Blue Chinese people on TV

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02-DEC-2007

I didn't set the alarm correctly and everyone in the room/jeep was depending on me. I wake up 20 minutes after we're supposed to be downstairs for breakfast and shout to everyone to wake them up. Crap. I blame it on the alarm being a hunk of junk- hell, I don't want to be hated. It's also 1deg C and I need to jump out of this sleeping bag as fast as possible without dying. Done. The water from the tap must have been below zero because I have felt warmer snow. Luckily, the breakfast place has extremely fast service and we finish up just as everyone else is. I'm served an egg sandwich, but I have to force it down because I'm not very hungry. I have a headache and stomachache. UH-OH!

We head off in the jeep where we are treated to breathtaking views of majestic snowy mountains poking up from behind brown, dry rolling hills. Nothing grows up here. It's so dry and dusty. I half expect a tumbleweed to come rolling past. So I'm sitting in the jeep with my jaw hanging open. My eyes are a bit watery. Is it the sun or the amazing view? Perhaps a bit of both.

We roll up to our first 5050m mountain pass where the wind threatens to blow the jeep door off. It's absolutely freezing and I am wearing a skirt. Granted, I've been smart enough to outfit myself with long john pants underneath, but still... not the most optimal gear for the weather. There are prayer flags everywhere and we are blessed with a 180deg Himalayan panorama in front of us. I don't want to leave. But, we do.

We stop for lunch in this old frontier-type town called Tingri. The toilet consists of a concrete-floored room with two rectangular holes situated in the center... holes dropping down to the ground... lovely. At least there is a nice view from the window. I see the Everest range and the base of the big guy itself. Unfortunately the top is hidden by the clouds. I cannot believe I am here, looking at the biggest mountain in the world.

As we continue on, the landscape reminds me very much of SW Utah being extremely dry with big boulderous (it's a word now) hills poking up out from the plains from seemingly the middle of nowhere. We eventually stop at the 'hotel' in Lhatse, which is a bit grungy to put it mildly. It is absolutely freezing- about 0deg C both inside and out. I finally give in and put some proper shoes on, but need heat desperately.

We search out a warm place with food and tea, coming across a place with kerosene floor heaters. It takes about an hour to get the one closest to us working, and we receive fried bananas instead of much needed banana porridge. Good thing we didn't get four of them though, because I couldn't even risk trying those things with the state of my stomach. It was very unhappy.

Back at the hotel nothing seems to be able to warm us up enough. The room is musty and feels damp. There are blue Chinese people on TV and carpets on the beds. I opt out of using mine, but Tahmeena certainly is not shy with hers. Her pillow is really dirty and looks as though someone wiped their bum with it. I hear horror stories of the toilet situation so decide to be nature girl.

I am feeling rough at dinnertime- dizzy, cold, and hurting everywhere. I can't stomach anything besides tea. I will never admit there's even a chance it has something to do with the altitude. Never.

I fall asleep remarkably fast for having a piece of cardboard for a pillow. A ghost wakes me in the middle of the night scratching at the window, and pushing in the TV buttons right next to my head, but I refuse to give it the satisfaction and look in that direction. Instead, I really can't be bothered too much because there's more important things to worry about- like how freaking cold it is and how I'm feeling.

I surprisingly fall back asleep relatively quickly, only to wake around 5am with a bit of bathroom emergency. However, there is no way I'm using those toilets. I decide to trek around behind the hotel, only to fall in a very muddy and very stinky ditch. I believe it to be runoff from the actual toilets. And now it is completely covering my left shoe. At least it's not leaking in. A dog in the house 30 feet from me starts barking violently and I think that I'm busted for sure. Luckily, no one gives the dog any notice and I sprint back to the hotel room for a couple more hours of shut eye. The entire room soon smells of my shoe...

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Photos

Tibet is cold
The grungy hotel room