Another loooooong day of driving. We decided to stay only one night in Manasovar owing to the fact that its sole attractions were a lake and a monastery - the lake was clouded over with bad weather and the monastery...well...been there, done that. We did stay at an absolutely lovely teahouse though, the nicest thus far in terms of warmth and hospitality. After my fit of anger yesterday at Kai's actions I wanted to find out more about the girl's condition so I asked Galek - as it turns out, she's pregnant (which I had wondered but she had so many layers wrapped around her I wasn't sure). But a very ill-looking pregnant all the same, with considerably laboured breathing and lots of weakness.

Breakfast was fried egg with freshly made flatbread - very nice but a touch greasy. It was a novelty after a lot of breakfast consisting of dried chinese noodles, packaged biscuits, tsampa and steamed chinese buns. We had quite a leisurely start to the morning and didn't leave till 10...thinking it was a 6 hour drive ahead of us...

...well, 4 to 10 hours approximately, give or take a few. The construction on the way back seemed worse than on the way there, with every ½ km requiring a quick diversion off the road and back onto it again. There were also several Chinese military checkpoints (3 or 4, I lost count) in which either we needed to show our passports or the driver needed to show some papers (or both). One of them we sat at for 30+ minutes (I timed it)...probably just because they could keep us there as long as they wanted to.

Lunch was in a nomad tent where we had had lunch on the way over - same tent, same table, same meal - yak and potato with rice. It was a good hour long stop because the food took for-ev-er so Heather & I played gin whilst Kai sulked in the corner (his usual position). After lunch a quick toilet break - which involved weeing in a rubbish pit after turning in a circle once or twice (canine-esque) to work out the best angle with which to position myself so as to minimise splashback onto my pants.

(TMI? Welcome to my world)

So after Chinese checkpoints and extended lunch break we were back on the (mildly improved) road for...3.5 hours. Not much happening other than fits of dust (I was prepared this time with my headband/mask) and car sickness on my part. Last time in the middle seat for me though!

Paryang is a bit of a dump of a town, but really no more so than Darchen, Saga or Zhongbu. The usual - dust, dogs, Chinese restaurants - though they did have a supermarket in which I could pick up tissues. The first hotel we stopped at was full - looked like a typical Tibetan teahouse with about 18 land cruisers all parked out the front full of 60-80 year old Western men. We saw them at the checkpoint so knew they were headed in the same direction and would have been interested in having a beer with them. But, not meant to be as the place was full (Kai mutters "good" - I have no idea why as it looks no different to any other place we have stayed in for the past week or more). The next place looked reasonably newly built but the rooms are a bit like prison cells. 4 beds in a white room with a fluoro light and dingy bedding. But - electricity from 9 to 11 pm! Unlimited hot water! The toilets are within the compound instead of a walk around the block armed with stones in case a stray dog gets too friendly! The toilets have - wait for it - DOORS. And a light! Luxury we have not seen for over a week.

Heather & I ventured out as soon as we dumped our bags down, cameras in hand, to the edge of town where there was a big sand dune. We saw about 8 kids playing on the top and were going to climb up to take photos. The kids ran down the hill, seized upon us, and started playing with us for a good 20 minutes. We were having fun but (well, at least for me) I was a bit concerned about them landing on my camera or getting sand in my lens. The kids kept shouting "Ama! Ama!" which we're not quite sure of the meaning - perhaps 'look at me' or something similar.* They were absolutely clinging to the two of us so our photos turned out a bit different than expected. Heather at one point offered one a piggy back ride and I'm thinking "nice one, I'll have to do the same now" but got away without it. It was a bit hard to communicate with them that 1) we had to go before the rain came and 2) I really, really, really had to go to the bathroom. But we dragged them down the dune (as they were hanging on us) and towards the centre of town and one-by-one they let go and headed off home, waiving goodbye. We still had about 5 kids around when we passed Kai & Aaro. Kai looked absolutely horrified that we were holding the dirty hands of the kids, but Aaro looked amused and hopefully got a few good photos of us.

*we found out the next day that 'Ama' means 'Mother'. Ummmmmm...For the record I have not adopted any Tibetan children as a result of this interaction.

We headed to a Chinese restaurant for a beer and Heather talked me into sweet & sour pork - I wasn't planning on having any dinner but I'm always able to be sucked in. The dish was completely horrible...the pork itself was ok but the sauce was like spun sugar (no 'sour' to this dish). We choked it down as the owner's teenage daughter filled our miniature beer glasses with very sip we took.

Back at the hotel and ready for bed, in my wool trackpants that I can't believe I forgot to take on the trek with me. We were getting ready for bed and I was nearly about to change when, in front of our curtain-less window, we see 5 Chinese soldiers in full military gear (probably packing heat!) staring at us. No, don't get excited, this isn't a 'I've come to clean the pool <wink>' type of situation.

"Passport"

Now, by this point these folks have really started to irritate me, if my tirade from the Lhasa section didn't tip you off. And after the 18th checkpoint you tend to lose your fear of them. So in an exasperated/irritated voice (which I do well, FYI!) I say

"Why."

But Galek rucks up and says "they need your passport" as we were reaching for our waistbelts. After they left I said "Are you allowed to be out this late? Does your mother know what you're up to??" Clearly they have nothing better to do than to flex their muscles and prove they can do Whatever They Want.

Anyway - tomorrow, another 6 (or 10) hours driving to Saga, the first 'big' town we've seen in a week. Internet! Grocery stores (of sorts!)! Possibly even vegetables that don't involve potatoes! EVERYTHING's possible in Saga!!