Kevin's Smugglers Inn

11/9/2002

The Chinese feds wanted to rip us off getting into a country they had no right to be in themselves and we were going to have no part of it. Got off the train in Golmud and immedieately we were approached by shady folk asking if we wanted to go to Lhasa by bypassing the PSB and their attempt to extort $200 from us. We didn't know who to trust and figured Golmud, a dirt and dust city in the middle of the most desolate mud flats I have ever seen, wouldn't offer much in the way of friends so we headed down the block and flagged down the first bus passing. The bus driver knew what we wanted and named a price we couldn't agree on so we were booted off in a dirt alley full of broken down busses. Walking around we felt like word of our presance was spreading before us and it wasn't long before a man popped up offering to smuggle us into Tibet on his bus. A few hours waiting for some welding on the roof to get done and witnessing a rediculous police takedown of a rickshaw driver who was determined to get away dead or alive and we were in a taxi with promise to meet up with the bus and our gear a few miles outside of town beyond the first checkpoint. I enjoy watching the world go by from a bus window but there is no beauty in the ride between Golmud and Lhasa. The time was spent hiding under blankets from checkpoints and the freezing cold. Our drivers were Chinese muslims and one guy was working on the best ZZ Top beard I have ever seen. The monotony of the shit road was only broken up by brief chances to floor country folk with our presance. Just missed the slaughter of a Yak at one stop but got to watch the cleaning of the stomach and lower intestines as I ate and warmed myself near a yak-dung fire. The road doesn't go through any significant mountain chains and even though it reaches a highpoint of 5300m the countryside was snowy plains for the most part. The road was in various stages of disrepair and was covered in enough windswept ice to make a Canadian proud but I felt safe enough because we had engine troubles for most of the way and couldn't really reach dangerous speeds. That's not to say the road isn't dangerous since we passed a flaming pileup of Dong Feng transport trucks that involved several casulties. Our bus finally gave out in the middle of nowhere which isn't a comforting feeling when you're not supposed to be there in the first place but luckily we hitched a ride on another bus and were hidden away at the back to be tenderized by the craters in the road. 38 bone jarring and frozen hours from Golmud I was swearing at hallucinations when the driver snapped me out of it and motioned for us to get the hell off his bus cuz we were in Lhasa. Overall the bus ride is terrible and is definately one of the toughest in the world since there in nowhere to stop in if you need it, it's frozen barren wilderness suitable only for nomads and crazies. I'd only recommend it to someone I don't like but I wouldn't have done it any other way. As for the sneaking around bit it isn't too bad but if you are planning on sneaking into Tibet you might as well do it from somewhere more adventurous and interesting since in the end you will be hiding under a blanket hoping they don't do a search at checkpoints anyways. _ _ ______________________________________________________ _ _

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