For sustained
terror that goes on long enough to
dull the mind to the notion of
certain death, there's nothing like the excursion from
Lhasa to
Shigatse and
Gyantse. Rattling along in an ancient
bus along a .75-lane "
road" barely cut into the side of the
Himalayas, the tires so close to the edge that you can't see it when you look down out the
window . . . holding on desperately as the bus climbs over
rockslides . . . zooming past
heavily-armed Chinese soldiers . . .
playing chicken with
army convoys . . . yes, there's nothing like a
blind curve at 30,000 feet above sea level! (and at least a mile above the
valley below, or so it seemed)
I have seen the elephant.