Tom: Shegar (July 09)

Shegar (July 09) · Jul 15, 09:34 AM

We’re too lazy, too late, and six is too many to sneak into the monastery before it opens at nine this morning. But we tried, and in the doing-so, wandered up the mountain-side backwards on the pilgrim path, against the flow of amused Tibetans. After failing a sneak entry we wander old town. I return for a shower and breakfast.

Sometime around ten the drivers pull into the hotel’s courtyard driving their dusty SUV’s. We load up (eventually) and we’re off. One hundred and fifty kilometers later — offroad and on — we stop at Lhatse, where we’re stuck until seven due to daytime construction. Tibet is under heavy development at the direction of Beijing. See also, the Qinghai-Lhasa train line, the 2008 Olympics, Chinese tourism, and Han cultural domination.

I never even walked into the place Pintso wanted us to eat, and nearly feel guilty in case we are denying him commission. Down the street I find a muslim noodle shop, and Mikael and I sit down. He gets noodle square with some yak meat; I get pulled noodle soup with more meat. We’re only midly overcharged because I can’t read the menu on the wall. Later I’ll point the American girls here — Emmarie and Julie — and leave while they are ordering so they can get the real Chinese prices; they can read a whole lot more Chinese than I can. We kill the rest of the road-blocked afternoon talking, taking pictures, walking around, and online in the smallest Chinese internet bar ever. At six thirty we pile into our cars, and get into line with everyone else ahead of us. At seven traffic starts moving, though we have to do a couple hundred meters of scary off-roading to before we’re back on our way to Shekar.

We stopped at a high mountain pass — the entrance to Qomolangma park. The gateway sign is covered in Tibetan prayer flags flapping in the wind. The terrain is beautiful, barren, and alpine with a crowd of Tibetans pressing necklaces, bracelets, and assorted trinkets into our hands. I buy a couple, first getting two for ten, then getting three for ten. Mikeal — as we are pulling away — gets a “yak bone” bracelet for two yuan. We had hiked around for a bit before leaving, and the girls got a chance to wander off and relieve themselves behind the privacy of a nearby hill. Finding places they are comfortable squatting will be a challenge all week, and probably keep them from drinking enough to remain properly hydrated.

It’s almost ten and quickly darkening when we arrive in the small waystation of Shegar. Our car — the passengers, I mean — settles for the cheap second floor dorms. Showers are available downstairs and across the dirt courtyard. The toilet is a thick sheet-metal outhouse on the neighboring roof, lit with a dim incandescent bulb. Shawna and Adele are reasonably freaked out about how nasty this place is, but won’t put up the overhead for a first-floor double like everyone from the other two cars. Mikael just uses the conditions to bargain down the price.

The moon is bright and beautiful. I discover this on a midnight trip to the rooftop outhouse. It’s bright and beautiful, and obscures the milky way. So far, nothing has beaten the night sky at Karakul Lake, and nothing on this tour, which coincided with a full moon, ever will.

We also had to pay Pintso 65 yuan per person plus 405 for the car to cover entrance fees tomorrow.

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http://tom.spacing-guild.net/2006/07/15/everest-base-camp-july-10

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