Lhatse:

March 31st, 2005

We departed Gyantse at 10am and had a brief stop for lunch in Shigatse, the biggest city outside of Lhasa. The rest of the drive was awful as the whole road from Shigatse to Lhatse was under construction and we constantly had to avoid large piles of dirt and debris on an already dusty and bumpy road.

The only real highlight of the drive was a mountain pass that had Inukshuk-type states lining the whole mountainside, other than that, the sights were rather boring.

Just before Lhatse, we reached the Dongaba Hot Springs. We went inside and considered going in, but it was one big public pool that looked rather unhygienic. So, we passed.

Lhatse is a one-street town and that makes a group of 10 foreigners like us targets for beggars, especially young kids. Instantly, after leaving the gates of our guest house we were greeted by a dirt-caked kid on his hands and knees in prayer position asking for money.

Usually this is where it stops. But not with this resilient little tyke. He followed us for nearly an hour around town; down alleyways, into the market, and even waited for us outside shops.

We finally lost him when we settled on the Friendship Restaurant, but I must say that he was probably the most persistent beggar we have met in 5 months.

Dinner was fine and we spent the night cold, but comfortable in our guest house.

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