You left me here

I will never forget this dog. After arriving at our hotel, we were supposed to meet in the lobby for dinner, but after waiting for a bit no one arrived, so I went outside to play with the dogs. That's when I first fell in love.

 

This puppy was special. She had an incredible gaze and walked like a lioness. After sniffing my hand, she let me pet her until she did what no other stray had done before - she rolled over on her back, paws to the sky, and gave me the look -- "Belly rub, please!"

 

I gave her a proper Swedish Czech* massage ;) and stayed with her so long I almost missed dinner. Each time I tried to slowly stop petting her, she immediately perked up and looked at me with the most stern look for even thinking about it. I had to go back to her three times until I finally gave one good rub and promised I'd come back.

 

I left dinner with a bowl of rice, plain noodles and potatoes wider than I am and ran outside to find her. The lot was pitch-black and empty. I could hear dozens of dogs barking, but they were at least 200m away. I figured, worst comes to worst, I would try again later and then in the morning.

 

The sky was unbelievable - the milky way shined so bright. I decided to swap the bowl for my camera and come back out to take some photos. A few long exposures in, I heard pitter patter different from the human feet I had been hearing. My beautiful Tingri was back! :)

 

I ran back to my room, threw my camera on the bed and grabbed the bowl quickly as I could before she took off again. Luckily, she was still there. I put the bowl in front of her, but she wanted none of it. She did this when I fed her earlier, though, eating only when I left, so I figured she'd do the same. I dumped the bowl onto the ground, and remarkably she started eating immediately.

 

Another dog I recognized from earlier came too, so I gave some food to him as well. I pet Tingri one last time, gave her a kiss and left her and her friend to feast.

 

When I woke up, I ran out of the hotel and she was there! We had a massive cuddle session :D She wasn't too fond of pictures, she liked the rub-downs much more, so I just snapped this really quickly to have at least one photo before getting down to business.

 

Now comes the ridiculous part -- I went to see Mount Everest, but I couldn't stop thinking about her! All my brain would do was scheme and plot ways to get her home with me. I checked with both airlines - it was okay. (But how/where the hell would I find a kennel large enough in Lhasa where there isn't so much as a single vet or pet store?!) The next day on our way back to Lhasa post-Everest earthquake, we stopped in Shegar (a few km from Tingri) and I spent my lunch begging drivers to take me back and search for her. I balk at spending more than 10yen on a meal yet I spent a million times that trying to find this dog.

 

We lapped the city about 10 times, my driver eagerly trying to help - "This one?" "No.." "This one??" "Noo…" he would whistle, honk, anything to get each dog to lift their sleepy head in the hot noon. I jumped out of the car a few times to search some fields and alleys better. After almost half an hour, no luck :( I knew I had to get back to Shegar, so we took off, my heart broken, but believing everything happens for a reason.

 

Even with that belief, I spent the remaining 12-hour drive to Lhasa thinking I should have lapped some streets one more time. With my brain, I can never win haha. I did meet some really nice school children the day before who insisted on taking pictures with me (I did self-timer from the ground), and I have their address, so I will include a picture of this puppy and ask them to give her a gigantic smooch for me. :D

 

 

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Uploaded on September 20, 2011
Taken on September 18, 2011