7th Installment...

One of the most physically challenging, yet most memorable and intellectual trips. It's hard to find the right words to describe, so deal with this.

Perhaps this happens for all? As a person ages and experinces more, there is a sense of awakening, not only to itself but to its surroundings?

I say this because i dun think i would have been as aware of wat had transpired this holiday should i have been even a year younger.

On the surface, many pp have said that i din look like i've enjoyed a single bit of this tour. Perhaps it's true what with the endless headaches that are relentless and panadol immuned, to a non-stop pissing diarrhoea which robbed me of any appetite the last 2 days, and reduced an oredi subdued me to an Oscar equivalent ~ Major GROUCH, esp when the buscopan wears off and the cramps set it. Plus i am neither buddhist nor a huge fan of temples.

But i beg to differ. It's one of the best holidays i've had in a while. And surprisingly, still retaining some historical info thanks to our ever bubbly tourguide. She's definitely the highlight of this trip, without which i may not be typing this so enthusiastically.

For those whom Tibet is their dream-country....

Please read up more about altitude sickness prior to packing up your bags. It pays to be well prepared, and for the elderly -- i would really push for a health check on your bp and heart condition before making any plans. The low oxygen content resulted in a greater impact than i had anticipated. Bring more panadol and request for the IV fluids as soon as you start to feel off-colour. There's no point in dumb suffering.

OK back to the diary story...

so why was this a memorable trip?

Despite appearing to doze or gaze uninterestedly out of the bus window for most of the trip, that's actually how i absorb information best, other than the fact that the seats are really too high and it's much too uncomfy to strain one's neck all the time just to watch CN's expression each time she says something, not that it's unattractive!

And i really love the ever changing scenery from a sudden area of lush weeping willows (that sends u that cool green breezy feeling) to the next rock-pebbly bank by the river or at the foot of a sandy mountain (zipping u back to the hot sorching dryness). The same mountain can be sandy one one side and lusciously green on the other. It's totally an oxymoronic picture! Boggles the senses but love it!!

As we bus on... the occasional sight of a SINGLE humanbeing traipsing in the faraway fields followed by a black yak... to small children scattered amongst the grassland, under the only shade providing tree, rolling around on the ground, their faces peeking visibly throught the grass shards.... suddenly the vastness of what's out there strikes u for a fleeting moment, fading once your mind registers that something special has happened. Another layer of your consciousness awakened? to your surroundings?... uncomprehending but intriguing enuff to set you thinking. Marvellous as u set your mind free to wander, no thots, no concerns...

Despite the trip being well catered for with appropriate pit-stops, ample food and water provided, 3-4star newly built accommodation with cable and proper bath facilities... the desert setting with limited shade deludes your mind into regarding drinking water as a SACRED necessity not to be without lest you DEHYDRATE... the long bus rides sends your bladder into super paranoia that it MUST be released at EVERY available pit-stop lest u should wet your pants, when in actual fact you hardly pee more than 3 times daily back home!!!

sigh... the irrationality and freaking out your body goes thru in unfamiliar territory!

End result... a void ensues when u arrive back home into the comforts of easy cushy familiar city life, where you're never short of water (though u hardly drink more than 3 glasses a day anyway...) and never without access to a clean toilet with proper flushing and paper. A void that leaves u surprisingly discomfited, that life here is really too soft and easy. There's no need to know survival and you find life less real than it had been when you had to "fight" for it for a while.

It's no wonder everyone's trying to find meaning in life. It's no challenge when survival is no longer a concern. Life is less when u have too much.

Maybe the reason i've enjoyed this trip so much is that thru the hardships and discomforts -- i felt truly ALIVE briefly.