Just another province, they say..

Right, except that the whole country is under military control, that every area is restricted, that you can't buy a bus ticket to go anywhere..... and you hear crap like "oh there's a nice tibetan quarter in Lhasa!".. how about a french quarter in Paris??

Anyway, i haven't felt that depressed in a long time!.. being here in one of the most beautiful countries in the world, and not able to move an inch left or right.. the only thing i'm authorized is the express way to Nepal!.. (or get back to Lhasa and buy an "official" expensive jeep tour)

Russia wasn't welcoming but at least with a bit of effort you could make your way around.. here, you're just not allowed to..

I guess this military state is just something i don't know how to handle... and i just can't figure out my next step -which i have to decide by tomorrow morning!

2 cool 4 school!

Can't say i'm a big shopper, but i just got me these real cool tibetan shades.. what do you think?!

To give or not to give..

..that is the question!

The closer you get to India and the more beggers you find, that's a general geography rule..

As i was walking clockwise around the Potala palace with the pilgrims this morning, and watching the beggers knowingly sitting along the way, i was thinking again this eternal question.

Being the cheap monster that you know, my general opinion on the subject is to not give of course.. Giving, to me, means encouraging mendicity, and in these countries, mendicity has become an institution.. "no one comes to begging by choice" you'll argue.. well i'm not sure..
First many sadhus and monks live essentialy off of mendicity, and they do it by choice.. But more seriously, mafias use the fact that mendicity is so well accepted, to send poor kids to beg for them, sometimes breaking their arms and legs to make them look more pitiful.. Amongst these, of course, you also have the "real poor independant ones"...

Anyway, the interesting part is to see that here people do give, and to understand why.. why they encourage the system and why it has become such an institution..
The general philosophy is simply that giving is more important than receiving.. In hindu/buddhist cultures, unlike in the christian based western world, what matters is not the impact our actions will have upon others, but the personal philosophical value of an individual; a person who gives feels a higher personal value, no matter what he gives or who he gives it to..
When i refuse to give to a begger, people look down on me, not so much because i'm a rich tourist too cheap to help a poor guy, but simply because i am not noble enough to give.

The bottom line is that, in spite of the terrible impact it has on mendicity, it is also the same underlying idea that shapes their incredible sense of hospitality...

So to give or not to give?...

Sunrise on Lhasa.. notice the beautiful pink mountains in the background!

Deconstructed!

It's all gone again!

.. my 6 months long hair and my 2 months old beard!
.. i cracked..
.. it happens..
.. so now i look like a sweet 14 year old school boy!
.. damn i hate it now!!
.. but well, in a month or so i should get back a human form!

The highest lake in the world, and more!

No, i'm not (yet) in jail for barking vainly at the chinese!

Since i had a few days to wait for my VISA to Nepal, i thought i'd better use my time checking some countryside..

Nam-tso lake seems to be the place to see for a couple of days excursion out of town, so saturday morning i wake up at 5 to look for a bus -which i'm not sure even exists- to Damxung, the nearest town. (the traditional option is to rent a shared land cruiser, but i'm just too cheap!)
The taxi tours all the bus stations in Lhasa (there's at least 4 that he took me to!) to finally find one where a bus will leave an hour later.. so far so good, i didn't miss it!
The 200km bus ride to Damxung costs me 30yuans but there's no public transport to the lake, so it'll cost me a 100yuans in a shared cab to cover the last 40km!
But i'm there! And the view is breathtaking -the guide didn't lie.. this one definitely comes second after the Baikal in the world lake competition!
Now the altitude is pretty breathtaking too! Lying at 4700 meters, Nam-tso lake is advertised as being the highest in the world, and at that altitude, walking uphill a couple of hundred meters to check out the sunset is quite an exercise!

some views of the lake.. to give you a remote idea!

With Chen, my tent mate..

After such an incredible sunset, of course, i had to check out the sunrise too! So after a terrible sleepless night, my chinese tentmate and i wake up at 6 and rush -as fast as we possibly can without fainting- up and to the end of the hill.. We get there just on time for the rise, totally breathless, but it was worth it! Is this beautiful or what?!

We get back down around 9 and i'm more than ready to crash back to bed.. when my tentmate goes "hey, we got a 20 yuan ride back to Damxung and there's a horse festival there! hurry, we leave right now!"

Aaaaarggghhh!

A couple of hours later we're in the nomad camp of Damxung.. the biggest concentration of nomads i've seen so far.. fantastic tents, beautiful people, incredible traditional clothing.. just so many colors i think my film is going to burn!

The horse festival is probably exactly like all the ones i missed all over Sichuan! But this time i get to see it! and it even seems like i'm the only foreigner there! (i've stopped counting the chinese tourists).. Several disciplines include grabbing scarfs laying on the ground, shooting a bow and arrow and shooting some kind of crazy old style rifle, all at full galop... very impressive!

Later in the afternoon, there's traditional dance festival.. great costumes! as you can -or not- see on the picture below!

With Ci Ren Djoma, my sweet tibetan guide in Damxung!

I'm back in Lhasa for a couple of days.. i'll pick up my VISA tomorrow and then try to figure out how to make it to the border.. again the most popular option is to form a group and rent a jeep, like i did in Mongolia.. but this time i'd rather try to stay autonomous and go with public transport... i just hope it's possible and that the permits and other "closed to foreigners" bullshit will not get in my way again..