Chinese workmen ‘renovate’ the Tibetan Quarter of Lhasa. Under the pretext of improving sanitation, Tibetan houses were systematically destroyed, being rebuilt in identical style ..though now with Chinese landlords.

Lhasa, Tibet, November, 1995

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Horses provide most of the transport needs in rural Tibet. Under Chinese occupation, Tibetans subsist in extreme poverty in the countryside, and do not own motorized vehicles.

May, 1995

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This Chinese policeman poses for me on his Xing Fu motorcycle

Lhasa, Tibet, April, 1995

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There were not many vehicles in Tibet before the Chinese invasion. The Chinese have built roads and brought in trucks and cars; and they recently opened a railway connection too.

But, apart from Lhasa and the few towns, for the majority of Tibetans it’s not really a vehicular part of the world.

Tibetans use horses as personal transport and horse carts or wagons for carriage of goods. In mountain areas yaks are either ridden or used as a beast of burden. Pushcarts are used in the city. And Tibetans walk long distances. There is even a (secret) yogic practice that involves speed-walking long-distance in a trance-like state.

It took me a week to travel overland from Lhasa back down to Kathmandhu. I saw many of these wagons, and the bleak landscapes and primitive transport are a memory I treasure.

Rather than wooden wagon wheels, either bicycle or lightweight motorcycle wheels are used. But, as my only real point of reference was black and white cowboy films on TV from my childhood, the scenes evoked for me some sort of alternative American ‘wild west.’

Tibet, November, 1994

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I’ve hitch-hiked in these roto-tillers in Tibet, and they are not uncomfortable – but only because they are ridiculously slow!

This one is driving through the main street of Lhasa.

Lhasa, Tibet, April, 1995

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These Chinese three-wheeler buses are common around the streets of Lhasa.

Lhasa, Tibet, April, 1995

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Here is another variety of three-wheeler motorcycle taxi, and this type is prevalent in Shigatse, the second city of Tibet. This one is passing the Tashilhunpo Monastery, one of the main monasteries of the Tibetan Gelugpas (Yellow Hat Sect), which has ruled Tibet since the 16th Century, with HH the Dali Lama as its head.

Interestingly, the Gelugpas came into power by converting the Mongol Khan rulers to Buddhism. With such powerful allies, they subdued (and therefore united) opposing Tibetan sects, as well as the Chinese – who had to pay annual treaties to Tibet in order to keep the Mongolians off their backs.

Tibet had occupied the capital of China centuries earlier when, with the help of the Muslims of western China, they defeated the Chinese army. The Tibetan king took a bride from China’s Imperial dynasty (as well as one from Nepal’s Royal family, whose army they had defeated too). Both of those countries were Buddhist, and this helped to establish Buddhism as the national religion of Tibet.

What goes around, comes around, as they say…

Shigatse, Tibet, May, 1995

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Tibet’s heart is the Jokhang, its most holy temple, in the centre of Lhasa. There are always pilgrims circumambulating – walking in a clockwise direction around it.
It is surrounded by a large Tibetan market known as the Barkhor. this is the most vibrant Tibetan part of Lhasa.

This woman arrived early in the morning to set up her stall. I suppose that in the heirarchy of traffic represented on this website, the human porter is the most basic medium of transportation.

Lhasa, Tibet, April, 1995

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