Tom: Xiahe (June 16)

Xiahe (June 16) · Jun 19, 05:20 AM

I wake up in the cool morning just as the sun breaks over the mountains. Steel shutters are being rolled back on the main street. Xiahe is waking up. I find a busy local cafe and order what everyone else is eating — Yak meat in a hot broth with bread to soak up the extra broth after you’ve slurped the meat. I get a lot of fatty bits; a policeman who arrives after me gets mostly meat. On my way out I notice the Yak skull on the chopping block — most of the meat has been carved off.

This morning I plan to tour the lamasery at ten when an English guide will take us inside the temples. I spend the time waiting online, and then I meet a monk from yesterday — I’ve copied five pictures onto the 16M memory card that came with my new camera. The card is uselessly small; I give it to him gladly.

At the lamasery ticket office I hook up with four American women with a Tibetan guide on a regional monastery tour. A local monk with thick English took us around and into the temple buildings. He glossed their history and purpose. Wisdom Buddhas, attendants, yak-butter candles, guardian spirits, silk offerings, all in dark cave-like interiors. The main meeting hall leaves a strong impression — a dark vast expanse of pillars, lit indirect through second story windows recessed above. Rows of monks chant. A drum beats. Another world.

Back in the bright noonday sun I meet up with Richard. We have a vegetarian lunch across the street in the third floor Nomad restaurant and rent bikes from the Overseas Tibetan Hotel (next door to our guesthouse). The Overseas is full of western travelers — it’s the only place in Xiahe listed on hostelworld. With our bikes, we travel up out from the valley into rolling green grass hills. The left pedal of my bike is missing a nut — it operates with a loose clunk and threatens to come loose, but the hills, mountains, and bright sky kep my attention. We ride, ride, and ride. Our stamina gives way just as we reach the grasslands tourist area. Stalls selling trinkets and “nomadic” hotel comps and horse-riding rings — all set up, but no tourists. Horribly loud pop music is being piped out from a couple places. We turn back and return to a promising hilltop camp we just passed, pushing our bikes up the steep dirt incline. At the top there are a couple tents, a bonfire (setup but not lit) and a simple central building. My friends from the lamasery tour are sitting down for tea; we join them for pleasant conversation under pleasant skies in pleasant country — an outstanding afternoon. We bike back in the late afternoon against a sporadic headwind to collapse onto our bunks.

I tried to go shop — even test-drove a Tibetan long-sleeve jacket — but am dead exhausted past the point of cranky. I (regrettably) give up shopping and return to my room. This is when I discover that Xiahe is at 3000m. Richard and I go for dinner again at the Nomad: he orders noodles, I order boiled yak, and we split sweet and sour tofu. We talk about a lot of things; we talk until 21:30. Some Chinese travelers are watching the World Cup back in the guesthouse, but I need (first) a shower and (second) sleep.

Hopefully I will be up in time to catch the early bus to Lanzhou tomorrow. And hopefully I won’t have to buy the travel insurance (50 RMB for one 5 hour, 45 RMB bus ride). This insurance is a point of discussion — both Richard and I have made it here without paying for anything but our tickets.

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http://tom.spacing-guild.net/2006/06/19/enroute-to-liuyuan-june-17

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