Note: If you didn't read my first, second and third posts about Tibet, you might want to start there and then come back to this one.
Hotel Experiences in Tibet
Hotel Experiences in Tibet
Hotels
continue to pose new challenges.
Certainly when compared to those back home. Rene and his wife Debbie
seemed to have drawn the short straw encountering a room with a shower that
alternated hot and cold streams of water, a reluctant drain, a telephone that
did not work at all, air conditioning in name only and a hair dryer that simply
didn't. At breakfast the next morning,
the hotel manager stopped by our table and asked how our rooms were. Rene relayed the list of woes and the hotel
manager offered to send someone to the room to fix it. Of course this would be at personal disruption
to Rene and Debbie's use of the room, so they declined. They were hoping that his next response would
be what happens back in the USA and the manager would offer an alternate
room. Instead the hotel manager assumes
he has done his job and simply moves on to other topics and tables.
As
for my experiences with hotels in Tibet, I'm personally convinced that beds in
Tibet are little more than elaborate seductive decoys, i.e. nice furniture
surrounding hard wooden platforms wrapped in material that makes them look like
mattresses, but any similarity ends right there. Our first night in a Tibetan hotel was after
an incredibly long day. I plopped down
on the bed and felt my butt jarred so solidly I was sure at least two vertebrae
in my spine had been crushed. Painfully
rolling out of the bed onto the floor, I crawl up to the bed and pull back the
sheets surrounding that lower mattress.
I’m certain I’m going to
find a piece of plywood. While I remain convinced that's what was really there,
it is in fact wrapped in material that makes it LOOK exactly like a
mattress. In fact, like a really nice
mattress. The danger is contained in going past the looking stage. That night I sleep on top of the comforter
seeking any additional layer of softness between the so-called mattress and me. Thinking this might be a unique hotel
experience, our second night in a different hotel, I hoped for better. Indeed, it was better. I think they actually put an inch of cotton
on top of this piece of plywood. Plus I had learned to slowly and tenderly
approach meetings with beds, testing them with my fingers first. That way I would know what was before me and
I could make sure it wasn't going to be quite the jarring experience of the
first. In the end, I'm certain someone
is going to make a lot of money in this country when they convince these people
that they no longer need to retain the experience of sleeping ON the Himalayas
while living IN the Himalayas and that mattresses which contour to your body
rather than your body contouring to it, are a VERY good thing indeed.
While
on the subject of hotels, Internet access is an experience that will probably
cause me to shed what little color is left in my hair. Wireless connections are sometimes free, but when
one is not blessed with that, you’re left with a bewildering set of menus, all in
Chinese. In at least one case I was able
to blunder my way through the top-level menu only to find at the next level,
roaming logins to other suppliers. All
of which appear to be European or AT&T (Hey folks, really, I use AT&T
for my iPhone and am counting the days till I can dump them. WHY would I ever
buy a roaming account from them? No
bars, more places? Been there, done
that. No, thank you). Bottom line here is that my T-Mobile account,
based in North America is useless in the half dozen T-Mobile European login
options. I know, because I tried them
all. (Hey T-Mobile, maybe you've heard
of these things called computers and network routing switches? They can be used to analyze a string that
contains "@t-mobile.com", which you force us to type in our username
anyway, and then ROUTE it to the proper server required to handle logins for
that user. I know, it’s a
revolutionary idea. You don't have to
pay me for this T-Mobile, just IMPLEMENT IT!!). So I give up on idea of a wireless
connection and instead, I resort to an Ethernet line. This actually does establish a
connection. A very, very slow connection
and one that works only at hours of the day best ascertained with a dartboard,
or as Bob suggests, matches the hours the censors work in China. He speculates when they go home, the great
red switch gets thrown and your Internet access is gone until they come back
the next day. I think he may be right. But I do learn to set up the connection, go
read an epic novel or two and return much later to read my mail.
Coffee
machines in hotel rooms are another interesting experience. Sometimes you get one. Sometimes you get one and that's all you
get. No coffee, no coffee cup - just a
coffee pot. Interesting. Fortunately, I
carry Starbucks Via packets with me and so I use a regular glass as a
substitute coffee cup. I sure do miss
that coffee cup handle though as my fingers scream out in painful protest upon
grabbing the glass. People wonder why I
have such faint fingerprints... Now, the
hotel we’re in as I
write this has it all, except in this case, the Nestlé coffee is a convenience
mix, containing coffee, cream and sugar.
Don't want cream or sugar?
Tough. Where did I put those
Starbucks Via packets??
Last,
but certainly not least and the thing that got me started on this rant about
the hotels, is that all-important thing we call toilet paper. Now, let's face it, I'm a digital technology
person, heck that's even why I'm here. Even
with that, I understand there are places where paper remains essential. Like the bathroom. And there is simply no more disconcerting
feeling than reaching for paper in a time of need, and realizing there is none
to be had. Not anywhere in the bathroom,
or for that matter, the hotel room.
Spare rolls? A routine occurrence
in virtually every hotel/motel in many parts of the world, but apparently a
thought that has not yet reached the finest hotels in Tibet. Fortunately, in anticipation of a trip to Mt
Everest base camp, I've actually packed toilet paper. (People wonder why my suitcase is so
large). I'm planning to share this
experience with my breakfast mates and encourage them, if they have less on the
roll than they anticipate needing in the next 24 hours, to hide that roll in a
drawer and leave the cover up so the housekeepers can see the shortage and
hopefully dispense a roll of that precious and rare commodity known as toilet
paper. Otherwise I'm thinking of
checking with others to see if they'd be interested in a barter system where I
get say, some more Starbucks Via packets In return for them getting some toilet
paper. You've got to get creative on the
road.
As
we head out for the day, leaving Lhasa, within five miles we encounter what will
undoubtedly be the first two of what will be many checkpoints that day. One is for the district you're leaving, and
one is for the district you're entering.
They never seem to be back-to-back but instead are separated by an eight
of a mile. Each requires our tour guide
to get out of the bus and negotiate the process with the guards. One might
think that the back-to-back checkpoints could be combined to streamline these
processes, but one also has to realize this country has an abundance of people. And people need jobs. So this is one way to supply them. Yet we also have to realize this is a huge resource
this country can unleash at will.
Continuing
to move along, we note a number of commercial vehicles we're following that are
emitting tremendous amounts of dark smoke.
We comment to our guide that in the U.S. these vehicles would not be
permitted on the road. He tells us that emission restrictions are being introduced.
 |
| Sky Lake, Tibet |
Way, way up
in the sky, a lake
We've
long ago passed the tree line, in fact the vegetation line, on our way to Sky
Lake. We're now looking at mountains
approaching 23k ft tall, capped in snow, against a brilliant blue sky. The raw, rugged beauty is magnificent. It's hard to say why we are so deeply stirred
by this kind of beauty. Maybe because
it's rare, maybe because it's spiritual, I'm not sure. I'm only certain I can't stop looking at
these mountains.
At
a rest stop we learn the hawkers selling goods have clearly mastered a few
words of English, including “Hullo”, “Lookee” and “Money, money”.
We've
just visited the highest salt-water lake (Sky Lake) in the world at some 14k ft
in altitude. (I’m pretty
sure, this means I’ve now
visited the lowest and highest salt lakes in the world, the lowest being the
Dead Sea in Israel). It’s a very
large lake by any measure, and a beautiful blue color, surrounded by some
stunning mountain peaks. It's a
photographer’s canvas,
waiting to be painted. Upon arrival at the lake and after navigating several more
checkpoints, we go to a restaurant/hotel for lunch. It’s an unusual place.
People staying here literally stumble out of their rooms directly into
the dining room. The fare is very good and this stop is an even better idea
before trying to navigate the trail to the lake. It's not a long trail, but we're now at 14k
feet and every step reminds you of that fact.
(Meanwhile, I’ve started to
think the Mt. Everest leg might have been a bit ambitious given the toll this
slope is taking on me). After eating we navigate
the first obstacle course to the lake, the hawkers selling goods. An aggressive lot to say the very least. However, they have a unique approach to
selling. I really can't remember the
last time so many pretty girls told me they loved me (well, ok, its my money
they love and we all know that, but hey it's nice to hear at my age). My refusals to reciprocate by breaking open
my wallet makes these affairs of the heart extremely short lived. I soon realize I too will be short-lived if I
keep moving too fast going down this trail.
It doesn't help bolster my confidence that so many people are carrying
oxygen tanks and there was a medic truck parked at the top of the trail
offering free doses of oxygen to those in need. Moving slowly, Bob and I get to the
lakeshore having passed on the offerings of a secondary obstacle course of hawkers
offering rides on small horses.
Bob
and I start looking for a spot to shoot photos.
The problem here is a third obstacle course of hawkers with Yaks that they
load you onto and then back the animal into the water so your friends can take
a photo of you. These animals are literally
side-by-side for as far as the eye can see on the shoreline. We finally locate a wide spot between two
animals and get right up by the water.
But not before having to convince the Yak owners on both sides of us
that we are NOT including their Yaks in our photos (if you do, you’d be best be
ready to shell out some money to them).
I always like to get a shot where I basically lay on my side, right at
the edge of the water, placing my camera as close to water level as I can so
that I can capture the sand, lake and mountains. I do so, and get off a couple of shots before
Bob points out, with some urgency, that if I don't quickly move, my skull and a
Yak hoof are about to have an unscheduled meeting. Thoughts of an egg being squashed are enough,
even at 14k feet, to get me moving very quickly. CT decides he wants to have each of us
photographed on the Yaks and despite Bob and I resisting, we finally agree. We climb on the Yak, get backed into the
water and photos get taken. Then begins
the uphill track back to the bus. Why
didn’t I rent one
of those oxygen tanks? Many breaks along the way and many slow steps finally result
in us getting back up to the parking lot.
I eagerly anticipate folding into the bus seat, shedding the jacket and
hat and collapsing for the long ride back.
A
stop at a gas station introduces us to another glitch in the way services are
provided in this country. While most of us
are visiting the typical two-hole restroom (apparently the norm on the road),
our driver fills the van with gas. Only
when he tries to pay, they're in the midst of a shift change - so no payments
can be accepted. Of course, you also
can't leave without paying. So you climb
back on board, grab your seat and wait for the shift change to complete so
payment can be made. In the end it only
take about 10 or 15 minutes, but it reminds you again that some of the core
infrastructure and processes we take quite for granted back home have yet to
circle the globe.
Next up, food adventures inTibet and a King’s Palace.
