Notes from Tibet - Part III

Before continuing with my side of the story, check out Doug's blog and find out about our tour together from his perspective:
http://www.dougsbigadventure.blogspot.com/

After finishing with Tashilunpo, we hopped back into the car for a semi smooth ride to Gyantse. Although most of the route seemed like we were off-roading, the Chinese government probably made road construction in the Himalaya a priority. The 2008 summer Olympics are going to be in Beijing, and a point of contention is the flame route as part of the pre-Olympics festivities. The latest is that the route was going to include a climb up Everest or to the base camp. This has been looked down upon by the Tibetans as a ploy to make China seem as though it has taken Tibet under its wing. What a perfect place to have so many people from around the world come to celebrate international sportsmanship; where an unarmed nun was shot by a Chinese guard last October as she was escaping over the border. Let me know if you want to see the video of the shooting as I might still have it.

Sometimes through my journey I wondered if what was before my eyes was actually real or just another ploy by the government. Case in point, a few of the monks at Tashilunpo were wearing "Beijing 2008" pins on their robes. Were they wearing them because they wanted establish a good relationship with Chinese tourists, because they were excited about the Olympics or were they told to wear them?

Arriving in Gyantse was heaven as our room was so much like a western hotel room, I had to take a picture of it. Clean sheets, clean pillow cases and a clean comforter in a huge room with a wooden floor made Loes break out with some of her Dutch dance moves. We had a few "splash downs" or mini dance parties with our iPods during our 5 night stay together.

Loes works as an English teacher to little monks at the Manjushri Buddhist Learning Center near Pharping which is about 45 minutes away from Kathmandu. She and I discussed our knowledge about the Tibetan culture and tried to figure out how we were going to tell the other group members of their wonderful decision of choosing a Tibetan tour group versus a Chinese one. Most don't realize that Kathmandu is the best place to get such a group while many of the members just wanted the best deal. Not only did we stay in Tibetan run guesthouses and hotels (for the most part) but we were also able to eat at mostly Tibetan run restaurants. We both felt like this was a great way to support the culture that is slowly dwindling.

While some other group members weren't too happy with the outcome of our TG and losing a day in Zhangmu, I would consistently try to remember what was written on my correspondence with Sonam: "Note: Budget trip is required of budget clients, there is no place to complain and refund if trip not happen good as expected of clients." Basically, it's important to stay flexible in Tibet.

Tashi led our car (which always seemed to arrive first) to a great Tibetan restaurant in Gyantse. We were lucky that we only had to wait about 30 minutes for our food to arrive as that was the fastest yet for our large group. The night before, those few who weren't sick went out to eat. Doug ended up waiting for two hours for his food to arrive and saw a rat run across the floor. It seems as though the European mentality of taking the proper amount of time to socialize during a meal and digesting the food was spread by Marco Polo as his fame was through out the land on brightly colored signs for hotels and eating establishments named after him.

Meals were always a great time with this group. Learning about different cultures has always fascinated me and the education continued at every moment. Simone is a younger version of Roberto Bernini but also a Renaissance Man with a talent for writing, photography, and painting. He can now swoon American woman with his new lines that Doug taught him, but I eventually gave him the female perspective about what would actually work in a bar. My advice was to stick to the Italian and say what ever he wanted as most Americans, who aren't immigrants or have lived in another country, only know one language; English. As long as he spoke in Italian or English with an Italian accent, girls would fall at his feet.

It was embarrassing for me to only know one language as these poor people in our group were struggling so hard in English to communicate with me and each other. At least they knew where to start. If I were to go to France or Italy, I would have to be quiet (yes, it’s hard to believe) for a few months while listening to learn. I wished we began foreign languages earlier in our education in America. There are many people in Nepal who know four or five languages, as that was probably necessary to get around. We are so spoiled by having the world know our language.

Doug is a child psychiatrist with a love for gear; kayaking, trekking, cycling, traveling, photography - whatever it was, he has the stuff for it. It was fun to talk to him about cycling, drugs, the FDA, the American education, how foreigners probably perceive American travelers, and the issues previously discussed with other people on the tour. Having two other Americans who feel as similarly as I do about the way we are perceived by the rest of the world was calming as I worried that there would be a obnoxious drunk of a traveler with us chanting "America is the best country in the world and every where else is crap" or something to that effect. That is quite an exaggeration, but I've seen a Navy Master Chief Petty Officer diver pull a stunt on a plane from Florida to San Diego as he asked for more liquor and argued with the flight attendant. Having someone like that representing the US was such a small chance, however, as only 20% of our population has passports and only 10% has traveled outside of the country.

During some point in the week, I told a few of my fellow tour group members about my accident. I've been on a little mission since my accident of telling people the story and finishing with how they should use me an example to their children; of why they should wear a helmet and how lucky I am to be back to normal, alive and not in a coma or paralyzed. Tom mentioned that he was stopped several times in the US on his bike tour by people asking why he wasn't wearing a helmet. At the time, I didn't know Tom that well so I didn't want to be too overbearing but I think I eventually got my point across to him and the others, that would listen. I guess helmets aren't that big of a deal in Europe as so many people ride and don't drive compared to the US so they might not worry about accidents as much.

After lunch, we went to another monastery. Although I was intrigued by monasteries, I'm not a believer of the Buddhist faith. Like all religions, I do respect it for its values and traditions. With every place that we went, I enjoyed meeting the people that were there; from the lamas (monks) to the pilgrims, I always felt welcome. Well, maybe for the most part. The true lamas are too nice to ask for money as Tsedo's friend, Dorje, had told me that there are men who dress up as lamas to regulate the money coming in. From the entry fee to the photography fee for each chapel (there could be up to 30 chapels per monastery) someone was always watching your back to make sure pictures weren't being taken without payment.

The monasteries are a beautiful place to visit where I believe the true Tibet shines. From the beginning through that afternoon in Gyantse, whenever I would make eye contact with a Tibetan and say "Tashi Delek" to them, I would receive a warm smile with eye contact and a greeting back, 99% of the time. Maybe in those areas that we visited, those people were used to foreigners so they were used to it, but it seemed genuine to me every time. From listening to the lamas chant to having children who were ahead of me in a chapel clockwise circle path or Kora show me how to pay respect to the Buddha, I felt a kinship with the values of Buddhism.

While we were waiting for the rest of the group to get through the monastery, Tsedo surprised me in Gyantse as he was giving a private tour. It was so wonderful to see a familiar face in a foreign land. We made plans to hang out later that evening and I met up with him and Dorje in town. I learned that evening that Tibetan guides (Chinese or Tibetan) have to take a tour guide test where they are quizzed about what they can tell their clients and what they can't.

Apparently, tour guides can not talk about anything political and are under continuous scrutiny by undercover Chinese government agents who pose as tourists. Imagine giving a speech with an electric shocking device attached to your face that would activate every time you said the wrong statement. This isn't literally what happens, but that wouldn't be fun. The thought of this made my military time very significant to me as I served for the freedom of speech in our country, among other rights we take for granted. These tour guides are constantly patrolling the area with their eyes for Chinese spies and we don't even blink when we read a blog, newspaper article or internet op-ed piece on how much of a flaming idiot we elected to the Presidency, who supposedly up until the Presidency didn't travel outside of the States. (Also, it feels great to be able to write that knowing I'm permanently free from the military in eight months, where as if I were still active, I would have to curtail my own opinion in a forum such as this.)

The next morning we left for Lhasa, the place I had been waiting to visit for since viewing a picture of the Potala for the first time in January of 2006.