Tingri: paradise of desolation
The target must have outstanding accounts with Tingri, the last stop in Tibet deep before reaching the border with Nepal. Otherwise it is understood that the spray has so stark grief of. Everywhere you look, the same uneasiness, identical discouragement. The future only reaches as far as the eye: a dusty track that looks like a sentence. Whither flee? I did not take pictures. It did not take.
It is, course, love at first sight. The desolate Tingri fools no one. We could have tried to find accommodation in the most expensive hotel in the city, the bombastic Everest Snow Leopard Hotel (180 Double Room yuan), but no strength left. Just in a guesthouse, the Yamdo (much cheaper, sale a 25 night yuan), by confronting another night of terror in a room with two bunks and appearance shanty.
-¿It´s Ok?-responsible Question.
What about? I insist: forces are not.
On the wobbly table, a note of the address. Curious. Shocking. Your truth is just that, your truth. Think of 100 people I know at least 99 would have agreed with my assessment. But for the owners of the establishment, their rooms are a gem. One need only read the warning to customers, who are asked to leave the room as clean and neat as it is found. Sounds like sarcasm, but it is. In this paradise of desolation 4.400 meters, anything other than spend the night on the floor is a luxury. A lesson for the traveler that fatigue makes you lose perspective. And it is sometimes necessary to take a couple steps back to understand what lies ahead.
Another Amdo smorgasbord that offers few customers is the ability to take a shower. You pay ten yuan (15 lucky for not staying here) and into a room. But no taps or pipes. Are we going to spray?
-¿Are you ready?-is heard from above, as if an angel from heaven were to work the miracle of a hot shower.
But not an angel, but a girl perched on the roof, bucket in hand, water begins to throw you over, through a hole. Without you time to let go of the gayumbos already asking ten yuan. And the water, yes, this temperate. I guess the fire have warmed.
a girl perched on the roof, bucket in hand, water begins to throw you over
In the courtyard onto which all rooms heat is melting the low mood that is still afloat. It's five in the afternoon and there's nothing to do. Bethlehem wonders aloud why we can not spend the holidays at the beach, like everyone else. It is another aspect of Tibet, which does not appear in the cards.
Readings bleak
It caught me by surprise. He sensed what we would find. "There was nothing but an incredible amount of filth", "It was impossible to breathe in the disgusting toilets and no one in their right mind used", "This was not a place for human beings", had read Alec le Sueur about Tingri, a city "dilapidated" to the Spanish writer Javier Moro. No bag no photograph of Tingri. Needless. There are places that are not forgotten.
The expedition George Mallory settled here Rongbuk road on his first expedition to Everest reconnaissance, in June 1921. In this same place, a 65 Qomolangma kilometers, planted his camp, where the missing one canteen ni ni a dark room to reveal photos.
But and in any hole, there is a chance of redemption: the dzong (strong) the resort, Perched on a hill and promises great views of the Himalayas, especially Everest and Cho Oyu. Until the Cultural Revolution passed over in Tingri. That saved his strong disdain, yet he had suffered his own in the late eighteenth century with the invasion Nepalese. We headed on foot, as, to the dzong.
We walked up a dirt track, under a sun that melts in the neck, up to the ruins of the fort, where some locals spend the evening with a traditional board game or simply contemplate the panorama of the snowy peaks that rise across the plateau as a tidal wave of snow and rock. Everest and Cho Oyu are half-hidden by fog. Only one tower remains standing. The rest are ruined walls. It is a moment of supreme serenity by the time goes on tiptoe, as if he wanted to annoy. When we realize, are almost seven-thirty in the afternoon and everyone is down and. I hear footsteps behind us and I see three wild dogs sniffing through the ruins of the dzong, as it seems to do every evening in search of some waste. Without telling Bethlehem, I urge you to undertake the return but first get me some stones in his pockets in case. When we are about to reach Tingri to our right is a pack of more than a dozen dogs in the strong direction. We've saved a scare.
Arriving at Amdo, surprised "Macario", our driver, rummaging through the engine of the SUV. First, I was going through your head that can leave us lying on the road. I hate to think where is the nearest mechanic.
At night, at dinner, chatted with a couple of Australians who already agree Shegar. She is enjoying three and half months of vacation, loyalty award for bringing your company working with them ten years. Just like in Spain.
Comments (5)
Anonymous
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edurne
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Very good blog of a great route
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silvia
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I am impressed by how well you've captured the essence decadent Tigri. I was there in May this year and although I have traveled the world and seen abandoned places, lost, forgotten, dirty… I had never seen anything like Tingri. Bleak is not enough to describe the picture that is presented to the few teenagers (3 the 4) we crossed the main road straight or children that ran down the back of a large truck for lack of a slide. What to do in a place like that day after day the rest of your life, is something that I can not imagine.
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ricardo
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Thanks, Silvia. To write about Tingri goes without consulting his notebook. Is one of those places you never forget without pictures. Effectively, Even more painful is to imagine the future of these children, as I say ends where lost sight. However, as in many places, there is always room for redemption (for tourists, means), in this case the strength and magnificent views of the Himalayas.
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Amber
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what a beauty of place, Tibet surprises in every corner, that is why it is so exciting to go through it, thanks for sharing
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