HAS – as in high altitude sickness
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just got back from 2 weeks in tibet. first thing i did...shower. my first shower in 12 days. right up to that last sentence, you all wished you were with me, huh? still not glam. need to wash my hair another 3 times before it stops resembling a rat's nest. tibet was amazing. again, the mountains are indescribable. so high up, you don't even know if you're looking at snow capped peaks or clouds. the road system is lacking however. obama's stim plan has yet to reach this part of the world. the roads aren't roads, but rather dirt paths with rocks. interpret: really REALLY bumpy. as such, i fear for my insides. my heart is now on the right side. my liver flipped spots with my lung. and my gall bladder slipped down to my ankle. permanently. i did trek 19,500 feet up around this holy mountain. again, simply indescribable--the journey, the feeling and the view from up there. do have to say one thing about sherpas though...they all were mountain lions in past lives. while i'm trying to pick the path with the least rocks, they're leaping from one boulder to the next while carrying an oxygen tank on their back. i want to bring one home with me. his life in manhattan would be so easy...just carry my whole foods bag home for me. do have to say the country does smell. and not in a good way. people take only 3 baths in their life. once when they're born, again when they marry, third when they die. although since they're dead during the last time, guess that doesn't really count as "in their lifetime". funniest thing...in the most remote place in the world...this TEENY TINY village in tibet where there's no electricity, no concept of indoor plumbing, let alone toilets (yes, that means open air toilets with the wild dogs, the locals & anything else that happens to wander around), the shopkeeper had an iphone. steve jobs reaches places kohler cannot. between the smell of the people, the outdoor bathroom situation & something else i can't exactly put my finger on, my gag reflex was working overtime. and i'm not ashamed to admit sometimes it didn't kick in fast enough. :( now i'm back in kathmandu for a couple of days before i head to india. but right now, i need to go take another shower. just because i can.
