China/Tibet Overland: Yakkety yak, public toilets which make catheterisation look an appealing option, sky burials, pot-bellied pigs and birthdays (with cakes which taste like wallpaper paste)!!

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Back at my fave internet hotspot in Lhasa! Most internet places are sooooooooo slow as apparently there are around 33,000 internet police in China so everything goes through a massive filtering process!

Been wandering around the Jokhang area this morning and saw the delightful sight of a little child going to the toilet in the main street ( number 2's!). The fashion here is for trousers with splits in them ( no nappies) so children just squat down and go where they need to. Haven't daren't to think too much about the implications for babes in arms and how that works! However, backtracking 2 minutes later there was no sign of the mess so there is obviously an efficient clean up system at work, and I should hasten to add the trend is amongst young children and doesn't extend to adults!!

The toilets and toileting habits, however, have become somewhat of a fascination over here. It's not uncommon to see somebody squatting in the open in the middle of a field or publicly urinating in a side street. It's just no big deal over here that's all. As a group, we have become used to the communal toilets which are just holes with no doors ( and sometimes no walls between them). The other day we visited a school and, as foreigners, we were ambushed by dirty, nit-infested, snotty-nosed yet very lovely kids wherever we walked. We signalled that we were going into the toilets, expecting them to stop, but they just followed us in for the viewing. Ever had performance anxiety when crouching over a long drop with 10 little heads peering round the corner watching your every move??!! So, we have lost all self-consciousness as a group and have even started waving to passing lorries as we are crouched at the sides of the road for toilet stops!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday we went into the Potala Palace, which is impressive, although I prefer the Jokhang as it has more life about it. After, I walked the 'kora' ( pilgrim path) around it , and ended up being invited to picnic with 3 monks. It was a very special experience and I'm very lucky, for we talked a lot about their lives and religion etc. They would accept no food or money from me, but insisted I share their food. I was offered a boiled potato from the grubbiest pair of hands you have ever seen, which brings on the dilemma of highly offending your host or potentially going down with worms or some bacterial infection. I managed the situation by taking a tiny nibble from a piece untouched and telling them it was delicious! Needless to say, I think shares in antibacterial wipes have gone up in value as they have been used excessively this trip! I also taught one of the monks some English!The oldest monk, at the grand old age of 68, took off his hat and touched my Lonely Planet guide to his head, thus blessing it, and wishing me long life and happiness. Aaaaaaaahh!!

The day before we had a funny excursion to the shops to try to get some anti-nit medication. Not for me- (I'm a nit-free zone) but one of the lads from our trip picked them up on a sleeper train. We were armed with my picture book which has random pictures to be used travelling anywhere in the world ( thanks go to Auntie Sue and Uncle Bill); Unfortunately the closest pictures we had were of a shrimp, a hard boiled egg ( to indicate nits eggs) , and a fork ( to indicate a nit-comb). So there we were basically telling the locals that he was breeding shrimps and hard-boiled eggs in his hair , and they just didn't get it! Everybody was becoming hysterical as we tried to act out nits jumping from head to head, and draw ( very appalling) diagrams of nits laying eggs which looked more like droppings.....and they were turning up with every combination of hair products under the sun - anti-dandruff, anti hair-loose (sic) cream, hair dyes....you name it! I also picked up a product called 'superwoman', which showed a very svelte looking lady on the outside but no indication of what was inside and I kept trying to ask the girls what the product was and they kept catching my eye and giving me the thumbs up. I still to this moment have absolutley no idea what was in the pack , although the rest of the group are teasing me that it was viagra for females........! And the nit saga continues,as we never got any medication........

The last 2 weeks have seen temples and the Great Wall in Beijing (spitting capital of the world ....it's projectile and very evil there) , loss of my second bank card and a slight cash crisis, joining up with my tour group ( nice bunch ), an overnight train to Xian where we saw the Terracotta warriors and I started to develop apparent early rabies symptoms (never materialised thank goodness but bit worrying at the time!). We then travelled again on an overnight train to Xiahe at higher altitude where we suddenly felt like we had hit Tibet as everything became much more basic and the facial features dress changes. The trains are kinda interesting- no privacy- just rows of bunks piled 3 high, with no enclosed compartments as in the UK so if you walk down the train you can see everybody in bed! From there we went to Langmusi, which I loved. It was very basic with pot-bellied pigs scavenging at the sides of the roads (they have such cute sniffing snouts!),a sky burial site where they cut up their dead and feed them to vultures, and best of all we were the local TV! As we were eating , 'staring squads' would appear with their noses pressed up against the windows and literally stand their for 10 minutes or so just watching the strange westerners use knives and forks, blow their noses and chat amongst ourselves!!! Groups were herded onto open- sided lorries about to embark on long overland journeys with little clothing for protection from the elements. And then, suddenly, without warning, all the power went off and we had a snow storm; We were in this little guest house with NO heating anyway, hot water for only an hour a day, just a few candles for lighting and it looked like it was going to be a very cold, grim night until miraculously the power came on and we were saved from a very very long night.........

The next day we travelled through spectacular mountainous scenery and got stuck on the mountains in traffic chaos , with lorries stranded in the snow. A big hole in the road was being repaired by drivers just throwing stones and dirt in; However it was badly planned and they created a dirt mound which was then impassable! After about an hour, traffic started moving past us,when a lorry just skidded in mud next to us and got stranded; Anyway, I think the pictures tell the stories better than I can! We were just on our way again when we were stopped by the road being dug up ahead of us. There's no alternative route so you just have to sit and wait while the road is being made in front of your very eyes. Interesting stuff......

We then visited the school, where I made the mistake of giving out some stickers I had. BIG MISTAKE! Suddenly there was a crowd of around 50 kids round me pushing and shoving to be one of the chosen few to receive a sticker. I then made the mistake of showing them my talking alarm clock and was pursued across the playground by gangs of kids wanting me to put it against their ears and press the 'talk' button. That school was exhausting and after half an hour I was panting with exhaustion ( and altitude!) after being pursued so much. This was also the place where the VERY communal toilet episode occurred!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was also my birthday eve and I was delighted that we were staying at a traditional Tibetan Nomad house that night, with yet more toilets with views, yaks, horses, 6 puppies and amazing isolation. The house was literally 2 rooms- a living room with stove and altar,which doubled up as a bedroom, and a store room for food etc. washing was done outside in bowls as was toileting. As a group we slept all 12 of us on the floors in these rooms ( very cosy!!) while the Tibetans stayed with neighbours. My birthday started with nibbled ankles at 2 am from 6 puppies when I ventured outside to the long drop! It was a long travel day, but we had food and a cake in the evening; The group also bought me a Tibetan necklace which was sweet of them ( something to do with health and happiness, hmmmm not sure if it was a dig about my rabies scare/ cold/altitude sickness!!)

Next stop was Chengdu, where we saw pandas ( sooooooo cute!), then onto Lhasa which brings us up to date ..well in China anyway as there's still more to tell from Bangkok!

Sorry, this has been a bit whistle-stop but I was getting so far behind some serious catching up was necessary. Anyhow, I'll let the pictures tell the stories.........( and by the way I'm fine now, never felt better..........) ps Hoping to post my birthday pix on May 2nd all being well!

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Photos

Great Views from the Great Wall........
We arrived there on the day of Beijing's biggest dust storm in 5 years......

Running repairs ( the first of many)
....and this is one of the better roads we travelled on!.

Tibetan Men - Langmusi
Note the long sleeves to keep them warm as they don't have gloves.

Comments

[pot bellied English girl]

Just trying to take it all in!
Wow Sally - sounds like you are just having the most incredible time - your toilet stories remind me of mine in India! Tibet is a place i have always wanted to visit so am deeply jealous! Scenery looks stunning - i want to be there!! p.s. Can definitely compete with those pigs on the belly front - getting more rounded by the day! - will email properly soon to your other address xx

[I should do math.]

I should do math.
I want to travel like you...