25 April - Day 4 to Gyantse 3950m
ANZAC Day. It is now a year since Garry and I left NZ.
Woke to find it had snowed again. "No Problems" was out cleaning off the car. . Traveling to third world countries has really made me appreciate that I was born in NZ.
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The drive was quite scary and I did say quite few prayers to Jesus Christ as we slid in the ice when approaching other vehicles. The roads are only single lane and the drivers have no regard for any other vehicle in their path. It is just one big game of chicken. Chinese drive on the right and Tibetans on the left and as long as you toot your horn you can do what you please. It seems to be compulsory to overtake the vehicle in front of you as soon as you come across it. No need to wait until you can see past it - just "toot, toot" and off you go while we all pray that there is nothing coming around the blind corner. And if there is we just "toot, toot" again and hope that it stops before we hit it.
A couple of times I actually jumped out of the car as I was sure we would go over the side into the river. I did make myself feel braver by acknowledging that I had 2 pairs of socks on so my feet wouldn't freeze too quickly when we hot the water. Unfortunately, my traveling companions kept reminding me that I would probably be dead before I hit the water.
But in the end "No Problems" got us there in one piece. I'm not so sure about the condition of my heart, though. "No Problems" would be enjoying a long jail sentence if he drove like that in NZ.
The poor Belgiums had a much worse driver than us. They were very close to punching their driver and many times had to grab the steering wheel to save themselves. They wanted him sacked after the first 2 hours but our guides hands were tied so they had to endure him for the whole trip but were going to complain heartily at the end.
The toilet at the hotel we stayed in was by far the worst I have encountered so far. And the "so far" scares me. I will not go into any detail and did not even photograph it, as I think it may even be too much for the Websters. We did ask them to clean the toilet and all they did was mop the floor.
Needless to say I found a place in the corner of the carpark to use instead. I wasn't the only one because in the morning when all the cars were gone there were puddles everywhere.
It is hard to believe that the Chinese can redevelop a town and put in wide roads, traffic lights, build fancy buildings with gold plated foyers but can't get the plumbing right. Kealls Plumbing Plus needs to send some good staff over here. They could make a fortune.
