Bus Ride to Dawu: Don't Hit the Yak!

Monday June 11, 2012: Bus Ride to Dawu

We took the bus from Xining to Dawu, the main town of the county and where I had to stop off to get a permit to stay in Golok. The bus ride was mostly uncomfortable, but the views along the way were worth it. For some reason smoking is allowed everywhere here, and people don’t pay attention to “No Smoking” signs, so not only was there oxygen deprivation to deal with on the way here, but also breathing in cigarette smoke on the bus.

We passed through many mountainous areas, going up over passes and then through river valleys. At the top of each mountain there are streamers strung all over. Even though there are few towns along the way, you can see people everywhere, dotting the sides of hills along with their animals or walking alongside the road. Motorbikes are really common and there is surprisingly a lot of traffic. The mountains are so green and treeless, and there are rocky areas as well. The angles create a really beautiful setting when the sun shines on them.

 The first half of the trip was not so bad despite the bumpy roads, but the second driver was driving faster than the first and I got really tired of all the turns. Animals were everywhere and all I was thinking along the way was, “Don’t hit the sheep! (or yak, or cow, or horse, or dog)”  

                        

I really don’t think there was ever a stretch of road longer than a mile without a turn in it, so after 8 hours of that plus the smoke, we were both ready to get off.

After stepping off the bus, I could barely stand. Half of it was the altitude, but half was simply from being on the bus for so long. After a few minutes I felt better, a little out of breath, but nothing too bad. We were trying to get to the police station before it closed to get the permit, but ended up going to the wrong place with the taxi. We ended up walking about half a mile, with me lagging behind. When we finally got to the police station, Namnang’s policeman friend helped us get in to apply for the permit. Unfortunately, they gave me only 15 days for some reason, so we will try again once that time is up.

 We tried to find a driver to take us to the next town, but it was raining a bit and there were none. The policeman friend offered to drive us there, about an hour away, so we were very grateful for that. He just asked for some American food, which I was happy to give.

Even though my Tibetan is very limited, it’s nice to finally be able to understand signs and people speaking again. In Xining, most was Chinese, and here it is mostly Tibetan and I can usually pick up a few words I know from hearing people and from reading things.