The Best of Wanderlust (A GeoEx eBook)

The Best of Wanderlust

Tibetan Bargain with a Twist

with Nepal, he had returned as a businessman. “Your friend’s name is Gele,” he said. “She has a 16-year-old daughter, who is on a pilgrimage to Mt. Kailas. Gele is a recent widow, and she’s trying to move from Chamdo in eastern Tibet to Kathmandu in Nepal.” She had traversed half of her 1,000- mile voyage. I said I was impressed. Gele reached into her pouch and brought out a one-inch, camel-shaped brass pendant. Its plain surface was worn smooth, and a hand-braided string looped through a hole in its center. “She said this was made by the gods and dropped from the sky,” the shopkeeper said. “I can tell it is very old.” The magical story intrigued me—I bought the amulet for a few yuan, a price I thought was too low, but she wouldn’t go higher. “She says you’ve helped her a great deal on this journey because you’ve bought so much of her jewelry, and now she has money to travel.” I asked him to tell her how much I treasured her jewelry. He said she wanted to meet the next day so I asked where and at what time. He said not to worry. “She will find you. These people are very clever.” ~~ She did find me. Again we circumambulated the Barkhor three or four times. I pointed to her squared-off brass ring with a small turquoise stone in the center. She took it off. It was rustic with rough edges—sturdy with geometric patterns engraved around the stone. And I wanted to help her with her trek—although the distances were shorter, her travels were more monumental than mine. If I had to cut my trip short by a few days, I would survive. It was she who was beginning a new life or would be if she could get herself and her son to Nepal. I would offer her earlier starting price. I held up 10, then 10-again fingers. “Twenty yuan,” I said.

She shook her head. No, no, no. She held up one finger. “What?” I asked. I held up one finger. “One yuan?” She nodded. “Oh, no, no,” I said, shaking my head. “Twenty! Twenty yuan!” Ten-plus-10 fingers. One finger. Twenty fingers. I held out 20 one-yuan bills. She took one. I gave her the others. She pushed them away. “No!” I said. “You must take more!” We laughed. But she wouldn’t take more. In bargaining throughout the world I’d never encountered such a thing—she was refusing my higher price. Surely she could use the money. But she had enough for her needs. I was stunned—I could only look at her and smile in amazement. We walked again, watching the pilgrims, smelling the juniper incense, hearing the prayer wheels spin. Then Gele gave me her last bracelet. April Orcutt has written for BBC Travel, National Geographic Travel, TravelandLeisure.com, Hemispheres , three AAA magazines, Alaska Air , Australia’s Vacations & Travel , the Los Angeles Times , Dallas Morning News , San Francisco Chronicle , and more. April has won two Gold awards in the SATW Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards, and she is honored to be included in The Best of Wanderlust . * * * * *

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