by Michael at 03:06 AM (PST) on March 29, 2005
I hope you are all doing well. We are in Zhangmu just across the border into China/Tibet. It is a city built into the side of a mountain. A one road town that serpentines up the hill. You are always going up or down and you have to look out for occasional things coming from above.
Ambrose, Ryan, and I went to Pashupati yesterday. It was very interesting to see the holy men and the whole burning/cremation ritual. Yes, we took pictures. Nothing gruesome in my opinion.
The trip this morning to Zhangmu was pretty uneventful. The hillside is beautiful. It seems a very hard life for many of the local people. Carrying slate blocks up and down 50 to 60-degree hillsides to be picked up by trucks along the road. Carrying anything and everything you need to live from some town in the valley to their home a thousand feet up a hill and across a valley that you get to by crossing a swinging suspension bridge. All pretty wild.
The border crossing was a bit of a trip. All of our gear is taken off of the bus and truck and then carried across by local people. Everything from 10-year-olds to people that looked 100 but were probably only 30 carrying 50 to 70-pound loads across the bridge and up the hill to a truck on the other side. Some of them in very traditional dress with nose rings and bright dresses (the woman that is).
Tomorrow we go to Nyallum(?) which is around 12,000 ft I think. We will stay there for 2 days to acclimatize. Zhangmu is just over 7,000 ft.
take care,
Michael