Lhasa - day 4

On Tuesday (3 October) morning I changed hostels again - hopefully for the last time. I'm now staying at the Yak hotel/hostel and it is much better than the previous two. I posted new flyers on all the hostels' bulletin boards on Tuesday morning hoping for more success in finding a group for a trip. Then I went out and bought a down jacket which I decided I really needed. It made me wish I had kept mine, but I have enjoyed the lighter pack for the last 2 months. I had to sink to an all time low and buy a North Face down jacket. I felt ashamed..... But it only cost me $80 and I'm pretty damn sure its not a fake like so much of the North Face gear is around here. There just isn't a selection to choose from here. Then I went and walked around with the Canadian guy, Brian, for a while. We both bought 'safari-type' hats for $1.50. A full brim hat is really nice in the intense Tibetian sun. That evening I went to meet up with a few people to plan some possible trips. I meet this New Zealand guy, Ben, and he was also looking to do some trekking. But he had already planned to go Nam-tso ('tso' is Tibetian for 'lake') the next day. I really wanted to see this lake, even if it meant not hiking, so I decided joined him and 2 German girls - Angela and Lisa - that he was briefly traveling with for the trip the following day.

That evening I went out with a group of travelers from the hostel and two Tibetian monks that Brian had met and befriended. One of the monks, Lorab (~18), spoke very good english so we had an interesting evening.