[The following post is from the archives of my In Search Of Incredible blog, originally published on 1 November 2015]
27 July 2015, Monday
According to our itinerary, we would be leaving Lhasa today and heading to Shigatse. However, things don’t always go to plan. Early in the morning, RL informed us that ST’s fever had not subsided and it was more than 38 degrees Celcius. Very quickly, ZJ initiated a meeting with the rest of us, and we decided that it would be risky to leave Lhasa today and make the long ride to Shigatse. We called Tenzin and informed him about the situation, and he called his tour agency coordinator, Small Tenzin, who said that he would come over to meet us as soon as possible.
ST is a sportswoman so she is very strong physically and mentally, and she wanted to make the trip despite her fever. However, we decided that she should seek treatment immediately and we should stay an additional day in Lhasa to allow her to recuperate. This is because once we are out of Lhasa, the medical facilities will not be as good and it would be an even bigger risk if her condition were to persist or deteriorate further.
When Tenzin and Small Tenzin arrived, we told them about our plan, and they agreed that it was the best option. The most pressing issue was whether our itinerary could be tweaked to allow an additional day in Lhasa. Small Tenzin said that it was not a problem, and we can make up for lost time by covering a longer distance from Saga to Darchen and skip the one night stay at Lake Manasarovar, since Lake Manasarovar and Darchen are quite near by. For the additional night in Lhasa, we would just have to pay a little bit more to top up the price difference in accommodation (the hotel in Lhasa is more expensive than the guesthouse in Lake Manasarovar).
It was a deviation in our plans but we came to a decision swiftly. Kudos to ZJ for displaying her leadership qualities to convene the meeting and making the key decisions!
Once the decision was made, Tenzin brought RL and ST to a hospital to see a doctor. It didn’t take long and they were back quite soon. The doctor prescribed some medication and the consultation fee was only RMB 25. RL tucked ST in bed and took care of her the whole day. For the rest of us, we had some free time so we went out to explore the other streets in Lhasa that we had missed in our first three days here.
Yesterday, KL and XY chanced upon a wholesale market, where they bought some cheap jackets that looked quite nice. They dubbed it “Mustafa”, alluding to Mustafa Centre in Singapore, a massive department store that sells everything under the sun. So I asked KL and XY to bring ZJ and I there to check it out. It was a 3-storey building and the ground floor sold mostly foodstuff while the other floors sold clothes and other knick-knacks. It was packed full of small stalls and it was very crowded and narrow, not unlike the wholesale markets in Bangkok. We went to the shop that KL and XY had bought their stuff from, and it was really quite cheap. However, I didn’t see anything suitable, so I didn’t buy anything. After a while, I got a bit of a headache, as it was quite stuffy in the building and there were too many people and things inside the building, so we left the place.
Outside, it was a blazing hot day and the sun was bearing down on us. As a result, I felt a bit unwell. We didn’t hang around for too long, as we told RL that we would be buying lunch back for him and ST. We went to a fast food chain called Dico’s and bought some fried chicken because we were craving for some Western food. We had been eyeing it every time we walked past it, so we were glad to find a reason (or excuse) to try it. We then went back to our favourite eatery, Hai Guai Jia, and bought tomato egg soup noodles for ST.
Back at the hotel, we delivered the food to RL and ST in their room, while the rest of us had our lunch in the courtyard garden under the big umbrella. It was a potluck lunch and it was nice and relaxing. After lunch, I still felt a bit unwell, most probably due to the heat, so I stayed in the room and rested.
After a nap, I felt better. The four of us then went out to get a massage from Enlightening Blind Massage Centre. The masseurs are blind and this is a place that allows them to be employed and display their massage techniques. As there were only two masseurs available, XY and KL had their massage first, while ZJ and I went shopping before coming back for our massage one hour later.
We went to a wholesale shop that sold tons of handicraft items like beads, necklaces, jewellery, keychains and all sorts of pretty items. We bought some keychains as gifts and souvenirs, and I also bought some Tian Zhu necklaces for dad. After that, we went back for our massage.
We chose the Systemic Tibetan push oil massage, which cost RMB 150 for 60 minutes. XY and KL’s feedback was that it was quite ordinary, nothing exceptional. KL also had some feedback about the masseuse who attended to her, but it shall remain unsaid. Nevertheless, ZJ and I still went ahead, since we had already committed to it.
After the massage, we met up with KL and XY again, and it was time for dinner. For dinner, we bought food back to the hotel again, and we ate at the rooftop. Thankfully, ST was feeling better by this time.
It was an unexpected day of rest and relax, and I am glad we made the right decision to stay in Lhasa for one more day. Things don’t always go to plan, so we have to be flexible and be ready for contingencies. Great that we can put our leadership lessons to good use!