AND HERE: we are now, high in the mountains of central China, in the never-before-seen episode 15 of Ping Pong Ka-Pow.
Tiger Leaping Gorge had given us a taste of the change from southeast Asian jungle to the icy Chinese mountainscapes that were to become our home from here on in, but in Shangri-La we got hit by the downside – dizziness, nausea, breathlessness, and a gripping cold that penetrates the bone and causes deep physical pain, a place where
Tibetan prayer flags were strung from hillsides and temples littered the countryside; where yaks replaced the cows in the paddocks and feral pigs replaced the feral dogs on the street. Crested by a massive monastery filled with dancing monks, people swinging prayer wheels, and lurid hypercolour murals of the gods and spirits, Shangri-La marked a massive difference from the China we’d seen so far. And we had it all to ourselves; even the beautifully-preserved old town was a ghost town with the freezing weather. Unfortunately, we weren’t really in the mood to notice it: we were cold, we were tired, we were nauseous and breathless from the altitude. Basically: we were lame. So we stayed indoors, chewing on Tibetan bread (‘baba’) and tea eggs and rice porridge.
The music in this clip is Devendra Banhart’s freak-folk anthem, “Chinese Children”, from his epic 2005 release Cripple Crow, which I highly recommend you lay your hands on, after you’ve laid said hands on his earlier Rejoicing in the Hands, Oh Me Oh My, and Nino Rojo.
L.
Within the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle dynamics of the Planet Kapow team, Lachlan considers himself the Donatello - nerdy, condescending, vaguely wimpy and widely disliked by children. He also looks good in purple.
Lachlan can be contacted at lachieprior@gmail.com 