Qinghai

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Two monasteries further down the river, I am also invited.  To my disappointment the head lama has left for a long  journey, but the akkeh are curious as ever and gather in  the small 3-person dorm where I am served Chinese-style tea and 'zyenn' (solid Tibetan cake) to gaze at the foreigner.  I exercise my new habit, loosely say "oh-ya" and "uh-uh" to  people coming and going, but when one of the teachers rises from his chair, the akkeh next to me whispers "tashi-dehleh" into my ear and suggestively turns the palm of his  right hand upward. I get the message; pronounce and gesture formally: "praise thee". My neighbour relaxes. 

Planning for the next few days:
1. Buy camera & loads of film
2. Visit Ta'er si, an hour's bus drive from the bus station near Xinings central fountain.
3. Travel to Yushu, a 24 hours bus drive south from the main bus station. Roam the area in search for photo opportunities during March. Stay with locals and at monasteries, as I will leave my tent at the luggage storage in Xining station, clearing backpack volume and weight to accommodate the photo equipment.

          Xining, Mon., 6 Mar 2000

"They'll bite you into your sash" explains the man with the toothless grin, attempting to smile despite him missing  eight front teeth, while his life's companion does quite a  convincing imitation of an ugly monster chewing on my  bones. This couple of men are caretakers of a ramshackle temple near the joining point of two completely iced up mountain streams, way up the Animaqin mountain range. I  have only got food supplies for one day in my pack, so I hang around the horseshoe-shaped ring of crumbling  chortens, waiting for someone to come out and invite me to  dinner. The man who does lives in the house with the two  dogs that chased me along the slope just a few minutes  before, and I had just sworn not to go there. The guy  appears kind however, and the big angry dog is kept at a  distance. 

 Steamed beef on the bone is for dinner. I have no idea how  to eat this, the locals slice off thumb-size chunks with  their knives, and swallow them at high speed. Chewing is to  no avail, the meat is too tough. I slice of very small  pieces and swallow those. This couple is sweet to their kids to the degree that they live symbiotic lives, they put the kids under their clothes to keep them warm, kiss them tenderly on the forehead and feed them mouth-to-mouth. The husband, to my disappointment, appears to revere the United States more than Buddha, he keeps repeating the word "America" like a mantra, even though he does not really know where and what America is. "What is the difference  between 'Meiguo' and 'Amerika' anyway?" he asks me. "The first is the Chinese name, the latter the Tibetan name. They mean the same thing" I reply. He never new. He is probably even more disappointed that I'm not from the US, but from some kind of backward outpost called Europe, maybe I'm even lying, and why won't I take him with me back to the States anyway, he has been saying his mantra for such a long time now...

Travel info:

Tsim sha tsui - Guangzhou east river by jetfoil HK$198,- Guangzhou - Guilin by bus (very cheap)
Guilin - Xi'an hard sleeper CNY 355,-
Xi'an - Xining hard seat CNY 137,- upgrade to berth CNY  124,-

The trip to Yangsuo near Guilin (famous landscapes) is  worthwhile, very touristy but still cheap.

I'm staying at the Qinghai youzheng gongyu (post office's  guesthouse), 200 m east of the train station. Heated room  (to 15 deg. Celsius) with bath and TV, hot water after 9:30  pm, CNY 38,-

The "Highland Internet bar" is on 2 Wusixilu, at the  crossroads of Wusixilu, Xinninglu and Wusidonglu, on the  ground floor of the China Life building.

Bus from Xining to Maqixian (14 hr daytime drive) less than  CNY 50,- The bus station is direct south of the train  station, across the bridge.

February temperatures in the highlands range between -20  deg. Celsius and 0 deg. Celsius. May and June are said to  be very nice, though.

Recipients in the Dutch and German language sphere: please  excuse me for sending the newsletter in English, making up  two (not to mention three) language versions is just too  much work.

          Sun, 2 Apr 2000
Despite some health problems my excursion to Yushu and Tian Duo xian has been extremely spectacular. Vultures are  no rare sight in Qinghai and they usually scan the area in  small groups from high above the cliffs. Once on the upper reach of the Long River (the Tong Tian He) I noticed there  were more than usual, flying low or being perched on a rock  at the roadside. A lone wolf had already spotted me and  sneaked out, up the opposite slope. Then I saw what had  happened: just a few days before, a poor yak had broken its  leg while traversing the slippery ice covering the river.  The carcass had been hollowed out for the greater part but  still attracted about one hundred (quick estimation) of the  large birds. Most of these were resting on the slope, some had their heads dug into the dead yak, others were shrieking  loudly and fighting or spreading their wings during an  assault on the bait, attempting to scare the other birds  away, sliding on the ice and tumbling over in a slapstick  manner...
 
 

Vultures are not hunted in Tibet and are not afraid of  humans. I could approach the bait to less than 3 metres and  the most daring birds would still continue their meal.
 There is no scanning service available here in Xining, so  please be patient for another two weeks before you can see  the pictures belonging to the scene described above.

 Yesterday I really felt close to Siberia, having 
 cucumber-almond salad and some real fine slices of ham for  lunch. These dishes are also served by restaurants in  Irkutsk and Tsjita. Here they were, however, accompanied by  some fried fish, which, though being heavily spiced, evoked both a sense of delicacy and antiquity, like really obscure  Chinese dishes should. The weather was quite nice, about 20 deg. Celsius and sunny, until about 19:00 hours a dust storm  darkened the streets, throwing sand and household waste up  into the air and I dived into my hotel room for safety.