On our way back to Lhasa I noticed our driver had a serious face on. I later learned that the car had brake trouble and he drove carefully and slowly. On the journey back to Lhasa, we saw two trekking cars who had flipped over and one break down.
I was quiet on the whole road trip back into town. The conversations were on politics, national security, personal security, etc… I really didn’t care for the subject. I really didn’t have information to add to the conversation. I learned a lot by listening. Somehow my group was not comfortable with my silence. During a scenic pee break, Stef inquired in. I just told the truth, I had nothing to contribute to the conversation. It was completely out of my league.
We all agreed to check into a new hostel called Lhasa Dong Cuo International Youth Hostel and it had nicer accommodation and the internet cafe is 3yuan per hour, .5yuan cheaper than the other. We decided that since we roughed it for a week that we would get double standard rooms. Rupert and I shared a room with a built in shower and toilet. It was quite a luxury compared to what we have been doing all week long. It even had a water heater in the room. The room was even heated and it had a TV. My goodness, what a step up for 60 yuan a person, this was one of the travel with companion perks.
We ended up going to a Korean place for dinner. We picked it because it was right next door. Afterwards I returned to the internet café and as it turned out the lady who worked at the reception was the daughter of the elder Tibetan lady on the train that I wanted so much to see again. This daughter when I first showed up at the café was the one who was glued to the screen on some soap opera and had me wait for her until she got to a right climatic point in her series to stop so that I can be served. She was totally zoned out, into the screen. Her mother identified me as I walked out right before dinner but I didn’t see her because I was in a rush. She was going to take me home to see her mother because her mother wanted to see me. Her mother got off the train and raved about meeting me and what I nice person I was. But she didn't get off till 10:30pm and I didn’t want to walk home by myself at night in the dark. I also figured that her mom would be asleep that late at night. It was late and I made an appointment to meet in the morning instead. I wanted to bring my camera in daylight to take photos of her. What a wonderful surprise to come across this elder again.
