Today I walked to China.

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01-DEC-2007

There's nothing like a nice stroll to China on a sunny afternoon.

After a night out I purposefully chose to cut short, the 5am alarm rings and I've only been able to sneak in a couple hours of sleep. No matter how early you decide to turn in the night before a big trip, you almost inevitably end up tossing and turning for a few hours due to anxiety. I call it the 'itchy bones' syndrome. The more you try to relax, the more you feel the incessant need to shake your arms and legs about because the bones within them genuinely feel itchy. You just can't sit still, so you might as well give in and flail about for a while rather than trying to pretend it doesn't exist.

As I'd headed back to the hotel early last night, Steve felt the urge to stay out until the cows come home. As such, he's drunk when I meet him in the hotel lobby at 530am. He's rather rambunctious and I'm a bit worried about how the bus ride will pan out. He is shouting at street children. I am in no way associated with this guy...

All aboard the macro van bus to the border. I go for the back of the bus by the window because it's the most fun and is where the cool people sit. Unfortunately for my ridiculously long legs (not exactly an asset in this part of the word), I choose the seat with the least amount of leg room and must situate my legs diagonally to fit. Oh well, at least I'll have a good view of whatever's happening outside.

We pull out of Thamel as the first hint of sun appears on the horizon, road-trip style. Feels like we're heading out with the fam in the jeep, pillows and blankets in hand just like the good ol' days... except for that I have no pillow or blanket. Not that I need either one because I'm much more interested with the perks of the window seat than the inside of my eyelids. Sleep can come later.

It's so nice getting out of the valley again and into a more natural setting, complete with the fresh, crisp air bonus. We motor through small quaint villages and towns through the country alongside of a river the color aqua green you rarely see in nature. Much of the scenery along the drive looks remarkably like different places I've seen before- the severe-edged rocky hills through central PA, the green Oregon damp lushness, as well as the smooth, rolling earth-colored NZ hills dotted with small shrubbery.

I can tell when we're near the border because there's lots of unexplained waiting. We drive a 1/2 a mile and then wait for 1/2 hour. Repeat at least 4 times. Finally, we're instructed to gather our belongings because we would be walking to China, at least a mile uphill, with me in a long skirt and very heavy bags. Nobody told me I'd have to carry all this junk for this long...

After acquiring some good ol' Chinese Yuan (lucky for me the conversion factor from Rupees was a nice even 10), we crossed the bridge to China. However, due to a misunderstanding, Steve and I had left our bags on the bridge so we had to go retrieve them. So technically, I crossed twice, only held my breath the second time though. Better late than never. Strangely enough, there is a 2.25hr time difference between Nepal and all of China, which seems a bit extreme for simply crossing a river...

I had my hiking shoes strapped to the back of my pack and noticed some movement back there. Swiftly turning around, I noticed some guy trying to steal them! Lucky I'm one step ahead of these scoundrels and meticulously tied them on as well. Regardless, I carried them the rest of the way up to the jeep. Little did I realize, but these shoes would be saving my footsies from some serious frostbite.

I was privy to the front seat in the jeep as 4 people were crammed in the back en route to customs. It took me 20 minutes to realize that I was sitting on the right side of the car just like at home! I seemed to have this strange allusion that the US was the only country with the steering wheel on the left. Imagine that!

Following customs, we were free to chow down. We were ridiculously ravenous, as it was now dinnertime and lunch had been outright skipped. We were told to take our time at dinner since the mountain dirt road ahead is closed during the day for construction, and is only open late at night. So we did. And we got screwed. Everyone else hurried through dinner as if it were some sort of contest and piled into the jeeps, leaving us with two free spaces in two separate jeeps. We were to be separated and I wasn't having a word of it. Severely irritated, I hopped into a jeep with three unknown people who were traveling together. I certainly didn't realize it at the time, but it seemed to be a blessing in disguise. I love Steve and all, but we really do not need to be connected at the hip 24 hours a day. Sure, it provides a sense of security having someone closeby, but it can also cause you to miss out on meeting new people.

So after all this rushing, we drive up the mountainside for about 10min. Then the 7 jeep convoy comes to a halt and the engines turn off- for THREE hours, in the cold. Glad we all inhaled our food, people. At about 930pm, we resume our travels on the bumpiest road I've ever experienced. Yes, it required holding onto the 'Oh shit' bar above your head. Either way, the route certainly didn't deserve the prestigious title of 'road'.

We came across an ice patch in the dirt that had the jeep struggling for a solid 15 min. Repeatedly spinning tires followed by rolling backwards down the narrow mountain path caused a bit of temporary anxiety, but we finally pulled through. By this point, I was absolutely exhausted- but there was no way this road was allowing me to get any shut eye. I'd have to wait until the guesthouse.

We arrive in a town called Nyalam for the evening. I am still wearing my flip flops and there is ice on the road, so it is definitely below zero. I boast my toughness and determination to wear them as long as possible. We are shown to our dorm-style rooms, with 4-5 beds in each. There is no heat. I catch up with Andy, who's in another room on the same floor. We'd met about a week earlier at a sweater shop in Thamel and bonded over how it was so refreshing to see price tags on merchandise, alleviating the hassle of bargaining. Eventually we discovered we were both headed to Tibet at the same time and were likely on the same tour.

There's a little Tibetan restaurant downstairs from the guesthouse where we head for a bit of warmth. The menu is ridiculous and we can only decipher a small percentage of what's on it. We're laughing so hard our stomachs are hurting- for at least 10 straight minutes. This may have something to do with sleep deprivation. I'll take number 83.

I wear my wool sweater, ski hat, long johns, sweatpants, and wool socks, with two heavy comforters piled on top of me. I don't want to battle with stuffing my sleeping bag back into the sack in the morning so to everyone's shock, I opt against it and lived to tell about it. I didn't even get cold! I'll attribute it to the wool- that stuff is TOASTAY.

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Photos

Tibetan Menu
I'll take number 83.