lhasa nights

they were a bitch to get posted, but here are some pics.

the last night that sean, missy, and nadine were here we went to a "nagma." this is essentially a nightclub where karaoke singers belt out the hits interspersed with some traditional dancing and variety acts. there was a moving stage, smoke machine, and flashy lights. its distinctly chinese in that its extremely shrill and loud. nadine had to put tissue in her ears, and some of the tibetans even did this. we were the only westerners in the place, upon arrival they seated us directly in the front. to forget the fact that our ears were bleeding we proceeded to get hammered on lhasa beer. they serve you beer in these little shot glasses, so its impossible to keep track of how much beer you've had. before we knew it, tibetans near and far were toasting us (note: they drink budweiser almost exclusively here). mostly people didn't dance. until they did. for certain songs everybody got up and danced in a clockwise circle around the center of the dance floor. it was just like being at one of the temples. then the song would end and everyone would go back to their table to sit and look completely bored and sleepy. we were the rowdiest bunch there and once our rafting guides showed up (unexpectedly, and late) all hell broke loose and we proceeded to dance to every song regardless of whether it was appropriate or not. i got a round of applause for a solo dance and later some of the karaoke singers came and sat with us which i think made us a bigger hit. sean, in typical sean form, nearly started a fight in the toilet with a chinese man. but i think overall, we were liked.