A Texan in Tibet - More and Moore Media

 

"Obsolescence is a factor which says that the new thing I bring you is worth more than the unused value of the old thing."
- Charles Kettering

I tried to convince myself that I didn't need to take a GoPro on this trip. I need to ride as lean and unburdened (but not by what has been) with equipment as possible. But one camera isn't much to carry, is it? The truth is GoPro cams are like Lay's Potato Chips and anyone who has a GoPro knows they can never just grab a camera and go. First, I have to decide which camera to grab. I bought a Hero3+ model cheap on eBay way back when the Hero4 came out in 2014 and people were dumping the "old" stuff. Then, I bought a Hero4 cheap from the same eBay seller a year later when the Hero5 came out. I'm not sure which one of us was the sucker in those deals, but GoPro is probably the real hero for getting people to ditch the old for the new. Apple anyone?

 

The only brand new current model (at the time) GoPro I ever acquired was the GoPro Hero4 Session, which is a tiny 1" cube form factor. I actually won that one in a writing/photo contest and although I never used it, I still have it. I picked up a year-old GoPro Max a few years ago and despite Moore's Law, it's still considered modern. The Max leverages two fisheye lenses on the camera body front and back to capture images and videos in a full 360° spherical format that allows the viewer to to zoom in/out on an image or play the video while scrolling with a mouse to see up/down and left/right fully around the camera's recording position. It's pretty amazing to me, and hopefully the videos and images I collect will do it justice. I uploaded a short trip around my front four acres that can be viewed here. If it doesn't play in 4k, click the YouTube settings wheel and adjust the playback quality to 2160/4k.

 

Now, GoPro is up to the Hero13, but I've decided to keep my old cameras and just take the Max on this trip. I've updated to the latest firmware and I really can't (or won't) justify the expense of buying new when I use them so infrequently. Now that I think about it, the cube is so small, it would be easy to take along also. Hello Lays! I have a helmet chin mount where it will fit nicely and capture my riding point of view.

 

Hero4 Session "the Cube"

 

 

 

 

With the camera debate settled, the epic footage I plan to collect will have to be transferred off the memory card and stored someplace, so it's a good thing SD memory prices have fallen through the floor. After cameras and storage, there's batteries, chargers, adapter cables, and mounting hardware to consider. It almost makes me long for the old days with a Kodak 110 Instamatic.

 

I'm told the Chinese can be unpredictable when it comes to censorship and imagery. Indeed, I can't even bring a map of Tibet that isn't labeled specifically China or  Tibet Autonomous Region. I'm told they have been known to go through riders' phones and cameras at the border inbound and outbound. Sounds cumbersome to me, but just in case, I will do my best to have all my imagery and footage uploaded to the cloud in case I'm instructed to delete it.

A Texan in Tibet - Test Video Render

"Don't settle for blurry, aim for clarity."
- Anonymous

I'm taking a GoPro MAX 360 camera with me with which I hope to capture some cool footage. The sample video below was shot in 360° mode. Use your mouse to dial in the view you want. While holding the left mouse button down, move the mouse left/right and up/down while the video plays. The video quality might be sketchy as I work out the bugs. It's shot and rendered in 4k, but the blogger host might throttle the transfers. If it doesn't play in 4k, click the YouTube settings wheel and adjust the playback quality.

 

I won't be shooting too much 360 on the trip because they are massive files and uploading from Nepal and Tibet could be a challenge.

 

Picture may be blurry, but the fun is clear.

 

A Texan in Tibet - Electronics & Power

''Any sufficiently advanced technology, is indistinguishable from magic.''
Arthur C. Clarke

 

Travelers from decades ago would probably laugh at travelers today and our dependence on our electronic devices. The truth is, I can't go anywhere without my phone and like most people, I rarely use it to actually talk. For better or worse, ours is a connected world and until the metal braincap is available (in the year 2025, according to Arthur C. Clarke), humans will continue to carry a handful of devices. On this trip, I will carry my phone, my GPS watch, my two-way GPS communicator, a GoPro camera, Bluetooth headphones, a Surface tablet running Windows, and adequate external storage to offload my videos and images as I travel. Of course, all of these devices except for the memory need to be charged.

A Plug for Every Country!

International travel adds its own degree of complexity; not so much due to voltage differences these days as most devices are rated for both 120v and 220v, but primarily because of the differing AC power outlet standards and form factors. USB charging ports have become commonplace in public spaces in the US, but not so much overseas and I have no idea about the third world countries I'll be visiting. Even in the US, charging current from most public USB ports is so minimal that many devices barely charge at all. I have to take what's available for me and focus on AC outlets. I did a little research on the outlets in Paris, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Tibet and have determined that I will need up to six different AC plug adapters in order to keep my electronics charged. My compact multi-port USB/AC adapter operates on 50/60Hz 110-240V, so all I have to do is connect the right AC adapter, plug it into the local AC power, and I can simultaneously charge my own devices and still have ports to

USB Battery Tender

share with other travelers when outlets are scarce. I'm preparing for the fact that electricity may not be available in my quarters at some of my sleep stops and I will bring along a high capacity Anker battery bank that should hold me over for those nights. Of course, this only works if I can keep the bank itself charged. The Royal Enfield Himalayan motorcycle I'll be riding does not have a USB charger, but the guy I'm renting from assured me that I can install one on the bike before I head out. I'll leave it there for the next rider. I'm hoping this ability to charge on-the-go will keep the music and audio books playing in my helmet throughout the long riding days...and maybe sleepless nights.

Some have asked, but no; I won't be bringing a drone on this trip, despite them being legal to fly. Interestingly, Tibet's drone regulations are more permissive than Nepal's. I would love to capture some epic aerial footage, but the curmudgeon in me just doesn't want to deal with dragging all the batteries in my carry-on bags, transporting all the drone gear daily, and keeping everything charged for spur-of-the-moment flights. Processing and transferring my daily captured footage, and then doing all the editing after the trip for content that virtually nobody will see isn't exactly inspiring either.

A Texan in Tibet - Baggage

"Did you ever notice that the first piece of luggage on the carousel never belongs to anyone?"
- Erma Bombeck

It'll All Fit, Really!

One of the biggest challenges I'm facing in this trip planning is baggage space and weight. I'm struggling to cram all my riding gear, ancillary equipment, and my personal items and clothes into my travel moto bag, and to keep it at or below fifty pounds to avoid airline overweight fees. I have to pack my batteries in my carry-on bag, which drops a few precious ounces from my checked bag, but I'll still have to get creative. With three weeks out, I have time to practice pack with a scale and zero in on a final packing solution.

Whatever I finally come up with, I need to be prepared to have to retrieve and re-check my bags at each leg of my trip. I'm flying American Airlines to Paris, but connecting on Sri Lankan Air to Colombo, and then again to Kathmandu. It's all one travel record, but on multiple airlines. If American can check my bags all the way through, life would be much easier. My AA frequent flier status allows me two free checked bags. If I have to leave the secure area in Paris to retrieve and carry my bags to Sri Lankan Airlines to check them to Kathmandu, then I may be limited to one free checked bag, meaning I'll have to pony up for the second. Nobody can give me a consistent answer and unexpected expenses suck! I realize that in the big picture, a baggage fee for a trip I've dreamed of taking for years is not a big deal. Sometimes my frugal mindset just can't let it go. My return route is from Kathmandu to Dallas through Doha, and is all on Qatar Air metal, so I anticipate not having to see my checked baggage until I land in Dallas. I  just hope I don't face the same outbound lost baggage debacle I did on my Australia trip. I also hope Qatar Air doesn't lose my baggage on the return trip. British Airways lost my bags on my trip back from Amsterdam and I didn't get them back until 14 days after my return.

Retro Moto Fashion for a Retro Moto Rider

 

I corresponded with one guy who claims he completed his entire motorcycle tour with just a single carry-on shoulder bag. He said he purchased all of his riding and cold weather gear from bazaars and suppliers in Kathmandu for about $600USD, and then donated what he didn't want to keep to a moto tour outfit when he left. The OCD traveler in me just cannot leave that much to chance. Besides, I'm on a budget and I already have all the gear. I admit that much of it is dated and worn, but the bottom line is that it only needs to last me for two weeks. Who knows? Maybe I'll leave some gear behind too.

Whitsunday Airport
Queensland Australia

 

Speaking of dated gear, I purchased my Hebo riding jacket way back in 2001 when I was a competitive enduro racer. Back then, Hebo was top notch riding gear from Spain and it was built to last. And it has. You know how some things circle around and come back into fashion over time? Well, this jacket didn't, but it's still serviceable and it still fits with room to spare for insulated under layers! I can either pat myself on the back for still being able to wear apparel that fit me almost 25 years ago or, I could slap myself on the face for being just as fat now as I was then.

A Texan in Tibet - Fill 'er Up, Please!

"I'm stranded all alone in the gas station of love, and I have to use the self service pump."
- Weird Al Yankovic

When I rode to Maine in 2014, I made it my mission to ride through all the small states along the eastern seaboard as part of my attempt to knock out the remainder of US states to which I had yet to ride my Harley. When I got to New Jersey, I learned that drivers weren't allowed to pump their own gas at fuel stations. Being on a bike, I was allowed to hold the fuel nozzle, but the buttons had to be pushed and the pump started by a qualified professional...probably some union guy. I'm told this was also true in Oregon until 2023. Either way, I've never seen that before or since. Where else in the world would I find such backward fuel station policies? Welcome to China!

Gomer & Goober Pyle - "Check your oil, sir?"

Tibet has apparently one-upped new Jersey. In Tibet, automobile drivers can't pump their own fuel, but at least they can drive up to the pumps, where an attendant completes the task. Motorcycles can't even drive up to the pumps in Tibet. I'll have to park at the outer edge of the parking lot in a safe zone, where an attendant will check my papers against our official guide's list, record my rental bike license plate and odometer reading, compare them to the data collected at my previous fuel purchase, verify that I am allowed to purchase fuel, and then tell me what the rate per liter will be. I smell a shakedown.

"Safety Zone" Fuel Dump

 

 

But wait because it gets even better. After the purchase qualification formalities are completed and the Chinese crawl back out of my ass with their microscope, I will have to be escorted on foot over to the pump where the attendant will fill a fuel can for me to carry back to the safety zone to manually pour into my fuel tank, and then pay God-only-knows how much for the privilege. My Royal Enfield Himalayan motorcycle is said to hold 3.96 gallons. I just hope they let me carry enough to fill my tank in one trip!

A Texan in Tibet - One Month Out

"It’s a terrible thing to look forward to something that may never happen." 

- Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

 

 

With only a month until my departure, I find myself juggling anxiousness and excitement. I use the term anxiousness instead of anxiety because I don't believe what I'm feeling is an unhealthy emotion. I'll explain.

When I originally planned this trip back in 2019, I spent a year conditioning, acquiring gear, and researching everything from immigration policies and pitfalls to local customs and the logistics associated with just getting around in Nepal and Tibet. I was beginning to enjoy a sense of preparedness and confidence until around December/January of 2020 when the COVID plandemic reared its ugly head. I held out hope that the world would come to its senses, but things just got uglier as authoritarian regimes grabbed footholds in their respective countries and their citizens obediently fell in line like cattle heading for slaughter. The trip was officially canceled by February.

Five years have passed.

While I was aware that Nepal and Tibet had reopened their borders in 2023, I was too busy building a homestead and hyper-focused on aligning my finances towards retirement to seriously consider another attempt. Still, I started quietly planning the trip again in the fall of 2024, all the while remaining silent and tempering my emotions; choosing instead to focus on the logistics. The airlines threw several curve balls at me, my job presented its challenges, and my son's wedding fell just four days before the optimal departure date. Now only a month out, the foreseeable hurdles have been cleared and I'm actually allowing myself to get excited.

If excitement is one side of a two-edged sword, then the other side is the fear that the trip experience won't measure up to the hype in my head. My Alaska trip in 2011 absolutely measured up. Months of planning and physical conditioning culminated in my returning home with a triumphant sense of personal accomplishment. I also had a clearer head after weeks of solitude and the introspection that accompanied it. Not so much for my 2016 Australian Outback crossing, during which I sustained mind-numbingly painful injuries only three days into an 18-day ride. I had no choice but to gut it out and ride the 3,000 miles to Fremantle. I do enjoy that piece of accomplishment, but the abject pain I suffered over those 15 days caused me so much despair that when I returned home, I deleted all my notes, photos, and videos from the trip and just put it out of my mind.

 

So, therein lies the delicate balance of excitement for finally getting to live the experience and the anxiousness of some unforeseen and unsolvable event raising its ugly head. Paranoid much? I'm typically a composed and confident guy, but the excitement I've allowed myself to feel leaves room for emotion laced with just a sliver of paranoia. I'm not losing sleep over it, mind you. It's just present way in the back of my mind and probably will be until I see my name on the placard that my driver is holding in the Kathmandu airport.

A Texan in Tibet - Food

"I am not a picky eater. I just prefer pleasing my taste buds first."
-Yuno Mi

 

I'm not what most would call a picky eater, although I certainly have my preferences. For example, I avoid all organ meat and generally don't like fish, and I'll eat most any vegetable except mushrooms.  As a meat n' taters kinda guy, my palate is best described as unsophisticated.

By the time I depart, I will have spent January through early April eating a mostly low-carb/Mediterranean-ish diet and I will have avoided alcohol and processed sugars. I sure do miss bread!  Judith Viorst once wrote "Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands - and then eat just one of the pieces." I would like to be able to proclaim a new lifelong lease on healthy eating, but the truth is my recent dietary discipline has merely been a part of my resolute conditioning for this trip. I've been fat and then dropped weight as a means to achieving a goal more times than Hillary has had opposition witnesses suicided.

During the trip, I'll gladly suspend any dietary resolve and just eat what's available, albeit still avoiding organ meat where possible. After all, it's not like I'll have a choice. One thing is for sure; I'll bring a fork! I never understood why anyone would eat food with sticks when forks exist. I do kinda like getting to slurp soup directly from the bowl because there's no spoon. But I digress.

I've read up on Nepalese and Tibetan cuisine and learned that the locals' diets are primarily comprised of lentils, rice, and breads, and they tend to be influenced not just on ethnicity, but on locale. This makes sense given that Nepal and Tibet don't exactly have the culinary distribution infrastructure that we enjoy in the States. Nevertheless, it appears to me to be a bit of a mix of Asian and Indian cuisines, both of which I generally like...as long as they're cooked.

 

Yak seems to be on the menu everywhere. I love beef and have eaten venison, horse, lion, ostrich, rattlesnake, alligator, kangaroo, camel, and something furry and ugly that was killed and grilled by an Aboriginal chief in the Outback. But I've never eaten yak, which looks to me like a cow with a Rastafarian hairdo. Apparently, yak is as versatile to the Tibetans as shrimp was to Benjamin Buford Blue.  Did I mention that I generally don't like shrimp?

 

I read that food can be difficult to grow in Tibet because of the altitude. It makes sense, but it never occurred to me before. Villages in upper elevations must rely on imports from lower lying regions for veggies and grains, but even their meats can be scarce because the grains needed for livestock grazing don't grow in the thin air. It occurred to me that we in the western world; especially Texas really don't realize just how good we have it.

Home of the Big Yak?

 

I'm a diehard carnivore (gasp) who loves meat, but I love my meat unspoiled. I admit that I harbor some concerns about refrigeration and perishable freshness over there. I prefer my yak-burger fresh, but for this trip will settle for anything this side of rancid. I've read that the locals have inherited and/or developed a robust intestinal constitution over time and as such, are able to tolerate meat that would have me and most westerners throwing up our toenails. I can't ride for hours on end battling the high altitudes while simultaneously clamping my sphincter shut and trying not to barf in my helmet. With that pleasant thought in mind, I suspect that unless I'm in a fairly modern restaurant, I'll stick to rice, veggies, eggs, and bread. Maybe even a yak-burger.

Yakity Yak. Don't Talk Back.

VIVA TEXAS!

Independence Day!