Dropping off the Plateau

Similar to a penny off the Empire State Building, we arrived in Katmandu day or so ago (ahem 7, sorry), via one of the more amazing georgraphical experiences i'ev had; coming off the tibetan plateau. You drop 3000 meters or so from brown rocky moonscape into verdant valley territory rife with waterfalls and curry, the weather goes from windswept sunburn (sun) or windswept icecicle (shade) to tee shirts and flip flops in half a day. Kathmandu is a huge shock to the seasoned China traveller, all of the things you took for granted in the "sure wish i had a ... right now" catagory are right at your fingertips. All of a sudden things are 1. cheaper and 2. better and 3. western.
for example:

In Tibet..yak noodle soup In Nepal...lemon marinated chicken breast with mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables
IN Tibet... "Can we please get another blanket, we're going to freeze." in Nepal... (insert subcontinental accent) "is there anything else i can do for you sir? HOw much would you like to pay for the room? yes yes That is a fair price my friend. "


but since the last broadcast:

We left Lhasa headed 'cross the plateau in a rented 4X4, me and Don plus Gulliame and Princess K, and our driver Tsenour. 6 nights in steadily decreasing levels of accomodation, tibetan tea houses, vast plains and in front of Mt. Qomolangma. (tallest mountain in the world they say). Tibet is a tough land, the people mirror that for sure. At least they don't really care about such minor inconveniences such as cleaning toilets or washing things. Or toilets, or washing, apparently. Cause we didn't see a piece of porcelin the whole time. And if you want to see how atrociously untended the toilets were, i have a small visual excercise:
take your left thumb and forefinger and make a circle.
insert your right index nuckle in the circle from the bottom.
visualize.

But who needs that stuff when everything that you need is provided by some part of a yak? Some people like that (yak). Some people don't. Princess K would rather be passive agressive/complain monster about everything. Its understandable, one shower in 6 days can make anyone a little testy. But when you are tugging your rolling luggage over rocky mountainous terrain on day 5, don't be looking at us with a look of entitlement.

Tibet is cold. It could be the fact that at one point, the only thing seperating me from the tallest point on this planet was a cinder block wall and 3000 vertical feet. And every single article of clothing that i own. One would expect the tallest mountain in the world to be a little chilly, but im talking about putting on extra clothes to go to sleep under blankets. At least you don't have to get dressed in the morning.

We made stops at Gyantse, Shigatse, Sakye, Shelakar, Rhongphu Monastery (Everest Base Camp) and Old Tingri. We drove in the mornings, and checked out Monasteries and Tibetan villages in the afternoons. Our biggest worries were where to poop, and being cold while doing it. Tibet is an incredible place. As you ride, the view becomes normal, until you hit a bump and realize where you are. We made it safely through (more like down) the border to nepal with a new appriciation for comfort, which Nepal was happy to provide.
(phew! I gotta keep up on this thing. Relating a weeks worth of stuff is too much. My secretary will take appointments for photo viewing or go here (actually not much new, but speeds slow round these parts))