Go Tell It On the Mountain

April 8 - 9, 2017

Day Two of the Diamox experiment - we decided we would try to mitigate the symptoms of Altitude Mountain Sickness (AMS) by starting the suggested regimen two days before reaching Lhasa.

Early Saturday morning - we tried to use up the last of the leftovers in the fridge before heading to the airport, not much in the way of sustenance.  After checking in at Suvarnabhumi Airport, we changed our Thai money to USD and Chinese Renminbi, the latter of which we would need on the first leg of our trip.  We had time for a stop at Starbucks, but found it was no longer in its usual location.  We asked a sales clerk where Starbucks was, and she pointed in the opposite direction and said, "One kilometer."  Undaunted (I'd walk a mile for a Starbucks?) we hoofed it to the exact opposite end of the airport, and enjoyed what we thought might be our last quality cuppa for a while.

We still had time to wait once we reached the gate.  This would be the first of several flights.  Entering the Tibet autonomous region directly is not allowed by the Chinese government.  So our first flight would bring us to Chongqing, China, where our Tibet tour company, Tibet Vista had arranged to have our travel papers delivered to our hotel.  (The other option is to enter Tibet from Nepal, but this can only be done by applying for a group visa there.)

The three-hour flight was our first on Thai Smile Air, a relatively new low-cost subsidiary of Thai Airways; it was a very pleasant flight.  Arriving in Chongqing, we had to present both our old and new passports, as the old passport had the Chinese visa in it.  When I put the two passports up on the counter at immigration, the officer stood up and looked down at the floor beside me.  I smiled when I realized he was looking for an additional little person associated with the second passport.  The two passports seemed to cause further ado, and another officer was called over, taking all our passports away to check them more closely?  The crowds of people on queue behind us were not happy.  Finally approved, we moved on to baggage claim, and were entertained by a super-cute beagle that was trotting along the conveyor, sniffing luggage.

I chose what I thought was a hotel close to the airport, but it was not so well-known.  I had the name and address of the hotel printed in Chinese, but still several taxi drivers begged off.  An English-speaking Chinese woman tried to help us, but the taxi drivers told her they didn't know the area.  She suggested we take the train with her, but we weren't confident this was the best choice.  We were definitely feeling like fish out of water with no ability to communicate.  I think the security guy felt sorry for us, because he finally waved down a taxi and made the guy take us.  

The driver was quite friendly and wanted to be helpful, even offering Tim a cigarette as we drove.  He wasn't exactly sure where the hotel was, but left us off in the general vicinity, using his GPS.  The Shang Ju Hotel is located in a pedestrian-only location, so we just started walking.  A man was standing outside a building, and we showed him the name of the hotel.  He nodded and pointed to the elevators, indicating the third floor.  We wheeled our luggage into a tiny elevator with several people, and emerged on a floor that seemed to be an internet cafe of sorts.  We looked around for a front desk, with no luck.  A young couple was playing on a computer near the entrance, and we showed them the hotel name.  They had a lot to say, in Chinese, pointing and gesturing helpfully.  They walked us to a window and pointed down another walkway.  We were trying to get exactly what they were telling us, when they kindly decided to walk us there themselves!  So sweet.  We felt bad interrupting their fun, but were so grateful for their help.

The Shang Ju Hotel has just a small entrance, all signage in Chinese.  No way we would have found it on our own.  We tried to pay the young couple for their trouble, but they wouldn't accept anything -  good ambassadors.  Once inside, we were met with a desk clerk who spoke no English, but was very skilled at using Google Translate to communicate.  I was so impressed.  We used Translate as well, asking if she had our papers.  At first she said no, but I clarified by saying, "You got papers in the mail."  Then she understood, thankfully, and pulled out our Tibet travel documents from under the counter.  

The unassuming entrance to our hotel

We were given a somewhat smoky room on the 8th floor, with a busy street below.  We could hear a vehicle passing by, playing "It's a Small World After All" - surreal.  But the room was comfortable enough, and we discovered that smoking is allowed nearly everywhere in these parts, even though a sign admonished, "Do smoking the bed."  The only really questionable part of this hotel was the packages of condoms on the night stand, and the calling card slipped under our door soon after our arrival.  

We went out to explore a bit and find some dinner.  Pacific Shopping Centre and Bijin Park were in walking distance.  (I only learned the names of these places when I was back in Thailand - we had no idea where we were at the time.)  Walking in the shopping district, we attracted many curious stares.  Not many foreigners in this area.  We smiled and said, "Nee-Hao" (hello); some smiled back.  A few younger people were eager to practice their Engish on us, with the appointed representative of the group bravely approaching us to say, "Hello!"  We decided on an easy dinner at Burger King (don't judge us), and four young servers behind the counter took our order as a team effort.  

After our meal, we walked some more.  We noticed lots and lots of babies, and wondered if a baby boom of sorts was happening here since the easing of the "one child" policy.  We walked by a beautifully-lit park with an elegant pagoda at one end, a structure we could see from our hotel room window, and some organized ballroom dancing going on at the other end.  It's one of the things I love about China - the organized outdoor dancing and exercise found in so many cities.

dancing in the park

We managed to find our way back to our hotel, and Google Translated our questions about getting a taxi back to the airport the next morning.  The staff promised to help.  

Breakfast was included, and the next morning we headed down to the lobby, unsure where they were serving.  The desk clerk took us back in the elevator, back up to the eighth floor, and led us up two flights of stairs to the tiny breakfast room at the top.  It was raining, and a blue tarp covered the outdoor area that appeared to be the kitchen.  The breakfast was sparse by western standards, no coffee or tea, and we made do with a steamed bun, some tomatoes and sliced pears.

The staff was true to their word, walking us out to the main street and flagging down a taxi, demanding unapologetically that the driver accept the ten yuan he was offering for the fare.  The taxi driver tested his one word - "En-ga-lesh?"  We were back at Jiangbei Airport with plenty of time to spare, and after being wanded for explosives, we were allowed to enter the airport.  We saw no coffee shops on our preliminary sweep of the area.  We managed to get ourselves to the right counter for check-in, then were pointed to another small area for baggage check-in.  One clerk was fast asleep at the next counter - probably nearing the end of his shift, the poor guy was struggling to keep vertical.  My bag passed through security, but they kept asking Tim if he had a lighter, which he didn't.  Finally let his bag through, and we went up an escalator hoping for better luck finding coffee.  Tim used Google Translate with the waitress, and got some eggs and hash browns along with a nice cup of joe.  

At the gate, we had a long wait.  We didn't see a plane yet, and people seemed to understand that they had to wait, so we followed suit.  A young man with a baby came over to chat - he was a petroleum engineer with BP, and wanted to practice his English.  He asked where we were going, and we told him Lhasa.  He said he was going to another city.  Hmmm.  Our flight time was quickly approaching, and I asked him if he could tell whether our flight was delayed.  He went to ask some questions, then came back to say our gate had been changed, and we had better go quickly.  It was 11 a.m. and our flight was 11:10.  We ran through the airport, down some stairs and out to a bus full of people waiting for us.  The doors closed behind us, and the bus carried us out to the China Southern plane to Lhasa.  

Over the last twenty-four hours we had to channel our inner Blanche DuBois so many times, relying on the kindness of strangers, and we felt grateful many times over for the compassion of the Chinese people.  On to Tibet!

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