Shigatse, Tibet 1987 and the 2025 earthquake

 In early January 2025 there was a massive earthquake near Shagatse, in the Himalayas in Tibet. 

From BBC

Map from Reuters -

Shigatse city is the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism.

In 1987 I travelled through Tibet. I went from Kathmandu in Nepal up to Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region. It was quite a tough journey, travelling by bus and when that wasn't available, hitching rides in back of trucks. Also had to walk some distances when the road had been washed out. I was suffering from the altitude.

From Zhangmu to Nyalam we had a terrifying ride in the back of a truck, going fast up hairpin bends.

At Nyalam we discovered the truck was going on to Shigatse, so negotiated a price, this time sitting in the cab. From Nyalam at 4000 m we began climbing a high pass and saw the first snow capped peaks (30 Sept). 

We saw Mt Xixabangma, at 8012 m is the only 8000 m totally in Tibet. Reached the Tibetan plateau, a really beautiful but desolate area with no vegetarian, barren rocks and clear blue sky. 

We drove along the Friendship Highway to Tingri West at 4300 m. Past Cho You then my first close view of Everest. We stopped that night at a Tibetan truck stop hotel where the Xegar road turns off. We were at 4300 m and I was suffering from the altitude. 

Thankfully Shigatse is lower as I couldn't afford to go any higher. But we had to go up first. We climbed the Lak Pa La pass at 5220 m, the highest I've been. Then over the Po La pass at 4500 m. The journey was a bit of a blur for me. I experienced the first really smelly Tibetan toilet when we stopped for salt tea.

We eventually reached Shigatse and were dropped off outside town. We walked in really slowly as both felt lethargic. We got a 3 bedded room in the Tibetan Hotel No 1 for 83p each, then collapsed exhausted. I later had my first wash for 4 days, in the courtyard from a cold water tap, mixing it with a bowl of hot water meant for tea, and the locals thought it was a spectator sport! There is not much water in the mountainous areas of Tibet. 

The next morning, after trying to get rid of an altitude headache, we set off for Tashilhunpo Monastery. But we weren't allowed in as we were wearing shorts - having washed our trousers that had accumulated several days worth of dust - the atmosphere is very dusty in the dry air. The Tashi Lhunpo Monastery was founded in 1447 and was formerly the home of the Panchen Lama. More than 4000 monks used to live here. 

So we crawled into town, unable to go any faster in the altitude. Shigatse is at 3860 m and the oxygen content of the air is only 67% of that at sea level. We ambled around the market. Many stalls were selling odourful yak cheese, wrapped up in skin -

Meat stalls were selling every part of the goat, from the head to the fur and there were many split heads along with legs, stomachs etc, but most of the meat looked really dry. Dogs sat below the stalls.

We walked down the road towards the fort. The Shigatse Dzong, also known as Samdruptse Dzong was dismantled during the Cultural Revolution in 1959 and very little remained. But it was rebuilt in 2007.

This is the rebuilt fort, photo from Wikipedia -

The town was quiet and peaceful, considering it is Tibet's second largest city. We saw no cars at all and very few bikes. There were some nice  buildings but it was all typically Chinese. We looked at some of the local stores and bought a tin of pineapple! It was a slow crawl back to the hotel, slightly uphill.

After lunch we changed into trousers to tackle the monastery. We were in luck, even though it is officially closed in the afternoons. Paid the entry and went in - it is like a small town in itself.

The Panchen Lama was the leader of the Yellow Sect. The Panchen is the most important reincarnation after the Dalai Lama. We walked around the main courtyard and complex which was being rebuilt. There are many halls, all containing hundreds of tiny Buddhas but few big ones. We saw the kitchen containing huge cauldrons and implements, then the printing works. 

It was really hard work climbing the steps  up to the back to get a view over Shigatse, which is quite small, in a plain surrounded by barren hills. 

I was feeling really lifeless and everything was hard work, not being acclimatised to the altitude. We ambled round to the Hall of the Maitreya which contains the 27 m high Champa or Buddha, but it was closed. Saw many other halls that contained pictures of previous Dalai and Panchen lamas. 

The next morning, as we left and walked past the monastery we saw several prostrators doing kjangchag outside, throwing themselves flat on the ground , although some were using inner tubes or blankets for protection. 

We started hitching for a ride but no trucks stopped, so we walked out of town and after about 3.5 hours one finally stopped and we set off for Gyantse. 

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Tashi Lhunpo Monastery on Wikipedia

Trump wants Greenland

 In Aug 2024 I visited Greenland and posted several blogs. In this one, Narsarsuaq , I mentioned that Greenland has uranium. 

In early Jan 2025 there was a lot of news about reports that Donald Trump, U.S. President-elect, wants to buy Greenland.

Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark  and has been part of Denmark for 600 years. Now Trump wants to acquire it. 

From the Sky report 8 Jan 2025 :

Greenland "It is also a founding member of NATO and is home to a large US military base. Straddling the Arctic circle between the US, Russia and Europe, the island offers a unique geopolitical advantage, that America has eyed for more than 150 years."

He wants it for national security purposes. Greenland also has large reserves of various natural resources. These include rare earth minerals and uranium, oil and natural gas. And of course a lot of ice.

Denmark says Greenland is not for sale!!!

Read the article for more details.

Gnomeland at Kensington, London

A small garden in front of a block of flats off Kensington High Street has been taken over by gnomes. It is called GnomeLand.

This is the farm -

The village shop -

A gnome is fishing, whilst a "giant" carp swims around the area

I visited just after Christmas. Note the Christmas tree -

Gnome Land is situated in Melbury Road. Almost opposite is the Tower House, built in 1881. Read more on the link.

Aquarium at Horniman Museum

 I went to the aquarium at Horniman Museum in Dec 2009. The aquarium had been newly designed and featured open tanks and a large sea water pool with an enormous lobster, and I particularly remember the jellyfish. 

In Dec 2024 I went back to the aquarium as I had a free ticket. I knew the aquarium had changed again and sadly I found it disappointing. It is located in the basement of the museum and there is no longer the large pool and only one very small open tank. 

The first displays feature British displays. Moving on there is a tank of jellyfish, an Indonesian mangrove display and then the coral displays. 

The largest fish is a Moorish idol, a yellow butterflyfish and "Nemo" clownfish, with anemones in the background -

This fish has a variety of names - lined surgeonfish, blue banded surgeonfish, blue-lined surgeonfish, clown surgeonfish, pyjama tang, striped surgeonfish, and zebra surgeonfish -

another surgeonfish

This one intrigued me, but I couldn't get a good photo. It is long horn cowfish, which is a boxfish and gets its name from its horns -

seahorse and pipefish

mandarin fish

foxface rabbitfish

See aquarium website.

Mudchute Farm, London

Mudchute Park and Farm is a large urban park and farm on the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, just south of Canary Wharf. It is a Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation. It is a community-based charity that engages with its users and responds to the needs of its local community. Entry is free.

As I walked through the park towards the farm, several squirrels ran up to me hoping for food, but I had nothing for them. 

The first of the farm animals that I saw were sheep grazing in a field. To see the built up Canary Wharf behind was a strange site -

Inside the farm I spotted the llamas so went over to see them -

Visitors can buy food for the farm animals, but of course are not allowed to feed them anything else. The squirrels knew some visitors have food and I soon had one climbing my leg!

There are lots of birds, such as ducks and geese. These ones were all puffed up in the cold -

Aylesbury ducks

I particularly like pigs so was disappointed that they weren't around. So a couple of weeks I went back, this time taking peanuts for the squirrels. And to my delight, the pigs were there. I smelt them before I saw them! They are middle white pigs, an English breed, now classed as endangered on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust's Watchlist as only 100-200 registered breeding females are left.

Then I went to see the llamas again. Llamas are bigger than alpacas. Alpaca farming and tourism is getting quite popular now in England. There are 2 alpacas at Horniman's in London.

Llamas have longer ears and longer snouts than alpacas. This is Eva the alpaca at Horniman's -

As I left I fed the squirrels and soon had quite a lot around me. Again one or two climbed my leg and one even tried to get into my pocket, intending to help itself to nuts.

looking in my pocket

See Mudchute webpage.