Tibet is the least densely populated region of China. Villages, people, and even other cars, were few and far between. For the most part, it was just us, the highway, and a stunning array of landscapes. Occasionally a Tibetan shepherd would appear in the middle of nowhere herding his flock of sheep or a nomadic family would be gathered alongside a lone shack in the remotest of places, leaving us wondering how they survived so far removed from civilization. How would they update their Facebook statuses?
We progressed westward in chunks. Driving for several hours, then stopping for food or to relieve ourselves along the side of the road. As I was barely on speaking terms with a couple of my travel mates at this point, I mostly napped or stared out at the mountains. Periodically the monotony of the drive would be punctuated by the odd, the spectacular, or the flat-out surreal.
A flock of sheep blocking traffic... A gigantic glacier perched atop a mountain pass... A truck toppled over the side of the road as workers scrambled to collect its cargo...
Having grown up in the suburbs of Orange County, some of the scenery was like something out of a movie for me. I must say that coming up on Lake Yamdrok for the first time was a bit awe-inspiring. Our irritability washed away, we all jumped out of the car and ran toward the lake like a bunch of school kids, snapping pictures and posing for photos.
As our itinerary dictated that we cover a few hundred kilometers a day, we were pressed for time and constantly on the move.
From Lhasa, we first traveled to Shigatse, the second largest city in Tibet. The city was under heavy construction, even by Chinese standards, as it was preparing for a visit from Communist Party leader Hu Jintao this summer. New buildings, roads, and other instruments of modernization abounded. Here we were given a brief reminder that we were still in the third world, when my travel mate left her hotel door open and got her camera stolen. I wish I could tell you more about the city, but before I could unpack my bags we were on the move again the next morning.
From there we traveled to Saga, a military town halfway between Lhasa and western Tibet, known more as an overnight travel hub than a travel destination unto itself. It was here that our accommodations began noticeably lacking certain things such as 24 hour electricity, internet, phone service, indoor plumbing, and showers. This is where taking a dump in the field started to become preferable to venturing into the designated restroom area.
The town was a mixture of Tibetans and a few entrepreneurial Han Chinese catering to the locally stationed military personnel. Although my Tibetan activist friend had sworn off patronizing Han Chinese owned businesses in Tibet, she had no qualms about coming along with me went I went to hit up the Han Chinese owned bathhouse for a hot shower. A few Han Chinese tourists also on their way to western Tibet and us westerners were the only clientele.
After another long day of traveling, we arrived at Lake Manasarovar, as a flock of sheep pastured along its shore.
We spent the night at a tiny village along the side of the lake. Our guesthouse was little more than a shack, lacking indoor plumbing and electricity. The light in our room was powered by a car battery wired to a light bulb.
I ate tsampa for the first time, a porridge mixture of yak butter tea and barley flour that is a staple of the Tibetan diet. Like yak butter tea, tsampa is high in calories, easy to prepare, and dirt cheap making it a convenient food for nomadic travelers. Also like yak butter tea, it tastes awful. We sat in the common room, warming ourselves around the furnace, making smalltalk with our Tibetan hosts, and pretending to like our food.
The next morning, it would be just a short trip over to Darchen, which would serve as the base camp for our three day kora around Mount Kailas.
No comments:
Post a Comment