The following is an excerpt from an mass email I recieved from a friend I met in China. Victoria specializes in getting technology into the hands of people in third world nations. This is a description of her trip to Tibet that I found interesting:
I admit that this email was difficult to write. The history of prolonged marginalization made some Tibetans rather hostile and, as such, it was so tedious to hitch dumptrucks, ride motorcycles, take minibuses or do anything without a fistful of bureaucratic permits. But with adversity comes incredible stories---from tasting rancid yak butter tea, to singing Pavorotti on public buses, to feeling the icy Himalayan rain for the first time on your skin--- I'll bet you've never gotten used to people urinating/defecating on streets in broad daylight (women did it too!) So for you city-folks who are into the squalor of the Third World, lemme start with three important life-lessons I've learned from this trip:
(1) First, Boyle's Gas Expansion Law works... even in Tibet. DO NOT follow my example and drink Pepsi before you board the Lhasa-bound train. Carbonated drinks are excruciatingly painful as you ascend to the highest altitudes on earth (read: very low atmospheric pressure) and not only is bloating unpleasant, all the nice people in your compartment are forced to pretend that they don't smell the constant bodily gas. And it's a long, long 30-hour ride.
(2) Second, dress appropriately. Only fools wear jackets in Lhasa during midsummer---the blinding sun will roast you with oppressive heat. And moreover, nothing marks you as a foreigner as wearing distressed REI when Tibetans are pimpin' Ralph Lauren. This is not a self-indulgent concern for fashion; it's prudent advice. The locals will never understand why you paid premium to look ragged. And then when you need to bargain, they'll think you PREFER to spend more for crap. Good thing there's remedy shopping at Barkhor Square.
(3) Third, hitchhiking is not as horrid as illegal immigrants would have you believe. Even through forbidden territory guarded by gun-toting soldiers. I mean, you get to see what most tourists can't. The bummer is that Chinese/Tibetan men display swaggering braggodocio by constantly arguing or smoking or spitting, and you'll have to pull a dirty blanket over your head whenever you pass police checkpoints. But equipped with Bose headphones and 30-GB iPod, you can watch "Desperate Housewives" and it's rather tolerable.
I admit that this email was difficult to write. The history of prolonged marginalization made some Tibetans rather hostile and, as such, it was so tedious to hitch dumptrucks, ride motorcycles, take minibuses or do anything without a fistful of bureaucratic permits. But with adversity comes incredible stories---from tasting rancid yak butter tea, to singing Pavorotti on public buses, to feeling the icy Himalayan rain for the first time on your skin--- I'll bet you've never gotten used to people urinating/defecating on streets in broad daylight (women did it too!) So for you city-folks who are into the squalor of the Third World, lemme start with three important life-lessons I've learned from this trip:
(1) First, Boyle's Gas Expansion Law works... even in Tibet. DO NOT follow my example and drink Pepsi before you board the Lhasa-bound train. Carbonated drinks are excruciatingly painful as you ascend to the highest altitudes on earth (read: very low atmospheric pressure) and not only is bloating unpleasant, all the nice people in your compartment are forced to pretend that they don't smell the constant bodily gas. And it's a long, long 30-hour ride.
(2) Second, dress appropriately. Only fools wear jackets in Lhasa during midsummer---the blinding sun will roast you with oppressive heat. And moreover, nothing marks you as a foreigner as wearing distressed REI when Tibetans are pimpin' Ralph Lauren. This is not a self-indulgent concern for fashion; it's prudent advice. The locals will never understand why you paid premium to look ragged. And then when you need to bargain, they'll think you PREFER to spend more for crap. Good thing there's remedy shopping at Barkhor Square.
(3) Third, hitchhiking is not as horrid as illegal immigrants would have you believe. Even through forbidden territory guarded by gun-toting soldiers. I mean, you get to see what most tourists can't. The bummer is that Chinese/Tibetan men display swaggering braggodocio by constantly arguing or smoking or spitting, and you'll have to pull a dirty blanket over your head whenever you pass police checkpoints. But equipped with Bose headphones and 30-GB iPod, you can watch "Desperate Housewives" and it's rather tolerable.
