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Published: September 25th 2006
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Hotel toilet, Lhatse, TibetI felt much better this morning, managing to eat most of my breakfast, except for the drowned in oil, pitiful excuse for an omelet. The sweet Tibetan bread was very nice & I was thanking God for the Vegemite because it would have been pretty plain without it. After a shorter drive on a much better road than yesterdays, we arrived in Tibet's second largest city Shigatse. I sat in the very back of the Landcruiser the whole journey I'm not sure if it was the fumes or the altitude, but I began feeling sick again around lunchtime.
After arriving in Shigatse (3800m), a group of us headed out to find somewhere for lunch. We explored the area surrounding our hotel; only to discover it wasn't anywhere near the centre of town & the restaurant pickings were slim. Settling on the eatery next door, recommended by our guide, I wasn't really hungry & decided a pizza was bland enough for me to stomach. Somehow the kitchen messed up our order & my meal never came, but it was no great loss as Betsy had also ordered pizza & couldn't finish the last two pieces, so I helped her out. With
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Pass en route to Shigatse, Tibet Betsy's empty plate in front of me, I had a hard time convincing the waiter my meal hadn't been served, but he finally relented & I headed back to the room for a rest before the afternoons activities.
Our group met mid afternoon & headed off to visit Tashi Lumpo monastery, the seat of the Panchen Lama & one of Tibet's most important monasteries. Karma, our Tibetan trip leader took us on a guided tour, most of which I did at my own pace as the Yak butter candles burning in EVERY building were making me feel more & more nauseous as the afternoon wore on. I struggled through & was overjoyed when the tour ended & our 4WD's were waiting to return us back to the comfort of our hotel.
I decided that being day three of the trip; it was time for a proper shower. As nice as the hotel was, we still had shared toilet & bathroom facilities, so I got my gear together & headed down the hallway in anticipation of my first hot shower in weeks. I had the bathroom all to myself & so hung all my gear, got undressed & turned
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View from pass enroute to Shigatse, Tibet on the water to find it was freezing cold. I remember Karma telling us the showers were available twenty four hours, so on went the clothes & I headed to the maids station, which was conveniently located next to my room at the other end of the hallway! The girl followed me back to the bathroom, fiddled with some taps under the sink, did something else in the men's bathroom, and then waited to make sure it worked; which it did. OK, ready for action. Once again, I got undressed, made it as far as getting shampoo in my hair when the water went cold again. Standing there with foamy blue hair, still feeling like crap from the altitude & freezing my arse off, I just about lost it. I was so close to tears, until the cold reminded me that standing their crying like a baby was not going to help my situation & action had better be taken quick smart before I turned into an icicle. Wrapped in only a towel, hair dripping wet, I yelled from the bathroom door down to the maids' station. No response. I hollered again & the guy from the room next door
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Window at Tashi Lumpo Monastery, Shigatse, Tibet poked his head out to investigate the disturbance. I quickly explained the situation, thanking God he understood English & pleaded for him to raise the maid to come fix the water, which he did. She returned, fixed the problem & I finished my shower (very quickly) & headed back to the room for more rest.
Being that it was the fifth anniversary of 9/11 & the only English television channel in China was screening nothing but tributes & remembrance ceremonies, it's needless to say I did not watch TV for long, instead opting for more reading. I did manage to make the group meeting in the lobby about our changed itinerary, but decided to skip dinner afterwards in favour for sleep. Didn't feel too bad about not going out, Shigatse is not really a big party town, so figured I wasn't missing much.
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