Baiyi Hell

When I hop off the minibus in Baiyi (300+ kilometres from Lhasa), a bus pulls up and the driver asks me if I want to go to Lhasa. Local buses in Tibet outside of those within cities are not licensed to carry foreigners so I’m unable to travel by them, minivans are exempt from this rule. Additionally, I’m unable to show a permit and will be refused a ticket even if the bus is licensed.

However, none of this applies if I’m dealing directly with a driver, so with that in mind, I hop onto the bus, excited about being in Lhasa by nightfall. Big mistake.

The bus drives from the carpark where I was picked up to the terminal and the driver climbs out and speaks with the police. Meanwhile, I’m trying to hide my face so they don’t notice me. It doesn’t help, the driver climbs back onto the bus and tells me to get out.

Realising I’m screwed, I rehearse the story I’d been thinking of, my tour group is in Lhasa and I’d paid to go to Nyingchi (next to Baiyi) only to find out my driver wouldn’t take me so I went anyway and am returning back to Lhasa. I get off the bus, confirm with the driver that I’m not allowed to take the bus, realise that the police have yet to make a move and decide to make a hasty departure. I walk out of the bus stop, past the minivan driver from Bome and decide to look for a truck-stop hotel away from the bus stop in case the police come looking.

I take a bed in a room on the first floor of the hotel and start reading my guidebook to see what I should do in Lhasa (still optimistic about arriving there). I fail to realise that my room is missing a curtain and that people walking past can peer in to the room.

I realise after some time that every few minutes one of the staff at the motel are peeking in through the window at me. I ignore it and have a snack while waiting for night to set in so I can go out and get some dinner.

There’s a knock on my door at 8pm. I open the door to find two of the women that work at the motel along with a woman who I’d seen at the bus stop as I was making my hasty getaway.

The woman from the bus station says a few words and points at the direction of the bus station. I don’t understand a word she says so I ask if there is a problem, she says there is and indicates that I should stay in my room. The woman walks away and I’m about to close the door when one of the two women from the motel start talking. I don’t understand the words she’s saying but she mimes a salute and writing something on a piece of a paper saying something like “ching ting”. My interpretation is that the police have enquired about whether I have a permit and are coming to inspect it. I ask her if there’s a problem, she looks at the other one and says no problem, I can tell there is a problem.

After the women leave I pack my bag and hide it under my bed, which I clean to make it look as though no one has occupied the room. I sneak downstairs to make sure the coast is clear before I make a run for it with my bag. I look out to the left and see three police men standing there, talking with one of the women from the hotel.

Knowing I don’t have time to grab the bag, I walk out (in disguise) and turn to the right so they don’t notice me. I figure the best option I have is to hope that they see that I’m gone by not coming back for several hours. I go out and eat dinner, grab a drink and walk around the back streets for some time while it gets dark.

It’s incredibly cold and windy outside and it starts to rain, I realise it’s not a good idea to spend the night outside, I can’t find another cheap hotel nearby (the expensive ones require you to fill out the PSB registration form) so I return to the hotel at night. The police are gone and I can’t see the staff. I sneak back into my room and lie in my bed hoping they didn’t notice.

Every couple of minutes I see a silhouette of a person peeking in through the window, it’s dark so I rely on the hope that I can’t be seen from the window. After four or five peeks, there’s a knock on my door.

I open the door to find one of the women that works at the motel. She comes in turns on the light and the TV and motions for me to sit on the bed and wait. I make the motion for sleep in hopes of getting rid of her and buying some time. She obliges to my request and leaves, I peek out of the window in the corridor and see several policemen outside. I’m screwed.

I open the window at the far end of the corridor and step one foot on the gutter which buckles under the weight. The exit out the window is out of the question. I make a dash to the second floor to find another empty unlocked room to hide in but am unsuccessful. On the third floor I see the other woman from the hotel and quickly head back down before she sees me.

I barricade myself in my room, turn off the TV and light and lie in bed contemplating my options. I have none but to play stupid and hope the police buy it like they did when I was caught in Deqin.

Another knock at my door, I pause thinking they might think I’m asleep and leave. Ha! They knock louder and with increasing frequency, I see a male face peer into the window and point at me and the door. I reluctantly get up and open the door, ready to rehearse the story I’ve practiced. The male (not in police uniform) looks at me, at the window, back at me and holds gaze for a long time. I don’t flinch, I’m too tired to play his bullshit mind games so I keep a blank expression the whole time.

Eventually the man leaves and walks downstairs. I turn off the light and grab my bag.  As I’m sneaking downstairs, I hear two sets of footsteps coming up and catch a glimpse of the man. If I’m caught with my bag, they’ll know I was trying to make a break for it so I get back in my room, close and lock the door, throw the bag where it was and leap into bed just as there is a knock on the door.

I get out of bed, open the door to find the man standing there again, along with one of the women from the motel. He indicates that he’s coming inside. I step back to let him in, he turns on the light, looks at the window and leaves. The woman stays in the room and waits. The man comes back one minute later with a new curtain, deciding that this is the best possible time to repair the curtain in my room. Ignoring my gestures that I’m trying to sleep, the pair have a loud conversation as he fixes the curtain with no haste.

As soon as they’re finished, I kick them out of the room, the look on the woman’s face is of sheer disgust. How dare I have the nerve to kick them out while they fix the curtain in my room. I barricade the door to ensure that it will take a lot of effort and noise to get into the room and proceed to get four hours of sleep. I have a feeling the police are making a stop in the morning and I don’t want to be around if this is the case.

I wake up at four in the morning and with my bag in hand unlock the front door and make a getaway without the staff noticing.