Lhasa? Eugghhh!!!

It is Tuesday the 30th October. We are in Beijing, just 10 minutes from Tian'namen Square. We have just explored the art area 5 minutes walk from our hostel. Fabulous. There are small lanes with birds in cages, barrows of really fresh fruit and fresh looking meat hanging on stalls here and there. Lee had a conversation with a Macaw who spoke impecable Chinese but no English! The air is cool but dry so I am all right with my fleece on. Lee's only sweatshirt was washed yesterday so he was cold, even with his lightweight coat on. He was delighted to get the washing back last night but when we looked at it this morning it was covered in soap powder. It is a pity that we are wearing navy!!! We have too few clothes with us to offer them for washing again. At least we match! All these warm clothes will be thrown away next week, when we will be in the 28 degrees of Hanoi. We will probably moan about being too warm then!!!! At the moment I need sun and sand. I have had enough of cold, dry air and freezing nights.
Back to the last post where we were in Chengdu, waiting for a permit to visit Lhasa.....
By some bureacratic decree we had to set up a tour to visit Tibet. This meant that we had to hire a driver and guide, which increases the cost considerably. I would not have minded so much but it is such a small town it is easy to get around yourself.. We were not able to go by 4x4 overland as it is a tense time in Tibet during this month apparently. A Polish couple, called Mikel and Brushiana, who wanted to go had advertised so we joined them and set out full of hope to fly Air-China from Chengdu, and leave the wonderful, ' Simm's Cozy Guesthouse'.

It was an easy, comfortable flight. We were greeted by our Chinese guide, Helen, with white scarves, in Buddhist style. So far so good. The airport toilets were 'stoops'. Just don't ask!!!. Women are not designed to aim, unless you are in one of those shows in Amsterdam!!!! Disaster....Just the start.....
We set out happily, if a little wet, for Lhasa, which was about an hour away. The scenery was spectacular; huge velvety brown mountains and torquoise streams with yaks munching in closely cropped grass. Brushiana, (Not the right spelling..sorry B), and Mikal took some excellent pictures which they have promised to sent to us on a disc. The little square family house had flags in sticks in five colours, representing different aspects od Buddhist belief, on the corners. They were colourful and were meant to sent your prayers in the wind, we were told. Whilst revelling in the sights and enjoying the space I began to notice that my breathing was uneven, which was a bit disconcerting. The guide suggested that we settle in today and just wander a few local street whilst we acclimatise.(????) I began to realise why later!
The Yak hotel was quite nice we thought as we arrived. Going over to our rooms with women porters hauling our bags, (which seemed odd,) I turned into Steve Austin, the bionic man, in slow motion, and tackling the stairs was somethings else. One flight of about 12 steps required about 4 stops, whilst I gasped like an old goat! (What's new?) As we had got up at 4.30am we fell fast asleep from 11am until 3pm, when Lee decided he needed food. I felt oddly uncomfortable and was gasping as I bent forward to put my socks on. (No rude comments here, Stanley!)
We made it aroung the corner and ducked down a side street. There were various items on offer on stalls but it all looked a bit mucky so we searched for something like a bar. We found something like a bar, and, relieved, moved inside. Two women who were wiping the counter looked up and grinned hugely. We asked for a menu. I decide that I would try sweet tea, in order to avoid Yak butter tea with salt, and Lee ordered a beer with much arm waving.
His beer was a large bottle. It came accompanied by one of the smallest glasses you can have. I was highly amused, until my tea arrived. It was a huge jug-flask that smelt(?) foul when the grinning barmaid opened it! The tea was rather like tea we would give to a small child:too milky (full cream yak milk I expect), and a bit too sweet, (I don't usually take sugar.) So there we were, grinning like fools at the ladies behind the counter whilst they smiled back, until one burst into song and we relaxed.
We perused the menu, and, sometime later, asked to order which caused intense, then shocked stares. We had decided on potato curry. The lady acted out, 'No food only drink". Lee tried again with gestures, "No food?????" The little one, who resembled Jimmy Cranky, looked quizzical but then registered something after a moment and shot through a curtain shouting, "Ah, "Gallyfan! Gallyfan!" We glanced at each other, not sure whether to be hopeful or not. Lee said, "Maybe cauliflower? That would be good." The lady was back,
"One? Two?, she gestured.
Lee looked at me. I looked at her and quickly signed, one. She came back ten minutes later with a bowl of potatoes, rice, yak meat and shredded carrot. It was potato curry! It looked good so I tried it and then ordered a second. She had wondered why we had not ordered two at the same time, but I felt too weary from the thin air to explain.
On returning to our hotel we were told that breakfast was on the fifth floor. I thought someone was having a laugh but it was true!!! No lift and recurring boughts of the bionic man in slow motion made me feel despair. Ah well, this could be a weight-loss plan that works, I thought, and retired to bed .
The second day involved two visits to the Jokhang temple and the Potala Palace, the winter palace of the Dali Llama. The first was packed to the rafters with visiting pilgrims from the coutryside in colourful costumes in a continual snake around the outside and inside of the temple. They looked at us quizzically as we did them. They were devout Buddhists, and when they were not throwing themselves with gusto, onto the floor, they took great care to lift children to each 'gods' image and explain the meaning behind it which I appreciated. Though there seemed to be hundreds of these the children were well behaved and seemed awe-struck when they viewed these images. They bwere pretty gruesome, some of them! They were poor people but liberally sprinkled their flasks of hot Yak butter at each deities candle area. The smell was nauseating, to say the least. I could not wait to get out of there.
Potala Palace rose into the sky in a white radiance. It was built on a huge rocky outcrop and dominated the town. The one thing I noticed was the continual staircase of steps, and that was that. Though I was bitterly disappointed I was not going to attempt twenty minutes of stair climbing when I was already suffering repeated attacks of altitude headiness that affected my breathing. I sat in the sun until I got too hot, then in the shade until I got too cold, people watching.It was fascinating.
Day three introduced us to Sera monastery outside Lhasa, and the 'slapping monks'. IQEA group take note!Here, the teaching method for new monks was to team them into threes or twos. One stood and asked a question of the other, about Buddhism. Once the question had been posed, they slapped their hand on to their arm to present a challenge to the others. They had to provide the relevant answer about Buddhism. Will it catch on ??? Good teaching method. Not sure where the teachers were!!!!!
I avoided the close confines of the insides of the monastery on the grounds of sanity! I wanted to keep the fragments that I have retained. We were told by our guide that washing once a year was the rule. Phew!!! It was only October, but I was so pleased that I was not a summer visitor!!! Ask Anne Taylor.
We did n ot find any edible food and felt unwell nearly all the time, so we were pretty pleased to get out of there!!!! We booked the two-day high altitude train to Beijing. And that's another story!