Yesterday heavy snow continued on this morning and as ZK was warming up the engine, another jeep driver came to ask about the road condition from where we came from. He was going the opposite direction. We told him the road from Litang to Batang was under repair and hence we could only take the side road which was difficult to travel on. Later he asked our driver how to enable 4WD in his jeep (挂四驱) as now the road was partly covered with ice and snow. After helping him, ZK told us it is a shame that the driver owns a solid Toyota jeep but knows nothing about 4WD. 浩链.
After a short while on the road, I had some 屎意 and asked the driver to stop near some ruins. I quickly went behind a wall and did my business. I wouldn’t say it was enjoyable shitting in the open but it was a different experience. Facing the snow mountain, shitting among the ruins (probably an abandoned temple). Not sure whether my friends thought it was fun or they also felt the urge to move their bowels under my influence, one by one they tried it also. I did my business in a swift and JH and I plotted to sneak on Kenneth who was taking his own sweet time. He was so helplessly squatting there while JH took an artistic picture of him. I would say it wasn’t a bad shot.
We passed by a village on the way and saw the villagers building a house. Everyone joined in the construction, men, women, girls and boys. I saw a girl carry a sack of rocks and had to climb up the ladder to the 2nd level of the half-complete house. The invention of pulley system certainly had not reached this village. I really pitied that poor girl.
Thereafter, it was a long drive along a lonely long road. No other cars. Just us. Then, we saw an old man walking on the road some distance in front of us. Every 2 steps he took, he would kneel down, lie flat on the ground, stretched his hands forward and get up again. And he then he would repeat. The famous ORZ. We stopped in front of him and got out of the car to take pictures of his action.
ZK said that sometimes the wife or the son would follow behind on horse-cart, carrying food and supplies. But most of the time it was done alone. All the way from their village to Lhasa. And god knows how many had died along the way. I would say in this case faith is a scary thing. Though I couldn’t understand why they did that, I wouldn’t want to indulge in religious issue here.
Today we were making good progress because of the favourable road conditions (finally some real concrete road to travel on) and hence had a longer lunch break. TOO LONG I would say. Because ZK started talking non-stop about tea. The different types of tea, the methods, when to drink them, how to appreciate, blah blah blah. To make matter worse, Kenneth knew a bit on tea appreciation and hence added on to the conversation. I was dozing off for most of the time but I did catch the word 竹叶青, one of the most famous tea in Sichuan. Guessed we could all go to ZK’s teahouse after this trip to have a taste of good tea and buy some back.
Because of this long break, we reached 然乌镇, our stop for the day, rather late. The 4 of us went to the 然乌湖, which known for its beautiful scenery. Sadly, all we saw was a dried up lake and some puddles of water. The rainy season only comes in August. Still, we went down to the lake and walked on the cracked bed of the lake. If the lake were to be water-filled, we would get a nice reflection of the snow mountains nearby. But now, we could only get partial reflection with the little bit of water left.
Feeling disappointed, we went back to our hostel and ZK was talking to a group of cyclists and all of them were gathering around a stove, getting warmth. We went over also and it was shiok putting your hands near the stove, heated by burning firewood inside. The 2 cyclists said there were 5 of them actually, but they didn’t plan this cycling tour before-hand. Some they met along the way while others were “jioed” online. One of the cyclists was 69 years old.
While we were talking, 2 policemen stepped in and asked if they could 烤炉 with us. One of them was a middle-aged man, and he was the 局长 of the town. Another handsome young man, who looked a bit like Andy Lau was his Kah Giah. This 元局长 is quite funny. He said that some time ago, a man lodged a police report saying his car was smashed by the Tibetan kid. The reason was: That man bought a bundle of pencils for the kids. However, while he was giving out, he found that he didn’t have enough for everyone. So he decided to throw the pencils on the ground for them to grab. Those who didn’t get the pencils were so angry that they smashed his jeep with stones.
Mr. Yuan told that guy, served him right. He felt the victim deserved it as it was very humiliating to throw the pencils like that. He said if you can’t afford to buy pencils for every kid in the village, give the pencils to the teacher of that village and let her distribute. Don’t throw them at kids. Thereafter, he started giving us a lecture on tourism. He said the phenomenon of begging in all the cities of Tibet is largely due to the bad tourists around. Why give $ to kids who aren’t even old enough to count? Esp. the 老外, who are less sensitive and thought the easiest way to rid themselves of these young beggars is to give them $. A sweet or a pencil will do.
And he said most tourists after traveling Tibet, would tell their friends about the harsh weather conditions in Tibet, making it sound as if Tibet’s living condition is unbearable. Is that really so? Are the Tibetans here all superhuman then? These tourists only stressed the tough and painful experience of their trip to show how they suffered. They often fail to talk about the sunny days and the cooling light rains. I must say, I am a bit guilty of that but it is an indisputable fact that weather changes real fast in Tibet. But I would say it wasn’t as bad as one would think.
And traveling to Tibet by jeep isn’t that dangerous too. The winding mountain roads, muddy tracks, and so on do not pose as much danger as driving in a car-and-pedestrian-filled city. Traveling in the countryside is the easiest kind of driving you can get. Just have to look straight. No need to care left and right and no red light also.
Sensing he had talked too much and too harshly perhaps, he started telling us funny incidents he had. One time he was driving from RanWu to Chengdu and he was not wearing his uniform then. Some travelers wanted to hitch-hike and he agreed straightaway, doing it for free. The travelers were skeptical and thought maybe he was a bad guy and had some ulterior motives. Because in China, everything is about $. Still they took his car. Along the way, there were some road blocks and Mr. Yuan took out his police coat and wore it. Then he went over to talk to the road block guy and he was let through immediately. The 2 travelers at the back told him, “hey not bad to get a police uniform ready in the car. It really comes handy at times. Maybe we should get one also next time.” Ha, poor Mr. Yuan. Maybe he was such a funny guy that he had no credibility at all when wearing his police uniform.
After a few more stories, he needed to attend to some business (apparently there were some geography assessors in town whom he needed to meet) and we also left to take a shower. We had to pay 5rmb this time for hot bath and again it was done by burning firewood. However it was a torturous one. Some time there was no water. Suddenly, hot water would rush out. Then turned icy cold immediately. It was another half-complete shower again. Another cyclist went after us and we warned him of the inconsistent supply of water at the same time complaining to the hostel boss. That cyclist returned feeling completely refreshed and looked as if he had a good bath. And he claimed he really did. He gave 2 reasons: 1: he believed in Buddha and we don’t. 2: because the 5 of us bathed at the same time and hence there wasn’t enough water pressure to cater to everyone’s need at one go. I will take his 2nd reason.
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