Skipping by everything I missed, here I am. I’ll catch up blogging over the next few days I hope (I had intended to go in order!). I want to capture this while it’s fresh.

It’s raining in Beijing today. I got up at 4:30 and was headed to the airport for a 6:55a flight. Good thing I was early. It took me a while to find the right line in the astoundingly huge terminal. I checked in and headed off to go through security. After getting through the short line I was sent to a special security line. That was even shorter, but when it came to be my turn things ground to a snail’s pace. My documents were reviewed for almost 5 minutes (there really isn’t much to look at).

Papers to Enter and Do Most Anything in Tibet

Then I went through the scanner. Every bag was looked through. Every tiny bottle sniffed. I was hand-scanned and patted down including having to sit down so my feet could be inspected). It made the U.S. process look lightweights. I was very glad that i had remembered that I had a bottle of water in my bag when I saw others in a bin back at the first security check. By the time I reassembled everything and made my way to the gate, through a corridor so empty and so long that I started to be concerned I was in the wrong place, they were boarding. Over an hour to get through check-in and security!

But soon I was sitting in the window seat of an Airbus 330 (with a bonus empty seat next to me) on my way to the Land of Snows, the roof of the world. Tibet is the only place that I’ve dreamed of going since I was a child. Tintin in Tibet was my very favorite book in that beloved series, and I have a thing for mountains in general. It’s going to be fascinating to see (what I’m allowed to) of the political situation. My only disappointment is that I don’t have the time to take the train there. This time.

I’ve wanted to come to Tibet since I was 8 or 9 and read. I can’t quite believe it. I’ve already, during the 60 km drive from the airport to the Four Points Sheraton in Lhasa, seen monks in red robes spinning prayer wheels, a thousand-year-old Buddha, women with straw backpacks, low stone houses.

Yaluzangbu River

The flight was a quick hour and a half, we circled around the mountains to the north, over the Yaluzangbu River and landed at Lhasa Gonggar Airport in the foothills of the Himalayas. In China, you see Chinese and English everywhere. Here it’s Tibetan and Chinese and almost no one speaks English. I managed to find my way to my waiting guide (after braving the squat toilets). It was easy to connect – I was the only westerner in the airport.

Suddenly It's No longer Chinese and English, It's Tibetan and Chinese

I lucked out completely with my guide, LhacBa. He is Tibetan and speaks English extraordinarily well – better than most of the Chinese I’ve met. He also speaks Nepalese and Chinese. He taught himself English by listening to music. I’ll forgive him that his favorite is Bon Jovi.

LhacBa

We left the airport with a driver in a 4×4. The airport is about 45 km from Lhasa as the crow flies, 60 km driving on the 30 km limit “excellent” road. It was 100 km but the Chinese built a 4 km tunnel under the closest mountain. As soon as we were across the river, everything I had seen in Herge’s illustrations, photographs, and movies was real. It sits now alongside a decent 2-lane road and new cars, and it’s mixed in with people wearing jeans. But it’s still here too. I can’t wait to see more, see the Tibetian end of Lhasa.

Nietang Buddha

We stopped along the way to see the Nietang Buddha, which was carved into the cliff face in the 1000s.

There were prayer flags and lucky scarves everywhere. The area was sort of junky but clearly important to the Buddhists and maintained religiously.

Prayer Flags

The drive was particularly fun because, during our discussion about music, I pulled out my iPad as an easy way to see if LhacBa liked any of the same music I do. Neither he nor the driver had ever seen an iPad. Or an iPhone. They’d never even heard of Apple computer. Watching the two of them playing with the iPad was worth the trip in and of itself. I so wish the I hadn’t felt it would be rude to video them – Steve Jobs would have enjoyed it too. LhacBa got it instantly, giggled, and was soon facile. It took the older driver a bit longer. One of the things they did was look through my photo album. That led to me explaining Halloween, boogie boards, and a host of typical American experiences. I think that they know me better already and feel more comfortable than they would have by the end of the trip if all of that hadn’t happened. Just great.

We arrived at the Four Points Sheraton at about 1:30p. I’m taking it easy to acclimate. Many, or even most people have issues with the altitude here. I feel fine so far, but since I got up at 4a, I need to rest anyway. I’m going to eat, write, read, and maybe take a nap before heading out. My official “tour” starts tomorrow morning at 10, but LhacBa is on call if I need anything today. I’m planning not to call but to just wander around a bit.

In a happy surprise, there’s painless wired Internet connectivity here!