Xiahe to Xining, CHINA - 28 may 2002
Xiahe is near Qinghai Province. I decided to go to that province in order to get out of the insurance scam of Gansu Province. So, Jane would be heading to Lanzhou, capital of Gansu and I would go to Xining, capital of Qinghai. But first, I still had to buy a bus ticket out of Xiahe.
Jane went ahead to purchase the ticket. She was given no choice but to pay for the insurance.
I signalled her not to talk to me. I removed my bandanna on my head, ruffled up my hair and hoped I looked like a local Chinese. I brusquely requested for the ticket to a town in Qinghai.
Then, the lady at the window, looked at me suspiciously and asked the dreaded question, “Ni Shi Shen Me Guo Jia Ren? [Which country are you from?]”. I faltered and wavered and went, “Huh?” She repeated herself. I hate to lie. I am terrible at lying. So I replied, “Zhong Guo Ren [China]”, trying on my most Shanghai look.
Lo and behold, she bought it!! No rubbish about bus insurance. Phewww… thank goodness I was not asked to sing the national anthem.
For all my trouble, when I got onto the bus, it was already packed with locals who had clamoured on without tickets. Gosh, I simply never knew when to get on without tickets and buy later or when to waste time buying tickets. That alone should set me apart as a tourist!
I sat on a crate. At least I had a crate to sit on.
Xining, CHINA - 29 may 2002
Xining is a pleasant town set in the valley of ranges of brown mountains. At an altitude of 2200m, the weather was reasonably warm in the day and pleasantly cool in the evening. I liked it very much actually, although there was almost no sights in town.
With very few Tibetan men and monks here, I was left to lust after doe-eyed, teenage Muslim boys.
The town was decidedly more Muslim. There were many kebab stalls all over. A lot of people were wearing skull caps and for the ladies, either white hats and covered with see-through velvety cloth or no hat and covered with regular coloured scarves.
I had seen goat heads floating in pots of stew and had assumed they were placed there for-show so that people would know the stew was mutton stew. But later, I saw a guy gnawing the cheek of a goat's head. Hmmm… I would have to skip this dish, I am afraid.
Xining, CHINA - 30 may 2002
The other important Yellow Hat Sect Tibetan Monastery in China, besides Labrang, is near Xining and I made a trip out there today.
While Ta’ersi Monastery was swarmed with more tourists than monks, I found the temples very well-restored, interesting and special.
One thing that stood out was the yak-butter sculptures in Temple No. 7. The two yak-butter sculptures were huge, spanning the width of the temple and top-heavy. Cooled by Mitsubishi air-con, they were painted with a myraid of colours and had many Buddhism stories, icons carved out of them. The displays were breath-taking. If I heard the tour guide explaining to a nearby group properly, the sculptures were melted down every winter and redone. Who would have the heart to melt them down? But that is the basic teachings of Buddhism, I guess – Nothing is permanent.
Xining to Dunhuang, CHINA - 31 may 2002
I took my first sleeper bus today to Dunhuang. The ride would be 20+ hours long and we left at 10:30am. The sleeper bus had to be experienced to be believed. The bed was tiny, just long enough for me. I wondered how tall Western tourists survived in these sleeper buses.
It was really Close Encounters of the Chinese Kind. A fuddy-duddy middle-aged couple was next to my bed. The wife fumbled around, adjusting and readjusting the placement of their luggage and then, her shoes. She fussed about the ladder on her bed not being as smooth as the ladder on my bed. She complained the shoe-box was crooked, the one at her husband’s bed was better. As she set the pillow and blanket on her bed, her inconsiderate large butt jutted over to my bed and nearly knocked me over.
With shoe-boxes available, the Chinese all removed their shoes. I was glad my nose was stuck (the coming of a cold, I think) so I could not smell the smelly feet around me. Two ladies had the ‘just-out-of-the-hairdresser-look’. Their well-coiffed hair were done up like Ivana Trump. What in the world were they thinking? This was a 20+ hour bus ride on tough road conditions! I shall wait and see.
The bus climbed up mountain roads and my ears popped several times. We were surrounded once again by snowy mountains. Then, the bus headed downhill again and the changes in pressure caused my ears to go hay-wire. Soon, I was nearly deaf.
After dinner, the fuddy-duddy couple set about their after-dinner chores. They slowly and painstakingly removed their suits to reveal long-johns underneath. Then, I nearly choked as they further peeled off their long-johns to reveal pyjamas below. They had been wearing 3 layers all day? I was in 1 layer of clothes and could barely cope with the heat in the bus!
Then, I drifted in and out of coma for the rest of the night.
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