So where've you been? 26 Tibet - Lhasa, not much like Mombasa

lion shadow,
originally uploaded by digitalia.

I made it to civilisation, to Lhasa, Tibet, today. Scariest, most brutal ride of my life. Much to tell, but also much altitude-sickness-lost-sleep to regain.

Tibet is one of the scariest, most bizarre places in the world you can go to. It's unreal. Indescribable. You can stick your Laos and Cambodia. This is like trekking on the moon.

Still can't see any blogs or news sites. (Can only post on here via flickr.) So I can't tell how likely it is I'll be able to navigate my way back through Nepal (or whether to head east into Yunnan province and fly to India later) Thanks, China!

And in today's email newsflash:
In some ways travelling is like being a child. You get to externalise everything - you don't have to make all the hard decisions, and you can let movement and transience replace the hard
slog to create real meaning in your life. I have this chance once - when the money runs out, i'll never be able to afford places like hawaii or tibet ever again. Everyone I know thinks I'm stupid for spending this money instead of buying a nice house and settling
somewhere. But I figure if I'm not going to have children or a partner (and I sincerely want neither of the above), I need some thing that I value, not that my friends value.

God I hate it when I start sounding zen.

Himalayan sun setting

Himalayan sun setting,
originally uploaded by digitalia.

They say everybody has a story.

Mine, right now, is that I've been stuck for a week in a shanty town between the borders of two countries, stateless in either; on one side a national transport strike called by Maoists and power / phone outages called by the King's men. On the other, three avalanches blocking a 5700m pass through the mountains around Everest.

I am getting very sick of eating yak meat. I'm technically in Chinese territory (cough), so can't read blogs or BBC, or find weather/news in English.

Since Thursday, however, I have been able to get email: if anyone can find out the weather forecast for the Nyalam Pass, between Tingris and Zhuangmo, in Tibet, my freezing fingers would thank you.

So where've you been? number ... errr ... 25? Nepal

There aren't many countries in the world where I'd be struck down by a fever for twenty six days, get robbed of most of my Things* (as opposed to things, which are replaceable or inexpensive), be harrassed, have to abandon a trek halfway through because of food poisoning, cramps and altitude sickness ... and still love every single thing about the place.

Nepal's like that. Bloody awe inspiring.

Sick IV: gritted fucking teeth

Things I wish this week hadn't brought:

* knowledge of what the inside of a nepali gaol cell looks like (europeans couldn't legally keep an animal in there).

* eye witness testimony to ritual blood sacrifice, involving two decapitations.

* a few hours spent looking at the police noticeboard, by the window to the main street in Kathmandu, the one with the list of 'AMBUSH TIMES' marked in red.

* a night wearing insufficient clothing in a goatshed covered in blankets, waiting for the sun not to rise over Everest.

* the discovery that when three blokes in combat fatigues, riot shields and carrying M16s square off around you, showing cleavage and tears are the fastest way to get what you want.

* realising that talking to myself increasingly loudly is a Bad Sign.

* an hour spent idly looking through the policeman's collection of crims 'n' guns 'n' bruises snapshots.

* one lost fucking mp3 player (which had a damn near perfect mix of random tracks from all across the globe by then).

* having to have it pointed out to me that the line in an email 'thankfully there was a riot going on' isn't what you'd call normal.

* a moment where I actually walked into a bog and thought 'oh not bad, apart from where someone took a dump on the floor.'

PMT and Nepal do.not.mix.


***I'm okay, please do not ask stupid questions. Do you really think there's internet access in a Nepali gaol cell?