

Step 3: Always obey good hand hygiene practices. Wash hands before preparing food and eating and after using the loo. Alcohol gel helps when water is unavailable but handwashing is paramount!

Step 4: Don’t drink tap water. Use bottled water, boiled water or water treated with iodine to drink and to brush your teeth. Avoid ice cubes. Don’t eat uncooked/undercooked food (unless it is peeled fruit or veg) and unpasteurized dairy products. Foods that have been cooked and have been left at room temperature are particularly hazardous as are foods from street stalls.

Step 5: Keep well hydrated when we are trekking. Make sure you are peeing regularly and your urine is not dark.

Step 6: Avoid sunburn by covering up, using high factor sunscreen with UVA protection and wearing a hat.

Step 7: Look after your feet. Wearing dry, comfortable footwear and paying careful attention to blisters should help prevent problems. Break-in your walking boots well in advance. Wear good hiking socks.

Step 8: Avoid insect and tick bites by covering up and using DEET. If there are mosquitoes around use a bed net or try to avoid letting them into your tent. Report ticks-do not remove by yourself. If you pull them out you may leave the mouthparts behind.

Step 9: Report any unusual illness, especially fevers or diarrhoea. If one person is affected the rest of the group needs to be extra vigilant. Don’t suffer in silence. Report any animal bites or scratches.

Step 10: Avoid accidents and violence. If provided, always wear a seatbelt. Avoid displaying large sums of money or carrying valuable items. Consider wearing a money belt. Stick with other members of the group and always inform a senior member of where you are going.

Step 11: Talk to another member of the group about how you are feeling if you are experiencing emotional problems e.g. fear of flying, homesickness, feeling low. The trip will be an intense and exciting experience which we want you to enjoy.

Note on altitude sickness

It is particularly important that you let me know if you are experiencing any of the following symptoms as we will be travelling to areas of high altitude and altitude sickness can affect anyone, fit and healthy or old and crumbly.

• Headache
• Feeling sick/off your food
• Tiredness, dizziness and difficulty sleeping
• Clumsiness/unco-ordination/double vision
• Feeling short of breath or coughing

Please stay fit and healthy. I expect everyone to be in the best of health for the entirety of the trip!

Suggested expedition member’s medical kit list:

• Pain killers/anti-inflammatories e.g. Paracetamol, Ibuprofen
• Antihistamines e.g. Clarityn (good for itchy bites and allergies)
• Oral Rehydration Sachets e.g. Dioralyte
• Diarrhoea medication e.g. Immodium (note: it is better not to take this unless you cannot access a ‘toilet’)
• Travel sickness tablets e.g. Stugeron
• Plasters/blister dressings
• Alcohol hand gel (I can provide this)

• Regular medication taken e.g. asthma inhalers
• Advisable to buy disposable contact lenses or to wear glasses
• Girls may wish to avoid having a period when away-please see your GP soon to arrange appropriate medication e.g. contraceptive pill or progesterone tablets
• High factor sun screen (SPF 30+ with UVA screen) and lip block

Iodine water purification tablets 50% DEET insect repellent

I’m sure we don’t all need to carry dental kits and sterile needles! I can acquire what we need as a group.

Before you travel

Please make sure all your vaccinations are up to date (diphtheria, tetanus, BCG, typhoid, hepatitis A, rabies, childhood vaccinations i.e. MMR)

I need your health questionnaires asap. Please return them to YSES.

My email: tibetdoctor@yahoo.co.uk if you have any questions

Kazakhstan is situated in central Asia, northwest of China. As well as China it is bordered by Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. It was the largest of the former Soviet Republics (excluding Russia), yet it only has a population of less than 16 million; it is roughly just less than 4 times the size of Texas and is divided into 3 time zones.

The climate is continental, with increasingly harsh winters and unbearably hot summers in recent years. This change in weather patterns is due to major ecological disasters resulting from the ex-Soviet Government’s desire for productivity at any cost. The government re-routed the rivers that fed into the Aral Sea to irrigate cotton fields in Uzbekistan. The Aral Sea used to be the world’s 4^th largest inland body of water and now as a direct result of this has been shrinking ever since. Another result has been increased salt and pollutant content of the air and soil and so epidemics and respiratory diseases are prevalent in the area. There are also high levels of radiation in some regions of Kazakhstan due to soviet abuse of the atomic bomb; in the Semey area over 100 atomic bombs were exploded without the residents ever being informed. Kazakhstan is also naturally prone to earthquakes in the south and mudslides around Almaty.

Native Kazaks are a mix of Turkic and Mongol tribes that migrated to the area in the 13^th century; there were many different clans and various rulers in the country. It was only around 1500AD that they were united as a single nation when they split from the Uzbeks.  

In 1850 the Russians began building forts across the Kazak Steppe, limiting their nomadic lifestyle. Then in 1863 they officially annexed Kazakhstan. And in 1936 it was made a Soviet Republic. During the Soviets “Virgin Lands” program many farms were created in Kazakhstan and many soviet citizens were encouraged to emigrate to cultivate Kazakhstan’s northern pastures. This, combined with the thousands of Kazaks who had been forced to flee to Mongolia and China in the resistance attempt against the Tsar, meant that non-Kazaks at this time outnumbered the natives.

On 16^th December 1991 Kazakhstan declared independence. This encouraged many of the foreigners to emigrate back, and today 53% of the population are native Kazaks, with 30% Russian and the remainder of the population made up of people from other ex-soviet republics. The majority of Kazaks are Muslim and their religion and culture are very much tied together. They do not practice strict Orthodox Islam, however, due to the religious oppression of the Soviets. Most Kazaks have never read the Qur’an or been to a mosque, instead they practice folk Islam; a mix of superstition and Muslim practices. They fear the evil eye, which is the constant fear of hurt or destruction caused by other people’s envy. They are wary of “djun” or spirits, which may cause physical or mental illness. They will visit the graves of Muslim Saints to try to gain favour or blessings. They will wear “Tumars” which are charms with scripture from the Qur’an written on to protect them from evil. They will go to fortune-tellers and faith healers to try to divine the future or find a cure for illness and they will worship their ancestors and pray to them for advice.

Since gaining independence, Kazakhstan has also developed an economy larger than the other central Asian states combined. This is mainly due to the fact that they have one of the largest oil and gas reserves in the world. Most of their industry revolves around natural resources, not only oil and gas, but also coal, iron ore, nickel, cobalt, lead, bauxite, uranium and gold. Although Kazakhstan is rich in natural resources, all of their refineries are in neighbouring countries, this was done intentionally by the Soviet Union to make it harder for the republics to separate from the USSR.

Almaty

Population: 1,147,000

Almaty, which means “Father of Apples” in Kazak, was originally founded in 1854 as a Russian fort called Zailiyskoe. A year later, it was renamed Vernoye, which it remained until 1921. Originally, Almaty was a frontier town. When the Turkistan-Siberian railroad was built in the 1920’s, it became a major way-station. In 1929 it was made the capital of the Kazak Soviet Socialist Republic and remained the capital until July 1998 when the capital was moved to Astana.

Almaty is situated at the foot of the Tian Shan Mountain range. It is also located along a major fault line which has caused damage due to earthquakes in 1887 and 1911. Due to its location right next to the Tian Shan Mountains, it had become known as one of the most beautiful cities of the former Union of  Soviet Socialist Republics.

Today Almaty is known as the commercial capital of Kazakhstan. Since the official move of the capital to Astana, most businesses have remained in Almaty.

Apologies for neglecting you over the past month, but it's been due to illness, overwork and pure laziness! These three enties contain the China / Tibet 2007 Expedition Risk Assessment. Can you read them carefully, di8scuss them with your parents and suggest any additional items or alterations?

CHINA / TIBET 2007

RISK ASSESSMENT

(August 07)

Activity:   Expedition.

Locations: Kazakhstan, Xinjiang, Tibet, Kyrgystan

Date:  August 2007

Leader: Paul McGreavy