Shigatse- the monks are watching you 12/29

We started our car ride to Shigatse at 10 this am. We found out the reason our driver drives so damn slow is because there are radars all over the road, even in the middle of nowhere. He has a radar detector which goes off all the time and is illegal. I don't think we ever went over the speed limit. Might as well not have a detector. Then we had to stop at several towns and provide a piece of paper to show what time we reach each town so they can check we aren't speeding. We were driving so slow and still had to stop and wait 15 min before reaching the town. Dumbest law ever. At least the camera in the car isn't on. X said most Tibetan drivers cut the cords. 

Outside Lhasa, the Chinese are building a new town. A whole town is being constructed at once. It's nuts. Now that the train is complete the government will start moving more Chinese out there, especially since they are getting discounted loans to promote the move. 

We passed monastaries in the mountains. One had the Tibetan name meaning "border". In '59 the monks tried to block the Chinese from passing the main road at this monastery into Lhasa. Many of the monastaries had original buildings that were destroyed. 

We passed some places where Tibetans do water burials. X said the bodies are cut up very small (like momo meat) because the fish in Tibet are very small. 

Shigatse is a large city but no one is here- like a ghost town. A lot of Chinese live here but they leave in the winter because it's too cold. We went to the Tashilumpo Monastery where the fake Pancha Lama lives (appointed by the government). He doesn't even live here, he lives in Bejing and comes here a couple days a year. This is the only monastery where you will see his picture. X told us the monks speak many different languages so watch what you say. They are also paid by the government- conflict of interest?! A monk once overheard foreigners talking about Tibet and called the police. We saw the huge golden stupas of the 10th, 4th, and the collective of the previous Pancha Lamas. A lot was destroyed in the revolution so they had to rebuild the stupas. We saw the young monks chant for several minutes before they went into the hall for their evening meditation. 

Back to the hotel for dinner. I had the sweet and sour chicken (tastes like the US) and Andy had the chicken sizzler. I think he likes getting anything w sizzler in the name. The food was ok, I got zero buzz from the beer. Back to our room for a real hot shower!! So exciting. We have a gas mask in our room. Wtf? Now only if we could get full access to the Internet. At least we have a gas mask- 1 only.