Back in Shigatse, where we pick up the others, we take the truck for its Chinese vehicle licence and JC’s driving test. The vehicle test seemed to consist of four or five people walking around the truck to confirm what it was and JCs driving test was a drive around the block. They told him that he didn’t use his horn enough (definitely no sitting in the front rows for me then), but they didn’t seem to mind that he almost ran over a cyclist. Despite the simplicity of these tests, we are at the test centre for about four hours before we have all the paperwork.
Today is a scenic drive to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, although there only so many shades of brown that you can take an interest in.
Despite being home to Potala Palace, the historical home of all Dalai Lamas (the current one of course is in exile), Lhasa is very representative of new China. There are numerous shiny new high rise office buildings and apartments, with lots more in the process of being built. Unlike many other places we have been to, the buildings under construction look very much as though the builders have every intention of completing them.
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| parking at the hotel |
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| Potala Palace at night...and some incidental cigarette smoke |
At night, I go out to dinner with Laurie and Brian. We had considered local food, but the restaurants we saw were ‘cook your own fish (species unknown)’ buffets. I have yet to get to the point of buying fish in a land locked country – assuming you still call Tibet a country – at least not in Asia, where palates are much more robust than mine. Instead, we go to a steakhouse....where I order pizza, ticking Tibet off (I have decided that Tibet is an individual country). I have an Hawaiian, i.e. ham and pineapple. There’s a good sauce base, but hardly any ham and the pineapple is limp and far from fresh. Also, the base is too doughy. The cheese is tasty enough, though I don’t know what it was. 6/10.
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