Snowy peaks

Snowy peaks
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

We stopped for lunch in a small town. Small towns in Tibet are windswept and dusty this time of year. They resemble towns in the Old West or Mexico from cowboy movies. We were brought to a place for tourists, but I led the group to an empty place for some cheap noodle soup (10 RMB). When we left, the owner surreptitiously slipped me a pack of cigarettes for bringing in some tourists to his restaurant. Every now and then, Chinese folks will mistake me for a tour guide taking Western tourists about. I guess this was my kick-back for bringing them business. Funny.
I remarked to the Mandarin-speaking Tibetan driver that the road was very good. He said, "It ends soon", and sure enough, we hit gravel outside of town.
A little while after, we started to see some snow and glacier on the peaks. The view got better and better. The roads didn't however.