Episode 077: Finally, Heading Towards Everest

No Demons Here. We made it into Gyangtse today after some incredible scenery along the way. This is Tibet’s 4th largest city and the view is dominated by a fortress on a hill. Spectacular.

We were all getting pretty hungry so Lobsang took us to get some Tibetan Noodles. I had never had any before and since the altitude wasn’t affecting me badly I was really excited. The noodles are a soup made of a yak meat broth, soft noodles, some vegetables and a dash of magic. Truly, some of the most delicious food I have ever eaten. I’m going to have this again!

At the table next to us was an old Tibetan woman dressed in traditional clothing. She looked very old (of course it’s hard to tell since everyone is so weathered in this part of the world) and friendly. As we smiled at her she stuck her entire tongue out at us. For a second I was slightly taken aback, but it turns out that this is a traditional greeting. She was merely showing us that she was friendly by sticking out her tongue. Apparently, the local custom is to do this as a way to prove that you’re not a demon.

See, demons have green tongues. She was showing us her tongue so we could see it wasn’t green and that she wasn’t a demon.

Good thing, too. I just hate eating my noodle soup in the presence of demons. Ruins the entire experience if you ask me.

Jon Miller

Total Running Time: 19:02