Wednesday, May 10, 2006
May 7: Shigatse to Shegar
I am now back in Lhasa, so I will recount my journeys day by day. Then maybe some final commentary.
On May 7 we took a jeep from Shigatse to Shegar. If Shigatse is a hellhole, then Shegar is the armpit of the universe. Our hotel was super-sketchy (even though it's a fancy new-ish Chinese deal) with no hot water, no heating (of course) and a lot of scaryness. For a while it looked like we four were the only ones there. Ahem.
After we checked into the hotel I decided that sitting around, playing cards, and enjoying the hellhole wasn't for me. Shegar apparently has a monastery from which you can see the top of Everest. Now is a time to explain the geography of Shegar.
Shegar itself is located 7km off the Friendship Highway, which links Lhasa with Zhangmu on the Nepali border. West of Shigatse, the Friendship Highway is not a highway. It is a dirt road with deep ruts, occasional streams to be forded, and lots of bouncing around in the jeep. If you don't have a 4x4 such as a Toyota Landcruiser don't even think about trying this road. Really.
Anyway, we stayed not in the town of Shegar itself, but in the ghetto of hotels that sits on the Friendship Highway at the turnoff to Shegar. The monastery at question is actually in Shegar.
What am I getting at? I wanted to go to this monastery not aware of the geography of Shegar, and not realizing that the damn thing was 7km away. I set out around 7 PM, walked along the road after I asked someone "Shegar gompa??", looked puzzled, and saw them point up the road. After 30 minutes of seeing nothing resembling a gompa I turned back and decided to climb the spur that was overlooking the hotel ghetto at the side of the Friendship Highway, which is what I'm getting at.
I was sitting part way up this pile of rock, scree and crap. I decided to come down. I look over... and a little Tibetan kid is running towards me! WTF mate! Turns out this kid, named Gyunda or Junda or something, lives nearby and likes foreigners. We had a mountaintop lesson in English, where he learned words like "jacket" and "shoe" (his were falling apart) and I re-learned words I already knew like "ri" (mountain) and "stupa" (err... it's a stupa!). The kid was dirty, scruffy, 12 years old, and very sweet like most Tibetan kids. Also, like most Tibetan kids, he really needs a bath. I don't think they bathe around here, which is somewhat understandable given the desert-climate and consequent lack of water.
Anyway, Gyunda followed me to the hotel and I gave him a chocolate bar and a pen, which he was delighted with. I hope he gets out of Shegar and does something with his life.
On May 7 we took a jeep from Shigatse to Shegar. If Shigatse is a hellhole, then Shegar is the armpit of the universe. Our hotel was super-sketchy (even though it's a fancy new-ish Chinese deal) with no hot water, no heating (of course) and a lot of scaryness. For a while it looked like we four were the only ones there. Ahem.
After we checked into the hotel I decided that sitting around, playing cards, and enjoying the hellhole wasn't for me. Shegar apparently has a monastery from which you can see the top of Everest. Now is a time to explain the geography of Shegar.
Shegar itself is located 7km off the Friendship Highway, which links Lhasa with Zhangmu on the Nepali border. West of Shigatse, the Friendship Highway is not a highway. It is a dirt road with deep ruts, occasional streams to be forded, and lots of bouncing around in the jeep. If you don't have a 4x4 such as a Toyota Landcruiser don't even think about trying this road. Really.
Anyway, we stayed not in the town of Shegar itself, but in the ghetto of hotels that sits on the Friendship Highway at the turnoff to Shegar. The monastery at question is actually in Shegar.
What am I getting at? I wanted to go to this monastery not aware of the geography of Shegar, and not realizing that the damn thing was 7km away. I set out around 7 PM, walked along the road after I asked someone "Shegar gompa??", looked puzzled, and saw them point up the road. After 30 minutes of seeing nothing resembling a gompa I turned back and decided to climb the spur that was overlooking the hotel ghetto at the side of the Friendship Highway, which is what I'm getting at.
I was sitting part way up this pile of rock, scree and crap. I decided to come down. I look over... and a little Tibetan kid is running towards me! WTF mate! Turns out this kid, named Gyunda or Junda or something, lives nearby and likes foreigners. We had a mountaintop lesson in English, where he learned words like "jacket" and "shoe" (his were falling apart) and I re-learned words I already knew like "ri" (mountain) and "stupa" (err... it's a stupa!). The kid was dirty, scruffy, 12 years old, and very sweet like most Tibetan kids. Also, like most Tibetan kids, he really needs a bath. I don't think they bathe around here, which is somewhat understandable given the desert-climate and consequent lack of water.
Anyway, Gyunda followed me to the hotel and I gave him a chocolate bar and a pen, which he was delighted with. I hope he gets out of Shegar and does something with his life.
# posted by Alex Perel @ 9:28 AM 
