Father’s Day in Tibet
June 18
Almost exactly a year ago, we were in Zion watching the Warriors lose game 7 in what our family has called “the worst Father’s Day ever!” This year, Sue and the kids surprised Tom with Father’s Day cards and gifts (he had forgotten it was Father’s Day) that so surprised Tom that he openly wept tears of joy. The cards were adorable and the gifts perfect – an 8 pack of Reese peanut butter cups, Lays ‘finger licking braised pork’ chips, and a coffee mug from Lhasa. Best Father’s Day ever!
After breakfast it was time to head to Shigatse, about 3 hours drive northwest. Everyone had slept well, except for Tyler who got another nighttime bloody nose caused by the dry air, but by morning felt well. The only stop on the way was made at a barley milling farm. The mill was powered by a rushing river under the house and within minutes the kids were pretending to be mill workers and shortly after that were covered with barley dust.
By 1pm we had arrived in the sprawling city of Shigatse and checked into our glamorous 4-star hotel. We had a lovely lunch where once again we were the main attraction as the other restaurant guests gawked at our arrival. In response we gawked at the red-robed monks slurping their soup while texting their friends. The chicken butter masala and the Mali kofta was truly excellent.
After lunch, we returned to our hotel to head out to the old town a few hundred meters away. We peruse the open air market before heading into the narrow alleys in the shadow of the massive dzong (fort). Many of the houses had ferocious sounding dogs tied up on their roofs or in the back yards. As Tom was taking a picture, Evie rounded a corned to find one of these guard dogs untethered and not at all happy to see her. She shouted “go, back! Run!”and Tyler turned and ran behind Evie with the beast in close pursuit. As they ran past, Sue who began shouting at the dog who then attacked her. A swift kick or two stopped the dog, but not before Sue had been bitten on the knee. Thankfully, while there were noticeable teeth marks the had not punctured the skin.
Everyone was shaken by the experience and we high tailed it back to our hotel for some first aid and teddy bear snuggle time. At 5pm Nyima returned and we went on a lovely kora around the Tashilunpo monastery. The 90 minute circuit was a delightful combination of pilgrims, prayer wheels, and prayer flags. Back at the main “pedestrian street” Tyler and Tom decided to have a massage at the Braille Without Borders blind massage center. The experience was different than a US massage as rather than getting a separate room, Tyler and Tom were massaged right next to each other while the two masseuses chatted non-stop. Still for $20/hr it was a pretty good massage.
The boys joined the girls for dinner at a nearby restaurant and by 9pm we were back in our hotel and by 10pm everyone was snoozing.
PS this video captures a bit of what it is like to hike a kora
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