day 5–paryang

you may not find much info about paryang, except that it is a small village in the middle of nowhere in Tibet – because, that is what it is!
it is of significance to most Kailas / mansarovar yatris because it is situated at a convenient mid point, for a stopover on an otherwise long and boring drive from the Border or towns like saga.
the day started with a hot bath at Nyalam – for 10 Yuan – at a public bath across the street from where we stayed.
the drive was a long one, but the excellent road made it easier.

we had stopped briefly at a place called saga, to have lunch.
got a taste of local ice cream, a choco-bar. tasted good.
the road was winding in places, climbing and descending at others. at one point, we touched 16,000 feet – as shown by my Nokia Navigator.
i noticed that at certain points, the GPS could ‘see’ close to a dozen satellites. i wonder why so many satellites over a rather sparsely or uninhabited territory – your guess might be better than mine!
this, along with the good roads probably indicate the strategic significance of this region.

a large water body, the piku lake – presented some photo ops and a break for the drivers

 

we were back on the winding road  and good paved road till we reached our destination. as i mentioned, the excellent roads made travel very comfortable. but, talking of comfort, paryang was also our first ‘exposure’ to living with minimum urban comforts.

while the roads have improved significantly over the last few years – based on the stories of other visitors to this region – the basic hygiene infrastructure has a lot to improve.

paryang-in-the-middle-of-nowhere is very beautiful. the evening rainbow and the mesmerizing sunset added to the charm

but that did not make up for the lack of toilets, as we are used to. where you find them, they are few in number [to the number of visitors that they need to cater to]; by default, they do not have running water. as you get more interior, the toilets become dryer – and hardly maintained.
we needed to prepare ourselves to get comfortable to take care of such matters out in the open – and finding a suitable secluded spot with some privacy cover was a new game we had to learn!  while men have less inhibitions or are less sensitive about relieving themselves in the open, it becomes more sensitive and complex for women. you think you have found a good spot, behind a sand dune or a building etc, only to discover as you get closer that the other side is fully open!
simple principles of not p***ing against the wind came to us instinctively. using the jacket or a plastic bag [with toilet paper, sanitizer, wipes etc] to judge the direction of the wind was an innovation – but i am sure others also would have used / tried similar techniques – though not documented in a travellers tips or manual!
sunset was around 10 PM local time..
during the long drive, our driver played some Tibetan and nepali music with video. most of the songs seemed to be sung by males and around themes of nature, wildlife, some folk customs / festivals with simple dance movements.
even though the songs were repeated many times during our travel, not knowing the language – i could not relate to them or remember the words.
except one nepali song, that i could locate based on some repeated words..