西藏之旅

Day 30 030606 Happy Birthday To Me!

2006-09-16T01:20:00.000+08:00

CCG left the hostel very early in the morning before everyone woke up. He was going to walk all the way from Sims to 杜甫草堂. I was the 2nd person to wake up. The girl at the counter gave me a small piece of paper, filled with pictures and instructions on how to get to the Panda Base. I had to take Bus No.1 to a bus terminal near 照觉寺. Then I had to cross over to another nearby bus station to take a feeder bus.

It was my first time taking bus in Chengdu and it was something I feared. I had witnessed a few times people rushing up the bus without any order. If the windows were big enough, I guess they probably would climb in through them. It wasn’t too bad for me this time probably because it was quite early in the morning. There was an assistant on the bus who would collect $ from me.

I went up to the upper deck and took a sit near the stairs. A while later, a long hair 妹妹 came and sat beside me. But I was looking out of the window all the time because I wanted to be sure where I was. After about an hour, I reached the terminal but was a bit disoriented. The map given by the Sims girl wasn’t exactly accurate either.

As they say, 路在嘴上. After asking someone for direction, I found the bus depot to take the feeder bus. There was no bell to press on the bus and there were only 2 ways to get off: 1. shout to the driver. 2. wait till the 大姐 on the bus to ask if anyone wants to get off at some particular points. However, she was shouting in 川话 which I still couldn’t fully understand. I was afraid that I might miss the stop and end up in some ulu place.

Luckily, the Panda Base (熊猫基地) was a touristy place and hence quite a number of passengers got off at the same time as well. Moreover, there was a large panda statue there which couldn’t be missed. I am always excited when visiting zoo and I have never seen a real panda in my life before. Although it was drizzling, I was still feeling rather upbeat.

But very soon disappointment began to set in. The only time I got to see a moving panda was when watching a documentary in a little theatre. All the live pandas in the fenced-up areas were sleeping on the trees! Maybe I came at the wrong time. Maybe pandas are nocturnal creatures. Or perhaps they just behave like that. In any case, it was most boring zoo visit I ever had.

The red pandas (小熊猫) were slightly more active. They are raccoon-looking creatures that are much smaller than ordinary pandas. To take a picture with a panda or a red panda cost around 800rmb and you have to wear protective suit and boots. No way was I going to spend this kind of $ especially after knowing that this place is such a let down. I was told that the panda zoo in 卧龙 had more to offer.

I left the place around lunchtime and took the bus back to照觉寺. There was a flea market just outside the temple selling all sorts of stuffs from books and cassette tapes to clothes and religious-related items. One of the stalls was playing 刘德华’s 谢谢你的爱. It has been ages since I last heard this song.

On the way back to the bus terminal, I bought a sausage and some fermented beancurds from a roadside stall. I simply love these so called 臭豆腐 ever since I ate some in Taiwan some years ago. This kind of roadside stall has a hygiene level of zero but I trust my stomach. She had a frying pan mounted on her trishaw which contained black and dirty oil. She would fry the beancurds for a couple of minutes and put it on a board (which was also black). Then she would add chilli powder and mixed around. The pungent smell was really overpowering. Smells like foot-rot.

I wanted to enjoy the beancurds while waiting for the bus at the terminal. However, it came faster than I thought and so I had to board it. I felt embarrassed eating fermented beancurds on the bus and would probably be scolded if I were back in Singapore. It was another hour of ride back to Sims. I decided to have a hair cut at the neighbourhood salon.

I went to the biggest salon I could find nearby and asked for a 吹剪洗 combo. The service was the best I had so far. The 洗头妹 was a Sichuan girl called 晶晶 or something like that. I had a 25 min hair-wash service plus head massage and she was very chatty, especially the moment she knew I was from Singapore. Our conversation revolved around my opinions on Sichuan and I told her a few things about Singapore as well. I always like to promote Singapore to foreigners because even though many have heard of the name of our country, their knowledge of our country is only limited to modern, small and clean. And maybe Michael Fay for the Americans.

It was very enjoyable to have my hair washed and the 30rmb I paid was absolutely worth it. The hairstylist was a guy who was just as conversational. After the haircut, I returned to Sims and CCG told me he found the entire collection of 金庸 novel. The pocket size version. So he brought me to that bookshop but it was closed after 4pm! Very suei because that day was our last day in Chengdu. We decided to try our luck at another bookshop but none of the novel was on display shelf. It was just not popular to read 金庸 novel anymore.

As a last resort, I asked the assistant there and was surprised that they actually had the stocks! They kept them in a cupboard and were only available upon request. So in the end, I had to carry 2 boxes of books back to Sims.

By the time we were back at Sims, JH and Kenneth were back and we decided to go pubbing since it was our last night as well as my birthday. JH and Kenneth even bought me an Adidas shirt as present (感动). We took a cab to an Irish Bar (Shamrock) but we were too early for the performance which would start only at 10pm. The steak we had was quite good but rather expensive though still considered cheap compared to Singapore.

After the meal, we ordered some drinks and I found out that Hoegarden was called 福佳白 in Chinese. A group of Angmohs performers came and I realized they weren’t Irish! They were Americans and at the start of their performance, they played an American Christian song. It was damn off. I’ve been to really traditional Irish pub in France and the Celtic music was fantastic then. Banjo, flute, guitar. Well, that was because I was in Brittany then that place had strong ties with Celtic culture. This one in Chengdu was too Americanized!

We couldn’t stand the music anymore and decided to move off to another place. According to JH and Kenneth, there was a place where all the havoc places were. It was near 紫荆戏院. When we reached there, there was just half a street of clubs and bars. JH was quite disappointed but I was actually quite impressed to find these in China. We didn’t want to go into the clubs because we were a bit under-dressed and CCG and Kenneth do not club at all. So we decided to go to Paulaner for a drink.

I must say this Paulaner was much better than the one at Millennium Walk in Singapore in terms of service and entertainment. When we were there, a lady came to serve us and took our orders. Knowing that we were from SG, she even asked a translator to assist us in reading the menu. But that was rather unnecessary. The translator said that if next time we come, we can call him half an hour earlier so that he can cool the beer for us.

The lady poured the beer for us and tried to empty the bottle into a single glass. She had to fill it right to the brim and it really tested her skills. She was also having fun and joking with us at the same time. There was a stage performance with English and Chinese songs because there were quite a number of foreigners around. 2 hot babes dressed in red then came on stage with a sexy violin performance.

After that, the bar top was set on fire and the bartender stood on the bar top and performed acrobatic mixing of liquors. Each of us was giving firecrackers (those stick that sparkles) to play around with. The translator then came and asked for my birthday which coincidentally was on that day! So he asked the singer to dedicate a birthday song to me before we left. It was a very enjoyable and memorable birthday night.

Back at Sims, it was already 1am and the main gate was locked. We had to press a little doorbell and a while later, my favourite girl came and opened the door for us. The moment we walked past her, she knew we had been drinking. We quickly bathed and slept as we were really tired.

Day 31 040606 Home Away from Home

2006-09-09T10:43:00.000+08:00

The very first day when we arrived at Sims, I liked the place immediately because of the relaxing environment as well as the international crowd. Not forgetting the forever polite and friendly staffs. We had always wanted to eat the 22rmb breakfast at Sims, the most expensive food they served. So far, I had seen only 老外 eating that. In the end, it turned out to be very disappointing. The 22rmb breakfast was just bacon sandwich and salad.

Since our flight back to Singapore was in the evening, we still had time to shop around for 土产. We went to the Carrefour nearest to our lodgings and started to comb the shelves for food like 牛肉干, 豆腐干, 鸭肉干, biscuits, etc. By this time I had roughly 100rmb left and decided to spend everything.

After we had done shopping, we went to a small tea section just outside Carrefour because CCG wanted to buy some back home. The 2 shop assistants who served us were cute young Sichuan 妹妹, who upon hearing that we are from Singapore, chat with us even more. One of them asked me what do I think about Sichuan girls and I said 不错，都蛮美的, and she giggled shyly. But then when she added 四川出美女, I couldn’t help but laughed. Come on, I thought it is 苏州出美女? Anyway, I really like the girls there (never mind if Ken they all beg to differ) so it doesn’t matter if she’s right or wrong.

We went back to Sims and frantically packing our stuffs because we need to vacate the room by 12 noon. But we had too much barang barangs to pack! So I went downstairs and asked my favourite female staff if we could delay till 1pm. She said ok. All of us had with us now much more luggage than we first came. For me, the biggest problem was my tons of books.

Finally, we finished packing and had to wait for another 2 hrs before leaving for the airport. As usual, we had asked Sims to arrange a bread bus for us. The last 2 hrs of our stay was spent relaxing at the benches in Sims. I am so glad that I brought a DV because this sort of once-in-a-lifetime long vacation needs to be permanently recorded. Memories would fade over time. However, even though I might forget what exactly happened during the trip many years down the road, the feeling that I was had for this place would last for a much longer time.

Although we did nothing during that 2 hrs, just lazing around, it passed real fast and finally it was time to go. We bid goodbye to the staffs and headed to the airport. I wasn’t sure about the other guys, but I certainly had some attached feeling for this place and its people. Even 川话 seemed so intimate to me now. The same feeling I have whenever I hear people speaking French. This place is so 亲切, it is like a home away from home.

1 month in Tibet and Sichuan seemed to be a short time but for me, it isn’t because I had experienced a lot of things here, which I can never experience again elsewhere. I don’t when I will be back but I certainly will miss this place. 扎西德勒.

Day 29 020606 武侯祠

2006-09-08T19:19:00.000+08:00

The 4 of us took a cab to武侯祠 (WHC) early in the morning and decided to have our breakfast there. It was a gloomy morning, with slightly overcast sky. Halfway through the breakfast, Kenneth needed to go and shit and went to a public toilet which we discovered nearby. I was really surprised that the toilet was well kept and clean. More surprisingly, it was free!

Only CCG and I went to WHC. Kenneth and JH planned to explore the city on their own. I had always wanted to visit WHC because many years ago, while I was studying Chinese Literature in RVHS, I came across this poem dedicated to 诸葛亮. I can only remember the first line now: “丞相祠堂柏柏森森”. If I am not wrong, this poem is by 杜甫. Moreover, I have deep respect for the military adviser during the 三国 era. To be able to pay my respects in his temple would be a great honor for me.

Inside WHC, was a maze-like garden with various kinds of flora and in one section, it was full of bonsai. There were other heroes of the 三国 era who were also idolized in the temple. Famous of them all was 关羽, also known as 武财神.

I was a little disappointed because I thought the place had more things to offer than just statues and information boards. There was one thing that caught my eyes though. In a building, there were about 100 paintings on the walls which told the entire story of 三国演义, from the very beginning of Swearing into Brotherhood to the Establishment of Jin Dynasty. After visiting every building, we left the place. We spent less than 2 hours in total. I bought a set of clay figurines depicting about 80 characters in the novel三国演义.

Outside WHC, there was a street selling all sorts of snacks. I bought 1 竹叶牛肉 and 1 鸡蛋牛肉饼. The 1st snack was beef balls wrapped in bamboo leaves. The beef balls were very tightly packed but once you bite into one, the meat disintegrates. The 2nd snack was even better. A big piece of crispy pancake fried with eggs and beef. Never mind the oiliness.

We walked all the way towards 春熙街. Along the way, we past by a shop selling tea. As recommended by ZK, one of the famous teas in Sichuan is a kind of green tea called 竹叶青. I bought a packet belonging to the 3rd grade (4 grades in total) category, also known as 静心. Now I am drinking this black roasted tea and it gives off a fragrance like melon seeds.

We had lunch at KFC in 春熙街 and began to talk about JH and Ken. Wonder where they are now? After some shopping (but no buying), we went back to the bookshop near Sims and I bought quite a number of Chinese classics there. I guessed these books would last me for at least a year.

Back in Sims, we rested in the bunk and then went to watch 川剧 at 芙蓉国萃. We got the first ninth row for only half price thanks to arrangement by Sims. The tickets were cheaper because Sims bought them in bulk and in the end, we were grouped together with a bunch of Angmohs and 2 Taiwanese brothers. We chatted with the Taiwanese (Nelson and Eddie) and learnt that they were planning to go Tibet as well. However, because of their nationality, they needed a longer time to get the permit approved.

The show was very entertaining, much more than I expected. The first show was 三英战吕布 and it was that kind of traditional Chinese drama. But it wasn’t boring at all. There were some stunts and acting. The 2nd show was an acrobatic act by pretty young lady. She performed 扯铃 and turned a table and a vase with her toes. Very nimble toes.

Next up were 2 girls dancing with their puppets. The puppets were very real-life, and danced gracefully to the music as well. A comedy followed that. It was quite hilarious even though it was acted in 川话. The compere for that night was a Sichuan lady who spoke English at a speed of 1000 words per sec.

Then came the most boring part of the show. An Erhu performance which was also a good time for toilet break. Finally it was the show that we all had been waiting for 四川变脸. 5 artists including a female came onto the stage. Before this, I already seen the changing of mask performance on TV but nothing beats the real thing. In a split second, the performer changed his mask by hitting his face with a fan or by turning his head. One performer even did it by just blinking! He even came down and shook hand with the audience and while doing that, changed his mask repeatedly.

The show ended in 1.5 hrs and we really enjoyed ourselves, discussing about the show on the way back. When Kenneth and JH came back, we exchanged our happenings of the day. Theirs seem more exciting. They had an acquaintance with some manager or what in a coffee house. That guy told them about some clubbing places in Chengdu.

For tomorrow’s plan, we would be split up again. Kenneth and JH would once again go shopping while CCG would visit 杜甫草堂. As for me, I will be going to the outskirt of Chengdu, to visit the Panda Base there.

Day 24 280506 Orchard Road of Chengdu

2006-09-07T23:02:00.000+08:00

Among the 4 of us, CCG and I are the early birds. I must say that I sleep much better here than back in Singapore. No worries, care-free, no distractions. The two of us checked with the receptionist at the hostel on any nearby eateries with good breakfast. After getting the directions, we set off for our hunt for breakfast.

Along the way, we were speculating whether JH will join us for the 九寨沟, or Nine Village Valley (9VV) tour. On our last day in Tibet, JH was already sick of this trip. He even said that if we really want to take ZK’s jeep offer, he will fly back Chengdu alone. Now, he felt that 9VV tour is not worth going and most probably will not join us. Reason being? My guess is: One, he misses his gf. Two, he is really not feeling well. Three, he doesn’t like this company he is hanging out with. Four, maybe about job-hunting once back to SG. Five, he is not feeling well. Whatever the reason, I hoped he do join us for the tour. Maybe he wants to break away from the group and mix with other travelers. I have the same intention also, but since this is our graduation tour, I thought maybe we should stick together.

Anyway, JH said he would give us an answer by today. We returned to the Sims Cozy House after breakfast (which was so-so only) and found the other 2 lazybums had just woke up. While waiting for them to wash up, CCG and I chatted with the girl at the counter.

Once the 2 of them were ready, we set off again to explore the city. With the free map provided by Sims, we decided to walk towards town center instead of taking the bus. The bus was always packed and we feared that we might be pick-pocketed. But I will definitely try taking the bus one day. Along the way we passed by a large sportswear retail shop selling brands like Nike, Adidas, etc. The designs were only average but the prices were cheaper.

CCG guessed that these clothes might be factory defects and indeed, some of the polo Ts have frayed threads at the sleeves. I chose a Nike berms which I think I cannot fit now. Think I am turning into male version of Kim Sae Soon.

We arrived at the Orchard Road of Chengdu around noon and I immediately like the place. This place is called 春熙街, and is lined up with shopping malls and packed with young people. There was a long overhead bridge across the main road which was connected to 4 big shopping complexes at the 4 corners.

We decided to settle our lunch first before shopping and already had a place in mind – thanks to ZK. I think that’s his only contribution to us. He once mentioned that there is a restaurant in ChunXi Jie that sells all kinds of Sichuan delicacies. The restaurant worked in a slightly different way. First we had to go to the counter, which had no queues at all, just a pool of people shouting their orders. Once we had our orders placed and paid up, we would get a receipt. We then had to pass the receipt to any waiter/waitress standing around and get ourselves a table. There were over 10 stalls preparing all the different kinds of delicacies and the waiter, with our receipts will go to the respective stalls to collect the food.

What we had ordered was a combo set consisting of 14 kinds of delicacies. We really overestimated our appetites because 14 dishes was too much for one person. Some of them were tasty while others were simply inedible. Some of the dishes include, 抄手, 水饺, 凉粉, etc. just to name a few.

After a full but not exactly delicious lunch, we began our shopping spree. Well, can’t really use this term on guys although the clothes here are cheap. In fact, CCG isn’t really interested in shopping. Ken is too preoccupied with the 9VV trip. Moreover, the clothes here wasn’t that fashionable either. While walking along the 步行街, there was a mini choo-choo train offering rides to shoppers, like that kind that can be found in parks or zoos.

I went into a shop similar to Baleno-style and tried on a T shirt. I realized the sales assistants practiced a peculiar custom. When I took a shirt to try, he would write some number on the tag. My guess was that he indicated his employee no. on the shirt so that he can claim commissions after I made purchase. Or, it was a way to record the stock status.

Anyway, I took this shirt to try and while inside the fitting room, I was rather satisfied with the design and the size. The T-shirt looks like one of those I bought at Topman. Just before leaving the room, I took a look at the words on the T-shirt. “Fashion” was spelt as “Fashaion”. No way am I going to wear this kind of shirt.

I came out of the fitting room and returned the shirt to the nearest salesgirl. She asked why I rejected the shirt and I just told her it didn’t really suit me. She insisted that I give her a good reason. I told her that there was a misspelled word and while she was figuring out the mistake, I quickly left the shop.

We went back Sims and discussed with the people there on 9VV trip. Mr. Sim came and dissuaded us from taking tour package there, even though he himself liaised with agencies for his guests for such package. He said that most of the people who went with tour group complained about poor tour guide service and pestering them to buy in souvenir shops. He told us to go on our own.

With everything settled, and JH had also agreed to go along, we had no more worries and relaxed at the lounge in Sims.

Day 28 010606 Dinner by the River

2006-09-05T20:54:00.000+08:00

We had to endure yet another 10 hours of ride back to Chengdu but this time round we had much spacious coach with good air-conditioning and no 姐姐 to stop me from enjoying the air-con. But smoking bastards still exist on the coach. Why can’t they just extinct like dinosaurs did? Well, guess they are as persistent as cockroaches.

The journey was slightly longer as initially the driver made occasional stops in villages to pick more passengers up. Clearly he wanted to fill up the capacity and at the same time earn some extra $. While on the bus, I received an SMS from ZP back in SG inviting me to a drinking party. It was a long time since I met up with the guys from Hall 2 and I wanted to see how’s everyone doing, esp. Benny. I had a chance later on when I was back in SG, and glad that everyone’s doing fine though I threw up badly that day.

We had tidbits for lunch and JH was feeling nauseous and tried to throw up but in vain. CCG had to spare him his depleting motion sickness pill. Finally, we were back at Chengdu and again the feeling of returning home was overwhelming.

There was a river, or rather a canal near our hostel along which there were a number of restaurants. We chose one that was open spaced which sold a number of exotic dishes. A waitress led us all the way in and presumably to a table we thought. But soon we sort of lost sight of her and were standing in the middle of large compound with tables full of customers. We stood there for a while, confused and lost. Then we decided to leave the place and try another restaurant. Anyway, we didn’t want to try any weird dishes like rabbit head etc.

We went to another restaurant by the canal and had quite a sumptuous dinner. But the flies above us were very irritating and they really got on Kenneth’s nerves. Other than that, it was a relax dinner with traditional Sichuan dishes and cold beer (蓝剑 brand).

We returned to the hostel and had fruit salad for supper and discussed about the plan for tomorrow. Seemed like we going to split into 2 groups. CCG and I would visit 武侯祠, while JH and Kenneth go explore the city.

Day 27 310506 九寨沟 Part III

2006-09-05T16:29:00.000+08:00

We entered the Valley again in the morning, taking the early bus to the farthest end where the Long Lake and the 5 Color Pool were. We were a little worried that we couldn’t meet Kenneth as his handphone line was terminated. We just hoped that he would make it on time at the designated meeting pointing.

Being one of the few early birds in the Valley, we had exclusive view of the scenery. Beside the Long Lake, there was a tree with leaves on its left and none on its right. It was called 独臂老人. It was really boring here and so we took the bus to the other prong to meet Kenneth.

The other tip was at higher altitude and the bus had to keep turning up the winding road. When we reached the end, CCG was walking very slowly behind. All of a sudden, he turned and Merlioned into the drain! I didn’t even notice him feeling unwell or what. He just kept quiet and suddenly kept puking. It was really a great amount of vomit he threw up.

We rested at a pavilion nearby to let CCG catch his breath while I eat my 八宝粥. It was past noon then and Kenneth was no where in sight. We then moved on to the primitive rainforest but there was nothing there except large number of trees that shot right up into the sky.

We finally gave up waiting for Kenneth and decided to walk the right prong towards the intersection point. We assumed that he would make it back to the hotel later, unless he was caught for taking the bus without the ticket. Much of the afternoon was spent trekking and the only person still enthusiastic enough to take picture was CCG. He said he wanted to use up all the memory. Naturally, JH and I were in almost all of his photos.

We returned to the hotel in the evening but Kenneth was still missing. Maybe he was robbed by the monks in the monastery. While we were watching TV, Kenneth suddenly appeared at the door of our room. Glad that he was back in one piece.

One of the things that we sought to accomplish in this trip is to have 烤全羊 for dinner and we found such stalls near our hotel. 1 full sheep cost 400rmb and we definitely couldn’t finish. In the end, we asked for 4 jin of meat, and sat inside a Tibetan tent. We had to wait for about an hour and so in the meantime, we ordered some sticks of barbequed food.

When the dish of mutton was served, it was one pile of ball or cube-shaped meat. We tried a few pieces and it was spicy and tasty. But very soon we were so sick of it that if we were to eat anymore we might just threw up. Without finishing the food, we left and went shopping along 边边街. Tomorrow we will be going back to Chengdu and it will be another torturous 10 hrs ride. So we bought some tidbits to eat along the way.

Day 26 300506 九寨沟 Part II

2006-09-04T16:34:00.000+08:00

9 Village Valley is Y-shaped valley with lakes and waterfalls. At the intersection point is the world’s longest waterfall, 诺日朗瀑布 (NuoRiLang). Although the place is called 9 Village, only 3 are accessible to public. The other 6 are hidden in the forests. Our plan was to walk one prong today and another tomorrow.

The entrance of 9VV was packed with tourists and there were some daily performances of Tibetan dances and songs. We bought the tickets which had our group picture on it. This was to facilitate 2nd entry to the valley tomorrow. Kenneth didn’t buy the eco-bus ticket as he felt it was too expensive. Although the rest of us bought the bus ticket, we decided to walk today and take the bus tomorrow. After training in Tibet, we thought we were invincible.

Walking along the side track in the forest reminded us of our climb in Mt EMei. We stopped occasionally at the lakes to take pictures and at first it was all beautiful and scenic. The lakes had unique names like Sleeping Dragon Lake, Double Dragons Lake, Tiger Lake, etc. But soon we were sick of all the water and just wanted to move on as fast as possible to the NuoRiLang Waterfall.

Throughout the trek, JH was in a grumpy mood as he wanted to stay behind in Chengdu alone shopping or interacting with other foreigners. Seemed like we dragged him into this. To be frank, I wanted to stay behind alone also; just break away from the party for one or two days. The fellowship of the ring had been broken. I wonder if we were the 4 hobbits who left Shire, who would be what character. I guess Kenneth would be Frodo as he was the only one interested in this trip. CCG who was always with him could be Sam. But JH and I don’t fit into Pipin nor Merry. I guess LOTR story doesn’t suit us at all.

What about Journey to the West? After all, the old version was shot here in 9VV many years ago. JH could possibly be WuKong since he is the fittest. CCG could be Monk Sa since he is the quietest. I could be Pigsy though I am not that fat nor lecherous. But can Kenneth be Monk Tang? Well think Journey to the West is not applicable either.

Anyway, I tried to enjoy as much as possible the trip observing everything around me in great detail instead of just blindly walking. JH and I discovered a red tree beside a lake and thought it looked mythical. What was unique about the lakes was that the mineral made the water looked blue or green. And the water was extremely clear such that the trees and mountains surrounding it had their reflections on the surface.

9VV has different views for the 4 seasons and it was said to be a fairyland in autumn when there is a mixture of green, orange, red and yellow together with the bluish-green water. At that time, I thought people were being exaggerating when they said that but after watching the latest Chinese version of 神雕侠侣 (my idol 刘亦菲!), I truly believe what they said.

We reached a big village called 树正寨 around noon and had our lunch at an eatery. Kenneth went to ask the monastery for accommodation and got himself a bed for tonight for a very low price. At this point of time, there was no way I would be joining him because I wouldn’t want to stay in a place where I couldn’t have a hot bath. No more such torture.

We had agreed that by evening, the 3 of us would return to the hotel while Kenneth stayed back inside the Valley. Tomorrow we would rendezvous at one of the prongs of the Y-shape valley at noon. Then we would all leave together. I suggested to Kenneth that we keep his $ (of 1000rmb) for him since he was staying alone, it was better he brought minimum cash.

Finally we reached the NuoRiLang Waterfall which was indeed majestic as the entire length spanned over quite a distance. This was the only reward I got out of this trip. As usual, this place was packed with tourists and it was rather difficult to get a full picture of the waterfall without them blocking.

We decided to take the bus to the end of the left prong of the valley. There was nothing along the way as the lakes there were seasonal. Since it wasn’t the rainy season then, all the lakes there were waterless. Kenneth had no bus ticket but the driver didn’t check us at all and so he got a free ride. There was a female guide on every bus and I thought all of them looked rather sweet with the Tibetan costumes. But they weren’t professional guides and looked more like machine dolls reciting the information which they had learned by rote earlier. In fact, I caught one of them memorizing on the bus!

The tip of the left prong had 2 lakes, 1 is called the Long Lake while another is called Five Color Pool. The S-shaped Long Lake looked like a sea, with the other end disappearing into the horizon. The Five Color Pool on the contrary, was indeed just a pool as the name suggested but there weren’t 5 colors. We were told that the pool is best viewed early in the morning when the sun just comes out. The 5 colors would be evident when the sun rays get reflected by the water.

We had decided that tomorrow the 3 of us would take the earliest bus in the morning back to this 5 Color Pool. Then we would meet Kenneth at the tip of the right prong at noon. With nothing much to see, we left the 9VV and parted with Kenneth at ShuZheng Village.

Outside the valley, we settled at Dicos for dinner. This was the 3rd time I had dinner in Dicos, a lousy fast food restaurant that tried to emulate KFC. On the way back to hotel, we passed by some stalls selling local delicacies and I wanted to buy some 山楂 seeds. I had never eaten the original raw seeds. I told the hawker clearly I wanted half jin 斤 which cost 8rmb. In the end he gave me 1 full jin and asked for 16rmb. I told him I wanted only half but he insisted that was not what I said. Seeing that I was about to walk away, he gave in and gave me only half jin worth of seeds. When can I get fully immune to these Chinese cheaters? I wonder what he gave me really weighed half jin or not.

Day 25 290506 九寨沟 Part I

2006-09-04T11:27:00.000+08:00

Once again, the Sims personnel had arranged a Bread Bus to take us to the coach station early in the morning. This九寨沟 we were about to visit is a famous touristy place which has been deemed as a must-go place for all those coming to Sichuan. But for us, it was just a place to pass time. We didn’t have much interest in anymore scenic view. I had a fair share of mountains and rivers in Tibet already. The only person who was still enthusiastic about the 9VV was Kenneth. After all, he was the professional photographer (wanna-be?) in the team.

We had already bought the ticket for the coach on the day before, but still due to overwhelming response, we could only get a middle-class coach, which was really small and uncomfortable. The ride from Chengdu to 9VV is estimated to be 9 – 10hrs, with occasional breaks in between. It was sure to be a boring ride and there were only 2 things to do on the coach: observe the behaviour of other passengers and sleep.

There was a couple in 情侣装, acting intimately but both with CMI looks. Another young ah-beng and ah-lian couple was sitting in front of me. The guy had a fiery red hair style-do but was very tender towards his partner. Another couple, a middle-aged man and a 姐姐 (a term I always use on women slightly older than me) was the mirror image of the previous couple mentioned. The lady was attentive to the man’s need in all aspect (fwah, sounds a bit dirty), which led to a little conflict between them and us later. This姐姐 caught my eyes not because of her looks (though she had a mole above her lips. Think I had developed a fetish on that) but her gentleness.

Behind the supposedly air-conditioned coach were 1 or 2 bastards smoking. I read a newspaper articles recently on the Chinese government urging its citizens to behave gracefully when overseas: no spitting, no shouting, and no cutting queues. This is to prepare the Chinese society to look presentable when the Olympics commences in Beijing in 2008. I think the government is being hopelessly naïve. This goal of becoming a gracious society can never be achieved in 2 years. People still spit in restaurants, still smoke in air-con places and still talk like hooligans everywhere I went. Maybe another 200 years things would get better.

We stopped at a village at noon for lunch. A sloppy restaurant selling economic rice (for a higher than normal price) with the food in a tray. It reminded us of an inmate’s life while we collected the food. I swore I would buy lots of tidbits for the return trip as I am not going to eat this kind of food again. The 姐姐 I mentioned was caring towards her hubby throughout the trip, so much so that she requested several times to the driver to switch off the air-con. This was because the husband complained about a funny smell from the air-conditioner.

The air-con was turned off throughout the trip and only switched on occasionally. It was really stuffy for me but I thought I might be able to endure till the end. Surprisingly, none of the other passengers really minded. JH, who couldn’t tolerate anymore, requested the driver to turn on the air-con. That 姐姐 immediately asked him to turn it off. That was when JH tried to reason with her. If her husband felt cold, he could put on more clothes. If he couldn’t stand the smell he could open the window beside him. Why should the whole bus of passengers compromise because of his request?

In the end, she gave in and I felt sorry for her. Not because she lost to JH, but because she had such a wimp as husband. Her husband just kept quiet throughout, letting her do the defending. Maybe he was suffering from some illness. Ha, guess I watch too much of Japanese drama recently.

Finally the coach reached its destination, the 9VV coach station which was located beside 交通宾馆. JH had the intention to walk around and look for cheap hostel to stay. But for CCG and me, we just wanted to stay there as we were both exhausted. It was quite a grand hotel with reasonable price. Since Kenneth was neutral in this issue, it was 2 against 1 and thus we stayed there.

After dinner, we walked along the 边边街 where there were some shops selling unique Tibetan items like hats, knifes, scarves, etc. There are Tibetans in this part of Sichuan also. We passed by a hotel which was holding an event outside, along the river. Hotel guests were invited to dance around a bonfire with Tibetan music playing in the background. It was pretty cold at night due to the high altitude and dancing around the fire seemed rather interesting and appropriate.

We returned to the hotel and watched TV and also to discuss about plans for tomorrow. We would enter 9VV tomorrow and Kenneth had the intention to stay inside 9VV alone for a day. The other 3 of us wanted to stay outside in this hotel. He already had a place in mind and he would look at the living condition there tomorrow and then decide.

Day 23 270506 Back to 城都

2006-09-03T22:36:00.000+08:00

Thanks to the kind and hospitable lady boss of the hotel, we got a cab waiting at 8am outside the hotel to pick us up to the airport. What I really like about this lady boss is that although she charged us at a discounted rate, her hospitality towards us wasn’t discounted. In fact, she helped to arrange for our flights, get a reliable driver to pick us up at a reasonable rate. That should be the way to do business, I think.

It was an hour ride to the airport and I stayed awake throughout, taking one last look at the mountains and rivers surrounding us. I guess I wouldn’t be back here again in many years to come. The light rain added on to the melancholic atmosphere.

We had abundant time when we reached the airport, which to my surprise was organized and tidy. Much better than the Charles-de-Gaulle Airport in Paris. I found the travel guide book on Tibet 情缘西藏 at one of the gift shops, which JH bought the day before. I regretted not buying it then and so was glad to find it here. It is a different kind of travel guide – more life in it and written like a diary by a backpacker.

I also bought a box containing traditional herbs of Tibet – 西藏三宝: 冬虫草，红花 and I can’t remember the last one. Come to think of it, where are these herbs now? I remembered passing to my mum after I returned to SG. In fact I passed to her a lot of food, but they seemed to have disappeared.

While waiting at the boarding area, there was an announcement saying that the flight would be delayed for 2 hours because of technical fault. They had catered another plane to fly us back to Chengdu. In the meantime, we could use our tickets to exchange for free mineral water and a bowl of noodle. Well, not too bad except that the noodle was again spicy kind.

I saw 2 老外 obviously confused and lost and so decided to explain to them the situation. I understand exactly how they feel because I had countless such experience when I was in France; be it at the airport, train stations, etc. The 2 hours delay wasn’t that difficult to pass; with the noodle and my books.

The flight from Lhasa to Chengdu was about 2hrs and it was showing my idol Andy Lau’s movie: 童梦奇缘. I have already watched it before but don’t mind watching again since it is a rather touching film.

Finally we reached Chengdu airport and looked for a cab to take us back to Sims. Some unscrupulous coach agency tried to con us into taking their coach, saying that no taxi would take us because of our large luggage. Bloody hell. We took a cab from the airport on Day One of our trip. Think we stupid meh?

It was like coming back home. We even directed the taxi driver how to get to Sims Cozy Guesthouse. From our accented Chinese, the taxi driver mistook us as Hongkongers and tried to speak with us with Cantonese accented Chinese. “Li Ho ah, Yao qu la li ah…” Sorry lor, our Mandarin might not be perfect but we don’t sound like that. Act smart, that cab driver.

It was a nice feeling to be greeted by the staffs in Sims (my Chuan Mei-meis…) when we arrived. “你们回来啦！” Glad that they still remember us. We even got back the 4-bed room (room no. 15) that we used to have. After unpacking our stuffs and taking a short rest, we went out to walk around the neighbourhood for dinner.

We stumbled upon this high-class steamboat restaurant where a lot of working class people were enjoying their dinners. Though we wore only berms and slippers, we decided to give this place a try. We ordered some delicacies and asked for their 招牌, The Fish Head Steamboat.

The food wasn’t that fantastic. There wasn’t much meat in the fish head though the soup was sweet. We looked around the restaurant and it was quite crowded, with working-class people as well as family. That was when we notice the slogan of the restaurant: 好友如同一杯酒, Good Friend is like a Cup of Wine. But to our horror, there was serious English error! Friend was spelt as Firend! And it was repeated everywhere in that restaurant. We were laughing out loud about this joke. At least this restaurant is funny.

When it was time to pay the bill, we thought it would cost a bomb. But it turned out to be only 128rmb! Though still the most expensive meal so far, but it is only S$25! Thereafter, we became yaya and decided not to care too much about eating. Just order as much as we want next time.

We went back to the Sims and met 2 Singaporeans staying beside our room. It was so easy to distinguish SGs. JH was bathing and then he heard this conversation: “oei, pass me the shampoo leh. Wah Lew, the water suddenly hot suddenly cold one. Why huh?” haha.

When they returned to their room, we introduced ourselves and found out that they were planning to go to Tibet also. So we went downstairs to the cosy Japanese hut for supper and gave them advice in the meantime. They would be going with 2 other angmohs, a Brazilian and a Mexican I think.

Interaction with foreigners was what we lacked in this trip. But still, traveling with buddies isn’t that bad either. At least any disputes or arguments are easily solved and wouldn’t bear grudges with one another.

Day 22 260506 Potala Palace

2006-08-27T20:01:00.000+08:00

Today, we experienced for the very first time a day without ZK. No need speak in Mandarin, don’t have to care about eating Sichuan food, no more boring theories on tea drinking. We were FREE at last! We were still joking about how damn pissed ZK was the day before.

The morning rain cast an eerie and mystery atmosphere in the air. But this never dampened the mood of worshippers going to Potala Palace. Mostly made up of elderly, worshippers were walking towards Potala Palace from all corners of Lhasa. Even though we had no idea how to get to Potala Palace from our hotel, it wasn’t hard to find out the direction. Simply follow the locals with prayer wheels in their hands. It was like following the current of a river.

However, we regretted following these people. It is their tradition to walk around the palace in a clockwise manner. As such, we took a longer route to the entrance of the palace. Along the main road facing the front of the palace, devoted worshippers prostrated in prayers, even though the ground was wet. These worshippers were mainly elderly, and their devotion sort of created a sacred aura around the place. I wonder where are the young people in this city? Have they abandoned this tradition completely?

Potala Palace was situated on a hill and inevitably we had to climb that hill in order to enter the once politically significant landmark. Climbing in Tibet is never an easy chore. We were slightly breathless by the time we reached the entrance. Frankly speaking, I was disappointed when we entered the palace. The palace was just a magnificent empty shell in my eyes. Not that there was nothing inside the Palace. It was just that the inside was very rundown and poorly maintained. The scriptures, statues and ornaments undoubtedly are invaluable. But the manner in which they showcased these treasures was unimaginably amateur. I cannot believe that the 100rmb entrance we paid (which was the highest fee we had to pay so far for a place of interest) can only produce such mediocre standard of tourist attraction.

The rooms that were available for visiting were all similar. Each room had a tomb and seat of a particular Dalai Lama, some scriptures and statues. There were hardly any descriptions, only boards with dry information on the pillars. Compared to the palaces and castles I visited in Europe, this Potala was nothing but more than an exhibition site.

We were soon overwhelmed by boredom and left the place. My advice is that this place is not worth visiting. But I know no matter what, people would still go there. On the way we met one of the cyclists whom we acquainted in 染乌镇. This is one thing I like about traveling, esp. backpacking. Coincidences occur more frequently abroad as proven also during my stay in France.

As I mentioned before, Lhasa is filled with beggars of all ages. We encountered a child (can’t tell if it was a girl or boy), around age 6. He had long uncut hair and like other Tibetan kids, had a muddy face. The moment he saw the group of us, he ran towards me and tried to pull my hand, asking for $. We walked as fast as possible trying to shake off his pursue. The boy gave up eventually and went on to pester other passersby. I turned around and looked at the boy as I was curious how other people would react. They gave him some money and the next thing I saw was the boy running towards two women sitting on the street. He passed the money to them and ran off to pester more people. The two women counted the money with grins on their faces.

True enough, the beggars were very irritating but we can’t really blame the children. What about the 2 adults? Can we blame them? Who are we to say that the two women were being selfish by turning the child into a money-begging machine? I was deeply disturbed by the sight and was in a pensive mood for the rest of the day.

We went around looking for bookstores hoping to get some books on Tibet. JH bought a travelogue while I grabbed a book called 西藏生死之书, The Tibetan Book of Life and Death. It is not entirely a religious book. I have read it before 2 years ago and find it interesting when it talks about Death as something inevitable and natural. Something we shouldn’t make a big fuss about – provided that we are spiritually prepared. I guess it is one of those kinds of book whereby I have to re-read several times to fully understand.

We spent our last night in Tibet chatting in the hotel and watching 超级女生. This 16 days of traveling experience on jeep is something that would stay with me for a long time. Tomorrow we will fly back to Chengdu; back to civilization.

Day 21 250506 Final Show Down

2006-08-14T19:22:00.000+08:00

We had a poor sunset again, for the third time. Our first one was at Mt Emei, where we missed the timing. Second time was at Everest where it was too hazy. This time, the position where the sun rises was just not ideal. The position was directly opposite the lake, and blocked by a cliff.

We had our breakfast back at the tent where we had our dinner last night. That was when our dear businessman ZK made his proposal. He said that since we were going to 9 Village Valley when we returned to Sichuan, he suggested that we took his car back, which was going by another route: 青藏线. He told us the benefits of taking the offer. First, his offer will be lower than what we would pay if we were to fly back (how much lower he never mention). Secondly, the trip would offer us another different scenery along the way. Lastly, he can drive us back to Chengdu after we toured the valley and can host us at Chengdu thereafter.

Among the four of us, JH was the most unwilling to take his plan because he was really sick of the jeep ride. Ken seemed the most keen as he always likes the scenery of the new route. CCG was more inclined towards rejecting while for me, as usual, I was weighing the pros and cons of taking the offer. I wasn’t that interested in the scenery as I was getting quite sick of it. My analysis of the proposal was more $ oriented. What are the cons of taking the offer? 1. bumpy ride again. 2. Time wasted. We would reach back Sichuan by plane faster for sure. And lastly (most importantly also), the presence of ZK. Frankly speaking, we enjoyed more without him.

So, if the $ saved is worth for us to endure the abovementioned drawbacks, then we will take the offer. On the way back to Lhasa, JH and I were busy discussing in English about ZK’s proposal and how we should bargain. We had already given him 600rmb for 5 days of return trip which was more than enough because each day’s fuel consumption is only 150rmb at most. Furthermore, we suspected that the 2000rmb we gave him during the 16-day trip was for his own pocket money, and not to the travel agency. As such, we thought of offering him 800rmb each.

On the way, ZK kept mentioning that his proposal was for our good, and not really that he wanted to earn our $. Also, he said that along the way, he had been helping us to save $ and providing good service. His enthusiasm in selling his good points doesn’t seem to show that he doesn’t care about the $. In fact, the dollar sign was written all over his face.

Finally, we reached Lhasa in the evening and decided to take a walk at the 八角街, hunting for souvenirs to buy back for friends. That was when, Ken told us another thing. While the rest of us were withdrawing cash from the ATM, Ken and ZK waited in the car. ZK told him that according to international regulations, he was to collect 25rmb from each of us for each day of the trip. International regulations!! WTF. He had the cheek to tell us that he deserved the tips since his service was excellent. Excellent my foot. First, he was a lousy guide, esp. after entering Tibet. Second, he wasn’t very knowledgeable in the places of interest of Tibet. And lastly, which pissed me off was the fact that he tried to cheat 2 days out of us. His justification for the tips also includes the fine which he paid for speeding.

While we shopped around the stalls at Ba Jiao Jie, JH and Ken saw something that infuriated them. The silverware which they bought for 700rmb in total at the souvenir shop near the hot spring, cost only a tenth at the flea market! JH said that ZK must have received some commissions from that shop. After shopping around, we couldn’t bear the hot weather anymore (or perhaps our anger towards ZK) and decided to head back to the hotel.

Final show down began in the hotel. We made known to ZK that we do not wish to take his offer. He tried all means to persuade us, all sort of sales talk. He even boasted that if he were to take other tourists back, he would fetch a hefty 2200rmb per head; instead of the price he gave us which was 1500rmb. He continued to say that he doesn’t really need the cash since he had a teahouse and a box factory. His proposal was purely for our good. Yah right.

Still, we declined his offer. Seeing that his plot had failed, he moved on to claim his tips. What infuriated me wasn’t the fact that he wanted $ from us. It was the pretence of friendship that he displayed and yet at the end of the day, it was only $ that he wanted. By then, we had also run out of cash and so we gave him a meager sum of 200rmb as tips. Ha, till to this date, I could still remember that scene. We even reenacted everything and recorded it down in my DV.

ZK took the $, and said, “chey, 也没什么好说”. He took his stuffs and stormed out of the room. All of us burst out laughing immediately. It was so hilarious to see him so pissed. It was our punishment to him for being hypocritical, trying to cheat our 2 days, bringing us to that souvenir shop, and being such a $-face.

It was a relief to get rid of ZK in the end. Without him, we were more at ease and had more fun. It was a lesson for me also. Next time if I ever need to employ a driver or a personal guide, I would ensure that I find out the market rate of tipping. But it would be better if there were no other external people in the traveling party.

Below are the selected reenacted scenes:
GIVING TIPS TO ZK

Kenneth:曾师傅，这是我们一点心意

Me (as ZK):Chey, 也OK. 没什么好说.

*STORM OUT OF ROOM*

PERSUADING US TO TAKE HIS CAR

Me (as ZK): 坦白讲, 我不是很需要这笔钱. 如果是载别的旅客我起码能收2200rmb.

JH: 我不满意你的价钱. 因为我们已经给了你一天600rmb的5天反空费.

Me: 我的车是新的. 那天看你们这样有诚意才算你们便宜.

Ken: 你带我们去的景点, 除了然乌湖外, 也没什么特别.

Ken: 大多数时间都是在车里摇啊摇.

Me: 无所谓. 反正我处处都是为你们着想. 你们商量一下. 我去抽根烟.

Day 20 240506 Namtso Lake

2006-08-08T19:50:00.000+08:00

I had only been to a hot spring once, which was in 2002 in Taiwan. That time, the 6 of us (all guys) had to squeeze into a small pool of sulfuric hot water. It was hot and uncomfortable, as it was an indoor pool. This time I am going to try an outdoor hot spring. Moreover, it is located near the snow mountains. I am sure it will be a unique experience.

This hot spring that we went to is called 羊巴井, a very touristy place. By the time we reached there, there were already few buses of tourists. The place was like a resort, with different hot spring packages such as, outdoor, indoor, foot massage, etc. In the end, we decided to go for the outdoor hot spring.

There was a slight disappointment when we saw the outdoor hot spring. It was just a big hot swimming pool! What we expected was a more natural surroundings, with rocks and running water. Still it was a different feeling to be immersed in hot spring with the snow mountains in the background.

Because the pool was pretty big, the water wasn’t exactly very hot except for the area where the water was coming out. So we were all crowding around that area while other Ah Pek were scrubbing each other’s back in a corner. Too bad there wasn’t any Leng Noi around for us to BIO.

ZK didn’t join us despite the fact that Ken wanted to treat him; for finding his handphone. He said he would go take a look at the souvenir shop opposite the hot spring center. After spending 1 hr at the pool, we began to feel bored and decided to leave. When we went to the souvenir shop to find ZK, he was enthusiastically showing us stones and gems and said they were good buys. He said he even bought a few.

JH and Ken weren’t interested in the gems. They were only interested in the stainless steel bracelets and bought a ton of them. CCG looked at those 佛珠 while I was the only one interested in the gems. According to the Tibetan seller, there are 3 treasures of Tibet, 西藏三宝. First one is 红珊瑚 (red coral). Second is 绿松石 (green stone) and lastly the rarest of all, 天珠 (Sky Gem).

Thousands of years ago, Tibet was still under the sea and movement of the earth crust formed mountains which accounts for the highlands in Tibet. During this formation, corals in the sea were being pushed out. The green stone is actually a kind of jade and can also be found in Turkey. The Sky Gem is produced from some kind of rare mineral and often linked with religious purposes.

In the end I bought a bracelet made of the red coral and a green stone pendant. The red coral looks like the saga seeds we have in Singapore and it was supposedly meant for someone special. Sad to say, after some thoughts, I realized there wasn’t anyone special in my heart. In the end, I gave it to my mum.

When we were leaving the shop, some Tibetans approached us with daggers which they want us to buy. Frankly, I would like to have one of those but to bad, it would be against the law here. These Tibetans were of a different tribe, the Aba Tribe and can be found commonly in Sichuan also. They are refugees from Tibet during the civil war and are known as the Jews of Tibet because they are very good in doing business. Their handicrafts are also the best of their kind.

After lunch, we headed straight to Namtso Lake. The sacred lake of Tibet. The lake was so big it seemed boundless; just like a sea. Along the way, there was grassland and our arrival drew attention from the kids there. JH and Ken were approached by a Tibetan who offered to let them ride his horses for 30rmb. Meanwhile, CCG, ZK and I tried to cut across the grassland towards to the lake. But we found that it was too far away and we were also bogged down by a swamp of kids.

The kids just crowded around us, asking for sweets. But we told them the sweets were in the car and told them to follow us back. On the way, these kids started singing and shouting and holding our hands. One little boy who looked like TinTin was holding my hand and looking up at me. His mucus started to flow down from his nostrils and he used the hand that was holding on to mine to wipe it off. But the thing was, he forgot to let go of my hand! Inevitably, my hand also gana the mucus!

I gave that boy a disgusted look but when he turned to look at me with his innocent eyes, I can’t help but smile at him. It was a long walk to our car and the kids are getting more and more impatient. They kept asking where are the sweets and started singing their Tibetan children songs.

Finally we reached our car and that was when all hell broke loose. While CCG was searching for the plastic bag of sweets, the kids were restless and rowdy. I had to tell them to fall in in front of the car but that was only for awhile. They soon crowded around the car again when CCG still had not come out with the sweets. I was so afraid that CCG will emerge from the car empty-handed. We will all be mobbed by the kids for sure.

Thankfully, he came out of the car with a bag of sweets and seeing that, the kids charged at him and started behaving like robbers. They jumped, grabbed, screamed and shouted. CCG could only hold up his hand with the bag of sweets and distribute the sweets as fairly as possible. A particular boy, the biggest among the kids, took more sweets but still pretended to cry and complained that he took none.

Some Tibetan aunties came and told us to smack the kids if they misbehaved. But of course we didn’t. Meanwhile, JH and Ken were having fun riding horses. This time round, they were really riding; and not let someone lead the horse for them. But JH was struggling to make his horse gallop. Either he was a lousy rider or the horse was really disobedient.

After spending 30min with the kids and horses, we headed to the Namtso Lake. What we saw were large number of tents beside the lake. These tents served as shops, lodging, restaurant, and even discotheques. At the opposite side of the lake was a range of snow mountains with a cloud of mist over them.

We walked around the area and saw a few white yaks; the sacred yaks which ZK said are extremely rare and impossible to see (but obviously he was bullshitting). There were plenty of yaks in Tibet (there is a saying there, Tibetans are lack of everything but yaks) and my own personal mini mission is to touch the horn of one of them. I tried doing that in Everest but the yak always runs away. This time, I saw one white one tied to a boulder. I slowly approached it, while Ken was filming. As I neared the beast, it turned and stared at me but I wasn’t afraid. I advanced further and when I was about 5 feet away, the yak stomped its feet and poised to charge at me. That was when I realized I was playing with fire and ran away cowardly.

The rest of the evening was spent admiring the scenery. One can really spent hours standing there, watching the snow mountains change color as the sun sets. We also met the Austrian old man and his Indonesian wife. He was really a pro photographer, using film instead of digital and detachable lenses.

We spent the night in the tent where we had our dinner, keeping ourselves warm by the fireplace. After 10pm, we decided to hit the bedsheets but it was almost impossible to sleep. The weather was damn cold and the disco was blasting its music till 3am. I don’t know about the rest of the people, but I could only sleep after the music had stopped.

Day 19 230506: 扎什伦布寺

2006-07-26T20:10:00.000+08:00

It was a rainy morning and after consulting the hotel manager on the directions, we left for breakfast and then to ZaShiLunBuSi. ZK didn’t join us as usual for such sightseeing. This was a very grand monastery and its grandness meant that it was very touristy. And tourists would naturally draw peddlers and BEGGARS.

The monastery consists of a number of buildings each housing different gods or portrait of Pan Chan. There were 3 white towers which prayers would go around in clockwise direction. Around the towers we could see stones being placed by the prayers. It was for them to remember how many rounds they had walked. They could only walked in even number of rounds.

Inside the compound there were 2 deer and a goat, which weren’t afraid of people. They let people go up to them to take photo or touch them. Photographing was strictly not allowed inside the building, esp. at the statues. JH tried his luck to take one and was immediately stopped by a monk who flew out from no where and blocked his camera. But JH still managed to take the pic.

While walking from building to building, I followed different tour groups to listen to their guide explaining to the tourists. Free-rider problem, haha. In the end I stuck to just one group because I was attracted to this Chinese JieJie who was wearing a pink jacket. She was so gentle looking. My TYPE haa.

For most of the time JH, CCG and I were walking together while Kenneth went on his own as he always took a long time to take pictures. After 2hrs of touring, we decided to leave the place. The moment I stepped out of the monastery, a child beggar grabbed my sleeve and shouted, “叔叔，一元就好！“ I tried to shake him (or her?) off but couldn’t while JH and CCG dashed across the road. I didn’t there just run across the road dragging the child for fear he might be knocked down. In the end, I gave up and took out my wallet but I had no one dollar and so I gave him 5 bucks. An old lady wanted to help me out by giving the beggar a sweet but it was too late. 5 bucks is really nothing but I really don’t like the idea of giving kids $.

On the way back, I was scolded by CCG for giving in to beggars. He said I got Good Man Face and that’s why beggars always approach me. I don’t understand why he was so angry then. We met up with ZK back at the hotel and went for lunch. After that, we set off for Lhasa and sang David Tao’s songs along the way.

We reached Lhasa in the late afternoon and went around looking for lodging. We didn’t want to stay in Kiri again as the living condition was quite bad. There was another international youth hostel which we really liked and had an international crowd. However, considering that ZK was with us, we opted that out. In the end, we came to this hotel and wanted 2 standard double rooms for 140rmb. The lady boss said that was impossible as the price was way too low. We had no choice but to leave and stayed in the jeep discussing where to go.

After 10min, the lady boss saw that our jeep was still outside her hotel and came and said she was willing to let go for 140rmb. Anyway, it was off peak period and all her rooms are empty. I really like this lady boss because although it was obvious we were the cheapo type and got a really cheap bargain, she still treated us very nicely. She said she understands we are just students and moreover are backpackers and so have limited budget.

When we inquired about the military flight back to Chengdu, she and her staffs were very keen to find info for us and to make arrangements. We told her we would return here again in 2 days’ time after we had gone to Namtso Lake.

The night was spent watching my favourite TV YiTianTuLongJi and late night movie shown on cable. ZK went out shopping and bought supper for us. Super Duper Hot and Spicy Pig Intestines.

Day 18 220506: Muddy Day

2006-07-11T19:25:00.000+08:00

Last night I had this weird dream. Me and my dear cousin were in a school as teachers and she introduced a nice female teacher to me. And I still remember her name was called June in my dream. Haha. My cousin was a tutor in a tuition agency and she occasionally would intro gals to me. Well, that explains that funny dream.

Anyway, today is a muddy day due to the heavy snow last night. Now that the snow had melted, the road was very muddy and the jeep was moving at a very slow pace. We had to wind down the windows or else the mud would fly in. My face gana a bit of mud when damn Kenneth wound down the front window a little. Somewhere middle of the road, our jeep got stuck in the mud and the 4 of us had to get out and help push the car. This was the 2nd time we had to do this. The first was when the jeep was stuck in granite stones.

Once we were out, it was bumpy ride all the way to Xigaze. We came through the same way, which was under construction and thus was the toughest ride ever. The weather was changing all the time and a thunderstorm was right behind us closing up.

But after a while, we entered a desert place with sand dunes all around. Reminded me of the game Dune and we were trying to recall the 3 Houses in the game. Atreides, Hakkonon and one more which we couldnt remember. Ordos. Yes that is it. Kenneth was busy shitting among the bushes then. Dozing off along the way and thinking of Yi Tian Tu Long Ji, we finally reached Xigaze.

We didn’t have lunch and everyone was dead hungry. Still, we took hell lot of time finding lodging. Exceptionally long today. Normally we would strike a deal by the 3rd hotel. This time the 4 of us had so much discrepancies that we couldn’t find a hotel that everyone agreed by dinner time. In the end, we decided to have dinner first then continue.

It was ZK who chose a hotel for us in the end which wasn’t really cheap but rather comfortable. We rested a while and then went out for internet. After internet, CCG, Ken and I went to have Fried Chicken!!! We had been waiting for this day to come for a long long time. Finally we had fried chicken which tasted simply heavenly.

We bought a chicken wing for JH back in the hotel. We spent the rest of the night watching 超级女生. My favourite candidate was 张亚飞. It was like a Chinese Singapore Idol, except much grander. The competition I was watching was only for 长沙区.

It was a good night rest until at 0443am, someone was banging hardly on JH and mine room. JH got out of bed and open the door and we saw 3 policemen stormed into our room. They asked where are we from and what are we doing here. And then demanded to check our passports. I was still very much in half sleeping mode. After checking, they just left and I went back to sleep as if nothing had happened.

Day 17 210506: Road Robbers

2006-07-08T15:12:00.000+08:00

We woke up at around 5am to catch the Everest sunrise. Before setting off to that hill we went yesterday, I went to shit in the WC first. It was still very dark then and the only light was from my torch. It was really an unforgettable experience to shit in Everest. 1st it was damn cold; my ass was shivering like mad. 2nd it was freaking stinky. The WC was nothing but a drain piled up with shits.

After I had done my business, we went to that hill. It was a disappointing sunrise. Misty. This was the 2nd time we had a lousy sunrise. First it was at EMei. We waited for an hour or so for the mist to clear but still the view was a let down. Finally, we decided to leave as our ZK was waiting for us outside the Everest reservation zone.

There was a little commotion regarding taking the horse cart back. Apparently the Tibetan owners wanted 4 people to share 1 cart, which was really unfair to us. We said in that case we pay only half the price but they refuse. There were 2 German and 2 American tourists too and all of us made noise regarding the arrangement. In the end, the Tibetans gave in and took us down using 4 carts.

On the way down, 1 of the Germans vomited as he was feeling unwell the night before. And he sure was in a foul mood. JH turned around and took picture of the Germans with Everest at the background. Halfway through while we stopped to rest, JH went up and talked to the Germans, trying to make friend with them. He told them that he had taken their pictures and asked if they would like to exchange emails so that he can send it to them. That sick German replied rudely, “Why the hell you took those pictures for?” JH was really pissed and walked away. Poor JH. I only knew of the incident when we reached the bottom.

While taking the eco-bus out of the reservation zone, we met 2 Americans, Brent and Lennon; a young man of our age and another fat old man. I was unfortunate to be sitting with Lennon, the fat elderly, who kept talking to me about corporate issues, taxes, IT jobs, standard of living, etc. So boring. I never liked such topics. I want very much to share travel experience with other travelers. So I started to open up on this topic and asked Lennon where in Asia he had traveled to. He said HK and started to talk about HK economy. My God.

We parted with the Americans and rendezvous with ZK at the place where we boarded the eco-bus yesterday. Then we went back to the same town we been to yesterday for lunch. While waiting for our lunch, 2 girls came and stood beside us asking for pencils. They just stood there and kept begging, despite the fact that we told them we had none. Tibetan kids would beg for 3 things: $, sweets and pencils. I can understand the need for the first 2 items. But I couldn’t figure out why do they need so many pencils? Some of the kids didn’t look as if they had gone to school. Although I shouldn’t think this way, somehow I guess that their parents had something to do with it. Perhaps they asked their kids to beg for pencils so that they can sell them to schools. I hope I am wrong.

After lunch, we continued on our journey and had to go over a mountain. Somewhere in the middle, a truck while coming down, was stuck in the trench at the side, just at a turn on the mountain road, thereby blocking the passage. Vehicles from both directions couldn’t pass through. A lorry behind that truck was loaded with workers who got down and started making an alternative path using their tools. After about 20min of work, a rudimentary path was created which would bypass the truck that was stuck in the trench.

The worker-loaded lorry came through via that path, which allowed only 1 vehicle to pass at a time. When it was our turn to use the path, the workers stopped us. They said the path was built by them and demanded $ from us. 10rmb. Although it was only a small amount of $, we didn’t expect them to ask for it. We thought that since we were all travelers on the road, esp. in harsh places like Tibet, we should be helping one another out in times of crisis. Why talked about $? The Aussies Kayakists we met the other day didn’t ask for $ when they laid the side track. We were reluctant to give that $ but then a snow storm was advancing from behind and so we had no choice. When JH passed the 10rmb note to them, he said to them, “你们中国人样样都讲钱！” Well said. But that shameless Chinese just took his $ with a big smile and went on to collect $ from the rest of the cars behind. They were really nothing less than robbers.

After we had passed using the 10rmb path, the snow storm still caught up with us. At full speed, we reached DingRi rather early and by then the snow had stopped. We had a good hot bath and everyone wanted to rest early since we didn’t sleep well the night before at Everest Base Camp.

Day 16 200506: Finally Everest Base Camp

2006-06-29T19:44:00.000+08:00

The 1st thing we realised about going to Everest Base Camp (EBC) was that the fee was rather high. 405rmb per car. 65rmb per person. I can’t remember the fee for the eco-bus. And then 30rmb for the horse-cart ride.

We stopped by a town on the way to EBC and bought a packet of sweets (about 30). Had to load ourselves with ammunition to shoot at the Tibetan children. The moment I bought the sweets, I started giving the 2 or 3 girls in that shop. On the way, we passed by a village and suddenly about 15 villagers stood on the road and blocked our way. Some of them took out brooms and started sweeping. When we were near them, some women locked arms together and demanded $ from us, saying they helped to make the road condition better for us to travel. We couldn’t possibly run them over and gave them 10rmb. They didn’t ask for more and thanked us. Polite robbers.

One weird thing that I discovered was the huts here all had blue, red and white painted on them. Like the France Tri-Colors. I wonder if the French had ever colonized this part of the world.

After some winding mountain roads and a police road check, we reached the place where we would take the eco-bus. There were 2 Americans were waiting for the bus too, and some Tibetan kids surrounded them and asked for $. As usual, they just gave them hoping they would go away. But the kids just kept asking for more.

Finally the bus was ready to go. Besides tourists like us, there were 2 Tibetans on the bus, a father and his son I guess. They were going back home. Yes, their home was in EBC. During summer when the weather was good, they would return to EBC.

It was a long bumpy ride and finally we arrived at 戎布寺. We were supposed to take horse-cart up the 2km mountain track to the base camp. The horse-cart owners were pestering us and insisted we take their offer and stay at their place. I really hated this kind of non-stop pestering. We told them we would consider later and went into the monastery. There were monks inside but their appearances looked comical. Traditional monk dress with Nike shoes and headwear. One of them even asked if he could exchange his sunglasses with JH’s.

We left the monastery and took 2 of the horse-carts. ZK didn’t come with us because he didn’t have a sleeping bag and thus couldn’t sleep in EBC. The horse-cart ride was more uncomfortable than I thought. It was cramped, bumpy (my buttocks hurt badly), chilly, and I got whipped by the boy who was driving the cart. He was whipping the horse in front but when he pulled his arm back, he would occasionally whip my leg.

The 2 Tibetans who took eco-bus with us walked up instead as they couldn’t afford to pay for the cart ride. When we reached EBC, we saw lots of big Tibetan tents around and right beside the camp was a river. And straight ahead, we saw the gorgeous Mount Everest. Yes. Gorgeous is the word because the name 珠穆朗玛 is the Tibetan name of a goddess who came down from Heaven.

There were so many tents to choose from and in the end, we went to the Tibetan who was pestering us just now. Indeed, like he said, his tent was really very tidy and clean. Moreover, there were blankets and hence there was no need for our sleeping bags. Having settled our accommodations, we decided to explore the surroundings. Kenneth as usual the “professional” photographer, moved off on his own while JH, CCG and I decided to climb a hill.

Halfway up, CCG and I were so cold we couldn’t climb anymore and hid behind a big rock, taking shelter from the wind. JH continued but the higher he went, the steeper it was. Climbing up was easy but coming down would be a lot more difficult. From where we were, we could see him struggling and I did capture his actions in my DV just in case if there was any mishap, at least there would a last footage of him. Haha. That’s CCG’s idea actually.

We also had a clear view of Everest. It looked big but didn’t look tall enough to be the highest mountain in the world, though it’s altitude is 8000m. Maybe because we were already at 5200m. We could see the entire base camp below, littered with tents as well as yaks. Yes. There were yaks everywhere, standing around.

We waited an awful long time before JH decided to come down. Then we set off to look for our lost friend, Ken. We found him at the base camp busy taking his artistic pictures. JH said from the top of the hill that he climbed, he could see an ice glacier in the direction of the advance base camp. Hence, we moved forth and it was a long and tiring walk. Cold wind, giddiness from altitude sickness (or maybe because of the sunglasses). Halfway there, we met a Nepalese coming from the other direction. He took 2 days to climb to advance base camp which is 6600m, and 1 day to descend. Wow.

We didn’t know how far the ice glacier was and decided to turn back as the sun was setting. No way we would be able to make it back safely in the dark. The wind was howling by now and my face was like being cut by thousands of knives. We came to a small hill which had a little plateau at the top. It would be a nice place to watch Mt Everest changed colour as the sun sets.

There were some other tourists there ready to take pictures. I was already squatting behind a large boulder because of the cold. I was the least prepared. No thick warm clothes, no long john, no headgear. We met a Canadian guy and a London-Born Indian girl. The Canadian guy said he was used to such cold weather condition because of where he came from. Well, he didn’t look cold at all because he was wrapped up in who knows how many layers of clothes. The Indian girl was doing voluntary teaching near Shanghai and was on vacation here. After an hour, we had enough of the sunset as well as the cold, and went back to our tent.

Back in the tent, we chatted with the Tibetans and asked what they do at night. They said they would chat, that’s all. Nothing much to do here really. We had instant noodles and biscuits for dinner and played Big2 until nightfall. Not going to sleep so early. We had only 1 night in Everest and so must really treasure it.

Using my not-so-powerful torchlight, we made our way to an open space near that hill. I looked up into the sky and it was the most beautiful picture I had ever seen. The sky was full of stars! For minutes I was just gazing out and “wah, wah…” all the time. I have never ever seen so many stars before. Though I know nothing about star constellation, I did imagine myself joining up the stars with lines trying to form some pictures.

Ken was busy setting up his tripod and camera. JH was also doing that, though he was using his pathetic little mini tripod. My role was to give light to the both of them. As for CCG, he was busy shivering. After 30min of futile attempts, both of them couldn’t get a single good night shot of the stars. My hands were numbed by now, esp. the one holding the torchlight. CCG was almost frozen. But I wasn’t disappointed that we didn’t get any pictures because I would never forget how beautiful the sky was that night.

CCG’s face was white as sheet and not wanting to have any casualties, we returned to our tent. The owner was heating up the stove and that made us feel much better. Although we were inside the tent, it was still very cold and hard to sleep. Thanks to Ken’s extra pair of long john, I wouldn’t survive through the night.

Day 15 190506: Hot Hot Hot

2006-06-25T16:04:00.000+08:00

We decided to set off late today after lunch because ZK said the next town 定日 was only a few hours drive away. We went to an ancient castle in the morning which was used to defend against the English during the late 19th century. I never know English invaded Tibet before. Apparently their army came from Nepal, India that area. The castle was under renovation and really was a disappointment. I have been to quite a number of castles in Europe and all of them are well maintained. This one here was dilapidated and abandoned. Nothing to see.

The only plus point was you can have a bird’s eye view of the town from the top of the castle as well the monastery 白居寺, located 1km to its north. The monastery looked more impressive than this castle, with its fortified walls behind (looked like miniature of Great Wall from afar). We walked to the monastery but decided not to enter because of the rather high entrance fee and also we were short of time. So we made our way back to the hostel where ZK was waiting for us.

On the way to DingRi, we stopped at the 2nd largest city of Tibet, 日客则, just to have our lunch and top up our supplies. We will revisit this city again when we return from Everest. I had the chance to witness the cook at work and his wok was constantly bursting in flame. Big flames. It was amazing.

After a good lunch, it was hell all the way. The main road was under repair and we had to take the side track… for the rest of the day. It was bumpy throughout, and ZK was complaining his hands were shaking all the time. To make matter worse, the sun was blazing hot today and ZK took off his shirt in the end.

We were in desert area most of the time and some where in front we saw a CCTV5 Toyota land cruiser parked at the side. When we passed them by, we saw 2 girls and 1 guy outside their jeep. They were TV crews from the China TV station and all of them were pissing near the river. Including the girls who were doing it behind a little mound so that the guy couldn’t see. But any vehicles passing by would have seen everything. That’s the problem of girls traveling on jeep in such places.

So it was a torturous long ride. Bumpy, hot, and dusty. Air pollution was to the maximum because even with the windows all wound down, the dust could still get in. In the end, my hair was partially grey and the wet tissue that I used as a filter for breathing had turned black. JH had a face mask but wasn’t of much help either. And because of the road repair, what was at first a 4 hrs ride had now become 8hrs or even more.

By the time we were near DingRi, it was already 9pm and there was no more light by then. Driving at night in such places is dangerous because even with the headlamps, we couldn’t see clearly. Still we managed to find DingRi and ZK brought us to this hostel which he said was affiliated or had some connections with the travel agency. I was feeling uneasy about it because he never mentioned about knowing a hostel here in Dingri before. When we were at the hostel, he just registered immediately without asking for the price, or for our opinions. When I asked how much was it, he told the lady boss, “they think you are going charge them very expensively.” His tone sounded more like, “he thinks we are trying to cheat their money.” Well, it was obvious that he felt that we were suspecting if he is a conman. I don’t deny it. I really don’t trust him now so I don’t care how sarcastic is tone was.

Anyway, it was 10+ by then we were really very tired. All we could think of was we were going to Everest tomorrow and had to do some last minute preparation like packing our bags with food and water, and what other supplies to bring.

Day 14 180506: Miss Home

2006-06-24T10:55:00.000+08:00

Halfway through our trip, and I began to miss SG. I had already lost interest in the lakes, rivers and mountains by now. Instead of going to 日客则 straightaway, we detoured a bit to 江孜, as promised by ZK. As he claimed, JiangZi has nothing much to offer but along the way, there is a beautiful lake to see. One of the three holy lakes of Tibet. He better be right.

He was kind of lost along the way, claiming that the roads had changed and were different as compared to last time he entered Tibet. As the days passed, we began to doubt his words and his credibility was declining. He said he has 14 years of driving experience and told us his experiences in Tibet. But it seemed like he had only enter Tibet once, which was last year. All his stories seemed to be referring to that time only.

Still we managed to find that 神湖, and we decided to climb the hill to get a better view of the lake. Although by now we had got accustomed to the high altitude, we were still quite breathless by the time we reached the top. There was a little plateau on top and below us was the lake, shaped like an ‘S’. Very blue and still water. We took lots of picture in various pose, as if we were shooting music video. Like F.I.R. “我们的爱~~~~”, we were singing…

When we went back to the jeep, Ken suddenly shouted but we weren’t much surprised because he always does that when something serious, or not serious happened. He said he had lost his handphone. Oops, something serious this time. He searched under the seat in the car but couldn’t find. Guess he must have dropped it at another place before we reached the lake. He was very sure he still had it in the morning after we left our hotel. Sigh. First it was JH, now Ken. Losing things on a trip really spoilt the mood. CCG and I tried calling his hp but we couldn’t get through. He must have dropped it somewhere where there is no network.

We stopped for lunch and Ken was really “sian” mood. Still thinking of his hp and all the contact numbers that were lost. I lent him my hp for him to sms his sis, telling her to cancel his subscription. Poor Ken. Once an enthusiastic photographer in our group. Now, seemed like he lost his soul. Looked so damn listless during lunch that it was a bit comical.

After lunch, we entered a desert-like zone with occasional whirlwind of sand. Was sleeping throughout the ride as 江美奇 song was really hypnotizing. I only wake up when we were through the desert area and came to a grassland full of sheep (KAWAI!!!).

We reached JiangZi pretty early and found ourselves a hostel to stay. For half of our trip we had accommodation with TV. Today was one of those unlucky days when we reached a place early but no TV and the town had nothing to offer. I was still quite ok without TV. The only program I like to watch there was 超级女生, a female singing competition (I love that 张亚飞!) and 倚天屠龙记 (starring Su YouPeng, Jia JingWen, Chen XiuLi (TCS!)). I was so addicted to YiTianTuLongJi, I told myself I am going to buy the book back in Chengdu.

We were all in a very bored mood in this boring town and so didn’t want to have any SiChuan Dish for our dinner. Very sick of it. We passed by a restaurant which had English menu. One dish caught our eyes. Sweet and Sour Pork! 古老肉! We ordered all non-Sichuan food including that dish and realised it was actually 糖醋里脊.

Disappointed. And the sauce tasted like fruit jam. But anything that was non-Sichuan was good for us, except poor ZK. He was really in a poor state. No TV, no Sichuan food. Haha. By this time, for don’t know what reason, I had begun to dislike him, though I never showed it.

We shopped around and I bought a scarf and a headwear to protect myself from the cold for the Everest trip. With nothing much to do, we went back hostel and played Big2. ZK said he wanted to walk around the town some more. Better that way. We had more fun by ourselves without him. Ken’s sis replied but still Ken was very pek chek for the lost of all his contact numbers. But ZK is more sian then him I guess. I came up with a rap just to describe ZK’s mood. It was to cheer Ken up actually. Here it goes: “Mr. Zeng today going crazy, because no TV. Mr. Zeng today going hungry, because no chili!” Ha, it was very lamed but still quite shiok poking fun at ZK.

Perhaps I was really bored myself today, or perhaps after chatting with a few friends on msn just now, I began to miss home slightly. I never much miss Singapore whenever I was overseas, not even when I was in France for 6 months last year (except for the 1st few days). But now I do begin to feel a bit that way. Well, I still have the Everest trip to look forward to.

Day 13 170506: Lhasa 拉萨

2006-06-23T19:07:00.000+08:00

I am really looking forward to today because we will be going Lhasa, capital of Tibet. Which also means we are closer to the biggest highlight of our trip, Mount Everest Base Camp. It also signifies that we are halfway through our jeep tour. Kind of sick of the bumpy ride everyday already.

It was uninteresting and eventless throughout the ride until we reached 加兴镇, where our dear ZK was asked by a traffic police to stop at the other end of the town. There were other drivers being stopped too and we thought it was a routine road check. ZK came back with a black face. The TP told him that the speed limit in the town is 30km/h and he was driving at 60km/h. In the end he was fined 1200rmb! We all think it was a heavy fine and so Kenneth was comforting him all the while for the rest of the trip. For me, I was laughing in my heart. I still can’t get over the fact he tried to cheat our 2 days yesterday.

We stopped at a town for lunch and it really wasn’t ZK’s day. We decided to have Muslim food for a change (sick of Sichuan food). ZK hates Muslim, 回族, because he thinks they are scheming and all terrorists. Someone like me, who is from a multi-racial society, really can’t stand his extreme thoughts. When he mentioned Muslims are all bad people last time, I told him he was being an extremist. He isn’t that righteous himself either.

Anyway, the Muslim food wasn’t that nice, but it was something new, different from the Muslim food in SG. On the way, JH and I were talking about 毛牛 philosophy. Damn, I am going to be influenced by JH The Great Philosopher very soon (was talking about philosophy on mentally-ill patients with sh that other day). These cows sitting around on the road are really wasting their time and are brainless. But maybe they are highly intellectual and had already evolved to a higher being than human such that they find it pointless to do anything. Maybe they were thinking that humans are stupid to be rushing here and there everyday to accomplish meaningless things. Ha, I don’t even understand what we were saying that day. Talking rubbish then. Must be altitude sickness.

We reached Lhasa before evening and I wasn’t impressed at all by this large city. Probably because I had seen BaYi, the previous town which was pretty big. We walked around the city and soon I began to dislike this place. It was dirty, full of beggars and peddlers, a bit chaotic.

The female peddlers outside Potala Palace were really a nuisance. They would come and pester us to buy their necklaces or praying wheels, and while doing that, they would touch us! JH got touched at his tummy while me on my back and shoulder. Felt molested. Other male tourists were also victims too.

We quickly left the place and went to 大召寺. The prayers would walk in a clockwise direction around the temple. We stopped at the entrance and saw many prayers ORZ in front. All of them went on their knees and lied flat on the ground, got up and repeated the action.

Before returning to our youth hostel 吉日旅舍, we went to 八角街, which is famous for its sales of Tibetans ornaments. We only walked around briefly because we were going to return and tour Lhasa again after this 16-day trip.

After dinner, we went back to rest but ZK decided to go and shop around himself at night. At around 930pm, the 4 of us went out for supper with only our shorts. Heroes. Lhasa is blazing hot in the day (over 30 I guess) but when it comes to night, it could be around 20 or less. We came to a shop called 好好吃 and the boss was amazed we were in our shorts. She asked where we were from and after making guesses like HK, Taiwan, etc. we told them we are from SG.

She said that she didn’t know SG speaks such good Chinese. Haha. JH usual answer to this was that we are bilingual and our education system works that way. I would normally tell the person who praises my Chinese that, “we speak only moderate Chinese. This conversation between you and me has lasted only 10min so far. As time goes by, you will find that I will start to lose stamina and converse more slowly.” I wasn’t trying to be modest. I genuinely felt that I am not bilingual. I can’t speak English as well as the British; neither could my Mandarin be compared to the Chinese. I am only good in Singlish. The boss and her friends chatted with us and told us useful info such as, we could take the military flight back to Chengdu instead of the commercial one which will help us save about 700rmb.

While we were chatting, ZK walked past and we invited him to join us for supper. He took out the guide and told us he intended to detour a bit tomorrow to bring us to another scenic place. Good. At last he did what he was told to do. I wasn’t a bit sorry for him for being fined, even though he must have swore more than 20 times “tmd” that day on that issue. I don’t really give a damn. He deserved it for speeding.

Day 12 160506: Show-down with ZK Part 1

2006-06-19T12:14:00.000+08:00

Perhaps I had a good sleep last night (best one so far), today’s mood was very relaxed. Come to think of it, I actually slept better during this 30-day trip than any night back in Singapore. Maybe because of the care-free lifestyle here; no worries, nothing to think about.

After days of porridge for breakfast, we finally had something new: 豆浆油条. It was a luxury to find it here in Tibet, according to ZK, because it is not easy to make at high altitude. Rubbish. We could see these soyabean milk stalls in almost every town after that day. Guess ZK just doesn’t want to eat.

Although the soyabean milk was thin and quite tasteless (had to add sugar ourselves), it was something different and a taste closer to home. And it seemed to be a perfect day today, cool weather and good road condition (although music was lousy in the jeep. 梁永绮’s song played for maybe 5 times).

While we were driving into a forested area, a truck was parked in the middle of the road horizontally, blocking the passage. We got down and saw there was a major road repair some 100m in front. ZK said it should be temporary and we could only wait. There was no other way around. So we just hung around the road, doing nothing.

JH and I were really bored and so decided to make a coca-cola commercial. JH the director, told me to start running from 20m away towards the DV. My line was, “在森林喝可口可乐，另有一番滋味！“ It was a well shot advert until the moment I opened the bottle. Because I was running with the bottle, all the gas and foam spilled out. Very cock.

Even with the advert, we were really bored just waiting. ZK was taking his puffs away. A truck loaded with kayaks (and angmohs) came and stopped behind us. A group of Aussies came out and chatted with us while their Tibetan driver went ahead to find out info from the repair workers. These Aussies had been to Tibet before and they came here just to canoe in the river. We shared our travel experiences with 1 of the guys while the rest of their group was playing chap teh.

Their driver came back with good news. There seemed to be a side path into the forest which would lead us out of the place. There is no way the repair will finish by today and so was pointless to wait. ZK that useless bum. No initiatives at all. We found that narrow path at the side of the main road but it was at a lower ground. Driving down directly might damage the exhaust of our cars and so the Angmohs started carrying logs and boulders found around the forest and created a connection between the main road and the side track.

After 20min of hardwork, we let their truck try on the newly laid path and it took another 10min to finally get the truck down to the side track. Just then, 2 jeeps from the opposite end came and as the track in the forest was so narrow that only 1 vehicle can pass at a time, the truck had to reverse slowly back to the main road to let them through. When finally the passage was cleared, it was our turn to use the track and because ours was a jeep, we made it down effortlessly.

The next 10min or so was spent driving in the middle of the forest, and occasionally there were cows strolling across the jungle track, blocking our path. After a few turns, we came out of the jungle and were on the main road again. I guessed we were delayed for about an hour but we should still reach our destination in time.

Along the way, I caught sight of a magnificent scenery. Coming down from a cliff was a straight line of water. It was called One-Line Waterfall, 一线瀑. A very unique waterfall. After we passed 雅卢藏库江, there was another trailer blocking our path and it seemed like a road repair again. However, strangely, there were jeeps coming from the other end at the same time. I went over to the truck this time to find out what was going on. There was a notice on it, saying the road was closed from this time to that due to some reason. Before I could finish reading, a man came and took the notice away and said, “没事，没事”. I was confused and even more so when that man climbed into the cabin of the trailer and drove the vehicle away. What was that all about?

Anyway, we don’t really care as long as we could continue moving. Very soon, we entered a big town, 八一镇. It was more like a city than a town. A few high-rise buildings, clean streets, neat streetlamps at the sides. It had everything a city would have except for people; not a single soul at all! It was like a ghostly modern city. Our guess was this must be a new extension to the old BaYi Town and perhaps the population from the old town will move into here soon. After driving around this place for some 20min, we finally found our way out and reached the real, old BaYi.

It was still consider a big town, with traffic lights and plenty of shops. We decided to shop around for supplies as well as some warm clothes (long john in particular) to prepare ourselves for Everest. ZK said we don’t have to buy now because we were definitely going to spend 2 days in Lhasa so we could do our shopping then. That was when we realised that ZK wanted to spend the extra 2 days we have in Lhasa. However, this was unfair to us because we were paying 600rmb for the jeep per day and the jeep would not be used at all for that 2 days in Lhasa. Moreover, our intention was to pass by Lhasa (stay 1 night at most) and then move on to Everest. Because, we will return to Lhasa again at the end of our trip and we wanted to tour the capital after we have parted with the driver. It would be our last destination for this 16-day jeep tour.

The more we thought of it, the more we felt that the driver wanted to cheat that 2 days out of us. So we started to converse in English while shopping, to come out with a plan on how to tell ZK. Guess, ZK sensed that we were plotting on something, but of course we weren’t, just discussing.

When we were back at the hotel (our 1st ‘real’ hotel, with TV, personal washroom), we were undecided on how to confront him. We didn’t want to sound as if we were suspicious of him of trying to cheat us. But we wanted to bring up our points firmly too. I felt we worried too much on this issue. Why can’t we just be open and said what we feel? So I decided to do the confrontation and I asked ZK if he really planned to use that 2 days in Lhasa. He said tentatively that was the case. Then I asked if these 2 days were part of our 16-day itinerary and he said yes. I told him this plan was wrong because we wanted to tour Lhasa only at the end of the trip, after that 16 days. As such, I asked if he could find other places for us to visit in Tibet and passed to him the guide book found in his car. He kept quiet and started flipping the pages.

I wasn’t sure he was embarrassed or unhappy but I did what I had to do so that was fine with me. He was probably unhappy, because he thought he could save 300rmb on petrol cost by staying put in Lhasa for 2 days. Fat chance I would let him get his way. JH said that I could have approached him more diplomatically and less accusingly. He told me later that after that confrontation, the gap between ZK and us (which already existed in the beginning), had drifted wider. At this rate, it would be hard for us if we wanted to still keep in touch with him back in Chengdu after our trip. Perhaps he was right. We were skeptical of him at the start but slowly began to trust him as days went by. After today, I think we were back to square one, if not worse.

After that incident, the 4 of us were still talking about our relationship with the driver. Seriously, I wasn’t bothered at all. Although I seemed to be getting along well with ZK (we even had telepathy thoughts some times, haha), I only regarded him as a driver employed by us and nothing more. It would take more than just a few days of conversation for someone to be considered my friend. Especially someone like ZK whom I couldn’t trust at all from the very beginning.

PS: during our dinner, 5 big sized Lamas came in and started praying beside us. They then demanded $ and said will go back and tell how good we were to his Big Lama. We gave them 2rmb but they wouldn't go. In the end, it took us 30rmb to get rid of the group of cheaters. Sigh... if these monks were in SG, I surely would give them a good scolding. But we were in their turf then. The restaurant owner said that these people will beg for $ (extort I would say) in the day, and 吃喝嫖赌 at night. I sincerely hope these monks get punished by God.

Day 11 150506: A visit to a Tibetan village

2006-06-16T10:19:00.000+08:00

Before we set off for our destination of the day, the handsome policeman came to us in the morning and asked if we could give his friend a ride to the village we were going. I was a bit reluctant because it meant that we would have to squeeze at the back. Later, we realised that person was the policeman’s girlfriend and she was going to the village to teach.

We told her to wait for us at the hostel as we wanted to go back to the RanWu Lake to take picture. The weather today was the best so far; clear blue sky with no clouds. So we wanted to try our luck again at the lake and promised her we will return shortly. True enough, when we reached there, it was as if we had come to Switzerland. The reflection of the snow mountain on the water was clearer and a sunnier weather added brighter colors to the already scenic picture.

Once we were satisfied with the number of pictures taken, we rushed back to pick up the teacher. Her name was 诗拉左卡 (I am sure this is the wrong spelling but sounds like that) and she said all Tibetans’ names are given by their Lama when they were born. The names had no meaning at all. We wanted to go to this village called 雅子村 in which lies the 2nd largest ice glacier in the world, known as 来古冰川. And lucky we had ZuoKa with us because this village was really secluded. Without her, I am sure the now dis-oriented ZK wouldn’t know how to go. Ever since we entered Tibet, ZK had become close to useless as much as direction-sense is concern. He had become as lost as we were. Guess he wasn’t as experienced as he claimed.

ZuoKa said that she graduated from 拉萨师范大学 (the equivalent of NIE in SG) and had to do 1 year of teaching in a village. She chose YaZi Village because that’s where her boyfriend was staying. Although she wore a face mask to protect her face from the strong UV, from her modern dressing (purple coat and furry boots), I guessed she must be quite pretty (at least for a Tibetan). When we finally reached the village, we asked if she could be our guide for the rest of the day and skipped school in the morning. She agreed without hesitation and asked another teacher to relief her. There were just 2 teachers in the school (like that means 1 principal and 1 vice-principal?) which was located on the hill not far away. She pointed it out to us and said the school was beside a big tree. We declined her invitation to the school because the school was so freaking high up the hill!

We moved off to the ice glacier area and had to pay a small entrance fee. We drove passed a checkpoint and slowly ascended a snow mountain. It was like an ice paradise hidden inside the mountain. A completely different world. There was a greenish blue lake in the middle and we saw the ice glacier floating on it. We didn’t get to see the entire glacier as part of it was blocked by mountain but it was huge enough.

Further down the mountain road was a village called 来古村. Some of the villagers who were looking after the sheep nearby came curiously. I guess this place is one of the least visited tourist attractions.

At a turn of the mountain road, we almost crashed into an oncoming tractor. Both parties had to back off slowly and it was quite dangerous as we were at the edge of the road. A bit of carelessness and we would have fallen off the cliff.

We decided to get out of the car and go on foot and slowly enjoy the scenery. ZK and ZuoKa stayed in the car though. I must say I was a little worried for the young and pretty teacher. Don’t forget, ZK had a bad guy’s face, haha.

Slowly, we made our way down the mountain, with Kenneth and JH most reluctant to leave this paradise. Back at the village, ZuoKa led us to a hut where her boyfriend’s uncle lives. We were welcomed by our host, a middle-age man. The hut was made of stones and wood and there was little light inside. There was a stove at a corner and our host began boiling water to serve us tea. The famous Yak’s Butter Tea, 苏油茶. We were warned beforehand that this tea will make you puke.

When it was poured to us, we took sips cautiously. To my surprise, it was not as bad as I was told. Probably because ZK told the host to put less salt in our tea. YES. It is salt not sugar.

We were also offered their staple food 沾巴 (or also called 藏巴), a brown color powder made from 青稞. When eating the powder, it tasted a bit like peanut but the moment the powder mixed with my saliva, it became starchy and stuck to the roof of my mouth. In fact everywhere inside and I couldn’t even talk! I might possibly be choked by it if I were to take too big a mouthful.

Next drink was a delight; 酸奶. I thought it must be some disgusting thing but it actually was yoghurt! Yummy. Too bad he only gave each of us a small cup. As for the Butter Tea, he kept refilling for us against our wish really. We decided to give some biscuits and food to the kids in the hut and they were really excited.

The host, showing his hospitality always, taught us how to eat the Zang Ba in their traditional way. Or the disgusting way. He told us to mix the bowl of powder with the tea. Then he gave each of us a big slice of butter. We had to mix everything together and made dough out of it. Then, using our fingers, we had to squash and squeeze the mixture into a ball. The end product was a brown solid ball.

This ball was completely tasteless and yet disgusting. Never had I tasted something so tasteless yet so bad to eat. Without finishing half of it, I was already full. Thinking I should drink some tea to get rid of the sticky food inside my mouth, I drank a mouthful only to find myself in a torture. After eating the dough, the tea had become Super Si Bei Pai Lim. Still, not wanting to hurt the host’s heart, we finished the tea but not the dough. We said we would bring the Zang Ba along and eat it on the road. Of course the Zang Ba ended up in the dustbin in our next hostel.

We thanked the host and left his house with the teacher. She brought us to 2 brothers whom let us ride their horses for a small amount. It was my first horse ride and one of the brothers was holding onto the rein initially. I told him I wanted to ride on my own and he then passed me the rein. At first the horse didn’t move despite me kicking it at the sides. Suddenly it started trotting and it really startled me. I was a bit panicky and sensing that I wouldn’t be able to control the horse, the brother ran forward and took back the rein. That was my brief horse riding experience.

When all of us had our fun with the horses, we bid the brothers and the teacher goodbye. It was really a unique experience and we were lucky we had the teacher as our translator and guide. While on our way back to the hotel, JH jumped suddenly. He touched his waist and looked around frantically searching for something. He said he think he had dropped his money pouch which contained all his $ for this trip. Gosh! He couldn’t remember where he dropped it but was sure he didn’t leave it behind in the hostel. As the amount was a lot, we asked ZK to turn back to the village. The problem now was: Did he drop it in the Tibetan house? Or while horse riding? Or worse, at the ice glacier area.

When we were back at the village, the teacher was still around and we told her about this. We decided to split up and so CCG, the teacher and I went searching around in the village while JH, ZK and Kenneth go back to the ice glacier. Our guess was the pouch was lost at the glacier, because we were running around there and he might have dropped it while taking pictures.

After searching around the places we had been to in the village, we couldn’t find it and decided to wait for them to come back. Really, we felt that the chances of recovering the $ was very slim. The ice glacier place was very big in the first place. And there might be other tourists or villagers who would pick it up. The teacher, still feeling worried, went with another villager on motorbike to the ice glacier. The 2 brothers went also on horses. As for CCG and I, we were left behind with the other Tibetan kids.

We just sat there looking at each other as we had language barrier. I had enough of this boredom and decided to teach them Chinese. I asked CCG to take out his notebook and pen and at first it was just writing numbers in Chinese. I got bored by that too and began drawing cows, clouds, mountains and teaching them the corresponding Chinese words. It was fun until one of the kids wanted to draw the thing that he wanted us to teach him. He drew a cactus looking thing on the paper and I thought he wanted 仙人掌 or 花. He said no, and pointed at his dick. Well done. I was really stuck that time. I couldn’t possibly said 鸟 because I had just taught that. The real meaning that is. In the end I just smoked through and said that’s all I could teach.

I played football with a boy (kicking stone), witnessed him smashed a torchlight into pieces, watched how he crushed every single ant he could find on the ground. Time crawled. At last, the 2 Tibetan brothers were the first to return and were shouting, “钱有了！钱有了！” (Found $) We couldn’t believe our luck (or rather JH’s). Soon everyone returned and true enough the money pouch had been recovered. As a display of our gratitude to the villagers, we surrendered all our food supplies in the jeep. Someone had to top them up in the next town, and that’s JH for sure.

Everyone was extorting JH $ in the jeep now. CCG and I asked for a treat as we were left stranded in the sun with the Tibetan kids. Kenneth said he caught a cold while searching in the ice glacier. Even ZK chipped in and said while waiting for JH, he had smoked a few packets of cigarettes. A dinner treat from JH seemed to be inevitable and we demanded 烤全羊 (roasting a complete sheep).

Coincidentally, we met 3 of the cyclists we met last night. They were going to the ice glacier too and they proved to be genuine seasoned travelers. We had a teacher as our guide by chance. They were a level higher. Somehow, they managed to meet the village head of 来古村 on the way and with some hand gestures, managed to hitch-hike his tractor. That is what I call truly interactive kind of traveling.

We skipped lunch as it was getting late (and we were still very full from the Zang Ba) but also because we knew tonight we were going to have a feast, courtesy of JH’s treat. On the way to our next town 波密, we met the 69 year old cyclist and he said the 5 of them had split up. Traveling on the road on bike alone for an elderly is really an incredible feat. This kind of people really showed passion in the things they do. I wonder if I would ever have such passion for something in life. We told him to take care as we moved on.

It seemed as if the autumn season had arrived (though it was summer of course) as we saw forest turned red and yellow. It was scenic and made the rest of the journey a joy. Moreover, the cold weather that we had endured for the past few days had turned warm. We arrived at Pomi near dinner time. Great timing. As promise, JH said he would pay for the meal and ZK instinctively took over the menu. We shouldn’t have let him done that. In the end, he ordered all his favourite dishes. The only food that I ate was my bowl of rice which was the only dish that wasn’t spicy. That’s the problem when you are too nice to other people. We should have said no to all his orders.

Still it wasn’t a big issue to fuss over and after dinner, we walked the street. We saw another guy from the group of cyclists and he was talking to a Korean elderly traveler. The Korean spoke some Chinese but wasn’t very fluent. As we thought Koreans are one of the better English-speakers in Asia, we conversed in English. But his English was just as bad as his Chinese. It seemed like he was traveling alone and had been taking public transport from one city to another. Another daring elderly traveler.

Once again, although the town was considered relatively modern, hot water bath in the hostel was still a rarity and we had to walk a distance to a public bath shop. A shop that charged a fee for hot shower and many of the town people were bathing here. I felt refreshed after the hot shower which was much desired. It was indeed worth the $ and effort.

Day 10 140506: Are we bad tourists?

2006-06-15T10:32:00.000+08:00

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.

Day 9 130506: Entering Tibet

2006-06-13T11:14:00.000+08:00

It was a poor sleep the night before, enduring ZK’s snoring throughout as he was sharing the room with JH and I (though JH claimed that I snored too). By now, we had decided that JH and I will always take 1 room together while CCG and Kenneth formed the other pair. As for ZK, we will take turn to share the room with him.

During breakfast (yes, it is still 稀饭，馒头，鸡蛋), the girl who cleaned up our rooms came to us with a wallet. It was JH’s. He had left it under the pillow and forgot completely about it. Very careless of him. And he was very lucky that the girl was honest.

Today we will be heading to 芒康, through which we will enter Tibet. There wasn’t much scenery along the way, probably we were getting a bit sick of mountains and rivers. However, the moment we passed MangKang, it was a drastic change of scenery. No more greens or yellows. Just rocky mountains everywhere. So is this what Tibet really looks like?

We had a little wash-up at a river and the cool icy water was very refreshing. By the time we reached the city of MangKang it was 3pm already and we were unsure whether to go forth or stay put.

The MangKang city had nothing much to offer really and so we decided to continue on. There was a possibility that when we reached our next point 左贡, it would be at night. The driver mentioned that he tried to avoid driving at night for the safety of everyone.

We passed by a little village called 拉乌村 which was a red, arid, rocky kind of place. As usual, the kids in the village upon hearing the approach of our jeep, would rush out and stand at the sides of the road waving at us. And we will wave back or sound a horn in return.

Amidst the arid land, there were patches of light green fields presenting a sharp contrast in color. In these fields was 青稞, a kind of green barley which is the Tibetan’s staple food.

Then we came to a river called 南昌, and thereafter, it was as if we had entered a desert. All we could see was sand and a little bit of vegetation and occasionally there would be little whirlwind of sand. We had our windows wound down throughout that part of the journey. It was perhaps closed to the evening and we still have a mountain to pass over. That’s when I fully realize how drastic weather can change in Tibet.

Once we were on the mountain road, it started to snow quite heavily, with the snowflakes clearly visible. When we were near the top, we saw a breadbus stranded in the middle of the road. It seemed like there was something wrong with the engine due to the snow and the driver gave ZK a number to call for help once we reached the next town. Apparently,

I saw the driver passed some money together with the note. And there was a little girl, probably the driver’s daughter on the breadbus too.

On the way down, we decided to take a short break and everyone got out of the jeep to get a taste of the small snowstorm. It was cold esp. with the wind but it was very fun too! We were jumping around like some crazy people (except for ZK) partly because we were so excitement and partly due to the coldness.

Finally we reached ZuoGong and it was already past 8pm. While waiting for the dinner, we decided to walk around the town (their town is just 1 street with shops at the 2 sides), searching for a winter wear for CCG. He was really in bad shape and had not recovered from the diarrhea. ZK was leading the way and was really taking his own sweet time. Didn’t he need to make a SOS call? That was when we reminded him and then he started looking for a phone booth. What was he thinking? I wasn’t exactly sure of the conversation between him and the stranded driver but was ZK thinking of taking the $ and leaving the father and the daughter up there on the mountain? If that’s the case, then he was really being a bastard.

Still he made the call using the phone from a shop and CCG bought his fake 羽戎服 there too. According to the shop owner, all hotels in this town do not provide free hot bath. If we need 1, we had to pay 10rmb more. Damn. The hotel owner didn’t say that when we asked about hot bath just now. He just said there is. Since we didn’t bathe yesterday, CCG and I decided to pay that 10rmb. The rest felt it was not worth it. It was a wasted 10rmb in the end. The hotel owner will boil the water by burning firewood in a large furnace and keep doing that until we were done with our shower. In the end, it was an inconsistent supply of warm water. Half of the time, the water was ice cold.

Still, I bathed in the end, though just briefly. Just hope that I wouldn’t fall sick after the cold shower.

Day 8 120506: 曾昆飞跃断桥特技!

2006-06-12T12:03:00.000+08:00

We were slowed down considerably on the road early in the morning by villagers who were ushering their cows to the field. Finally when we were cleared, a soldier stopped us along the way. He wanted to hitch-hike to his camp and so we had to squeeze a bit at the back. All the while he was talking to ZK in Chuan language and so we couldn’t understand the conversation.

After we dropped him, it was a long endurance ride through the highlands. The kind of 高原 that I expected was greens everywhere with horses galloping around. All I saw was yellow grass all around, a bit of disappointed. Hence, I slept for most part of that journey until we reached 里塘 where we broke for lunch.

ZK told us that the 2 places of interest 稻城 and 亚丁, initially in our 16 days itinerary, are not worth visiting. Moreover, the entrance fee is going to be over 300rmb, including the horse-cart ride. We were a bit skeptical because DaCheng and YaDing are known to be one of the most beautiful places along our 318 route (btw, our route is known as 318川藏线). And some people even said that they are the last, truly, Shangri-La of China. Kenneth said that the Shangri-La in Yunnan is man-made for the sake of tourists.

While persuading us, ZK kept saying that his intention was to help us save money (节约), and the scenery there will not be more beautiful then the free ones we were going to see along the way. Even though he did mentioned that the choice is still ours to make, he was strongly against the idea. In the end, we felt that he genuinely suggested that for our good (我处处都是为你们着想), and adopted his change of plan. He claimed that the 2 days spent there could now be put into better use in other more worthy places.

JH was afraid that ZK was going to cheat the 2 days out of us and after some clarifications with him, he promised that he will fully utilized all 16 days. In the end, he wanted us to write on his notebook that we all agreed to the change in plan after discussing, and I signed on it on the behalf of the team. He said this was the correct procedure so that he could report back to his travel coy.

With this issue settled, we went to visit a little monastery called 白塔公园, and I had some understanding of their religion there. The town people would walk around the temple (which is shaped like a white tower) in a clockwise direction. In their hands, they would turn their prayer wheels (转经轮) and chant a six-word prayer (MaMiMaMiHom… but sounds only 5 words, maybe I got it wrong).

At the 2 sides of the temple would be 2 rows of Prayer Drums (转经桶) which the prayers would turn. I was really impressed by their faith in their religion as there were many elderly who were obviously having difficulty in walking but still kept going round.

Other elderly would sit around in the park chatting and turning their wheels at the same time. The wheels had to be turned in the clockwise direction also. We spotted a bunch of kids playing games and singing songs and so we decided to go over and play with them. They were surprised and curious by the approach of foreigners and were a bit shy. Eventually, it was our cameras and DV that won them over and all of them were eager to be on screen.

All except for 1 little boy who all the while would just sit there quietly looking at us, with a half-smile (or half-frown? I couldn’t tell). It looked as if he had a lot of worries but he was only around 4 yrs of age. And there were 3 brothers (I guess so, since they wore similar clothes) who will always take pictures together. I realised this only after I took a look at JH, Kenneth and CCG’s pictures back in SG. The 3 boys were always together in all their pictures. The elderly sitting around were happy that the kids had fun with us.

After spending 30min there, we left to go to another temple. But this temple was hard to find and many of the locals said they never heard of it. Either that temple never existed or ZK got a problem with his pronunciation. Finally, thanks to some local kids, we found the temple. I guess the confusion was caused by the fact that the temple was known as another name to the local. It was a grand monastery with gold-plated (or maybe real gold) roofs but we couldn’t enter as it was under maintenance.

With nothing left to see, we left for our next stop 巴塘. On the way, CCG had to ask the driver to stop as he needed to shit. First diarrhea casualty. And it must be due to the spicy food that we had all this time. We stopped by a grassland area, and while he went to do his business, ZK, JH and Kenneth went to a river quite some distance away to take pictures (and they got really nice scenery from there). I was left to guard the car and wait for CCG.

CCG returned looking better but still was in poor condition and I gave him a pill. We moved off immediately as it was getting a bit late by then. However, our progress came to a halt when we found that the small bridge further up had collapsed. The workers there said the repair team might only come tomorrow morning. So what can we do? Wait? Turn back to LiTang? ZK went to inspect the bridge and after some assessment, he felt that he could probably make a dash for it. The 4 of us got off the jeep and walked across, while ZK positioned the jeep for the dash.

He reminded me of the car stuntman 小黑 and he does look like him. We stood at the side of the road waiting, recording the stunt using my DV. But we didn’t have to wait long as ZK drove across the bridge without much hesitation. It was rather an anti-climax because all that happened was that the jeep dipped slightly and then climbed back and was at the other side of the river in a second. I was expecting his jeep would fly over or something like that. Still there was a risk that the bridge might collapse completely and so we gave ZK a round of applause for his courage. If the jeep really got caught in between the broken bridge, guess that would be the end to our trip.

After getting pass this little ordeal, I thought it would be smooth sailing all the way to our destination. But the road condition is as unpredictable as the weather here. There was major road repair all the way to BaTang, and we could only take the side road (便道) which was just a mud track. This seriously limited our speed and we could only travel at 30km/h at most. At this rate, we were never going to reach BaTang unless we drove at night, which was considered dangerous, and even more so when we were using the side road.

By 8pm, we decided it was too dark to carry on and hence had to stop by a small town (more like a village). It was of poor condition, with mud everywhere and worst of all no showering. After 1 full day of traveling, and no hot bath. It was really torturous. All we could do was to wash our face along the drain using the tap. I put some powder (蛇粉) and wiped my face with wet tissue. 艰苦生活.

We were so tired that we didn’t have much appetite for dinner (esp. CCG who was still feeling sick), except for ZK. After dinner, CCG went up to sleep while the rest of us chatted at the table. I asked ZK if he is a full time driver and how many trips must he make a year to earn a living. He said that he owns a teahouse and a box-making factory, so he was doing this for the sake of passion, not the $. He said it is dangerous if the driver do this just for the sake of $, because he would tire himself out in the end and put everyone’s life in jeopardy. My trust in him grew after hearing what he said.

The rest of the conversation was on girls, his clubbing experiences and a bit on history of China. Then, we rested for the day.

Day 7 110506: Away from Civilization

2006-06-11T20:28:00.000+08:00

Breakfast was the simple 稀饭，馒头，鸡蛋 combi. While on the road, we saw kids walking to school and when they saw our jeep, they would stop and salute. ZK said that these kids (many of them are Tibetans) used to throw stones at jeeps. But thanks to the teachers in the school, they stopped doing that and replaced the stone-throwing act with saluting.

After passing by 丹巴, we break for lunch at a place called 塔贡. It had a kind of Tibetan style, with colorful paintings on the doors of the houses.

There was a monastery and the hill behind it was filled with hundreds of prayer flags. It was there that I saw real Tibetans with traditional clothes and Tibetan monks. There wasn’t much to see along the way except for villages building a bridge, and we reached 新都桥 in no time. This place is supposed to be the Heaven of all photographers (摄影师的天堂) but to me it is just a small town surrounded by mountains.

It was still very early (4pm) when we decided to stop for the day. ZK decided upon a little farmhouse kind of inn, with a nice grass patch outside. JH was unhappy that ZK was making the decision on our accommodation because he thought we should be the ones choosing since we were paying, not him. The place we stayed at was really “ulu”, no shops, not many people, nothing but mountains around. The town further up had more to offer but ZK said the shops there are not worth patronizing.

Since it was still early, we decided to climb the hill opposite us. According to the lady boss, there was an old and abandoned temple somewhere up there. The 5 of us went off exploring but ZK backed out at the last minute, for fear of altitude sickness. We walked along the road at the bottom of the hill trying to find a good and easy spot to climb. After 15min of walking, we couldn’t find a good path to start climbing. JH and Kenneth saw a little opening at the side of the hill and decided to go up from there. CCG and I felt that there must surely be a better path and thus did not follow. It was easy to tell who were the more adventurous ones (and who were the smarter ones).

As CCG and I made our way back, walking away from the hill, we turned around to see how far JH and Kenneth had gone. They were really quite fast because by then, I could only see 2 tiny figures struggling up the hill. Using my DV, I zoomed in on them. Some villagers were curious on my DV and asked me to show them the footage. They were simply amazed. The villagers could speak a little bit of Chinese and said JH and Kenneth had gone the wrong way. They said there is an easier route and asked a 10 yrs old boy to bring us there.

This kid that led us the way spoke very good Chinese. His name was ChenWen ZhenCuo (晨纹阵措, sounds like). This boy had a handsome face and was very talkative, asking where we came from. We didn’t tell him the answer initially and he started making a lot of guesses, but all within China. Finally when I told him I was from 新加坡, he thought I was from 新疆, and kept telling me his brother is there now. Later he “jio” his younger brother to join us and also his best friend. As we passed his school (which had the words “好好学习，天天向上”), he mentioned that his brother was 1st in standard for primary 2 while he got top 5 in his level. And he didn’t care if his friend felt “paiseh” or not and told us he got 倒数第二. But I can tell the 2 of them are really very close friends. He even asked his friend to show us the wound he suffered last year after being scalded by hot water.

Finally we reached the path leading up the hill. No climbing at all, just have to walk up. To thank the kids, we took photos with them and gave them all our chewing gums. They offered to go up with us but we declined. It would be a great embarrassment if we couldn’t make it to the top in front of them.

After bidding them goodbye, we walked slowly up the hill. Somewhere near the top, we began to feel breathless and light-headed due to the high altitude (we were already on highlands by then). Once we reached the top, there was a big plateau and many cows were grazing there. From there we had a good view of mountains around us and quite far away, there was a snow mountain, the Holy Mountain of the region. We could even see our hostel from there, which was just a tiny building looking from up there.

After we caught our breaths, I shouted out for JH and Kenneth but I guess they had already made their way back to the hostel. We went searching for the abandoned temple, not so much as to see it but to take pictures of it so as to prove to JH and Kenneth that we were there too.

After we done that, we slowly made our way down, almost forgetting from which path we came come from. It was easy to find the path in the end, just follow the shit of the cows. When we reached the hostel, the 2 were already back and we shared with them our experiences with the kids.

After dinner, ZK invited us to join him at the field for some men’s talk. 2 or 3 dogs were roaming around us, and a few piglets grazing on the field nearby. It was nice chatting in the open like that (except that it was too cold), watching the Holy Mountain changed color as the sun sets behind us. And it reminded me of the days when me and RV good friends went camping in Pulau Ubin many years ago, when we had a good chat under the stars, away from civilization. By nightfall it was getting too cold and we returned to our dorms. After this chit-chat session, I felt that the distance between ZK and us was closer. I was glad that happened because I would want to feel as if the 5 of us were traveling together, rather than 4 + 1 driver sort of mentality. And I began to feel that we could trust this ZK.