Me-go: Around-the-World

Shekar, Tibet | 29 October, 2006 | $6.25 (my half of bill – shared with roommate)

After a long day of travel our driver pulled up to a hotel beside the main road and told us it was Shekar. We knew the main attraction in the area was Shekar Fort and when we pointed this out the driver very dramatically refused to take us any further.

Day four was a breaking point not only for our relationship with our driver but also my civility with our French travelmate. While Sui and Elad were negotiating with the driver I was trying to get away from the Frenchman, the 4th passenger. He had a lot of grating habits, but worse the the tapping and talking to himself was the smoking. I had asked him a few times not to smoke near me but this usually prompted him to move closer. Today he literally blew the smoke in my face on purpose and I had enough. The fight didn’t escalate to blows, but when I finished telling him my mind Elad turned to me with a look of shock on his face. He later admitted that he had never heard a woman use quite so colorful language.

After that fun scene we hopped back into the jeep and were taken to the small town where we wandered through a maze of buildings trying to find a path up the mountain. With more time we may have tried to explore the upper reaches of the complex but without directions or a guide we decided it was best to head back after reaching the top of the first level. I’m glad Sui was so insistent upon this stop. Shekar Fort was different than the other towns and monasteries we had seen and I had the chance to take one of my favorite photos from the trip.

You can see more photos from Shekar in the gallery.