2 June – Saturday: Dongba to Mansarovar
Slept okay today but still got up around 5 am. Going to use the toilet is always a debate in my head. The one thing I have just detested in this whole journey is the toilet. It is very sad that we go for this very pious yatra for all Hindus yet we don’t get to take bath anywhere or a use a clean toilet. I felt dirty all the way through. Why can't the Chinese make some nice hotels along the way? Charge us some more money but at least provide the convenience in a little bit more decent manner. It is day four that I have not taken a bath or washed my hair!!
In any case got up around 6:30 am when the call for hot water came to get ready. Modesty has been taking a back burner as time is passing. Using open toilets, staying in a room with so many people and having no privacy whatsoever has been a tough adjustment. I have not really been hungry during the trip and I have been eating half of my diet. Maybe that is why I am not feeling so strong. I don’t know.
Bed tea came soon after, but Ramgopal gave me coffee instead of tea, it was really awful. I threw half of it away and got me some tea! Today we had upma for breakfast. We have about 40 south Indians in our group so our food has been primarily all south Indian. I am tired of rasam already! What I found absolutely amazing is our Nepali sherpas/cooks. They have the best disposition. Always smiling, ready to hear and deal with any complaint and so efficient in unpacking and repacking. For a number of days they have had to cook both breakfast and lunch in the morning, and they have done a fabulous job. The food always tastes perfect with a balance of salt and spices.
The drive to Mansarovar was quite boring. And I am just anxious to see Kailash now. The landscape is the same over and over again….I did not have any headache today. I have not taken any headache or altitude sickness pills. I have not been sleeping properly but strangely I don’t feel any lack of sleep either.
A check post came just before lunch time. Phinsu took our passports to clear us. It took about one hour to cross this. Luckily there was charge in the car so I plugged in my phone and played games. What else to do?? I don’t feel like socializing. As soon as we crossed the check point, lunch was served. They set it out but it was so windy that the dust was getting into our plates, so they moved outside a building nearby. It was a little better there. Lunch was good pulao, noodles and rajma. Canned fruits for dessert and of course juice. A tent nearby was a general store.
Tip: One could buy water almost at any store. Even our guys would have boiled water with them and we could just refill our water bottles.
It was another 2-3 hr drive to Kailash. Today I did take a little nap, probably because the scenery was boring. We stopped at a lake which was the beginning point of the river Bhramaputra. And soon after that was Kailash! Wow! Both Mansarovar and Kailash came right after reaching a high point on the highway. We all stopped there and of course took photos. What an amazing feeling to see Kailash!! It was a nice day, blue skies and few clouds. On the other side of Kailash were a whole series of other snow covered mountains (Panchkanya?). No one really told us the importance of those.
In our itinerary we were promised the parikrama of Mansarovar lake, to be done in the vehicle. We asked Phinsu how long it would take and he said about 1.5 hrs. And we all said sure! Lets do it. But we were not told the truth! The whole parikrama takes about 3 hrs and it is not at all comfortable in a van because the entire road is gravel!!! Ohhh the lies!!
The drive itself was really nice to begin with. But then the scenery got quite repetitive and the bumpy road was not making the parikrama a comfortable one. We stopped at one very nice spot to take some pictures. I walked up to Mansarovar to touch the water. It was not cold at all, it was quite bearable water. Of course it was also around 4 pm, so it’s possible that the water had warmed up. The spot was really peaceful and the view was amazing. I could have camped out there for one night. But we had to move on.
The rest of the parikrama was okay. We stopped at one place for open toilet. I thought it was weird that Mansarovar was not too far yet we were creating this pollution right there. But what else to do??
We reached the paved road at about 7 pm. We reached our place of overnight stay soon after that. This time us foreigners were split into 4 and 2, so Bhaiya and I got into one room. It was about 8x6 ft and they still managed to squeeze three beds in it. Luckily, no third person came!! For some time there was some confusion about whether we get that room or share with someone else, but we did not want to go from there.
Tea and soup was served as usual in the evening.
Big Problem: So now for the other change of plans. We were informed by our Chinese guide that Darchen was closed because of some festival going on and also that two monks had self-immolated and so Chinese government had restricted enterance into Darchen in retaliation. The festival goes from 3-5 June. But if we pass through Darchen by 9 am then we can go on to Dherapuk and start the parikrama. All of us standing there at that time – about 7-8 of us were ready to go. (Later we learned that is was just a story concocted by the Chinese guides)
This would mean no puja or bathing in Mansarovar on Poornima (it's considered auspicious - who knows?). We would do that when we came back. Fine – no problem!! Parikrama was much more important for us. I had told Bhaiya that we should definitely do a porter. I don’t care about a pony because I can walk, but I know I cannot walk with weight on me. So I went to the room and started getting my bag pack ready with the most minimum things. Packed all my warm clothes, relevant medicines, water bottle etc. It was so cold in Mansarovar that I was afraid it would be even colder during the parikrama.
While I was finishing up, Bhaiya went out for a walk. When he came back he said the program has changed! Now we cannot go tomorrow at all. Problem: Someone somewhere decided were NOT going to Darchen. We did not find out how the program got changed. We were worried that if we don’t go tomorrow we would not be able to go at all. But we did not know who to talk to. Phinsu was nowhere to be found. It was a very helpless feeling. We were in a foreign land, with no phones, language barrier, no one to talk to about what was going on. All we had were a few friends with whom we would commiserate with about our pathetic situation.
All we could do was make the most of our time here at Mansarovar. It was the day before full moon, so we went out to see Mansarovar with the moon. It was bloody cold!! But the scene was worth it!! Tried to take some shots from my point and shoot camera. The nice thing was that it was pitch dark outside so the moonlight was giving such a beautiful illumination.
(no...this is not taken in pitch darkness :-))
Dinner was at 10 pm. A little subdued because of the uncertainty of tomorrow’s program. All of us who were ready to go to the parikrama were really bummed. And there was nothing we could do.
Took some Alka Seltzer today as all this food is giving me some stomach issues.
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