Beware of Dogs and Bitches
DOGS:
Folks, let me tell you. If you ever read anything on the guide-books about those dogs in Tibet. Get a highlighter and highlight it, then get a pen and underline it, too. And if you have a marker, write on the front cover: BEWARE OF DOGS.
Oh, Yes.... U got it. I got bite alright. On my first day out of Lhasa! while the driver was taking us to one of the small monasteries in the middle of nowhere. In the courtyard, there were these four vicious dogs tight to their post, barking at just about everything. When I turned around, one of them somehow gotten loose from the post, and got me from behind. The owner pulled away the dog, and I cleaned up the wound as best as I could with my med. kit. Luckily, only two holes with little bleeding. The owner and the driver (both Tibetan) all try to comfort me some by saying, that Tibetan consider it lucky if you gotten when you are Thirteen. But....I am thirty?! Is that the worst year to get bite? and I have yet to seen any parents handing their thirteen year old to the dogs.... :-) ( You see, Tibetan believes that dogs were pre-reincarnations of people/monks)
Couple hours later, we got to Gyantse (the 3rd largest city in Tibet) and got to a hospital. The doctor put in a couple stitch and told me, "Rabies are pretty rare in Tibet...." Yeah... I am sure it is, but I am not taking any chances. I tried to get my rabies shots right the way, but the hospital have no stock at hand.
A day later, We got to Shigatse (the 2nd largest city in Tibet). I tried both hospitals in town and they don't have it either. Only by a whim, did I decided to ask the guys at the hospital pharmacy, and they told me that I can get it from the "Immunization Station" in town. By then, it was very late in the day, and I decided to find it the next day.
The next day, I went to the "Immunization Station", only to be told that the only stock at hand is at the sub-station, which is conveniently located next to my hotel. So I took the bus back across town to the hotel, and got my shot.
U see folks, the rabies shots are a series of shots done over a period of a month. One right after U got bit, then the forth, the tenth, .... date. Which brings up the question: "How am I going to get my 2nd shot while on the road to the middle of nowhere?" The doctor suggested I take a dose with me. Which brings up another problem: The shots need to be kept cold(0 to -8 deg C) at all time. A thermal bottle and ice would do it. Thermal bottle are easy, but let me tell you folks, finding ice in Shigatse is a pain in the ass (in my case, a pain in the leg too). U C, just about every ice chest in the shops are kept at the highest temp. possible to save electricity. (Which is why cold beer here is really not cold beer). And no one has ice!! I looked and looked and asked and asked, and was about to give up, when a idea came to me to check out those fancy hotels. So I went to the fanciest hotel in town (which is again right next to our cheap hotel) and Eureka....I discovered ice. Folks there are nice enough to let me have it free, after I show them my two holes in he leg, and explaining my predicament. Finally we were on the road again.
You know, I have heard from guys at the hotel, that they had know a few travelers who gotten bite too, but I never thought it'll be my turn.
So if the next time U R here, take note:
When the dogs here wag their tail, they don't mean to be friendly.
Not everyone went to Boy Scout and learned how to tight knots, so treat all tight down dogs as stray dogs.
Get your rabies shots ahead of time.
ROADS AND DITCHES:
Roads in Tibet are in a constant state of repair. Paved roads are a rarity here. Even if it is shown on maps as paved road, the paved surface may have been gone years ago. Mud slides and sometimes high water will take out roads and bridges all the time. And this is the start of the raining season... These roads are the most dangerous I have ever seen. If there is a place where the use of an SUV is justified, this is it.
For two days we went through a couple 5000m high mountain ranges without trouble, but on our way back from the Everest Base Camp the trouble started.
On out way out of one village check point, a dog (yes, those dame dogs again) when underneath our SUV without anyone noticing it, and we ran over its rear leg. The driver for the fear of the villagers starting to ask for damages/compensation left in a hurry. (I was told that some villagers does purposely do that using their dogs and kids by putting them/their foot underneath the passing SUV to get money)
That night, the driver whom had never drank asked for half a glass of whisky, saying is for settling his stomach. I kind of suspect, it is because of the dog. Sure enough, the next morning not 30 minutes after we started, we ran in to a ditch while trying to cross a river bed. The car almost turned over, and we got stuck right in the middle of the river. A accompanying SUV tried for half an hour to pull us out, but no luck. We even broken the rope that we were using. "We needed a big truck", so I had the idea of going back to the town and asked for help (I knew from talking/drinking with a couple of construction walkers the previous night, that their boss have one of them big trucks). So, off I went with the other driver/SUV.
While back in that little town, still negotiating the price to pull us out of the ditch, our driver show up with his SUV. Which surprise all of us. Apparently, while we were gone, a big truck showed up, and a SUV also showed up with a steel cable. It took them five minutes. When we were on the road again. our driver said quietly "It's that dog, I knew it."
TOUR GUIDES
To travel to some areas in Tibet, You (foreigners, myself included) are required to have a tour guides to accompany U. Which adds Y1000 to the price of the SUV/driver package, and they takes out one seat in the car. So when I tried to organized the trip, I tried to recruit a all Chinese (or speak/look like Chinese) group to save money. So when one girl showed up, who happened to be a tour guild visiting Tibet from GuiLin. We were more then happy to have her.
BIG MISTAKE. The girl is an air head with wind blowing out of her mouth 24hr a day. She talked, and talked, and talked..... "Look, a rabbit... Look how fast he runs...... I bet he taste pretty good.....Driver, can you drive faster next time, and we can have ourselves rabbit for dinner... HaHaHa (In high pitch)....Look how dirty that boy is ..... I bet they never showers .... " On one occasion when I gotten bored, I tried to find out how long she can keep her mouth shut, with out other people talking to her, and it averaged to about five second (not including nap time). I only managed to continue this scientific survey for half an hour, before I have to give up. Paying attention to everything she said prove to be too much. Oh, yeah... .Air seem to come out of her head even at night. On the occasion that we all shear the same room, U can hear her regular (and annoying) coughing every 15 minutes. A symptom of high altitude, but annoying still.
The girl is also an spoil princess, whom requires a five dish meals every lunch, and dinner. A shower every night, a room with no smell, and clean cloth... Hello, this is Tibet. She seem to be proud of the fact that her mother picked her up from her school every afternoon all the way to the end of high school.
The girl was also the rudest person I had met on the road. She would demean just about every waiter/waitress we seen. In one restaurant, where the waiter is a 10 year old boy. She would said like "Aren't U writing these down....let me write this down for U ......... Don't you know how to read?!" U know this is Tibet, kids are lucky to finish grade school, and if he is going to school, he wouldn't have to come work in the restaurant. I thought posting notices in hotels frequent by other budget travelers would weed out these trash (U know, If I call her a bitch. I can relate the whole road trip to dogs), but not.
NIGHT DRIVING,
Well, night driving in Tibet should get your hair stands up for a couple hours. Add to that were flats (twice) and electrical problems (which took out all internal light) and the mud slides (waited in the dark for an hour) and detours. And then the knowledge of your driver had been driving for the last 13 hours should keep your mind occupied for much of the trip. I got back to Lhasa @ 2AM last night, with a stiff neck. And slept for 12 hours. I am going to get some rest and try to get my 3rd rabies shots Monday.
Oh.... almost forgot, the scenery is beautiful, had my head out of the window all the time. Like a dog. Hahahhaha... .Maybe it is because of the dog bite, maybe it is to get away from that high pitch non-sense coming out of that bitch. Everest looks great, people are nice, Go and check out ZhangMu, it is like a tropical rainforest with numerous(10-20) water falls lining up through the valley., Some are like couple hundred feet high. We even drove underneath one. Better stop, before I sounded like a tour guide. :-)
Folks, let me tell you. If you ever read anything on the guide-books about those dogs in Tibet. Get a highlighter and highlight it, then get a pen and underline it, too. And if you have a marker, write on the front cover: BEWARE OF DOGS.
Oh, Yes.... U got it. I got bite alright. On my first day out of Lhasa! while the driver was taking us to one of the small monasteries in the middle of nowhere. In the courtyard, there were these four vicious dogs tight to their post, barking at just about everything. When I turned around, one of them somehow gotten loose from the post, and got me from behind. The owner pulled away the dog, and I cleaned up the wound as best as I could with my med. kit. Luckily, only two holes with little bleeding. The owner and the driver (both Tibetan) all try to comfort me some by saying, that Tibetan consider it lucky if you gotten when you are Thirteen. But....I am thirty?! Is that the worst year to get bite? and I have yet to seen any parents handing their thirteen year old to the dogs.... :-) ( You see, Tibetan believes that dogs were pre-reincarnations of people/monks)
Couple hours later, we got to Gyantse (the 3rd largest city in Tibet) and got to a hospital. The doctor put in a couple stitch and told me, "Rabies are pretty rare in Tibet...." Yeah... I am sure it is, but I am not taking any chances. I tried to get my rabies shots right the way, but the hospital have no stock at hand.
A day later, We got to Shigatse (the 2nd largest city in Tibet). I tried both hospitals in town and they don't have it either. Only by a whim, did I decided to ask the guys at the hospital pharmacy, and they told me that I can get it from the "Immunization Station" in town. By then, it was very late in the day, and I decided to find it the next day.
The next day, I went to the "Immunization Station", only to be told that the only stock at hand is at the sub-station, which is conveniently located next to my hotel. So I took the bus back across town to the hotel, and got my shot.
U see folks, the rabies shots are a series of shots done over a period of a month. One right after U got bit, then the forth, the tenth, .... date. Which brings up the question: "How am I going to get my 2nd shot while on the road to the middle of nowhere?" The doctor suggested I take a dose with me. Which brings up another problem: The shots need to be kept cold(0 to -8 deg C) at all time. A thermal bottle and ice would do it. Thermal bottle are easy, but let me tell you folks, finding ice in Shigatse is a pain in the ass (in my case, a pain in the leg too). U C, just about every ice chest in the shops are kept at the highest temp. possible to save electricity. (Which is why cold beer here is really not cold beer). And no one has ice!! I looked and looked and asked and asked, and was about to give up, when a idea came to me to check out those fancy hotels. So I went to the fanciest hotel in town (which is again right next to our cheap hotel) and Eureka....I discovered ice. Folks there are nice enough to let me have it free, after I show them my two holes in he leg, and explaining my predicament. Finally we were on the road again.
You know, I have heard from guys at the hotel, that they had know a few travelers who gotten bite too, but I never thought it'll be my turn.
So if the next time U R here, take note:
When the dogs here wag their tail, they don't mean to be friendly.
Not everyone went to Boy Scout and learned how to tight knots, so treat all tight down dogs as stray dogs.
Get your rabies shots ahead of time.
ROADS AND DITCHES:
Roads in Tibet are in a constant state of repair. Paved roads are a rarity here. Even if it is shown on maps as paved road, the paved surface may have been gone years ago. Mud slides and sometimes high water will take out roads and bridges all the time. And this is the start of the raining season... These roads are the most dangerous I have ever seen. If there is a place where the use of an SUV is justified, this is it.
For two days we went through a couple 5000m high mountain ranges without trouble, but on our way back from the Everest Base Camp the trouble started.
On out way out of one village check point, a dog (yes, those dame dogs again) when underneath our SUV without anyone noticing it, and we ran over its rear leg. The driver for the fear of the villagers starting to ask for damages/compensation left in a hurry. (I was told that some villagers does purposely do that using their dogs and kids by putting them/their foot underneath the passing SUV to get money)
That night, the driver whom had never drank asked for half a glass of whisky, saying is for settling his stomach. I kind of suspect, it is because of the dog. Sure enough, the next morning not 30 minutes after we started, we ran in to a ditch while trying to cross a river bed. The car almost turned over, and we got stuck right in the middle of the river. A accompanying SUV tried for half an hour to pull us out, but no luck. We even broken the rope that we were using. "We needed a big truck", so I had the idea of going back to the town and asked for help (I knew from talking/drinking with a couple of construction walkers the previous night, that their boss have one of them big trucks). So, off I went with the other driver/SUV.
While back in that little town, still negotiating the price to pull us out of the ditch, our driver show up with his SUV. Which surprise all of us. Apparently, while we were gone, a big truck showed up, and a SUV also showed up with a steel cable. It took them five minutes. When we were on the road again. our driver said quietly "It's that dog, I knew it."
TOUR GUIDES
To travel to some areas in Tibet, You (foreigners, myself included) are required to have a tour guides to accompany U. Which adds Y1000 to the price of the SUV/driver package, and they takes out one seat in the car. So when I tried to organized the trip, I tried to recruit a all Chinese (or speak/look like Chinese) group to save money. So when one girl showed up, who happened to be a tour guild visiting Tibet from GuiLin. We were more then happy to have her.
BIG MISTAKE. The girl is an air head with wind blowing out of her mouth 24hr a day. She talked, and talked, and talked..... "Look, a rabbit... Look how fast he runs...... I bet he taste pretty good.....Driver, can you drive faster next time, and we can have ourselves rabbit for dinner... HaHaHa (In high pitch)....Look how dirty that boy is ..... I bet they never showers .... " On one occasion when I gotten bored, I tried to find out how long she can keep her mouth shut, with out other people talking to her, and it averaged to about five second (not including nap time). I only managed to continue this scientific survey for half an hour, before I have to give up. Paying attention to everything she said prove to be too much. Oh, yeah... .Air seem to come out of her head even at night. On the occasion that we all shear the same room, U can hear her regular (and annoying) coughing every 15 minutes. A symptom of high altitude, but annoying still.
The girl is also an spoil princess, whom requires a five dish meals every lunch, and dinner. A shower every night, a room with no smell, and clean cloth... Hello, this is Tibet. She seem to be proud of the fact that her mother picked her up from her school every afternoon all the way to the end of high school.
The girl was also the rudest person I had met on the road. She would demean just about every waiter/waitress we seen. In one restaurant, where the waiter is a 10 year old boy. She would said like "Aren't U writing these down....let me write this down for U ......... Don't you know how to read?!" U know this is Tibet, kids are lucky to finish grade school, and if he is going to school, he wouldn't have to come work in the restaurant. I thought posting notices in hotels frequent by other budget travelers would weed out these trash (U know, If I call her a bitch. I can relate the whole road trip to dogs), but not.
NIGHT DRIVING,
Well, night driving in Tibet should get your hair stands up for a couple hours. Add to that were flats (twice) and electrical problems (which took out all internal light) and the mud slides (waited in the dark for an hour) and detours. And then the knowledge of your driver had been driving for the last 13 hours should keep your mind occupied for much of the trip. I got back to Lhasa @ 2AM last night, with a stiff neck. And slept for 12 hours. I am going to get some rest and try to get my 3rd rabies shots Monday.
Oh.... almost forgot, the scenery is beautiful, had my head out of the window all the time. Like a dog. Hahahhaha... .Maybe it is because of the dog bite, maybe it is to get away from that high pitch non-sense coming out of that bitch. Everest looks great, people are nice, Go and check out ZhangMu, it is like a tropical rainforest with numerous(10-20) water falls lining up through the valley., Some are like couple hundred feet high. We even drove underneath one. Better stop, before I sounded like a tour guide. :-)
posted by 54 at 2:04 AM
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