World China Tibet Shigatse

Dronkers in Tibet

Rongphu - Shigatse Jun 20, 2005

We wake up at 7:00 am to catch our 8:30 van down the mountain. Then, at 7:50, the van pulls up for it's 8:00 AM departure. We scramble.

We pile in the van for what turns out to be the worst ride ever. Sara described it: "I'm in hell."

There is thick dust floating around in the van, which we choke on. The driver insists on blasting some awful Tibetan music at full volume. Remember, it's just past 8:00 AM.

After maybe an hour of this, we get back down to the drop-point where we left Nortzen the driver. Nortzen, who's usually very quiet, asks in a thick accent: "Chomolangma Ok?" Yes, it was beautiful.

A brief word about Nortzen. He's great. A very careful driver, he gave us little grief and was generally very easy to be around. He smokes occasionally, but rarely is seen eating or drinking. He always has this lost look on his face. But he's very

nice. We lucked out.

We also lucked out with Sophie. She's great company, very smart, drives a hard bargain, and speaks Mandarin. She teaches us about China, where she's currently living. We didn't know much about the Communist party, the work-units, the Cultural Revolution, etc. We still don't. But now, at least we know a little. Over the days, we talk about politics, French food, surfing, and showers.

It was a long, ten-hour drive in the Landcruiser. We didn't speak much on this day because we were so tired from the whole EBC experience. More detours, bumps, dust, and head vs. ceiling issues. It's very hard to drink from the water bottles on a bumpy road, so we're usually thirsty.

This ride was characterized by cranking open the windows when the dust settled, only to close them quickly as an oncoming vehicle approached. We went through this

open-shut-open routine hundreds, if not thousands, of times.

One thing about the Tibetan landscape: the water. It has lots of different hues. It'd be turquoise in the lakes, brown near the construction sites, and milky white near the glaciers.

Another highlight of this ride is that Nortzen actually consumed some food. Crackers, as it were. Rejoicing ensues.

We finally arrive in Shigatse and check into what seems like a nice room at the Tenzin. Sit-down toilet, shower, TV, etc. We haven't seen any of those things in 3 days.

Looks deceive, though. The lights go off in the shower every 60 seconds. This drives Sara insane.

We have dinner at the Tenzin restaurant, although half the stuff on the menu is unavailable.

Showered and fed, it's bed time. We sleep soundly.