American Autumn Shishapangma Expedition 2005: Night Pool and Hi-Lo

Sunset on Shishapangma from Base Camp

Walking the streets of Sigatse, Tibet, by yourself at night brings a few new and unusual experiences.

Night pool, for example.

During the daytime, there are no pool tables to be seen. But at night, they drag  them out from behind the corrugated metal doors of the little shops, and get into lively games. The tables are ancient, with cord-mesh pockets, and totally warped surfaces, green frayed in many places. But it is fun. The streets are pretty dark, occasional taxis zoom by and beep at anybody who looks likely to be a fare.  Monks walk in pairs and threes here and there, not in a particular hurry.

As you walk down these streets, you are unlikely to see any other Caucasians. But the locals know that the standard greeting is 'hi-lo', so I reply with 'hi' or 'hello', but never 'hi-lo', as I believe it is my duty as a world traveler to correctly pronounce English.

Tomorrow off for Tingri. 300 km of bad roads.

--Eric

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