I'm travelling in Tibet. The temperature is cool and I am in the mountains, but it's not somewhere I recognise. I'm at the bus station where people seem to be milling around, like they do in bus stations all over the world. There are lots of monks dressed in the traditional deep maroon robes, travelling solo or in groups.
I start talking to a few people who strangely all speak English. They tell me that there has been a massive revolt recently and that the roads are not safe. People are being pulled off the buses and shot randomly by the police. It's not safe to hitchhike, and as a foreigner taking the bus is not really an option.
I walk out of the bus station compound. Outside there is a straight long highway, reaching into the distance as far as one can see, into the fluffy white clouds. The sun is bright and fierce. I decide to walk because that is an option not involving taking a bus or hitchhiking.
As I walk along the highway I am struck by the barrenness of the Tibetan landscape. Hardly any vegetation survives up here, the ground is rubbly and brown. The air feels thin and I can hear my laboured breathing, the only sound in the stillness of my surroundings. No vehicles come up the road, no animals graze on the side of the road, and I am amazed I don't see any pilgrims.
After what feels like a long, long time, I come to a solitary wooden sign announcing the next village. Soon I come to another weather worn sign with a rudimentary map, which I study carefully. I know I want to get to a mountain to watch the sunset, but I'm not sure how far it is. The map shows the road diverging up ahead, with the left side going up to the mountain.
I look at my watch and it's 5pm, the sun is slung lowly on the horizon and I feel strangely energised, like I'm going to make it to watch the sunset! I walk ahead through the village, a collection of mud huts painted bright white with colourful window frames, like many Tibetan villages I have been through.
Further along the road, I see a collection of trees. Trees? I wonder, why are there trees in Tibet? Suddenly I'm amongst the trees, a densely wooded forest. The canopy is so thick that I am surrounded, overwhelmed by the fresh green scent of the forest and completely enveloped by darkness. I can barely make out the road.
After a few more steps, I look at my watch and the time is 8pm. I wonder how I could have taken so long to get to the forest, and acknowledge to myself that the sun has already set and I must go back to the village which I passed.
I come out of the forest and walk back along the barren road, this time in the darkness. In the distance I see the village with a few fires emitting thin trails of smoke, a homely comforting scene. Yet as I get closer, I hear the sound of excited voices. All of a sudden I am worried about a demonstration in the village, or perhaps the police have come to execute people?
I walk into the village and the first few houses seem to be deserted. Then I see a collection of several dozen people crowded around a makeshift platform, on which several people stand clutching microphones.
They call out: Welcome! Try Fanta's new flavour - cherry flavoured Fanta makes your day brighter! They are throwing cans of cherry Fanta into the crowd, and people scramble to catch the cans.
It's a trick, don't do it! I shout silently, and wake up.
I start talking to a few people who strangely all speak English. They tell me that there has been a massive revolt recently and that the roads are not safe. People are being pulled off the buses and shot randomly by the police. It's not safe to hitchhike, and as a foreigner taking the bus is not really an option.
I walk out of the bus station compound. Outside there is a straight long highway, reaching into the distance as far as one can see, into the fluffy white clouds. The sun is bright and fierce. I decide to walk because that is an option not involving taking a bus or hitchhiking.
As I walk along the highway I am struck by the barrenness of the Tibetan landscape. Hardly any vegetation survives up here, the ground is rubbly and brown. The air feels thin and I can hear my laboured breathing, the only sound in the stillness of my surroundings. No vehicles come up the road, no animals graze on the side of the road, and I am amazed I don't see any pilgrims.
After what feels like a long, long time, I come to a solitary wooden sign announcing the next village. Soon I come to another weather worn sign with a rudimentary map, which I study carefully. I know I want to get to a mountain to watch the sunset, but I'm not sure how far it is. The map shows the road diverging up ahead, with the left side going up to the mountain.
I look at my watch and it's 5pm, the sun is slung lowly on the horizon and I feel strangely energised, like I'm going to make it to watch the sunset! I walk ahead through the village, a collection of mud huts painted bright white with colourful window frames, like many Tibetan villages I have been through.
Further along the road, I see a collection of trees. Trees? I wonder, why are there trees in Tibet? Suddenly I'm amongst the trees, a densely wooded forest. The canopy is so thick that I am surrounded, overwhelmed by the fresh green scent of the forest and completely enveloped by darkness. I can barely make out the road.
After a few more steps, I look at my watch and the time is 8pm. I wonder how I could have taken so long to get to the forest, and acknowledge to myself that the sun has already set and I must go back to the village which I passed.
I come out of the forest and walk back along the barren road, this time in the darkness. In the distance I see the village with a few fires emitting thin trails of smoke, a homely comforting scene. Yet as I get closer, I hear the sound of excited voices. All of a sudden I am worried about a demonstration in the village, or perhaps the police have come to execute people?
I walk into the village and the first few houses seem to be deserted. Then I see a collection of several dozen people crowded around a makeshift platform, on which several people stand clutching microphones.
They call out: Welcome! Try Fanta's new flavour - cherry flavoured Fanta makes your day brighter! They are throwing cans of cherry Fanta into the crowd, and people scramble to catch the cans.
It's a trick, don't do it! I shout silently, and wake up.
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