In July 2006, Rick and mate Greg Packer undertook an amazing journey though Tibet, from Shigatze to Everest Base Camp.

Travelling 260km by horse and cart, they travelled through parts of Tibet rarely visited by foreigners. This unique trip, using local horsemen and their horses and carts, is understood to have not been undertaken by anyone before us.

We arrived in Lhasa, the capital of China's Tibet Autonomous Region, after a week sightseeing in the spectacular city of Shanghai. Lhasa literally means "place of the gods", although ancient Tibetan documents and inscriptions demonstrate that the place was first called Rasa, which means "courtyard place" or "goat place". Its altitude is about 3,650 metres, making it one of the highest cities in the world. The city is home to about 200,000 inhabitants. In Lhasa, we met up with Rick's Tibetan friend, Chungdak, who would be our guide, cook and supporter throughout the trip.

After a couple of days acclimatising to the altitude, we set off for Shigatze, Tibet's second-largest city. Shigatze is home to Tashilumpo monastery, the seat of the Panchen Lama, one of the most important monasteries in Tibet.

In Shigatze, we met the horsemen who would take us the next 260km through spectacular countryside, beautiful villages, and sometimes not-so-beautiful towns, on the way to our destination, Everest Base Camp.

We hope you enjoy the video and gallery images from this unique journey.

Below are a selection of images from the Tibet Gallery, part of Cuppladaze Galleries. To see these in full-size, and all the Tibet images, visit the Tibet Gallery.

Tibet - A Journey by Horse and Cart, the video, follows Rick and Greg's unique journey, from the beginnings on arrival in Shanghai, to their final destination in Tibet, Mt Everest Base Camp.

Duration: 10 minutes.

Note 1: to view the video using Internet Explorer, due to security controls, you may need to click the play button twice to activate.

Note 2: a broadband internet connection is required to view the video. Better viewing will result if you start and then pause the video for a few moments to allow the red buffer line to extend.

This video is a short precis of the full 45 minute movie. If you would like a copy of the DVD, please .

Tibet - A Journey By Horse and Cart

An account of Rick and Greg's adventure in Tibet travelling by horse and cart, July/August 2006, written by Greg Packer.

There were mountains higher than the plane then next you could see sand dunes. The plane dipped right and we glided down another valley to land at one of the highest cities in the world, Lhasa.

We were in Tibet. A friendly welcome from our guide Chungdak and we were off for a 60km car ride to the city.

We were here, one of the highest remotest countries in the world.

It was summer and the weather was mild. The trip into Lhasa was a typical car ride in China, scary. It seems that every driver understands the rules even though to us the only rule is that generally and often as possible you should drive on the right hand side. Turning left across oncoming traffic only requires the driver to see a 50m gap (maybe only 30m) in the oncoming traffic and he hurries across and into our hotel. Lhasa is more modern than I expected. In the Western World we don’t have a good knowledge of other countries. Lhasa is modernising, a new pressurised train arrived from China this month. They said the railway was unbuildable but it brought in 70 000 Chinese tourists in its first month (3 full trains per day).

I could still breath, I expected to be gasping for breath but felt fine. Then I had to carry our luggage up 2 levels in the hotel. That took our breath away.

That evening Chungdak, our Tibetan guide, took us to the Barkhor Markets area and to a Tibetan restaurant for our first taste of Tibet.

We had to be on a fast learning and acclimatisation curve as in 36 hours we would be off by car to Shigatze to meet up with our Tibetan farmers for our tour by horse and cart. Don’t image something elaborate; they were small roughly built farm carts drawn by small mountain ponies.

The trip of 250km to Shigatze was windy and somewhat dangerous in places but generally good surface and took us 4 hours. A great lunch stop at a group of Chinese restaurants gave us a full meal at very cheap prices in what were not much better than shacks clinging to the side of the mountain above the swift and dangerous river.

Shigatze is Tibet’s second biggest city and has all the attributes of a growing modern city with a 3rd world atmosphere. We stayed in a modern Tibetan hotel, the Manasarovar, relatively new with beautiful hand painted ceilings and wall murals and very clean. Tomorrow the farmers arrive, so this afternoon we need to buy our supplies, rice, flour, vegetables, water and oxygen.

Officials in Shigatze hadn’t heard of tourists going by horse and cart. It appears we are the first tourists in recent times to consider such a slow and antiquated method of transport. Exactly the reason we chose it. Rick had been last year and travelling Tibet at 100km/hour didn’t allow you to taste the real atmosphere or take the photos that tell the real story of Tibet. So at 8am, we hired a utility to take our gear to the outskirts of town to where the two farmers had stayed with friends. Horse and cars aren’t allowed too far into Shigatze

It was a bit of a shock for us to see the small horses and old carts but my worry about what we would sit on was put to rest. There were large bags of chaff. The horse feed turned out to be quite comfortable. The locals were equally shocked to see some Westerners in their suburb and about to get a horse and cart ride. This was the first time in their life our farmers had ever met foreigners face-to-face.

With the carts piled high we set off at slow trot along the main central highway through Tibet. We were heading first to Sakya. This would take over 3 days but on good bitumen roads. Even though it was a highway we met little traffic. Throughout a day I would guess no more than 30 to 40 cars would pass us and probably 50 trucks carting building materials for the road infrastructure.

The sky was clear when we looked back on Shigatze and the surrounding mountain ranges.

All the main roads in Tibet are built at easy gradients even those over the mountain passes. I suppose for the use of horse and carts and Tibetan tractor and trailer transport modes. We travelled at an average pace of around 4.5 km/hour on the flat section. On the hillier sections Rick and I generally walked to the consternation of our Tibetan farmers. They thought at 60years old we were old men and shouldn't have to walk. However the horses appreciated our effort.

I had asked Rick about what we would do for lunch in Tibet and he said it was a ritual to have a hot lunch. So at our first lunch stop at a poor and small Chinese roadside construction camp we cooked a rice and vegetable meal. We retrieved our water from a well about 1.5 m deep in a dry creek bed. The water in the well was flowing and clear.

For the whole trip in China and Tibet we carried and only drank bottled water. However all the cooking and cold water washing up was done with water from wells, mountain streams and tap water in villages (which is probably the same as the first two).

After about 8 hours of travelling on the first day we had a flat tyre outside a newer village. We had no tools or spares, however the villages helped out with the odd old tool and we repaired the tube. The next day I said I would buy them a new tyre (as this one was stitched together with twine on the inner wall!). We were never able to buy a new tyre to fit this wheel but we did get a number of tubes, spanners, repair kit and car pump. I left feeling safer then.

While the flat was being fixed we set up camp among the houses. About half a dozen adults and 7 or 8 kids watched our every move and stayed until dark at 9pm. The kids were bright, happy and friendly but very dirty and their clothes looked like they hadn't been washed for months. This was surprising as even through they helped in the dusty fields; there was a tap outside every house in the village.

The other thing you notice about Tibet is the yak and cow manure. Collected and dried (often by plastering on the outside walls of the house) and then stacked along the walls at roof level to await use in winter. Most of the villages in the main valleys had some power and phones with mobile phone usage near some large villages and towns.

With no method of lighting other than head or hand held torches we were asleep by 9:30pm. The farmers hadn't even brought a tent but only a type of swag to lie on, nor a change of clothes, nor any wet weather gear. We had to get the farmers some more weatherproofing. One thing that’s plentiful and cheap is the red white and blue striped materials they make cheap carry bags. You can buy it anywhere for $4 AUS for 7m x 4m sections. Now we could rig up a cover over our gear and the farmers and they could be relatively dry. Sitting in an open cart you are exposed to the full gauntlet of weather conditions from sunburn to torrential rain. The atmosphere is so thin at 4 - 5000m you burn very easily so the order of the day is long pants, long sleeve shirts and broad brimmed had and plenty of sunscreen.

The Tibetans were up at 5am, 2hours before sunrise to cook breakfast and feed the horses. Rick and I would be up a little later and after a breakfast of unleavened bread, boiled egg and tea we were on the road before sunrise. To do 40km a day meant 9 to 10hours in the cart plus a 2hour stop for lunch.

The scenery was different from what I had ever seen before. Barren high mountain ranges (no snow at this time of year), lining both sides of river valleys that were brimming with barley crops. All irrigated as they have been for years with small canals bringing water from the copious rivers. There is no shortage of water in many parts of Tibet.

Two westerners on a slow horse and cart are never seen in Tibet! Children from the many villages we passed would run up to our carts smiling and laughing to see us and say 'hello'. Even our Tibetan farmers learnt to say 'hello', their only word in English they knew. We didn't know any Tibetan so hand language was the order of the day. The Tibetan villages, with their square mud brick house, flat roofs and colourful painting to windows and doors dotted the fertile river valleys. The villages welcomed us to camp in their vicinity or even in their sheep pens if the weather was blustery. We always paid them a small amount.

Walking over a 5000m pass is a real experience, not all that difficult when walked slowly but to bend over and tie your shoelaces certainly left you gasping for air! The views from the top of all passes are breathtaking with the Himalayas off on the horizon.

Even though it was mid summer and the sun was up we still had on several layers of clothes until around 11am when a shirt would suffice. The Tibetan farmers still had on 3 layers of warm clothing and only discarded their woollen coats in the middle of the day. What do they wear when it really gets cold?

After 3 days of travel we entered the old city of Sakya with its famous 900 year old monastery. The town was ablaze with colour with most of the houses painted in bright colours and many people all dressed in Tibetan national cloth walking into town for market day.

It was school holidays so there were always plenty of kids around. Though poor by our standards, the main towns were kept clean and the people appear well fed through it appears they have barley for nearly every meal. It certainly is their staple diet.

Sakya had both modern and old sections and was a bustling town set in a very fertile valley. Its city roads were a bit of a mess in places for large sections had been dug up for infrastructure construction of sewer water and stormwater. Progress was coming to large areas of Tibet.

The monastery was a must see, and with our Tibetan guide we visited all the main galleries and got the opportunity to photograph for a small cost in each gallery. Having a Tibetan and not a Chinese tourist guide has many advantages.

Sakya allowed us to stock up on fresh vegetables for our next section, which was across a fairly barren area with road conditions unknown.

That night it rained all night but we woke up to a cool dry day with all the surrounding hills and mountains topped with fresh snow. It was uphill all the way to the top of Tsola Pass (5000m). A slow trip for the horses and quite a few rest stops for all of us. We walked to lighten the load. Seeing flags ahead of us meant the top was near. Tibetans festoon the hills and mountain tops with their flags to ward off the evil spirits.

Even our Tibetan farmers complained of a headache at 5000m and by sign language said the horses had a headache. But after a short section we were down the other side to a nice grassy spot beside a mountain stream for a hot lunch.With the descent the headaches disappeared.

We are now well off the beaten track, the road is one lane and gravel and within another day will peter out into a cart track across barren sandy valleys. For the moment however, there are still reasonable sized villages however they are more widely spaced. As we only travel at walking pace, they seem a long way apart. Maybe an hour or so, i.e. only 5 to 7kms but considering in our first 3 days, we were always in sight of 3 or 4 or maybe more villages, this seemed sparse.

We camped the night in the open beside a large farm dam between two villages. As usual we had inquisitive passers-by call in to our camp to look at us. This night it was a group of 6 or 7 teenage girls all dressed up in Tibetan gear walking from one village to the next for a function on this Saturday night. Through our interpreter we asked the meaning of the big dark round mark on their cheeks. We were told it was to make them look pretty. They were pretty anyway.

To bed on dark for the next day, unbeknown to us, was going to be quite adventurous. The area was getting quite remote and we were going to face a sand storm for 2 hours before we could make camp in the luxury of a broken down shepherd’s hut.

However, lunch the next day was going to be quite interesting. We stopped in a very grassy area among desolate hills and river valleys amongst groups of nomadic shepherds. These people had definitely not met or seen many Westerners. A young kid, dark skinned, spiky short hair, nice smile and only a long t-shirt to cover his body hung around the dinner. His father a wizened fellow came as well. The boy was 10 and I doubt had any schooling though the nearest village was probably only a 1 – 2hour walk away.

Here we had the welcome opportunity to have a decent wash in the mountain stream. After lunch we had to cross our first rivers without a bridge. It turned out reasonably easy. The streams were fast flowing but narrow and about 500 deep at worst. Thank heavens it hadn’t rained for a couple of days. The country was getting more and more barren and soon there were perfectly formed moon shaped sand dunes on a hard despoiled rock and clay base. The wind was getting up and the shepherd with his sheep was looking lonely . Next thing we were in a full-blown sandstorm in an area that looked like a moonscape and we still had at least 1.5hours to get to the major river. By the time we got to the river the sand was no longer an issue but the wind was gale force. With luck we found a small shepherds hut and small sheep corrals. Camping in the open in these gales would have been most unpleasant if not impossible.

The hut was big enough for the 5 of us to sleep side-by-side, tight fit and just enough height to be able to walk in bent over double. But we were out of the wind. It was our coldest night. In the morning the wind had dropped and a beautiful vista down the river valley engaged us as soon as we left the hut.

This day was to be the last with the horses. The young black pony refused to pull after a couple of hours travel. What would we do?

A couple of young cowboys sitting astride large horses came by. They looked majestic with their national hairdo of a long plait with a long red material tail wrapped around their heads. Chungdak our guide got a lift on their horses into their village about 5km away. After a rest we coaxed the horses to walk towards the village. On the outskirts we met Chungdak who at this point had been unable to hire a tractor to take 3 of us to Shegar and leave the farmers in the village for a few days to rest their horses. One of the village chiefs offered Rick his horse to ride into the village. It was an astonishing sight for many of those villagers - here was the first foreigner they have ever see so close, and he is riding one of their horses into the village - instant celebrities!

There was to be a big village carnival the next day so all the teenagers were practicing Tibetan dancing. However, one young Tibetan agreed to take us by tractor to the next village an hour away on rough rough roads, where we would pick up another lift (1.5 hour ride) to Shegar.

Leaving the farmers was very sad. They had been wonderful and kind to us. We gave them some gifts of shoes and a “dry-as-a-bone” real Aussie coat, and 600 Yuan bonus. They were thrilled. Now they had enough money to truck their horses and carts home.

We were off on our next adventure 3.5 hours in trailers towed first by a tractor then next by a 2-wheeled tractor/rotary hoe. You sat on your backpack and hung on for dear life. Horns blared at the top of every crest or blind corner to warn oncoming traffic on these narrow tracks. Shegar, or the roadside village nearby to Shegar, made us feel like we were back in civilisation. This was a very new town that had sprung up as a truck stop. We booked into a Tibetan hotel, 2 storeys high, a single drop toilet on each floor to service all rooms and sheets that are changed weekly. We set up our camp mattresses on top, went for a Chinese meal and had a good sleep.

That night our driver arrived from Lhasa after about 20hour drive. We then took the dangerous rough route to Everest Base Camp to view a cloud covered Everest however the view of the snow covered Himalayan Range from the top of the pass was awe-inspiring.

Next day we drove back to Lhasa for a well-needed rest in a good hotel. Suddenly we had upgraded this hotel from average to fantastic after our experience on the previous 2 nights!

Another day spent in Lhasa shopping in the fabulous Barkor markets. Our trip to Tibet was over. My misconceptions and apprehensions about Tibet were unfounded. We will return next year to meet our kind Tibetan friends. Our tourist dollars are needed to help lift their standard of living. It’s a pity but their isolation cannot last forever.

THE END