as usual, i sit down to write and have no idea where to start. i suppose the last 3 days can be summed up in a variety of UPs and DOWNs.
UP: thursday, my last day in lhasa. antonio came along with me and dikri to the drepung monastery and neighboring nechung monastery (she brought another guide friend so we could all go together.. angel!) drepung was magical, tucked into the mountains rising up around lhasa. the guides loved antonio and fed him fed him outrageous amounts of delicious tibetan noodles at the little monastery restaurant for lunch.
in the afternoon, i split off and went to the tibet museum, which is free (yay), has amazing tibetan thankgas (yay), and tons of CCP propaganda (ouch). in the evening, antonio and i had dinner on the roof of one of the buildings on the barkhor, which was an excellent way to commemorate the ending of our trip. then, i went SHOPPING in the world's most amazing marketplace...barkhor square. i had been saving my cash till my last day to make sure i'd have a reasonable amount for the rest of the trip, but scarves, prayer flags, jewelry, and GIFTS (ahem, readers) are finally mine :)
DOWN: leaving lhasa on friday morning at 7:45 am and waiting in the rain through 2 PLA check points. ok... this isn't really a down, because i was pumped to finally ride the legendary qinghai-tibet railway. my hard sleeper was comfy-cozy, i loved the families that i shared my cabin with. they treated me like their own... in 24 hours i was never hungry, thirsty, bored, or confused by the quickly-spoken announcements. the way that chinese people will randomly take you in is completely unique.
DOWWWWWN: arriving in xining and finding no tickets to continue to xian. i was about to cry, when...
UP: a couple who lives in xining, that antonio and i met on the beach at nam-sto lake, swooped in, picked me up at the train station, and promised me a day of fun in xining and a ticket to xian by the evening (through a "connection" at the train station, obviously). it seemed to good to be true, but just like that, we were off! we had a sumptuous breakfast of fresh soymilk, jiaozi, and chinese donuts at a place near their house, then dropped off my stuff and went out to the famous kumbum monastery, 30 km outside xining. i was overjoyed to be back at a monastery...the sounds and sights made me feel like i hadn't even left lhasa. because i was american and spoke chinese, one monk took us to see some private chapels that hong and liu hadn't even been to before! chinese people are really into the idea of fate... at this point we were all convinced that fate had brought me to xining, brought us to the chapels, and of course allowed us to see each other again!
in the afternoon, we had lunch at KFC (a weekend treat), and then went to xining people's park (basically their version of disneyland). we spent the whole afternoon playing on bumper cars, carrousels, peddle boats, etc. some of their friends met up and joined us too. finally, we had dinner in the muslim quarter of xining. the best roast lamb skewers and mian pian soup i have ever eaten... plus i tried lamb feet for the first time! aiya.
DOWN: getting on the overnight train to xian at 9 pm that night (13 hours, hard seat ticket. bleh!). i cried when i said goodbye to hong and liu, no joke. we have a connection! i don't know how else to explain. liu says it's because qingdao (shandong province) is both of our ancestral homes. who knows, but i regard meeting them as one of the luckiest, most wonderful things that has ever happened to me.
DOWN: spending the majority of my first day in xian (1) dehabilitated by exhaustion (2) on the phone with the unbelievably unhelpful bank of america trying to get my ATM card back. refer to chengdu entry... this matter is still not resolved and driving me crazy.
UP: visiting the great mosque in the evening, when i had finally regained my strength. a really cool mixture of middle eastern and chinese influences... plus i was around at 5 pm when everyone was gathering to pray. excellent. also ate in the muslim quarter for dinner... the famous xian "xiaochi" or snacks! mutton breaded in fried wheat and butter, sesame and chili cold noodles, and peanut cakes for dessert... all street side. amazing.
a free carlsberg draught from the hotel (1 per night!) when i finally got off the phone with BOA was also a welcome treat. comraderie with various chinese and european travelers also put a positive cap on the night :)
must run to the tombs now! woooo! for now... certainly on the up
so your Shandong roots are still with you. Amazing!
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