Tibet, 2001. Trip to Mt. Kailash Blog Continued................ The drivers of Tibet. With the language barrier I felt like I could only know so much, learn so much, but what I observed was the self reliance. You don't drive across Tibet without (1) a 1980s era Toyota Landcruiser - this trip being in 2001 - (2) without knowing every bit of the vehicle and having all the necessary tools and spare parts, and (3) having a certain fearlessness. We met our new driver after he drove all night from Lhasa to Lhatse to get us after our first Landcruiser (and thus driver) had serious problems and needed to have repairs made. He arrived early in the morning, not having slept, and we all had noodles for breakfast. While our first driver had a sort of chiseled, grim persona, this new driver had a calmer buddha like personality. He wore white cotton gloves while driving. He spoke in softer tones, and had a warm smile. That morning leaving Lhatse was incredible. Beautiful surroundings, majestic mountains, a distant monastery. Postcards all around us. But during that day I was concerned that our driver might fall asleep at the wheel. Afterall, I'd stayed up all night a few times myself for various reasons and knew that when the wave of tiredness rolls in the next day it's hard to stop it. After a few hours we were driving along a particularly bad stretch of road with deep ruts that caused us to stop and go slowly, often shifting into 4WD to get out of a bad spot. I could tell he was tired and his eye lids were drifting. We slid into another low rut because he was losing attention. A creek was off to our right down a steep hill so I began watching him in the rearview mirror, as there wouldn't be time to stop the car if we weren't "on it" the second he fell asleep. He noticed my attention and we joked about how I was keeping an eye on him because I knew he was tired. His eyelids continued to drift and at some point along that creek his eyes dropped closed and I tapped his shoulder instantly.... test of this at my FB page. . . #tibet #freetibet #driversoftibet #nowheremagazine #endupnowhere #triptokailash #triptotibet #himalaya #tibetphotography https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp1DyTNgY6y/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=4k9i6w5aitlh
