Yaks are kind of funny. They just stand in one place for hours, and they don't even blink. Today I was trying to get to the bathroom but a yak stood dumbfounded at the entrance, blocking the way. You'll be walking around and see a yak standing outside a house, and when you make your way back forty-five minutes later, the farthest the yak has gone is a few steps to the left. They wear Tibetan bells around their necks, and at night the fields sound like Christmas.

I am completely fixated by yaks.

I also can't remember the last time I've seen a flush toilet. Or stall doors. Most Chinese bathrooms are little huts built over a stream-type thing, with a couple of little partitions (in the best of situations) so that three people can go at once. Pulling my pants down in front of other people hardly phases me anymore. I've seen so many Chinese butts. I hate it when they come into the stall with you though, and wait for you to finish peeing. Chinese people are so impatient.

This is what the trek was like: we hiked down from Feilaisi, a town on the ridge, and found our way through the yaks and desert shrubbery to the Mekong river canyon, where the only way down was a path along a crumbling ledge. We crossed the river via footbridge and asked farmer after farmer where the town of Xidang was, where we spent the night. The next day was a grueling hike up a mountain and down the other side into the perfectly secluded village of Yubeng. I've never seen anything like it. These wooden Tibetan houses are clustered around terraces, surrounded on all sides by snow-capped mountains. The only way to get there is on foot or by mule. It almost looks like somewhere the Trapp family would live, only with Tibetans instead of Austrians (or Vermonters).

Nature! Naaaaaature!

I was never really into Tibet at home, even though everybody talked about it. I was never really into hiking or the outdoors either. But being here has changed my life. I'm definitely investing in a good pair of hiking boots. What is it about Tibet that draws so many people in?